Roaming Rome

Go to Rome. Go at some point in your life. It was a fabulous trip!

I'll give the short and sweet overview because this is going to get long I think, but there's two videos at the end that I highly encourage you to watch! --
We arrived on Thursday, after spending the night in the Madrid airport. I've done it two too many times and I will never sleep in an airport again. Ever. It starts out all fun and funny.. and then when you actually try to sleep, it's cold and hard and miserable... and not so funny anymore.

So Thursday, we did all of the 'free stuff'. We hit up the Pyramid, a pizza place, a museum, a gelato place, the Pantheon, a beautiful plaza, a pasta place (sensing a theme?), and the Spanish Steps.

Friday, we did the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine. Followed by another pizza place, the Spanish Steps (in the daylight), this pastry place with the best connoli I've ever had, and back to the beautiful plaza for pasta. We are officially on a sugar high.

Saturday, we did coffee with Nutella filled pastries, the Vatican, pasta, gelato, St. Peter's Basilica, the Castle, and finished our evening with the most expensive bottle of wine I've ever bought in the classiest plaza I've ever been in, and the best pizza place in all of Rome. Instant death by carbs.

We left early Sunday morning.

Ok for the details. Let's start with the priorities: the food. Holy moly delicious.

After checking in to our hostel on Thursday we were so hungry we were hangry. I barely remember how we got into the city center and we didn't speak a word to each other because we all knew it would be angry words of hunger mixed with bad airport hair and exhaustion. So we stopped at the first cafe we saw that advertised pizza.

We ordered a pepper, mushroom, and sausage pizza and had high expectations.
(I am now contemplating munching on Kelsey's arm while choosing a pizza. I honestly didn't care what kind we got as long as we got it fast.)
The pizza came.
It was terrible.
Ok, not terrible, but I will quote Kelsey to give you an idea: "This is like Digorno frozen pizza. Actually, this is worse than Digorno because I would rather be eating crappy Digorno pizza right now than this burnt frozen canned stuff."
I mean, we ate it and it was fine but Kelsey works at a pizzeria in Vermont and was genuinely offended. Like almost didn't finish her pizza offended.

Pitiful. Our first pizza in Italy was a total let down.

So we walked on, past some ruins and found a gelato place! And all was forgiven. It was fabulous. I think we were in the touristy area because it was good, but I feel like Granada has pretty comparable gelato.

Kelsey brought this book that was Top 10 in Rome and it had the top 10 of everything! From then on, we went by this magic book. That night, we went to a restaurant for the famous pasta, and I have to say, it was some of the best pasta I had all weekend. I think it's all the salt they use when they boil the pasta (just a guess, they wouldn't tell me). I had the spaghetti with bacon sauce and cheese.

The next day we started bright and early with the Colosseum. Our hostel which advertised "breakfast included" did not have breakfast, oddly enough. Actually, they provided the cereal- but no milk. And there was no coffee nor coffee maker. Great. On no breakfast, we headed to the Colosseum. Lunch was at a small cafe near there. Kelsey got a calzone and I got the pizza. It was a ton of food! The pizza was better but still didn't blow me off my feet. We're getting closer!

The calzone was like a pizza folded in half.

On a total impulse buy, Katie and I split some mozzarella balls. So good. Better than Applebee's good, and that's WAY good. They were creamy and had real, fresh mozzarella inside.

Then we headed to the Vatican to try to buy tickets ahead of time, but the office had already closed. So we started wandering and found this cute little pastry shop where Kelsey found some Connolis. I've never had one before so we decided to try them. Oh. My. Gosh. They tasted like love. They had maraschino cherries and dark chocolate and this white, fluffy vanilla whipped cream inside. I wish I would have bought them in bulk. They were delightful.

That night we headed to the Plaza Navona. We met a chef who said he would give us free white wine if we ate there. Naturally we said yes, is that even a question??

Katie was itching to try some Gnocchi with cheese sauce so she got her wish. It was super good. The only experience I had had with it was in the Madrid airport on the way home for Christmas and it was rather rubbery (airport food- surprise). But this was so good! I didn't realize it was made of potatoes so it has a different texture, but the sauce was great.

Kelsey and I got the lasagna and it was awesome. I'd rank it up there next to mom's ;)

This is our... ahem... rather attractive waiter.

