When in Rome

As I mentioned at the end of my last entry, the plan for the weekend of April 23-25 was to head south to Rome. We crossed our fingers that the skies opened up again after the epic eruption of Eyjafjallajökull. Then even after things started to sound more optimistic that we'd make it out, we were slightly worried that we'd get to Rome, but not get back, because then it was in the news that one of the other volcanoes could possibly erupt!

Well, Thursday night rolled around and we were still going forward with our plans. As far as we knew our flight was still on schedule. Katie Roz actually backed out at first, but after having a productive evening working on her paper, decided to take a chance and risk getting stranded :) We headed out on the late night bus and were at Dublin Airport at about 4:30 AM. Our flight left bright and early at 6:30 AM.

When we got to Rome it was raining. This was not good--the tennis shoes I had packed were starting to fall apart and there were huge holes in the bottoms. And seeing as it rained almost all day Friday, my feet were SOAKED at the end.

Anywho, after we got in to the city from the airport, I called my friend Lindsey from UWEC who is studying abroad there this semester. Upon hearing I was going to be in Rome, she offered to show us around and have dinner! We met up at the train station near our hostel and she took us to the Colosseum. She was a fountain of information--how she remembered all that information astounded me. And we came at the perfect time because it was Culture Week and a lot of places were free to get in to--including the Colosseum! Woot woot! Last week was also Rome's 2,763 birthday!!

The Forum

After the Colosseum, we went to check in to our hostel. The place was called the Overseas B&B. The office was super tiny and the guy at the desk went to take us to our room, which was actually located in a building around the corner on the next street over! We were wondering where he was taking us! The elevator was super tiny and wouldn't close because we had too much stuff in it, so we had to take the stairs. We were in room 401, but it felt like way more than just 4 flights of stairs! The room wasn't too bad. We were in a 4 person so didn't have to worry about sharing it with any creepers. After getting our stuff settled in, we went to Lindsey's neighborhood and she took us to her favorite gelato place. It was delicious!!! and only 1.50 for a cone with up to 3 flavors! Good deal!
Our next stops were Trevi's Fountain, the Pantheon, and then the Spanish steps. The steps were beautiful and decorated with hundreds of pink flowers! Trevi's fountain was amazing too.

The Pantheon

The Pantheon

Fontana di Trevi

Purrrdy

Lindsey= Rome Expert!

Next, Lindsey took us to one of her favorite restaurants in Rome, La Fate (The Fairy) For 10 Euro, we got a 3 course meal: a delicious appetizer, some pesto pasta (my favorite) and a nutella tart dessert. Oh, and not to mention wine :) It was a phenomenal day in Rome, despite being rainy and we were so grateful for Lindsey for all the places she showed us! She got us on the bus we needed to get back to our hostel. I showered, got ready for bed and then was out!!

SATURDAY.

We were woken up at 8:30 by our breakfast delivery provided by the hostel (we had requested that time!) It was croissants and OJ and little cake things. We were all really tired, and unanimously agreed it'd be awesome if we slept a little longer. We ended up not getting out of bed till 10:15! we quickly got ready and then headed down to the metro and got in line for the Vatican Museum...which was super long! We probably waited for 40 minutes. I had thought the Vatican museum was going to be all about Catholicism and all of the Popes but little did I know it was Art...and the location of the Sistine Chapel haha. Shows how much I know. Some of the statues were pretty cool, and the other art work, but like the Louvre, it all started to look the same after awhile. We were there for probably 3 hours. The Sistine Chapel, which was more towards the end of our visit, was INTENSE. I figured there would be a possibility of no pictures--which Yes, was the case, but you're not supposed to really talk at all. There were guards that kept Shushing everybody. I saw one lady leaning back to take a picture and a guard came over and chewed her out and asked her if she wanted to get kicked out. It was nuts.


After leaving the Vatican, we grabbed some pasta at a restaurant nearby. For some reason all I wanted to do was eat...it may have been PMS but it may have also been because we were in a country known for its delicious food! When we left I was really excited for it to be time to eat again. We had talked about going to a restaurant Katie's friend Beth that I met in Paris had been to when she was in Rome that had delicious tirimasu. That would have to wait however, because our next stop was St. Peter's Basilica. It was beautiful. I had a bit of a blasphemous moment, however. There was a service going on while we were there and there was a priest who was dressed in white, which I'm sure is the general apparel for the priests in Italy, but I said to Katie, "Is that the Pope?" and she said "No" and I said (in a whisper, mind you) "DAMN!" and then immediately placed my hand over my mouth and mentally prayed for forgiveness.
After checking out the inside of the church, we headed up the stairs to the dome. CRAZIEST SET OF STAIRS EVER. There were multiple different kinds, long ones that were used for horses (why there would be horses inside going up and down the stairs I'll never know) Towards the top they got really narrow and part of the wall slanted over us so we had to go sideways. I was really huffing and puffing towards the end and I thought I was going to keel over. The view was well worth it though. I couldn't help but think while I stood and leaned on the railing, "Little Katie Andrist, from little old Elk Mound, Wisconsin, is looking at almost all of Rome right now." I just honestly can't believe this has happened to me, and that I've gone to all these amazing places. I am very near being broke financially right now, but seriously, it's been worth it because I will never have a chance to go to this many cool places for the prices that I have ever again, and I would have never met all the people I met this semester.
Anyway...I'll save the reminiscing, what-I've-learned-and-how-I've-changed sentimentality for another entry. Here are some pictures from the top of the dome.



After the dome, we headed out to find Katie's tiramisu (how do you even spell that?! My Firefox spell check keeps underlining it) restaurant. On the way, we passed a little market with a bunch of stands. I ended up buying a bracelet with letter beads and it says Italia. It was only 3 Euro and was really cool. It looks like something I could have made myself...haha. We found the restaurant, which was a pizzeria. The cutest old Italian man ever worked there. The pizza was really good, as was the bruschetta we ordered, along with the free bread wedges the guy gave us, the wine and tiramisu! You'd think after having that big of a meal we'd be done eating--but no--we tracked down the gelato place Lindsey took us to the night earlier. It was still delicious the 2nd time. I got a flavor called something like Chocolate Fondue, and it was sooo good and dark but very drippy. I ended up with chocolate all over my face. We caught the bus at the same stop and headed back to the hostel.

Our flight Sunday left at 10:55 AM. It was nice to not have to crash at the airport this time. Katie headed off to Poland. I am a little sad I didn't make it to Poland because I had really wanted to see Auschwitz, but I can't really complain. I still find it hard to believe I can say I've been to Rome. All these places used to seem so far away and unattainable. Oh boy. Here I go again!

This week is Reading Week...our lectures have ended and finals start next week. I have started studying, maybe not as much as I should. All my finals are essay exams...yuck! Luckily I know for the most part exactly what questions will be on them and I can pick which ones I want to do, so that should make studying less of a challenge than trying to cram everything in to my brain.

This weekend a big group of us are going to the Wicklow Mountains, where Braveheart and like, omg...PS I LOVE YOU was filmed. We are going to Dublin Friday to do a little souvenir shopping because they actually have shops with decent prices, spending the night in a hostel, and then doing a tour Saturday and then heading back Saturday night.

oh and ps. I ended up throwing my shoes out...they got so wet from the rain and smelled really bad and the bottoms were just completely obliterated!

Ciao!