...do not sleep too late.

So the first week in Rome has already gone by. Kind of depressing...but I was really excited to start my classes. That's a lie. But once I went to them I got more excited. It was a lot of fun being able to go out in Rome every night and go to some of the coolest clubs and bars I've ever been to. Wine is amazing. I never really liked it back home, but it's so much better here. Obviously...it's Rome. However, I felt like I wasted a few days because we would wake up late and have to do stuff at school, so I didn't really get to go around Rome that much. Luckily I found out that one of my friends from Gonzaga is also studying abroad in Rome which is so awesome. He's so sweet and it's really nice having someone I know here from high school and not just UMD. He lives in Trastevere which is SUCH a pretty area. He showed us around on Thursday night and it was a really pretty tour.

I also forgot that one night last week we went to Piazza Navona so here's a picture of that:



However, I still hadn't seen much of the touristy things yet, so on Saturday we got up at 9am, went to a BBQ at school, and headed to the Spanish Steps. It was a group of six of us, don't worry Mom and Dad, I've been staying in big groups! It was me, my awesome roommate Melissa, my friend Jamie from UMD, this girl Blair from Michigan State that I already know is going to be my bff here, her roommate Diane who is from San Diego and I envy her (she's really cool too), and Dom who goes to Michigan State with Blair (haha he had to hang out with all the girls that day. He loved it).

It took us a while to go from one bus to the other to get there, and some weird creepy man was doing some really inappropriate stuff on the bus that I do not feel comfortable sharing on my blog, but we finally made it. At first I was like okay...this is cool, it's really crowded, it smells like horse poop, what's the big deal...and then we got closer and saw the fountain and actually went up the steps and I changed my mind. The Spanish Steps are awesome. The view was so cool, uh!...it was beautiful! I can't wait to go back in the Spring and see it with all the flowers.

So after we took a bunch of pictures and walked up the Spanish Steps, when went and got some gelato! What I got was the craziest looking thing ever. It looked like something from a Dr. Seuss book.



I definitely did not get a normal gelato. Not exactlty sure what I ordered...but it was a LOT of gelato with colorful cookie sticks sticking out of it and waffle cone triangle pieces just stuck to it. It looked so cool. However, I'm never getting that again because it was humongous and cost 15 euro. Absurd. But it was so good and a few of us could split it. I know Lita thought I was crazy when I told her I split gelato. But the thing fed four of us really well. It was huge. Anyway...moving on, to my favorite part of the day.

Well before I say what my favorite was, I have to add that we stopped off at McDonald's because we all wanted to see what it looked like. One of my friends here said he hated it because it put American McDonald's to shame. So true. There was a McCafe that was so nice, and then there was the McDonald's part behind it that was really cool. They had pillars in there, and nice tables with weird lights. It was crazy. So much nicer than any other McDonald's I have ever seen. So I ate some great french fries that taste just like they do in America, and my friend Blair ate two cheeseburgers faster than I've ever seen anyone eat. She's awesome. I can tell we're going to be great friends. She's such a riot. So we got McDonald's, went to some other shops, and THEN we went to my favorite spot.

The Trevi Fountain. It is by far the prettiest fountain ever. It has to be. I could have looked at that thing all day. The water was so clear, the architecture was amazing. I was just in awe. We all were. So we took a lot of pictures of that. And of course, we all made our wishes! I can't tell you mine though or else it won't come true...so don't ask! But yes, it's about a boy, of course.









So that was Saturday. Then Saturday night we all went out to dinner and like 9pm (21:00) and I had some amazing lasagna. Everyone's food was so good. One guy got pizza that was amazing. Another guy got just plain chicken (haha it was funny because he was expecting to have a chicken marsala dish and ended up getting just chicken with a few tomatoes and some lettuce type stuff). But it was the best chicken ever. A couple girls got spaghetti, another guy got some other pasta that was delicious, but the meal of the evening went to Diane who had some great pasta. I can't even remember what it was called but I'll find out from her and write it on here. It was delicious. So that was our first real sit down Italian meal. I'm really excited to try more places.

I think right now I'm going to explore a little bit more around here with a few friends, and if not I'm going to go grocery shopping. I really need food in my apartment. Mom, those peanut M&Ms are keeping me alive at times when I'm too lazy to go find food. But I'm going to the market today for sure so don't worry.

Anyway, time to go! Ciao!

p.s.- Love you Mom and Dad :)