February 8, 2012 - Roma!

So day 1 in Roma:

Roma!

I was up by 1 AM on Wednesday morning to get showered and ready to be out the door by 2:25 to catch the bus.  We had to take two different buses and a train ride to get to the airport, but all went well and we made it to Rome safe and sound.  Our first stop was (of course) to get some Italian food.  I got some delicious pizza, and after we asked the restaurant owner for directions to get us to the place we were staying.  We took out a map of Rome and were trying to figure out where we were on the map and where our place was when he informed us, confusedly, that we were in Florence.  I basically about fainted and couldn’t believe that we’d taken the wrong bus out of the airport and ended up in Florence.  We wondered if there was a language barrier or something, and that he hadn’t understood us, but he brought over our waiter and they both confirmed that we were in Florence and not Rome.  Finally they started cracking us and told us they were joking.  They showed us how to get there and sent us on our way.  This was my first taste of Italians.

First food in Rome!  Pizza, of course.

We dropped off our stuff in our…apartment thing.  It was kinda sketchy, not awful, but let’s just say I made sure NEVER to go barefoot around the place and we kept our doors locked at all times.  The place was kinda a studio apartment, where we all shared one room, there was another bedroom where we were told an American couple would be staying, a bathroom for our room in the hall, and a creepy kitchen for us to share.  Not an ideal place, but at least it wasn’t a hostel where we might wake up to a guy spooning us, or so we’ve been told.

After we dropped our stuff off we decided we’d spend the day walking around Rome.  We checked out the Monumento a Vittovio Emanuel II (the Rome Parliament Building)- definitely one of my favorite buildings.  This building was HUGE and beautifully white. 

Monumento a Vittovio Emanuel II

In front of the building

Saw the Foro Tralano (a tall pole thing made by the Egyptians),

The Egyptian pole thingy...

the Pantheon (stunning inside.  It has a huge dome that you just can’t believe.  It was sooo tall and high up.  It had beautiful architecture inside, although it was a bit busy for my taste, what with all the gaudy decorations everywhere),

Pantheon.  Love the girl in the background.

Inside the Pantheon...with blurry tourist friends in the background.

 and the Trevi Fountain (which is one of my favorite things in Rome.  This is a huge white carved stone fountain that is absolutely stunning!)

Trevi Fountain

Best place ever!

We got gelato there, which is the best thing in the world.  Seriously, I’ll never be able to eat normal ice cream again.  Doesn’t even hold a candle to gelato.  And really, there is nothing better than chilling at the Trevi Fountain just eating gelato.  Life is good.

Oh....so good.  Gelato, I love you.

BestFriend Gleato.