When in Rome...

All of us have a picture in our minds of what Italy looks like… tiled roofs, Mediterranean-style buildings, twisting streets and alleys, open plazas with fountains. As it turns out, those stereotypes are all actually based on truth. Rome probably one of the most gorgeous places I have ever been in my life. The weather was warm and breezy when I visited this weekend, and it actually felt like a holiday even though we packed so much into our trip.

My group flew out of Heathrow at 6 am and arrived in Rome early enough to have a full day’s worth of adventures. The first of those was finding our hostel, which ended up being an odd basement room in a large, old building. Five beds were crammed into the tiny, funny room, but we were lucky enough to have our own bathroom and the woman who owned the hostel (and who didn’t speak English) brought us breakfast every morning. Then we visited the Museum of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. There were so many statues dating back to Ancient Rome that it took more than two hours to get through the museum. Then we went to throw coins in the Trevi Fountain, which was my favorite part of Rome. We stayed there for at least half an hour, making wishes and watching a few couples take their wedding photos. Next, we decided to stop by the Coliseum to take a few photos. We were looking for a place to eat dinner, and we stumbled upon a restaurant with a rooftop garden that offered us seating up there with no service charge (in Italy, you have to pay at least £1.50 to eat in a restaurant!). We ended up eating real Italian pizza up there overlooking the Coliseum at sunset, and it was absolutely magical.

The next day, our group first went back to Vatican City to explore the city itself. Everyone I was travelling with was Catholic, so it meant a lot to them to be able to go there. We went inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the gigantic church, and then I hung out and observed while my friends attended mass (it was a very strange experience, but it was educational for sure). Also, all of the popes were buried in these catacombs under the church, so we saw those… kind of creepy, but worth seeing I guess. The highlight of our visit was climbing the 350 steps to the top of the cupola, which is not for the faint of heart (the steps were steep and spiralled!), and seeing the panoramic view of Rome. After leaving Vatican City, we stopped for some quality gelato. That night, we adventured to this beautiful plaza in the center of town that the hostel owner had recommended Proxy-Connection: keep-alive
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r some dinner. The fountain was lit up, street musicians roamed, and the night was buzzing. I ate the absolute best pasta I’ve ever had at this outdoor Italian restaurant, and we split a bottle of Italian wine. Also, because we were students they gave us free lemonciello, which is a liqeur you are supposed to sip to cleanse your palate after dinner. It was insanely sweet and strong, but it definitely quenched our sweet tooths. We also went to an Italian bar, where I had my first, and definitely not my last, Long Island Iced Tea and an awkward, old bartender tried to dance with us. The metro had closed by the time we left, so we made our own way back to the hotel and stopped to look at the monuments lit up on the way back.

The last day, we went to the Coliseum. It felt surreal to be walking among Roman ruins! There were also some really cool exhibits about gladiators and what the site was probably like during Roman times. Our ticket also granted us admission to see the ruins of the Forum and Venus’ Temple. It was amazing to be able to just stroll through the site and look at the history around us. After that, it was time to head back to London. Our journey back was long, as our flight got delayed, and we arrived back at midnight.

It was a whirlwind weekend, but a great one! The group I traveled with was so much fun, and Italy was beautiful. I hope I can get some rest this week!