So last week was a big week in Rome! On Friday we all were able to get up early(ish) and head to Vatican City. On the way there, we all got pretty hungry so we decided to stop a cute little restaurant pretty close to the Vatican. The weather was great (about mid 60s) and so we decided to eat outside. We sat down and a very nice Peruvian man (found that out because he had a Spanish accent) came to take our orders. "Vino russo e vino blanco, per favore. oh..e acqua." It's weird having to pay for water when you sit down at a restaurant. It's also a complete rip off. I'm starting to bring a water bottle around with me and just fill it up in any fountain I see. In Rome you can drink water from any of the fountains because it's all purified from the aqueducts that the Romans built way back when. However, wine you have to order. Unfortunately they don't just have wine flowing out of every fountain. If only. So along with the wine we did get food. I ordered the most delicious lasagna! (It's my go to order.)
We were all stuffed, but decided the gelato looked way too good to pass up... so we got that too.
When we were finally finished we asked for the bill (in Spanish, not Italian, which was a nice change). We knew that it was going to be expensive. Somehow we could just sense it. Any one want to take a guess??
Answer: 142€ for four of us.
So...what have we learned?? When in Rome, DO NOT order food from a place that doesn't give you a menu with the prices!! I know...I'm so dumb.
Moving on. We made it to the Vatican with fairly empty pockets. Luckily we got student discounts that made it pretty cheap to get in. However, I totally would've paid full price to see this place. It was beautiful. Completely amazing. So much detail! And history! It's amazing. And it all leads up to the Sistine Chapel. I could have stood in that room for hours. I don't know why but I always thought it would be bigger and be its own building. For those who haven't been yet, it's about the size of any other chapel (which makes sense) but it blows any other chapel out of the water. You stand in the middle of the room and look up and immediately see the famous painting of God creating Adam. Then from there the pictures go on to tell the entire story of the Bible. I wanted to look around more so that I could figure out each story. It was so cool. I'm definitely going back.
On Sunday I had another exciting day. My cousin Heather and her husband, James, came up from Naples to spend the day with me! They also brought me peanut butter! (One thing you can't usually find at the market.) Oh, and they pretty much paid for me all day. They're the best! Shut out to Heather and James!!
When they got there I decided I wanted to put my navigation skills to the test, and so I first took them around Trastevere. It's such a pretty area and I spend a lot of time there, especially when I go out at night. From there we saw the Tiber River and headed towards Piazza Navona. It was another beautiful day so it was perfect to see the three fountains. Then we went to the Pantheon where we stopped at a near by pizzeria to get, the obvious, pizza. We continued on towards the Colosseum.
I'm sure I sound fairly redundant saying everything is so cool, but everything here really is amazing. I've waited years to see the Colosseum, and actually being in it is such an experience. Our tour guide was a funny little man with a thick accent. (I think he was from somewhere in Northern Europe? Not sure.) He made the experience very educational and interesting.
After the Colosseum we headed to the Ancient Roman City. You really were able to put yourself back into what it might have been like in Ancient Rome. There were some amazing views here. Please go to my Facebook to look at the rest of the pictures. They are all amazing.
It was a very busy weekend and it was so awesome to have my cousin come visit me! next weekend I'm heading to Prague, so stay posted to hear all about the Czech Republic!
For now...ciao!
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