Quick Entry, but I made it to ROME and oh jesus, its pouring rain! I will survive. Side note: I want to write so much more in my blog and realize that i havent been telling a lot of the funny stories ive encountered along the way. Understand that I usually only have like 15 min on the internet where i check my email and then try to book my mext trip. sometimes there are people waiting behind me so I write these entries in like 5 min. youll just have to see me when i get back and ill fill [View Full Entry]

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I love this hostel. Its so family oriented. The main room where we have breakfast is like a dining room in someone's home. We all gather here every morning and night and bond like we all know each other. Francesco and his family own the hostel and they are sooo super nice. They go grocery for us and we can use anything they buy. Endless yogurt, cereal, cookies, soda, gelato! etc. After a fun breakfast, my attitude turned a little south. :( I checked my finances and realized that I had spent so much money in the span of like 16 [View Full Entry]

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Its still pretty warm here and other than some rain showers this morning the weather has been cooperative for walking and touring. We had dinner last night with Barb's friends Michelle (who Barb works with)and Jim last night - they've been traveling Italy for over 2 weeks. It was nice seeing and talking complete American with them, though we learned some more Italy by dining with them. Leaving for Florence tomorrow. No real plans today, mostly shopping and wandering. Yesterday was the Vatican - The Sistine Chapel is Unbelievable and that's and understatment. No pictures can describe it [View Full Entry]

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Hey Guys! Just spent the day in Rome, was pretty cool but way too hot! Was gross and sweaty all day long. We had to get up Super early to get into the Vatican City and see The Sistene Chapel. It was nice, but not worth waiting two hours in a line for. If I was on my own I wouldnt have bothered. By the end we were all so grumpy and just wanting to eat! (we being Myself, Belinda, Naomi and Rachel the girls Ive been hanging around with most and sharing rooms with) We went to see some ruins, [View Full Entry]

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Realizing that the Vatican is actually a sovereign state (it might be the worlds smallest one but it's still one) we figured that it deserved its own blog, so here we go! As we mentioned in our last blog, during one of our walks of Rome we ended up at the Vatican City. Originally the plan was to just stroll the area and its impressive square, the Piazza San Pietro! But after arriving and walking around on the square (which is magnificent by the way) we also noted that the queue to enter St Peter's Basilica was very short and [View Full Entry]

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Pleasantly I found the Italians far more affable than the Greeks. Better value too. My train was in no hurry to arrive in Rome as it spilled its passengers out onto the terminal at 6pm. I had been on the go 36 hrs non-stop. Thankfully, my hotel was close by. The very beautiful and very friendly staff could only give me a bed for one night. "That's fine" I managed to smile back. "We'll sort something out tomorrow". All I wanted to do was rest, in a bed, lying down. A bed that stayed put and didn't leave your hips bruised [View Full Entry]

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Today we woke up and went straight to the Vatican (since it was the last Sunday of the month and the museums were free). While Matt & Chelle waited in line I grabbed breakfast from the gelato spot of last night and we ate in line. In no time we were in; blazing our way through the myriads of grand hallways, paintings, and sculptures to the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel was pretty incredible, it was smaller than I had envisioned it in my mind but Michaelangelo's work was nothing short of a masterpiece. Like Chelle said, somehow he managed to make [View Full Entry]

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Today we venture through Rome - the historic capital of the Roman Empire. The day started with a trip from Rome to the principality of the Vatican City. Sounds a bit weird to do an excursion to another country, when we only just got here! The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world and is actually surrounded by the city of Rome. The guided tour was lead by Chincia again, who introduced us to Rome yesterday. We were all handed personal radios as we waited in the queue. Chelle struggled with her ear-piece. She doesn’t do earphones, and only [View Full Entry]

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Vatican City, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. The City is the smallest sovereign state in the world at 0.44 square kilometres (108.7 acres). Vatican City is an elected monarchy that is ruled by the Bishop of Rome — the Pope. The Pope is ex officio head of state and head of government of Vatican City and the term Holy See expresses the totality of his governance and pastoral ministry. The Vatican City State has the distinction of having the smallest and oldest regular army in the world, the Pontifical [View Full Entry]

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Ciao! Early Tuesday morning I took a stroll alone and stumbled across Via Vittorio Veneto. I walked down the grand avenue and noticed that it is lined with luxury hotels, shops and cafes. There is even a Harry’s Bar. I was thrilled, as the avenue was clean; there was no graffiti on the buildings and not a gypsy in sight. It reminded me of Santana Row back home. I also noticed that there were many good looking Italian men dressed in expensive suits. Yes! I couldn’t wait to get back and tell the rest of what I found, especially Skye. I [View Full Entry]

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