When in Rome...

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April 5, 2008

After eating breakfast, we felt confident enough to walk to the train station. We got on the train and then the metro without any problems! We headed towards the Colosseum for our first stop of the day. There were people walking around trying to get us to sign up for a tour. We knew we wanted to a tour of the Rome area, so we signed up. We went into the Colosseum and learned all about it. It was very interesting to hear everything that happened there, including sea battles. The Colosseum was huge and very cool.

We waited for a ½ hour for the second part of the tour: Palatine Hill and The Roman Forum. These are ancient Roman ruins. There are a lot of temples, including one for Julius Caesar. There’s an arch called Arco de Tito (Titus) that is roped off so no one walks under it, signifying an agreement in Titus’ beliefs of killing Jews. The last person to walk under it, because of the significance was Hitler, for 30 minutes! After our tour was over, we found a quiet, shaded place to eat lunch. Then we went to find a bathroom that ended up being in a palace built for Mussolini, because he believed he should have a palace built for him, just like all the other emperors. He never slept a night in it though! Next, we went to Augustus’ House. It had been restored a month ago so that the public could view a couple rooms. It was very cool because it was so old (BC times!) and yet still in tact.

Once we finished, we headed toward the Pantheon. This is a church now, which was very neat, but I am all churched-out! The thing that was really interesting was how the ceiling stays perfectly round without support in the middle. We were craving more gelato so we made our way to Gelateria Giolotti. This gelateria was the favorite of Pope John Paul II, and it was amazing! Despite the insanely large crowd, that is always there, we finally got to get our gelato- cheesecake and tiramisu. Delish!

Next on the day were the Spanish Steps, which really aren’t that impressive without flowers and lights, but they made quite a relaxing rest stop. After resting up a little, we walked through some of the shopping streets and went to Trevi Fountain. This is probably the biggest fountain I have seen- the backdrop at least. Katie and I each threw our euro into the fountain which means we should return to Rome soon. We waited here for awhile until it was time to meet Angie. I thought this was going to be a disaster, so I say up higher hoping to find her. I finally found her and ran up to giver her a hug. After talking for awhile, we all decided to find some dinner.

We wanted pizza, and they wanted pasta, so we found a cute restaurant. They sold us when they mentioned free wine! I had a margherita pizza along with my white wine- very good! They wanted to see the Pantheon, so we went over there again. Then it was time for more gelato since we wouldn’t have it Sunday. This time I had butterscotch. I really loved gelato! We walked back to the Trevi Fountain for some night pictures before heading to the Metro at the Colosseum and more night pictures! We got back to our hostel wondering If we would have the whole weekend free of roomies, but unfortunately 3 people had moved in. We went online for a little bit before heading to bed. Goodbye Roma!

Trains: 2, Metros: 2

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