Saturday we did the Vatican and than headed to lunch at another cafe. I got the regular spaghetti. Spaghetti and meat balls are actually not a "thing" in Italy. I couldn't find it anywhere!

This is our Lady and the Tramp moment.

We met and chatted with this girl in line for the Vatican and said we'd tried the gelato but it was pretty much the same as in Granada. She looked at us skeptically and said, "I'll meet you outside at 3. Be ready to get your world rocked." I mean, how could we say no??

She took us to this place near the Vatican actually. And for 3 Euro I got FOUR FLAVORS and it was as big as my face. People, this is unheard of. Chocolate, cookie, vanilla, and carmel. Seriously I almost had to lay down after eating it. It blew my mind. Gelato- double check. I am forever ruined.

It really happened. Please look back at the earlier picture of the first gelato we got. Pathetic. Where has this place been all my life?!

There are no words. Look at Kelsey trying to keep up with it!

We referred back to the book for dinner and went to THE #1 Pizza place in all of Rome. It was this little hole in the wall and could only fit about 20 people inside. We waited for an hour and a half but figured it would be worth it.

It was.

I got the mushroom and sausage. It was literally the best pizza I have ever had. Ever. Super thin crust with fresh ingredients. Wow. I don't think I can ever eat pizza again.

All 3 of us ate a pizza each. Oops. Hey, we walked a lot!

To end our trip, we found Plaza Fiori which literally means Flower Plaza. It was delightful. We bought a nice bottle of Rosé and hung out. I felt so cultured and classy!

Here are the REAL cultural things. This trip was full of "Life Moments". I was seeing things I remember studying in high school but never actually thought I'd ever experience!

We started Thursday at Trevi Fountain! It was magical!

Kelsey and I threw money in together. All of the money goes to support a supermarket for people in need around the city. It's about 3,000 Euros per day!

Then we went to the Pantheon. Life Moment. I remember learning about all these places in high school and thinking "Ok that's a cool building. Next." And now I'm here. Talk about using something you never thought you'd need...

We actually went to the Spanish Steps twice- once at night to see them all lit up and once in the day time to get some nice pictures. They are the widest staircase in Europe, and there are 135 steps. I counted. All of them.

On Friday we started at the Colosseum! Serious Life Moment. Honestly, I'm still geeking out about this one. I went in the Colosseum. I went in the Colosseum. I went in the Colosseum. Still not real.

This is what I learned:

• It is the largest amphitheater in the world.
• It seated 40,000-70,000 spectators.
• It featured gladiator contests and public spectacles like mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on classical mythology.
• The tiered seating showed the differences in class rank. Shows were free, but the seating plan was strictly enforced.
• They used lots of animals, but the one I found most important was the griffon. Which apparently exists, I had no idea! I thought they were just mythical creatures with glittery wings and sharp teeth from Harry Potter or the Hunger Games. It’s a real bird.
• Shows were put on and planned by a magistrate, much like a Gamemaker.
• Gross but fun fact- the blood of gladiators was mopped up with a sponge and sold because people believed that drinking blood protected them against epilepsy.

Naturally, we did a little photo op. If you want more funny pictures, check out the facebook.

We bought a grouped ticket for the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and the Palatine.

We did the Palatine Hill next, and since we had no idea what we were looking at, I didn't know what to take pictures of. Honestly, there wasn't much to take a picture of anyway. But we later found out, myth has it, that Rome actually got its name from Palatine Hill. This is where the young boys Remus and Romulus were found by the wolf who raised them. They fought, Romulus killed Remus and hence the name Rome. The original Romans lived here. But honestly, there wasn't much of any buildings left.

Then we went to the Roman Forum. It used to be this grand meeting point in the center of the city, but now it's just ruins.

It was actually pretty cool to see how the city developed away from and around this area.

Sunday we went to the Vatican!! I had no idea what to expect going in. I was just super excited to see the Creation of Adam painting. We waited over an hour, but it wasn't so bad. We met this really nice girl in line who changed our lives with her secret gelato place.
The Vatican wasn't what I expected. (I don't know what I expected) But it was more of a walk through history and religions to see how Rome moved toward Catholicism.

Laocoon. The description is below the picture. But on a side note, I was extremely disappointed to find out that they left out this MAJOR character in the movie Troy. Hellooooooo Tom Selleck anyone?

