ROMA

Rome,

Has by far been one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. If you are looking for a place to go that combines history and beauty then Rome is the place for you! A little bit touristy but then again what major city in Europe isn´t nowadays. The trip got off to a little bit of a rough start because I had been sick for over a month and had booked the trip far in advance and was not willing to stay home simply because I was sick. As soon as I got there I slept half the afternoon and then forced myself to get up and go walk around. I soon found a pizza place and bought a slice of authentic Italian pizza. Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you but Domino´s and Pizza Hut have been doing it wrong. Real Authentic Italian pizza is NOT smothered in cheese in grease. It is actually very thin and delicious and you can taste the olive oil (they use olive oil instead of grease) and it was delicious! Although, one slice could have easily been three and I could not finish half of it. (At this point in my illness my throat was really swollen and so I was having problems swallowing.) I then walked around for an hour and half and then went home to sleep again. 2 hours later, I forced myself to get up and take myself out to dinner. Just having mastered a comfortable level of Spanish I was in no way prepared for Italian and the Italians were in no way prepared for English and so dinner turned out to be a funny experience. I walked a while until I saw a sign for "spaghetti" and I thought, ding ding! As soon as I ordered spaghetti I was then given brushetta. I thought "good, but I didnt order this" not wanting to be rude I took a few bites and waited for my spaghetti. Then came a plate of pasta and sauce. Again, I thought "ok just go with it" and ate a little anxiously awaiting my spaghetti. Alas, the spaghetti finally came and wouldnt you know I could barely eat it. No sooner had I began to unbutton my jeans and laid down my napkin as the  international sign of "I cant eat anymore and may soon throw up" did they bring out Tiramisu. It was then I pulled great strength from my days of  being the middle school fat kid and thought, " I will eat this Tiramisu and also will not be an insulting American" and so ate it I did. 2 bites later I was done. I then was shoving my money in the waiter´s hand so I could get out of there quickly before they tried to bring me something else. I then spent the next 2 hours walking it off for fear of going into a diabetic coma if I laid down in this state. Lesson learned... Italian cuisine is a 4 course meal so go on an empty stomach.

The next day I laid out a map and circled all the places I wanted to visit and decided that if I was going to see everything I wanted to see in 2 days that I was going to have to do the most embarassing and American thing possible while visiting a foreign country. Take a tour bus. Well, as it turns out, not a bad idea. For the two days I was there after I was able to see The Colloseum, The Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps, St. Peter´s Cathedral, The Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, and the Parthenon. All of which were so beautiful and interesting and literally took my breath away. 

One of the tragic things about this trip was I did not have enough time for both St. Peter´s Cathedral and The Sistine Chapel and so I was forced to choose which one I would tour and so I toured the Sistine Chapel. How was it...? Beautiful? Yes. Breathtaking? Yes. Moving? Not so much. You are in there with just about the entire population of Europe and so it is really hard to have a personally awe-inspring experience with sound of obnoxious tourists asking one another, " this here is the one with tha da´vinci fella isn´t it?"  On the bright side, with all the tourists in there I was able to get a forbidden picture on the ceiling while the guards weren´t looking. Very Jane Bond, I know. 

After seeing the Sistine Chapel I decided to venture off on my own and get lost in the city. This is how I found my favorite site in Rome, The Parthenon. The Parthenon is off a road which cars cannot get to and so you literally have to stumble upon which I am so happy that I did. My advice is ANY time you are visiting a new city, allow yourself AT LEAST one afternoon of just getting lost because this is how you will find the best things.

All in all, Rome wasnt too bad. Definitely one of my favorite cities. If you are thinking of visiting, do it. Rome is so beautiful and rich in history and will definitely make you feel like Russell Crowe in Gladiator. But keep in mind, give yourself more than 3 days and try to go in the off season when there arent quite so many tourists...