on sunday we went to Rome! we took a direct train to rome, which made the ride about an hour and a half with no stops. we left arrived at the main train station in Rome and realized it was far different than the cities we had visited thus far, the station was packed with people and filled with aggressive peddlers (Rome is definitely the place to keep close tabs on your belongings!). we made it out of the station and went straight to McDonalds (haha) only to use the bathroom, but my roommate ordered french fries (she was utilizing the italian she had learned in class, haha) and seriously they were by far the best McDonalds french fries i've ever had. Rome takes a lot of time! it's much more spread out than Florence so we knew the landmarks we wanted to see and went straight to our first spot, the colosseum. we struggled finding a legit tour of the colosseum without waiting in the actual colosseum ticket line for hours upon hours to get inside - so, we got hooked by a guy across the street from the colosseum that had a badge and seemed slightly legit but we were still a little unconvinced... it seemed unorganized but there were several others signing up for this tour so we paid and then left to grab lunch before our 12:30pm tour. we went to a restaurant overlooking the coliseum. i ordered a bacon, tomato, mozzarella, and pecorino cheese pizza - it was good but not the best pizza i've had in italy. we enjoyed our meal until it was time to go back to the meeting place of our colosseum tour. once we arrived there were even more people waiting for the tour, so that made us feel much better about the tour we had selected (it was the cheapest price we had found!). we had a guided tour in the colosseum with time to roam inside by ourselves and then we met outside the exit to continue the tour through the palatine hill and roman forum. i loved seeing the colosseum in real life after studying it in art history classes, the structure is just so much bigger when you're in person. and to imagine all that went into constructing it and what all took place inside its walls is crazy to think about. we met up with the tour group to walk over to palatine hill, on the way we stopped by the arch of constantine which is another awesome construction to see in person - the detail is gorgeous. another thing i had not realized was so big was palatine hill, that structures and buildings that make what is said to be the beginning of rome was ginormous. our tour guide for this portion of the tour was really knowledgable and made the history telling exciting and intriguing. i enjoyed hearing about palatine hill. we then finished off our tour overlooking the roman forum which is composed of many different ancient structures. it makes for gorgeous scenery and an array of history lessons. it is so cool to walk through such an expansive area of ancient history. after completing our tour our next stop was to cool down with water and gelato. Rome is no joke, it was hot and sunny! we walked toward the Trevi fountain (our next landmark to see) and found a gelato shop along the way. i got nutella gelato and we sat on the steps outside relaxing and taking a break from the hot sun. after gelato we walked to the Trevi fountain. we didn't realize it was sunk into the ground.. you have to walk down steps to get your coin toss pictures and feel the mist of the fountain! that's not quite how movies make it out to be! it was packed, but we found a spot to take pictures, toss our coins into the fountain, and make our wishes. after Trevi we walked to the spanish steps, another picture perfect roman landmark. there were so many steps!!!! and not quite what we expected, the Lizzie McGuire movie and When in Rome altered our expectations, not in a bad way though! after getting pictures on the steps we walked up. all. of. the. steps. woah. and wandered our way towards whatever place caught our eye for dinner. we ended up at a restaurant with a gladiator theme, haha. i got a rosso spritz, which was very refreshing, and spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil. it was a surprisingly good meal for stumbling upon it. after dinner we had to catch our train back to Florence. we booked tickets at a different station in Rome, which turned out to be a much nicer and less crowded train station than the main one in Rome. we took a taxi to the station and got on our direct train back to Santa Maria Novella! we had to get some italian homework done and study for our Monday quiz! overall Rome was a great experience, and it quite the place to jam pack so many sights in so little time (we clocked in 31 flights of stairs!). i can't wait to go back to Rome in a couple of days!
ciao! britney
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