On my second week in Italy, we took a train to Rome where we met our Italian Culture and History Professor Marco. From the train station we took the metro to the Colosseum. The moment we walked out of the station and across the street, we were smacked in the face with the Colosseum. At this moment we were still in a dream. Not until exploring Rome with Marco did I truly believe I was in Italy. I still felt like I needed a pinch though.
As I posted on Facebook, Rome was like walking into a history book and jumping pages as we walked from the place to place. The piece of architecture that struck me the most was probably the Pantheon. We rounded the corner and there … sat the Pantheon. There was something about walking through the colonnade through the large doors and into the Pantheon. Looking up, I was taken aback. I was almost struck speech less, partly because the architecture but also because a loud speaker kept asking people to be quite.
I spent two days in Rome before returning to Orvieto.
Our First Day
The first half of the day was Led By Marco:
I’ve decided just to add photos, later I’ll go back and label them.
Interactive Blog- what is it?
- This is a great moment in time for you to test yourself. Can you identify all the places I visited in Rome?
After dispersing for lunch, we were free to explore the city. We (Me, Gretchen, Casey, Brandon, Leland, Ellie, Chelsea, and Robert) had lunch at a restaurant near the Pantheon. I had my first Italian Fanta (I’ve only seen orange Fanta) and I had a Cannolo. I also had pizza but the Fanta and Cannolo were the highlight of my meal.
Around 5 pm we started to walk towards our hostel (Hotel Lodi) I think we finally got there close to 6 because we kept stopping for pictures. The guy at the front desk was very polite. Robert accidently only registered 7 of us, so instead of having to get a 3rd room, they just gave us extra mattresses for the two rooms we already had. The manager also sent us up stairs before settling the bill ( I guess we all looked exhausted). He brought us all a cup of coffee. For breakfast I had a cappuccino, blood orange juices, and two pastries. Overall It was a great stay and I would go back.
Our Second Day
We left after breakfast, with all of our belongings. We split up because some wanted to store their bags in the lockers at the train station.
First Stop for my group was the Vatican City. We started out at the Piazza del Saint Pietro. I spent the day with Gretchen, Ellie, and Chelsea. I happened to have my Swiss army knife in my book bag thus I skipped out on going in to the basilica. So I took more photos and sketched while I waited. Getting ready to sketch I plopped myself down between the obelisk and the basilica. I got a few funny looks because I was sitting in the middle of a piazza.
After examining the ceiling in St. Pietro, we made our way to the Vatican Museum. We spent the majority of our time making our way around the Vatican museum. Even though there was a security check point, I was able to keep my pocket knife because there was a book bag check room.
The ceilings and are were phenomenal, they are really something you just have to see. There is so much detail I could go back 20 + times and I’d still miss a lot. I got separated from the girls in the museum and so it’s a good thing I got an Italian cell phone.
We met back up and looked for lunch. I wasn’t very hungry(I ate dried fruit and nuts), but the girls were craving American french fries. So we were off to McDonalds.
While we ate it poured. Then it rained some more while we found our way to the metro station…I got pretty wet. I still haven’t bought an umbrella. I think I’ve just gotten to the point where I’m determined not to get one.
By the time we reached the Spanish Step the sun was out and the clouds broke.
The weather held long enough for us to visit the Trevi Fountain. We were tired after visiting the fountain, we found ourselves booking (Leg power-didn’t take the subway this time) it back to the train station to make the earlier train. We made it…with 8 minutes to spare. There was a little bit of running involved just to make sure we go on.
We climbed in to a car and we happened to find Casey, Leland, Brandon. Robert went on a walk and because his watch was wrong he missed the train (he caught the later one). Ashley and Brendan were in another car.
Another Conversation
I got stuck sitting by myself. I put my headphones in and was eating my dried fruit, but then this guy leans over and starts to talk to me. He asks if I am American. He speaks decent English, so between him and the girl across him we have a conversation. At one point he asks what kind of music I like – Country of course- So he starts singing a song by Elvis. Mostly this is funny because I happen to have a lot of Elvis on my phone. Even though I was tired and was ready to take a nap, I tried to answer the questions he kept asking me. We’ll just say It made for an interesting train ride.
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