When in Rome

This past weekend was my first trip with the school to Rome. We took a coach bus which was cool because we got to see the tuscan countryside. What was not cool was the fact that by the time we got to Rome it was raining, hailing, and blizzarding! This was the first time Rome had gotten snow in 25 years! So of course, like any snowless city, they didn't know how to deal with it. Our planned tours of the Colleseo, Foro Romano, and ancient ruins were all cancelled for the afternoon, even though by the time we got to our hotel it was sunny and all the snow had melted! Despite the slight setback, we checked into our hotel and ventured out to see the Colosseum, which happened to be right around the corner from our hotel. As we rounded the corner I think my mouth literally dropped open. It's one of the most known architectural images in our history, and yet, unless you are actually standing right next to it, you can't possibly imagine the feelings you get- I was speechless. Our tour guide for the trip, Francesca, walked us around the Colosseum and Arch of Constantine giving us historical significances and telling us storied. We snapped pictures for another half an hour and then it was on to the Roman Forum. I have literally never seen so many ancient ruins before- VERY cool sight. The rest of the night was given to dinner at the hotel and going out. My friend, Mariana, and I went to this Irish pub near the Colosseum which was basically like an American sports bar. Go Beer.
The next day was the trip to the Vatican. We took our bus to the Vatican City and got a tour of the Vatican Musuems, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. I'd say the most memorable part of the whole trip for me was definitely being inside the Sistine Chapel. You're not technically allowed to speak or take picture- but everyone does- so I got plenty of great pictures of Michelangelo's ceiling.
St. Peter's Basilica was also really cool. It's the biggest church in the entire world and there are these markers on the floor of the nave that are labeled with other churches names basically showing that if they were placed inside St. Peter's where they would compare length-wise. Basically none even compare to how huge St. Peters is.
After the Vatican (which I wish we saw more of) we took the Metra to the Spanish steps and had lunch at a little spaghetteria down one of the side streets. I had the best spaghetti carbonara! Surprisingly it has eggs in it, and I don't even like eggs. Trying new things every day.... expanding my palette.
On our last day in Rome, we saw the Trevi Fountain. It was Valentine's day so I thought it was pretty romantic, even though I was all by myself ha! I through a coin into the fountain, so hopefully I'll come back to Italy!
Overall, the trip went by fast. Maybe I'll get back to Rome, because it's definitely a big enough city to take up at least a week of touring around. Needless to say, though, I was happy to be back in my smaller city of Florence Sunday night and get a full 10 hours of sleep before class on Monday.

More soon, Ciao for now!