This is Laocoon. The story goes that during the Trojan War, Laocoon, a priest of apollo in the city of Troy, warned the Trojans against taking in the wooden horse left by the Greeks outside the city. Athena and Poseidon, who were favoring the Greeks, sent two sea serpents which have wrapped themselves around Laocoon and his sons and are killing them.

The Belvedere Torso

This is just a marble torso but it is the most famous torso ever. There are many theories about the story behind it and who it's depicting, but we will never know!

The head of Sophocles.

Our walk toward the Sistine Chapel! The ceilings were just beautiful!

This is my favorite- 

So once we got in the Sistine Chapel I am already so overwhelmed by the history and how beautiful this place is, that I'm expecting the Creation of Adam to just blow me away and make me cry.

I missed it.

Just kidding, we were almost out of the Sistine Chapel and I was feeling very confused when Kelsey pulled out her book of magic and we started reading. The painting is in the middle of the ceiling, but it's very small. I was a little disappointed that the picture is my head was so over romanticized that I didn't even see it the first time, but once I figured out the layout of the paintings it was a pretty powerful moment. The banishment of Adam and Eve is there, the final battle from the book of Revelation, almost every story I've ever learned (and many I need to start reading up on!) were decorating the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel. It was so real. It made all of the stories come to life for me.

Then we headed to St. Peter's Basilica.

The view from the Dome.

There were chairs all set up because on Sunday they were celebrating something... Kelsey and I can't remember what it was! I think it was an inauguration of some people, which I know is really vague but we went over all of the times they've had outdoor ceremonies and they got all jumbled up!

The next sculpture I had no idea what I was looking at until I started Googling St. Peter's Basilica. This is Pietà which was created by Michelangelo. The description is below the picture, but holy moly! This is a super special, super famous work! This is the only work he ever signed because after he overheard someone give credit to Cristoforo Solari for making it, he added his signature to Mary's sash. He said he later regretted it and would never sign anything ever again. What a drama queen!

Four of her fingers broke off sometime in the 1700s as the statue was moved throughout the Basilica. They were repaired in 1736. But the worst incident was in 1972 when a geologist named Laszlo Toth ran into the Basilica and attacked the nearly 500-year-old statue with a geologist's hammer. Yelling "I am Jesus Christ," he took Mary's arm completely off from the elbow down, chipped a chunk out of her nose and damaged one of her eyelids. Since its restoration from the attack, the Pietà has been housed in a case of bulletproof acrylic glass. 

St. Peter's Basilica is famous for many reasons. Here are my fun facts:

• It is neither the mother church of the roman catholic church, nor the cathedral of he bishop of rome.
• It's where the disciple Peter is buried (supposedly his tomb is right below the altar). And while there is no solid proof, it’s said that during excavations in the 1940s they found the actual bones of Peter. However, there were no feet bones found oddly enough. But, theologists say that he was crucified upside down and rather than taking down the body appropriately, they just cut off the ankles and buried him.
• It's one of the largest churches in the world.
• There are 100+ tombs, which include 91 popes, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and Swedish Queen Christina who left her throne to become Catholic.
• All of the ‘paintings’ are actually mosaics!

Apparently there is a castle in Rome. Castle of the Holy Angel. We showed up about 10 minutes before it closed so we ran in, ran all the way up and around it and back out in under 10 flat. It was actually pretty cool! I was regretting not getting to go into a castle while in Europe but I did!

We had an awesome view over the river of St. Peter's Basilica and the castle.

We sat in Plaza Navona eating pasta with our red and white checkered table cloth, and suddenly a man playing an accordion showed up. Life Moment. We are sitting in Rome, eating pasta, with an accordion in the background, while the sunsets. What more could I ask for? It was like a story book.

Videos::

The next night we went to Plaza Fiori, which is where Caesar was killed and they burned people at the stake, but that fact aside it was the coolest atmosphere I've ever experienced. We sat with our 24 Euro bottle of wine watching the plaza come to life. Families came out, toy sellers came to entertain, dancers came, there was music.. it was so calm yet so full of life. I don't know how to put this into words. I started crying. Embarrassing I know, but in this moment I realized everything that I had experienced in the last 9 months. I don't know when sitting in a plaza in Europe became so normal everyday life that I didn't even think twice about it, but I had a moment. More than a Life Moment, it was an I Can't Believe This is Reality Moment. Especially after all of the things we'd seen in 3 days, I just sat there, in awe of everything I've been blessed with. God is so so so good.

I could not have asked for a better trip to end my semester with.