November 19th, things are about to get out of order

So, I went to Rome a little while ago and typed this up when I got back but didn't quite finish it. While my project is taking forever to render, I figured I could catch up on some bloggin :)

I was beyond excited to finally be able to go to Rome that when my alarm went off at 6 am, I didn't even hit the snooze. I had around a half an hour to get ready before I had to leave so it was the perfect amount to be able to eat breakfast slowly and take my time getting ready. I left and went to the bus with a few minutes to spare and found my friends who I was going on the trip with. I sat with my friend Mary Haley who goes to Baylor University in Texas and we slept for a majority of the bus ride. She will from here on out be referred to as MH because I do not feel like typing out her full name every time.

We got to Rome on time and all I kept saying was, "Oh my gosh, I am actually here" over and over again but it was ok because MH was doing the same. We were allowed some free time to go get lunch so we walked to a pizza place with our friend Celia and we all split two large Margarita pizzas. On the way back after lunch we got some gelato from a place we had noticed earlier and the the flavors were very good. I don't remember now what they were, but they were delicious.

We started our tour with the Vatican Museum and then went into the main attraction, the Sistine Chapel. I am not much of a museum person, but this was more beautiful than I ever could have imagined it being. It was very busy and almost every surface was covered, but it was so beautiful. We went from the Sistine to St. Peters basilica and it was gorgeous. I love walking through old churches and seeing all of the old art and statues that they created. It amazes me the beautiful things that people are able to create with their hands, especially when they are giant chunks of marble. After the basilica, Celia and I went into the gift shop and looked around for about thirty minutes because Celia couldn't choose the rosaries. We went in and out of the shop probably a total of five times because she kept on forgetting people who she needed to get rosaries for, it was pretty funny.

We rode the bus to the hotel and had a little while before dinner was ready to be served. It was dark by this time but the three of us still wanted to walk around so we went quickly to our hotel rooms and then went out to the city. The room was very nice and it was even a little on the big size for the hotels that I have stayed in. We went out to the street and started our wandering process. Since it was dark, it was hard to actually see what was around us but the lights that were on allowed us to look into stores and see the fronts of the buildings. MH with her savvy navigation skills was able to get us back to the hotel even though I doubted a little bit that she knew where we were or where we were going, similar to Chris in Pompeii, only this time I didn't attach us to a group of high school German boys.

When we got back from our walk we had a few minutes to freshen up before dinner.We headed down and sat with two other girls that I don't remember the names of, but they were really nice. Dinner was super delicious. It was a pasta dish for starters and then for the main dish it was a mixture of a type of potato salad, beans, and pork loin (is what I am calling it). It was really good but I still have yet to find a potato salad that beats either my mother's or Mrs. Marshall's German potato salad. For dessert we had some sort of vanilla pie that had chocolate drizzle and it was delicious. Dinner was so much fun. The five of us girls were laughing so hard that at one point I was crying a little. The peak of the night was when the waiter came over and grabbed our vinaigrette bottle and said "oh you girls were laughing so much I thought this was wine!" And then later on he proceeded to call me special, I am still not sure what type of "special" he called me.

After dinner Celia and I decided that we wanted to go see the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain at night time because it is probably a once in a life time thing to be able to see, at least once in ten years thing to see. We went with a girl from my Italian class and her friends who were very nice and full of laughter so it was perfect. We went to the Trevi first and wandered around on our way there. Once we made it there it was beyond beautiful and I am so glad that I went at night time. It was just so peaceful and not very crowded at all. Obviously there were tourists there, but it wasn't too bad. The lights from the fountain at night time project a really pretty green onto the building it is attached too and almost makes it look kind of eerie in a way.

When we decided that we were a little on the chilly side, we made our way over to the Spanish Steps. I thought they were going to be a little bit larger, but they weren't. I had the same feeling I had when I saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time, all this hype and it was only about half as big as I thought it was going to be. Anyhow, we took a lot of pictures and then sat a bit near the top before they verged off in two different directions. I went to the top to look over the city and it was beautiful. Celia and I went down to tell the girls we were with that we were heading out. On my way back up, I tripped. I tripped up the Spanish Steps. WHO DOES THAT? Classy girls like me, I guess. Gosh, I am my mother's daughter. Oh well, not many can say they have done that. Is that a bright side?

Celia and I took a quick walk back to the hotel because we were both freezing and I looked like Rudolph in all of my pictures already, so I didn't want to risk getting sick. The fact that I was exhausted was only part of the reason for heading back early. We got ready for bed and I feel asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Con amore, Ciao!