Roma!

No, I was not mistaken as an Italian pop star (Lizzie McGuire movie). A bit of a disappointment. BUT Rome was still pretty awesome. The first night we arrived, we figured out the Roman metro system and found our hostel pretty easily. To put it nicely... this one was not quite up to the same standards as our past hostels... Only one bathroom, not very clean, semi-broken shower, creaky bed, no clean towels half the time, no breakfast (even though it promised breakfast online). Anyway, after checking in, we set out to find some dinner. And after roaming (hah!) around for some time, we stumbled upon a cute little Italian restaurant down one of the streets. They gave us free bread and an appetizer (first time I've gotten free food pretty much all semester! Usually they charge you for bread and even water). I had some spaghetti al ragu (spaghetti with meat sauce). I think it was the best meal I'd had so far! So delicious! It was a really nice dinner, the three of us got into a laughing fit at some Spongebob quotes... haha don't ask.

The next morning, we headed straight for the Colosseum. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a rainy day (again! Isn't Italy supposed to be sunny?!). We had to wait in line for a bit, but when you first walk into the Colosseum it is truly stunning. I have never seen anything like it. Even through the rain and umbrellas blocking our view, it was so cool!! The centre area was not covered with a stage (as it would have been back in the day), so you could see everything that would have been underneath it, where they kept the animals and where the mechanics of the stage worked. Its crazy they had this fantastic architecture and mechanics so many years ago! We spent a good 2 hours wondering around the Colosseum, going to the top level too. Theres an exhibition on the top level with all kinds of information about the Romans and emperors at the time of the Colosseum. We took A TON of pictures.  And the entire time we were singing This is What Dreams Are Made Of (Lizzie McGuire movie again)! Eventually, we left to go find some lunch. We found a cheap place close by and I had some spaghetti with egg, cheese, and bacon (it was bit weird). Then, we walked to the nearby Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. They're basically just a giant collection of Roman ruins. It was so unbelievably cool to be walking around in ancient palaces, gardens, and cities. We walked through streets, houses, shops that stood 2,000 years ago. Unbelievable experience. After about 4 hours, we left to go find the famous Trevi fountain (I think most girls my age know this fountain from the Lizzie McGuire movie... its where she throws in the coin, makes a wish, and turns around to find Paolo!). It was quite an adventure finding the fountain, but we got there eventually. It was STUNNING. A hugeeeeee beautiful fountain that took 30 years to build. It was magical. We took lots of pictures there (and yes, made some wishes and threw in coins). There were tons of restaurants around, so we had dinner close by (4 cheese pizza!).

The next day was our day for the Vatican. We got there a little before 11 and noticed the line wrapping around the Vatican walls. Once again it was raining and we were hoping the line wasn't too long. After waiting in line along 3 different walls, Kelsey finally went to see how long the line is. We still had 2 long walls to go. So 2 of us went to get some lunch and we ate while standing in line (thankfully there was a brief break in rain at that point). Finally a little after 1:30, we got through the Vatican walls (THAT WAIT WAS MISERABLE). We went through metal detectors and bought our tickets (which were pretty cheap since we got the student discount!) and explored a gallery with some works of Leonardo da Vinci. Then, we went towards the Sistine Chapel. Of course they know everyone goes there just to see the Sistine Chapel, so they led us through what felt like hundreds of other museums and rooms before we finally got there. They were all beautiful, but it was so packed full of rude people that we were just ready to see it. We finally got to the Sistine Chapel and it did not let down, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so beautiful and enrapturing. I just stood there and stared for several minutes (I also snuck a picture or two or the famous Michelangelo ceiling). But because there were hundreds of people inside the chapel, we didn't stay too long. We got a quick snack and exited the Vatican Museum. We got some more gelato and then headed for Saint Peter's Square. The square was pretty cool. I had seen it in so many movies, so it was cool to finally see it in person. We went through a second set of metal detectors to get inside the Basilica of Saint Peter. The church was probably the most beautiful I've ever seen. There were all kinds of beautiful colors and high, vaulted ceilings. It seemed so gigantic, with all kinds of tombs for different popes. It was such a different style than the English churches I'm used to, like Westminster Abbey. Mass was going on while we were there, so there was a choir singing in the background. Really an amazing experience. When we left, there were guards in crazy looking outfits and we got there just in time for the changing of the guard (EXTREMELY lame changing of the guard compared to Buckingham Palace of course). We left the square and took the metro back to the area around the Colosseum because there were a ton of good, cheap restaurants around there! We found a place that had spaghetti and meatballs. It was definitely the picture perfect Italian meal any tourist dreams of: spaghetti and meatballs with a glass of (nasty) wine all in view of the Colosseum. Perfect last supper for our last night in Italy! On our way back to our hostel, we stopped in at the gelateria by our hostel for the third night in a row.... :-)

On our final morning in Italy (sad!), we went to Piazza Navona. Since there was some weird stall in the Rome metro system (their transportation system is really bad... we had several problems with it) we had to get off a stop early. But this actually turned out fine because we stumbled upon seeing the Capitol building and the Pantheon on the way to the square. Both super cool! It took us a while to find Piazza Navona, there are a million squares. You turn the corner and think it might be it and then you're like oh wait... this is just another square (Joanna actually had a nightmare of never-ending squares haha!). But we DID find it. The movie Angels and Demons (with Tom Hanks) has a part filmed in the square, so that was cool to see. There are 3 beautiful fountains along the square and a basilica in the middle. We found a cheap place for lunch a little away from the square and my last Italian meal was delicious (4 cheese gnocchi). We walked back towards the metro and on the way, walked by the Spanish steps (also in the Lizzie McGuire movie, where she does the cartwheel!). Back at our hostel, we picked up our luggage and then made our way to the airport. It was a long day of traveling after that... we finally got back to Queen Mary campus a little after 11 pm. Every time I come back to London I get so excited, I really love it here! It is such a special city and I am so blessed to be able to live here for half a year!

Italy is definitely my favorite trip so far... really a dream come true! Amazing food and places to see! We had some weird recurring themes of the trip... Lizzie McGuire and Spongebob. Lizzie McGuire came from the Lizzie McGuire movie being in Rome (such a good movie!), but I'm not quite sure where Spongebob came from... At night when we were exhausted and lazy, we watched episodes of Lizzie and Spongebob and they were, of course, quite entertaining :-) My favorite city out of the 3 we went to (Venice, Florence, Rome) was Venice. It was such a peaceful, beautiful city. I really liked Florence, I wish we could have had some more time there. Rome had some awesome things to see in it, but it was also a crowded city full of rude/smelly people. The people we met there were not very nice... Surprisingly, the Vatican was the worst. The other people visiting were rude and the people who worked there were even ruder... But it was all worth it. Couldn't be happier to have gone! I think I had enough gelato to last me a life time :-) (or maybe just a couple of days..........)