Rome

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Hey everyone! We made it to Italy yesterday afternoon and we're having a great time.. here's an update from the last time we wrote on here...

BARCELONA:
We had the best time here. We spent most of our time on the beach and sleeping which was really nice because we were needing it! On our last day here (Friday) we went up this mountain that overlooks the beach and the entire city. We walked around for a long time trying to figure out where the cable cars were that would take us to the top was and we came across the Olympic Stadium which was pretty cool to see. We finally found the cable cars and we went up to the top and there was a castle like thing that we walked around in.

After we got back down we went back towards our hostel. While we were there we kept hearing really loud music coming from outside so we went out to see what it was. We came across this band that was playing and they were going through all the different streets and there was a huge crowd of people following them. They (around 13 of them) played and danced for over an hour nonstop.. we don't know how they did this without being tired and the entire crowd that was following them was dancing too. We never did find out exactly what they were playing for but it was a really great way to end our time in Barcelona. After this we went and sat on the beach for a while and then we went back to the hostel and went to sleep since we had a flight to Rome the next morning.

The next morning we got up at 5am and took a train to the airport. Our flight was at first supposed to leave at 9am, then they changed it to 910am, and then when we got to the airport they had changed it back to 855am. We were really worried we were going to miss the flight because there were the longest lines of people that we have ever seen at any of the airports that we had been to before. After we checked in and went through security, we had 10 minutes to find what gate we needed to be at before they began boarding the plane. We got to our gate (after running pretty much to the opposite end of the airport) and hardly no one was there. We then found out they had changed the gate number. So we went to the right gate and sat there for a while and one of the girls there told us the flight had been delayed. So then they changed the gate number for the third time so we moved yet again. We didn't think we were ever going to get to Rome!!

During the flight we passed over the islands of Sardinia, which is part of Italy (its a really big island out in the Mediterranean Sea thats in between Spain and Italy). We have always wanted to go here because this place is supposed to have some of the prettiest beaches in the world. We could see from the plane the turquoise waters that lined the coast and we both are really wanting to go there. We haven't figured out yet what were doing past June 22 so we might just go there before coming home.

ROME
Once we landed we went to find our backpacks. Apparently there was a group of high school students from Paris that were on our flight and when we walked away with our bags, one of the teachers grabbed Sam's arm because she thought we were part of their group (especially since we looked the same age)!! It was pretty funny to see the look on her face when she realized that we weren't with them.

After this we walked over to the train station to find what train we needed to take to get to our hostel. The place we are staying at is a lot like the place we stayed in in Barcelona. It is an apartment with 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. When we got to the apartment, we tried to ring the buzzer that was outside the building but no one answered. Shortly after, this little old lady came walking up (she lived in the building) and she could see that we were confused. She stopped, (and without even asking if we needed help) grabbed my paper with where I was trying to go and started trying to help us. It was funny because she was so determined to help us and she kept ringing the buzzer over and over (she also took time to clean the buzzer because she felt it was dirty haha). During this time, another lady came along and joined in. They finally gave up and let us in the main part of the building since they had the keys to it (we had to go through 2 locked doors) and then they walked us up to the floor we were supposed to be on. They then went back downstairs and walked around for about 5 minutes until they found the guy that owned it.

So far we are really liking the people here because they are all so nice and helpful. Everyone we have met goes out of their way to help and make us feel welcomed. When the guy let us in the apartment he let us pick which room we wanted. We picked a room with pink walls and a huge window that opens up to a giant palm tree (which was the main thing we liked haha). This place is really nice and the people who own it are very friendly. The other people who are staying here also seem nice and they are American's (as were the people in our hostel/apartment in Barcelona). We are definately safe here.. we have to pass through a total of 4 locked doors before we get to our room!!

After this we walked around the city. The first thing we seen was the Roman Colosseum which is just right down the street from our apartment. While looking at it we started hearing music. We started walking towards where it was coming from and we were able to understand one of the lyrics.. "It's raining men!!!...." by Aretha Franklin. We should have known right then what was going on.... we seen a wall and when we looked over it (we were about 30 feet above the street that was below it) we see THOUSANDS of people.. thousands of GAY people!! It was the Gay Pride Parade. And these people were proud and it was actually pretty fun to watch. At the end of the parade there was a wall of police and police cars. What a way to begin our stay in Rome!! haha

We then decided that we were really wanting ice cream. Italy is famous for its version of ice cream (known as gelato here) and this was the best ice cream either of us have ever had!! We then decided we wanted frozen lemonade (if you haven't figured it out yet, it is REALLY HOT here!!!) so we went and got some of it. We then walked around and seen some more of the sites (including the Vatican!) and finally came back to our room and went to sleep... & we didn't wake up until 2pm today!! When we finally went up we both wanted pizza so we went to a pizzeria down by the Colosseum and ate. After this we took a different street back to our hostel because we wanted to try to find a store so we could buy some food and drinks to leave in our room. We came across a little store and when we went in, the guy working there was selling fruit also. He insisted on one of us trying the strawberries so Sam did. She then decided she had to buy them because they were so good. When we walked out and were going down the street, I tried one and immediately had to go back and get some too!! The guy working there got a good laugh because of how quickly I got back in there to get some too, and he threw in a handful of cherries in my bag and told us to try them too. We nearly went back to get more of them..haha Now were back here at the hostel and were about to go back out, might go do some shopping!!

Sam & Am

P.S. We were going to put up a few pics but we can't find a place to do it.. we'll try again later

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Comments

[Renee]

Good Girls
Im so glad to see you have'nt forgot to eat your fruit, now how about your vegetables?

[Becky Winegar]

Colosseum
Did you get good pics of the Colosseum and the other ruins alot of history there. You are in areas that Jesus could have walked!!!! love ya!