Rome: More pizza & pasta!

Hi everyone.. almost done I promise!

So Wednesday morning, we took the train from Florence to Rome. It was only about an hour and twenty minutes so it was pretty quick. Once we arrived in Rome, we quickly noticed this is much different than Florence. In Rome, there are so many people, so many tourists, just another big city. But we were excited to experience Rome. We took the metro to our hotel which we thought was close. We ended up realizing that our hotel was near Vatican City. As we got off the metro, we were approached by a man trying to sell his Vatican City tour. He ended up being from California so we chatted for awhile. We ended up booking with him for a tour that afternoon.

We quickly headed to our hotel to drop our stuff and basically run back to meet for the tour. The tour was of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter's Basilica. We didn't have to wait in any lines, but the tour got pretty long. Vatican City has always on my bucket list and was so cool to see but it has become such a tourist attraction and almost takes away from what it is there for. The Sistine Chapel was packed and you could barely move which took away from the experience. But it was so cool to see where the Pope comes out to speak and somewhere we always see on TV but actually cool to see it in person. After the Vatican City tour we both needed a nap, so we headed back to our hotel. We ended up at a local spot for dinner.. you guessed it pizza. I actually ended up getting pasta because I needed a break from pizza.

Thursday morning, we made it to breakfast and were kind of sick of the same cereal we had been eating all week, but we managed. You could tell my mom was ready for her bagel and coffee from Bruegger's. Mom try three and a half months without it! Anyways, we headed off to go on the hop on hop off tour of Rome. We started at the Vatican City and saw all the major sites. We jumped off at the Trevi Fountain to channel my inner Lizzie McGuire and become an instant pop-star and meet my Paolo. We both threw our coin in and made a wish! The Trevi Fountain is so beautiful. We got back on and headed for the Colosseum. All I can say is, wow. The place is amazing. I found it so interesting how these buildings are in such good condition for being so old. We walked around and stopped at a local snack shop for a snack and a beer. You know it's totally normal to walk around with a beer in your hand. I wish I would have captured this moment.. oh wait it happened more than once. Momma was happy. All we needed was Lisa Kleindl with her and then it really would have been perfect!

After a day of sightseeing we headed to our hotel to eat there for dinner and get packed up because mid-term break was coming to an end. We packed up, and Friday morning came before we knew it. My mom's flight back home was before mine, so we said our goodbyes in the hotel as she got in her cab. It was hard to fight the tears back and there were some after I went back up to the room. It was sad to say good-bye but know that I will be home in no time and that it was so nice to spend a week together just the two of us. We created lasting memories and know I will be so excited to see everyone come December 14th!

Well now I am back in London for the second half our of semester. Again, so crazy that we are over half way done but have some pretty excited things coming up. This upcoming weekend we have a girls birthday, a firework show at the palace near our house. Next week, Marissa will be here! I am so excited to see her and catch and up and show her my home turf. The following week I will be heading to Prague to visit Lindsey Steer and cannot explain how excited I am to see her and have her show us around her home turf. Finally at the end of the month we have trips to Bath and Switzerland and then one final weekend in London and then we will be saying our goodbyes.... so weird to think!

Anyways that is all for now, but time for a few promised shout outs! First and foremost, happy 23rd birthday to my other half, twin, and best friend! Meghan, I hope you have the best day and hopefully will see you in London soon. Second shout out to Nora Phythian, miss you lots & can't wait for a much needed trip to Serenity when I am home.

A special good luck to the Raider football and volleyball teams as they battle through sections this week. I will be cheering from across the pond!

Miss you all!

xoxo