Italy

I got back from Italy last Thursday and have yet to update this. I was so happy to be "home" I just relaxed all weekend and forgot all about it. We went to Rome first, then Florence, and then Pisa. That was also the order or most to least enjoyed. I went with my housemate Kendra, and our friend Kara. We had to leave on a 1am bus to Dublin, got stuck in the back and we were feeling a little bit queazy most of the ride. Our bus got to the airport around 4:30, and then we had to get in to make our 6am flight to Rome. Needless to say, we did not get much sleep.


Rome
We got into Rome around 10am, and had to take a bus to a train station, through the slums of Rome and then find our subway from there. We knew which stop we had to get off on, but not how to get onto to the right car. The people we asked convienantly did not speak english so we just chose a direction to go in, and were lucky enough that it was the right one.

Once off the train we walked the 2 minutes to our hostel, dropped off our bags, and then started our adventure. The weather was perfect. It was about 75-80. Unfortunately I brought no shorts or capris so had to roll up some of my jeans. We made it to the Colosseum which was amazing. It's weird seeing all this stuff in person that I've seen in the movies my entire life. It's crazy to think what that thing used to be. The banquets and whatnot that were held there. It's also crazy to think how they built that, so sturdy it's still standing. After this we went to Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Honestly. Once you see 1 ruin, they all look the same. They were getting quite redundant so we decided to just go back to the hostel and take a nap. One our way we had our first gelati experience. It is so much better than icecream, and the flavors are delectable. I had dark chocolate, and caffe in a cone. So freaking delicious! After our naps and relaxing we found the cutest little restaurant in the back corner near the Colosseum. I had the best pizza I have ever had in my entire life. We could see them cook it from our table. We also realized that Italians don't usually eat with their hands. They cut everything up, pizza included.


A couple girls in our hostel were waking up early to go to mass at the Vatican. I wanted to go, but since I'm not Catholic and don't regularly attend church at home I felt it wouldn't be right of me to go just to said I had gone. Instead we slept in and then went to look for the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and a couple well-known Piazza's. The Vatican was unbelievable. I have never seen so many people in one area with the exception of a sports game, or a concert. There was a huge screen in the courtyard or whatever showing the mass that was going on inside. The Pope was leading it! I guess it was a day for the Middle East and many bishops and priests from that area were there. We were waiting outside when up in the window a rug looking thing flew out from the window and people started screaming. Apparently the Pope was going to make an appearance! He came to the window and did his Pope hands and started praying. It was quite the experience to be led in a prayer by the Pope, while thousands of other people joined in. Catholic or not. He ended up blessing us all, and had something to say in many different languages. It was so awesome! Something I will never forget. The Trevi Fountain was fun. We each threw our 3 coins each over our right shoulder while facing away into the fountain. Now we're pretty much guaranteed to find true love :)


Florence
We left Rome on a really early train and started the 4 hour journey to Florence. Once we got there we made the 20 minute walk to our hostel. It was more like a hotel room than a hostel. It had a king size bed and a twin bed. We had to share the bathroom but it was right down the hall from our room. Not bad. After we checked in we went to explore. We found the duomo which was quite impressive. The architecture is unbelievable. We also found this street that is famous for the jewelry. Never have I seen more beautiful jewelry. When I'm grown up and rich, I'm gonna defintely go back there! We went back to the hostel fairly early, after getting lost in this super ghetto neighborhood and got a good nights sleep in our quiet room, with our nice comfy beds. The next day we just wandered around. We found a flea market where I got lots of presents. I also rubbed this bronze boars head, and dropped a coin out of his mouth. Apparently this means that I am ensured to return back to Florence in my lifetime. We went to an Italian meat market/fresh fruit market. If you're ever in Italy and need to find the attractive men, start there!


Pisa
Not as impressive as I thought it would have been. The weather was cold here, and not much to do. We heard about this cheap and cute little restaurant that we were gonna check out. But in Italy, dinner isn't until 7pm or 9pm and many places don't even open until then. We had some time to kill so we walked down the main road. We found a cute little gelati place with cannoli, so we decided to have dessert before dinner. So yummy! We then found the leaning tower. Yes it was leaning and cool to see, but that is Pisa's only claim to fame. We went back to find dinner and had the most delicious meal and house white wine. Kara and I finished it off and were feeling pretty good by the time we were ready to start heading back. The next day we walked to the tower again to see it in daylight. Still wasn't so impressive. We found a little sandwich shop to eat lunch in and kill some time. I never would have thought that mozzarella and tomato on a sandwich would be so delicious. On our way back to our hostel to get our bags and go to the aiport we went to that gelati place to have our last Italian gelati. They remembered us from the night before and loved that we were going there for our last indulgance. I got coconut and dark chocolate and then they drizzled nutella on top.

A perfect way to end my Italian adventure:)