Buona Serata da Roma!

(clearly the title isn't quite fitting anymore, but you'll understand why after reading!)

Cory AND Kelsey here, taking a break out of our busy tourist schedule to blog a bit about the amazing time we are having in this beautiful city.  We have seen, done, and experienced so many amazing things, and it's only day 3!  A brief overview of what we have learned so far: in Rome, there exists an abundance of ruins, pizza, gelato, ruins, fake Louis Vuitton purses, nuns, and more ruins.  But really, never seen more nuns and priests in my life, really causes us to watch what we say! 

Day 1.
We started our day at 5am in Paris, where we struggled to make it to the bus stop across town by 6:30am for a flight that left at 9:30am.  We arrived in Rome finally at noon and were greeted with blazing sun and warm temperatures...Kelsey makes fun of me for saying "blazing sun" because it really wasn't, but hey, I'm used to dark, cold, and dreary Paris, Rome is like heaven to me!  We made the trek to our hostel, which is a bit from the city center, but well worth it.  The staff are all so amazing and friendly, and incredibly helpful...when we arrived, they escorted us outside to the garden, served us water and coffee, and sat down with us to go over maps and a full itinerary for our 3.5 days here!  We are staying in a 4 person room, our two other bunkmates were a girl from Canada (who now lives in Paris), and a guy from Brazil, but they have both checked out since.  Now we have a new roommate whom we have yet to meet! 

After figuring out a plan for the week, we set off.  First stop: pizza. Supposedly this place won the award for the best pizza in Rome in 2007. It sure deserved that prize. We both got pizza with chunks of mozzarella and tomato and basil, and we were in heaven. From there we set out on some site seeing to the Spanish Steps. We tried to catch a tour group, but unfortunately couldn't find them, so we set off on our own. We walked to the Trevi Fountain, made our wishes, took our pictures, and then just wandered. Next thing we knew we were at the Pantheon. From there we went to Piazza Navona for our first taste of gelato (pistachio for me and caramel for Kelsey...so good)!  We wandered some more, capturing the picturesque Italian alleyways, until we came across the Castel Sant' Angelo. Kelsey had a little freak out moment thinking it was the Colosseum...what a letdown.  We made up for it by coming across the Vatican next.  What a gorgeous city and a gorgeous moon in the backdrop. We decided to call it a night from there and hopped on the bus home.

Hostel Lodi

Delicious mozzarella and tomato pizza...first taste of Rome!

At the foot of the Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

We made our wishes!

Pantheon by night.  I love my camera.

Castel Sant' Angelo

Vatican by night

Day 2.
Early start. Had breakfast at the hostel which consisted of glazed croissants (pas francias), orange juice, hot chocolate, and coffee. First stop of the day was the Colosseum. Amazing. It is truly unbelievable that something like this is still standing, especially as in tact as it is. We walked around the inside perimeter for a while before deciding we wanted to check out the rest of the Roman ruins nearby. The major street connecting the two areas was shut down to vehicles because it was a Sunday, so we found ourselves walking down the center of the boulevard, avoiding the useless-toy vendors harassing everyone, gawking at the Trojan warrior-clad posers, and dodging the millions of other tourists who had the same idea as us that day, all while enjoying the bright, warming sunshine. When we came across the ruins, it was nice to take pictures and view it from the outside, but we decided it wasn't worth our 10 euros to get inside, so we kept walking. We came across a huge palace called Vitto Riano. We still aren't sure what exactly it was, but it was gorgeous and grand and definitely photo-worthy. From there we wandered through the Jewish Ghetto, past the Kosher pizza and pasta restaurants and the outdoor terraces brimming with diners, all to get to our destination: Trastevere neighborhood. This is a less touristy area of Rome, on the other side of the river, and therefore restaurant prices are cheaper. We made it there in time for a late lunch. After walking up and down the main street, taking photos of the laundry hanging out the windows, the children running through the plaza, and the adults enjoying gelato by the fountain, we settled into the patio of a cozy restaurant with an incredible menu. The choices seemed to be too overwhelming, however, and we both ended up settling on pizza. I ordered a pizza with eggplant, zucchini, and red peppers on it, and I will say this to the day I die...best. pizza. ever. No joke, I have never enjoyed food so much before. It also didn't hurt that the entire jumbo "personal" pizza was only 4 EUROS!! If any of you are heading to Rome soon, or ever, head to Trastevere neighborhood, on Lungaretta street, I think the name of the restaurant was Carlo Monte, or something similar...sooo good!! After our rejuvenating lunch, well I guess it was the cappuccino that followed that really did the trick, we got our second wind! We decided to make our way to the opposite end of the city, where we heard there was an amazing viewpoint. We detoured to the Pantheon so we could see it again in the daylight. We walked along the Via del Corso to take in all the shops and people. Then we made it to the Piazza del Popolo, where we found ourselves running through the piazza, up the stairs, and through the woods to get to the viewpoint before sunset. We made it. We assumed the role of Asian tourists and began snapping away, playing with the settings on our cameras to get the perfect pictures, and I think we got quite a few gems that night. We then decided to take a leisurely stroll to wherever we found public transportation and head home. Our stroll led us past the Villa Medici, essentially a huge mansion, and the top of the Spanish Steps, before we found ourselves in the modern, busy city area of Barberini. Hopped on the metro, then the bus, and an hour later we were home and ready to relax. No dinner for us that night as we were full from lunch for a good 2 days. Hung out with some of the great people staying in our hostel and called it an early night.

