Ciao,
The last stop on our journey was to Rome, Italy. At this point we were all dragging our feet and almost hoping that British Airways was going to follow through on a threatened strike so we could go home...boy am I glad this did not happen. I was exhausted from being in 3 different time zones in 6 days. But Rome was coming faster than any of us were ready for. Upon arriving in Rome I was instantly invigorated. This city has everything anyone could ever want in a city.
The first day we spent in Rome we decided to go on a 3 and a half our walking tour to most of the great sights. This is when the first unreal experience happened. While we were waiting for our guide to meet us we noticed that it looked like it was just going to be the 6 of us with our own personal tour guide. Little did I know that the guide that was approaching us hailed from our very own Midwest! Upon introductions he told us he came from Decorah Iowa. I instantly responded with the fact that I was from La Crosse! He laughed and we found out that we both frequent Dales downtown as well as Buzzard Billy's and the Starlight lounge. I quickly convinced him that he needed to see Oktoberfest sometime soon in the future. It was so incredibly nice to meet some one that knew things about where I was coming from. It instantly made me feel right at home. As he took us around to the sights we got to learn about all of the intense history on a level that was very entertaining to us. He was very talented not to mention is basically living the life in Italy.
Walking around the city of Rome was so comfortable. I never was nervous for my things or our well being. All the little alley ways were so charming and had little restaurants, cafes and most importantly gelato places. The people were also incredibly charming and polite. Our guide told us that in general Italians are very pro-American because there are so many Italian Americans that for the most part a lot of them know someone who lives in the States. I loved the area and the people so much that I am even considering taking Italian next year in hopes to be able to return and speak the language!
The next day was the first day we had a struggle with Ms. Mother Nature. It rained. This was especially unfortunate because this was our time to see the Trevi Fountain. Lucky for us there could basically be every obstacle in the world trying to kill some of the beauty of the fountain but it would never work. This fountain is the most breathtaking sight I have ever seen. When we turned the corner to see it overtaking its tiny little plaza my mouth dropped open. It is huge inside of a square that can barely have three lines of people in front of the fountain before the buildings close in on it. The water is the brightest turquoise and the marble statues seem larger than life. I think I took about 50 pictures of all of this. We each took our turn going down and throwing our coin in. I chose to through in a 50 cent Euro piece hoping that gives me extra assurance my wish will come true :)
This same day we also visited Vatican city. Here I climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica. This was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever down. As a person with mild claustrophobia I think they should have signs warning that at times you will be walking through hallways less than 2 feet wide haha. Also we had to climb these spiral staircases that were so steep we had to hold on to a rope... The sights from the top were amazing so it made it all worth it. After this we went to see the Sistine Chapel. It looks like something that belongs in a movie rather than something that was actually created such a long time ago. It felt surreal actually standing in almost silence underneath this piece of art.
Our last day in Rome we only had the morning to spend so we made sure we got the necessities over with. 1. more gelato, 2. buy stuff. We traveled to a very touristy area where they sold paintings and other things as souvenirs. And lucky for us there were about 50 gelato places in sight. I of course needed to get a painting of the Trevi but ended up getting talked into 3, one of the Colosseum, one of the Trevi and one of the plaza we were standing in buying our paintings. After making our purchases we entered a gelato shop where the owner told us he had nephews who would love to see America on the hands of such beauties... I tell you, you can really get a big head over here :) But after the impossible decision of what kinds to get we just sat on the curb and tried to take in all the rest of Rome we possibly could.
Rome is a place I know I have to go back to again. I don't know if I've ever experienced the feeling I had in Rome. It was like finding some place so far from home that just felt so natural. Needless to say a piece of me fell in love with Rome and I'm sure it'll stay there waiting for me to return so we can continue our little Love Affair :)
Enjoy the pictures :)
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