Italy Day One- Rome

There is so much to say about my trip to Italy that I will try to summarize it up in bullet points and short stories where needed.  The trip took place Saturday, November 24-Wednesday, November 28th.  Erin, Hope, Allie, and Liz were my travel buddies for the entire trip.  Denis, our friend from school who is studying in Spain, joined us for the first day in Rome and our day in Florence.  Saturday-Rome.  Sunday-Florence.  Monday-Pisa and Siena.  Tuesday-Siena and Rome at night.  Wednesday-Rome.

Here is the account of the first day- Rome.

I flew in to Ciampino Airport with Erin and Hope around 10:30am Italy time.  That has a nice ring to it doesn't it:  Italy time... We stepped outside and it was beautiful!  Exactly how I pictured Italy.  The warm weather was a shock- definitely something we are not used to in Ireland!  Anyway, we caught the bus into town... and that's when we got lost.  We hopped off of the bus outside of the train station and started following the crowd.  It took us about ten minutes before we realized that the further we walked, the more it smelled like sewage and garbage- not necessarily what I expected from Rome.  After a bit more walking we decided we definitely went the wrong way.  The whole time we were trying to get in touch with Allie, Liz, and Denis who were already in Rome.  We finally got in touch and told them we would meet them at the Vatican.  After referencing a map we headed in the other direction... and still couldn't figure out where we were.  We finally gave up and headed to the train station and took the metro over to Ottaviano.

At the Vatican we met up with the rest of the gang and got in line to try to get tickets for the mass with the Pope the next morning.  The line moved really fast and we finally made it through security and headed off to find the Bronze Doors.  A sign pointed us down an alley away from the crowd of people... so we cautiously followed the path.  Denis- who loves speaking to everyone in Spanish- asked a worker where the Bronze Doors were.  We were pointed up a set of step that were guarded by a fierce looking Swiss guard.  Hesitantly, we climbed up the steps towards the guard.  The closer we got, the more tense he became.  Once we were within  fifteen yards, two more guards came over with sharp spear looking things.  From what Denis understood from their broken Italish (Italian and English... pretty good mash-up right?) the tickets were sold out.  Disappointed- we headed out.

(Vatican City)

(One of the main fountains)

(Swiss guard)

Since we were already through security we decided to go to St. Peter's Basilica.  I have never seen anything so amazingly beautiful!  The detail of all of the paintings was unbelievable.  I recognized most of the layout, not because of pictures online, but because of the 3-D tours of the Vatican that Caroline made when she was interning for them four years ago.  It was very cool to be able to put two and two together and see it all in person.

(Inside St. Peter's)

(Backpacking in the Basilica)

My first piece of pizza and first gelato came from next door to Vatican City.  Although it was very good, it was not the best that we had in Italy.

(First gelato stop!)

After checking into the hostel (which had a great location-a two minutes walk from Vatican City- but was a little dodgy) we headed out to explore.  We took pictures by the river as the sun set, wandered aimlessly through the streets, threw coins into the Trevi Fountain while wishing to stay in Italy forever, and stared at the oculus in the Pantheon.  It was such a perfect night.  The sky was clear and the stars were out and not a drop of rain fell on us.

(Overlooking the river at sunset)

(The gang:  Allie, Liz, Hope, Erin, me, and Denis)

(Vatican in the distance)

(Orientation Group O!)

(Making a wish!) 

(All of the girls!)

We wandered over to Trastevere to find a restaurant that our friends had recommended to us.  When I say wandered, I mean wandered.  We walked up and down the street that it was supposed to be on and could not find the name of the restaurant anywhere!  After Denis asked for help (one of his favorite things to do) we were able to find the correct place.  While sitting there, so many people kept coming up to our table (since we were outside) trying to sell us stuff.  Our favorite was a man who tried to sell us a toy cat that danced and sang Shania Twain's song "Man, I Feel Like A Woman."  He must have come back at least five times.  Our dinner, on the other hand, was nothing short of remarkable.  It really hit the spot.  And to top it off, the waiter gave us free tiramisu because they all loved Obama and were happy to have Americans at their restaurant!

(Best caprese we had in Italy)

(Tiramisu courtesy of Obama!)

Tiramisu was obviously not enough for us on our first day in Italy, so we naturally had to get gelato before going to bed.  We looked up where exactly Old Bridge Gelato (highly recommended by Caroline and Mr. Matusiak) was and realized it was right next to our hostel.  The group of us ran over and got what was definitely the best gelato of Italy.  We got three large scoops for only 2euro!  And if you wanted they would put whipped cream on top for free!  We spent the next hour in Vatican City eating our gelato, taking pictures, and in Allie's case- doing handstands in front of St. Peter's.

(Old Bridge Gelato!)

That night, I slept on a bed that sunk to the ground completely on one side.  Ohhhh what a night that was.  I woke up feeling like I had aged fifty years in one night.  Thankfully when we went back to the hostel on Tuesday night they had taken the bed out!

Goodnight, Roma!

"May your feet never sweat,
your neighbor give you ne're a treat.
When flowers bloom, I hope you'll not sneeze,
and may you always have someone to sqeeze!"