Exterior Colosseum

Interior Colosseum

Vitto Riano

View from Piazza del Popolo

more gelato...

Day 3.
Up bright and early yet again (after 3 days of non-stop walking, this waking up early thing was already getting old) to head to the Caracalla Roman Baths.  We weren't sure exactly how to get there, as it wasn't on the map, but we managed to find our way no problem!  Before arriving, we were expecting to see actual baths still in tact, empty yes, but holes in the ground at least...but no.  Instead of holes in the ground, we were looking up at towering columns of rock and archways and tile work galore.  It was stunning, especially when you think about HOW they built these things, but admittedly a little disappointing.  We decided to make our way back into the city center to visit the Vatican City.  I was so excited to see this, to see the famous ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to see the monstrosity of St. Peter's Basilica, to see the square (circle?) bustling with people and tourists.  We waited in line (in front of San Diego Chargers football player, Kevin Burnett...random!) and once through the doors I was in awe.  Gold detailing, spiral altar, amazing sculptures, preserved pope bodies (really), it was truly incredible.  After this, in our rush to see everything and lack of motivation to pay the entrance fees for museums, we decided to pass on visiting the Vatican Museum.  Unfortunately it wasn't until much later that we stupidly realized the Sistine Chapel is INSIDE the Vatican Museum, but it was too late to go back, and my dream of seeing Michelangelo's painting was crushed.  Gives me an excuse to go back to Rome at least!!  We decided to stroll along the river until we happened upon the Castel Sant' Angelo again, but this time in daylight...definitely not as cool as nighttime.  We stopped in the Trastevere neighborhood again for lunch in an effort to save as much money as possible, and this time found a quaint little family-style restaurant in a tiny piazza.  We each ordered caprese salads to start (my favorite!), and then Kelsey ordered home-made lasagna, and I order spinach and ricotta raviolis with a sage butter sauce.  Definitely home-made.  Definitely delicious.  Definitely calorie-packing.  Whatever, we're on vacation, right?  We topped it off with our third round of gelato (1 a day, as they say!) before hopping on the bus back home.  We decided since it was our last night in Rome, we would go home, relax a bit with a bottle of wine, write a blog about our trip, hang out with our hostel friends, and then head to a bar we had heard about just around the corner from the hostel.  Well it was a good idea in theory...we got the wine and the relaxation down, but we were surprised to find no one back at the hostel when we arrived.  We drank our wine, visited with the front desk worker, wrote about day 1 in Rome, and then said screw it, we were way too preoccupied to write...and here I am, 10 days later, finally finishing.  We ended up gathering some people (5 others!) to join us at this bar, where we hung out for maybe 30 minutes before they decided to close on us.  Quite the uneventful night, but fun nonetheless! 

Caracalla Baths

Vatican by day

Interior Vatican

Vatican Square (circle really)

Kelsey and I with our new friends Barry (from DC) and Mario (Italian)

Day 4.
Our train to Florence was departing at 6 pm.  How do we kill 8+ hours in a city where we have seen and done everything?  So, we walked.  And walked some more.  Came across a church where they used real human bones as artwork.  Chilling.  Came across the Spanish Steps for the third time.  Ate more gelato.  Walked some more.  Headed back to the train station early.  Came across a huge traffic roundabout with a giant fountain in the middle.  Hastily made our way across the street.  Sat at the fountain.  Looked at all our pictures on our cameras.  Gawked at the drivers speeding by.  Avoided the creepy looks and honks from taxi drivers.  Headed to a cafe for a caffe.  Then, it was time to catch our train.  Found the train, found our seats, and got comfy with no problems.  Began reading my book to kill time.  2 pages later, I was out cold.  Hello Florence!

Soaking in the sun, sitting by the fountain, with cars zooming past