food coma, thanks rome.

Ciao! Jenna and I just got back from an unforgettable weekend in Rome, Italy. Seeing as though it was our first official trip alone, without help from AIFS, we were a little nervous, but when we put our two genius brains together, everything usually works out. Our journey started off a LITTLE bit rocky when we got to the airport an hour before our flight, to find an insane, and I mean INSANE line to check in. I kid you not, it was moving at a pace of about one person every 5 minutes.

making a wish at the trevi

After a little over 30 minutes, Jenna and I sprinted to security (we kind of cut the line, oops) and made it through security with 15 minutes to spare. Needless to say, I was a little stressed but knew what an incredible weekend we had ahead of us. After a quick hour and a half flight, we landed safely in Rome and headed to the taxis (our friend told us that it should only cost 40 euros total from the airport to her apartment). Once we got a cab, he informed us it would be 40 EACH! Jenna and I stared at each other annoyed, and got out immediately. We ultimately ended up getting one of those shuttle buses (you know how much I don't like those) because it was 45 total. After 7 people were crammed into the shuttle, we made it to the apartment. By the way, we stayed with my friend Kristen who is in Kappa with me. Her apartment is super cute, pretty close to the Vatican and also close to town. She lives with 5 other girls and a couple of them go to Berkeley as well.

gelato!!

Once we got to Kristen's apartment and put our stuff down, Jenna and I snapped into tourist mode. We knew we had to kick it into high gear right away since we only really had one full day in Rome. We went straight to the Colosseum, passing by the Piazza Venezia, a huge white monastery-like looking building. We walked up the stairs to the piazza and got some good pictures, and then moved onto the Colosseum. Of course, we had to make a pit-stop. OUR FIRST GELATO IN ROME! We got a scoop of vanilla with chunks of nutella on a cone. YUM YUM YUM. We were literally in heaven. I must have looked like a little girl again because I had the biggest smile on my face as we walked toward the Colosseum with our gelato. Seeing the Colosseum in person was unbelievable. Of course I've seen it in movies, but to see it in real life... it's so huge and just so old, it almost seems unreal to think that it was used in the Medieval times. We went to go buy tickets for the entire inside of the Colosseum but when we did, the lady at the counter told us entrance is free the next day. So of course, trying to budget our euros, we decided to come back the next day to go inside.

piazza venezia

After the Colosseum Jenna and I headed to the Pantheon. That was so gorgeous. All the columns and exterior design were so incredible. We walked toward the entrance, but there was "Prayer in Session" so we walked around a little, and then came back to go inside the Pantheon. It was so beautiful: there were sculptures, frescas, paintings, and there the painter's tomb was inside as well (what a legit place to be buried!). After a long afternoon of site-seeing, we went back to Kristen's apartment and got ready for our night out. We went to dinner at this adorable italian restaurant (of course) and Jenna and I were in heaven. I got a Ragu Fettucine and Jenna got a Pesto Fettucine. Nothing like fresh italian pasta. In addition, we got the house wine and it truly was the perfect meal to start our italian adventures! After dinner we went out to a Reggae dance concert and this other outdoor club. Overall, day & night number one was a success.
The next morning, we got up early to make sure we fit in everything we wanted to see. Our first stop was lunch... Of course, we need to fuel ourselves with italian carbs. This time, we decided to try the pizza, since we already got pasta the night before. I got veggie pizza (classic) and Jenna got mozzarella with tomatoes and basil. Instead of wine, we had a huge pitcher of tap water... If you did not know, Prague's tap water is, for lack of a better word, dirty (sometimes it comes out brown and you have to let it run for a few seconds before using it). Needless to say, we were so thrilled to have tap water. After another delicious meal, we continued toward the Vatican. After reading Angels and Demons I thought I had a pretty good visual on what the Vatican would look like. Nope, I was completely wrong. I had no idea that it was its own city-state in Italy! It was so cool to stand on the outside and look all around and see the museum, post office, fountains, and gardens all enclosed in one area. We wanted to do the Vatican the real way, so we bought tickets for a tour of the museum, and the Sistine Chapel.

vatican city

Walking through the beautiful gardens and seeing all the magnificent statues was awesome. The museum tour took us through several galleries, hallways, and rooms that were detailed with frescas and other paintings. After a long build up of suspense, we made it to the Sistine Chapel. WOW. Jenna and I were listening on our audio tour (we're such losers) and learned all about the work Michelangelo did for the chapel. The entire ceiling and all the walls are composed of paintings by him, each telling a different story. Overall, the Sistine was by far the most intricate and beautiful place we visited. When we were done with our tour, we headed back toward town but made a quick pit-stop... GELATO NUMBER 2 of our trip. I had heard that this place called Old Bridge Gelateria was one of the best in Rome, so inevitably, we were there. They gave you three scoops for the price of one. Since it was so hot, I stuck with refreshing strawberry, pineapple and vanilla. It was so delicious yet again. Thank god I don't study in Rome... You wouldn't recognize me when I got back to the States. Next, we met up with Kristen and went back to the Colosseum, this time to go inside. Like I said earlier, there is so much history in the Colosseum, it is a little chilling to actually be in there and imagine what it must have been like ages ago in the medieval times. We got to see the ruins and take amazing pictures from the top of the Colosseum.

colosseum!

Afterward, we ended our long day of touring at the Trevi Fountain. It was swarming with so many tourists. We had to shove our way down to the foot of the fountain because there was absolutely no way I would go to Rome and not make a wish at the Trevi Fountain! We threw our coins in and made our way back to the apartment. Jenna and I had to sit down for a while and rest because our feet were dying (We had been walking for 8 hours straight). After a nap and some down time, we changed and had dinner with Kristen at this outdoor restaurant. Again, amazing pasta and wine, and great company. It was so good catching up with Kristen and spending time with her in Rome. After dinner, Jenna and I actually met up with some girls that go to Washington, one of her sorority sisters is actually studying in Rome for the quarter. They were all really nice and fun to hang out with. After another fun night, we got back to Kristen's apartment and fell asleep right away. This morning we woke up, packed our bags, got some souvenirs, and headed to the airport. Honestly, this weekend was so great because Jenna and I got to travel by ourselves, and to a destination that we have been wanting to see the entire time we've been in Europe. We had so much fun, ate amazing food, and loved all the sites. CIAO!