Rome

Day 1

We woke up nice and early in our hotel in Wales to get to the bus stop in time which would take us to the coach stop we needed. After our coach ride we had a train ride which took us to the Gatwick Airport in London where we waited for our plane for a good amount of time. Wow our plane ride was so sketchy. When we were taking off and on the runway, we were jerked left and right about 3 or 4 times in both directions HARD! It even continued when we were in the air for a while. But we made it! It took a while for us to get our bags once we landed but as we were leaving the airport to find a taxi a man came up to us and offered to take us. I was surprised at how quick it happened! As he took my bag and led us out I started to get a little nervous..you know-with Taken running through my mind at all. So our driver leads us up to a sleek little unmarked car and tells us this is it. Warning sign? We get in and he hardly looks at the directions we gave him so in my mind that either means he is really good at his job and knows his way around the city or he doesn't care where our intended destination is because he is selling us into prostitution anyways. Panic. Not to mention he took about 3 hushed phone calls over the course of the ride. Also we were cruising at 140-cruising! Oh and weaving. Good heavens. Talk about an adrenaline rush! Who needs a roller coaster when you've got a cabby in Rome! 

Anywho..we made it to the door unscathed and he was even nice enough to take our bags from the trunk and call up to our host to let him know we were there. Kind man. We made our way upstairs and into the main room of our B&B and found that our host was so nice! And sometimes unintentionally funny! He gave us a map and marked out where the market is, the good gelato, his favorite restaurant, and where to pick up our Roma Pass the next day. He spent an hour with us answering all of our questions and making us feel so welcome. He even let us borrow his own personal adapter so we didn't have to go out and buy one. Such nice people!

Day 2

We woke up and walked the 20 minutes to one of the places that was designated for us to pick up our Roma Pass and once we found it they told us that the website was out of date and that we actually needed to pick them up at the Vatican. Um what?! Yeah..it turns out that that is actually a 3 hour walk in heat I haven't felt since last summer! I was not equipped for that!

But we passed this really cool bridge along the way!

And then I made us stop and put our feet in the river for a while

But we finally got our Roma Passes! Woot woot! I was actually so stoked!

So we rode all the way around on the bus tour that we bought so we could orient ourselves and figure out how long it took to get from each of the stops to another and that was basically our whole day! It was a lot of us trying to navigate our way through this foreign city but it was awesome!

Plus I got some pizza. This is like the cheesiest picture ever but its really not..I'm not hiding behind my pizza I swear! I'm taking my first bite of the back piece! I was so embarased that it looked like this when I saw it..oh heavens. 

Not the best picture but this is where we ate our gelato after we had pizza. Classic

Day 3

Yesterday we woke up and went straight to the Vatican Museum. It was really cool! 

The view from one of the Vatican windows

So thats a real mummy..

This was the ceiling! I felt like they had so many works of art and not enough room so they put them all on the ceiling! It was really rad. 

The Vatican. 

When we went to the Vatican it included the Sistine Chapel which was so much smaller than I thought it was going to be! It was about the same sq footage as one of the LDS chapels that I am used to. For some reason I thought it was going to be some big thing like St. Paul's Cathedral or something similar but it was really small and simple which ended up being really rad. They also enforce a dresscode here which I found really interesting. To get into the Vatican you were supposed to have your shoulders and knees covered..not that everyone did that..but to get into the Sistine Chapel it was mandatory for your shoulders to at least be covered-they made women wear theses paper shawl type deals if they didn't do it on their own. 

The Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, and The Sistine Chapel! 

So many pillars!

Then we went to the Spanish Steps. This building was seriously so impressive! I was surprised at how few people were at this cite since all of the other ones were so packed but it was a nice change. I loved this place! 

From the Spanish Steps we headed over to the...Pantheon! 

So so fun! Yesterday was actually so packed! We had to get all of the cites in! Busy busy!

One a separate note..Anybody know how this works!?

Then..the Trevi Fountain! I forgot to make a wish again because I was so focussed on trying to make a normal face for this monumental picture! Also this picture of Khrystalle and I took years! Everyone around us was so oblivious and kept walking directly in it! Thank heavens for nice people who were patient enough to take it!

Day 4

This morning we woke up and had some logistics to take care of. In my mind we would just fly to Rome- hang out, take a train to Pompeii-hang out, and then just go back and fly home! Wow so not the case! There is so much planning that goes on between all of the smaller things like busses and extra trains. So thanks to everyone who has ever planned anything for me! 

Anywho, this morning we went over to the train station that is next to us to get our tickets for tomorrows journeys. We thought it would be a quick half an hour deal and then we could just go on with our day-wrong. We were there for a total of 3 hours. After getting chatted up by a guy who asked way too personal questions for us to feel comfortable we scurried into a crowd where we hopefully wouldn't be found again and waited for our numbers to be called. Turns out we have to take 2 trains tomorrow to get to our place, oh and it's in Sarno, not Pompeii. Surprise! But in the end we got it all scheduled (we think) and made our way over to get some more gelato that is 'The Best in Rome'-do you know how many times I have heard that?! 

When we couldn't find the recommended place we settled for another gelateria and then headed for the..Colosseum! 

Most awkward pic of this trip..Couldn't figure out what to do with my hands and then mid-picture I laughed so not only are my hands strangely placed but my mouth resembles a beaver of a gofer! Heaven help me

After the Colosseum it was actually pretty late so we managed to find our way back to the realm of our B&B where we struggled for a good half an hour to find a recommended restaurant. Yeah-didn't find it. In our starvation we settled for a random place along the street where they had umbrellas to shade you. Not the best food or the most authentic but that wasn't what made the experience so terrible. We sat behind a group of 4 upper college aged kids who had a profane word come out of their mouths ever few seconds between the group of them and were trying to convince one another that 1. They were not racists, despite what their followers on twitter have been saying. 2. That girl (who as it turns out they don't even know) is a total slut. 3. Doesn't everyone know how smart they are? I mean..they have a law degree! 4. And who slept with who. Might I add that they also went as low as to make fun of people with Downs Syndrome. I wanted to say something to them about how inappropriate their conversation had been but didn't know how. Drat. To treat myself for that terrible encounter I went and got gelato. That fixes everything right?

Can you believe that today was my last day in Rome! I cannot! The time has flown by and I have really loved every minute of it. This city is incredible. I was constantly amazed at how in the midst of all of these modern buildings there were these amazing ruins smack dab in the middle of it all. I think that was my favorite part-just to see all of the history that is here is remarkable. 

I love Rome!