Ciao from Roma!

Well where do I even begin?... I have spent three days in Rome and I can already tell you that I have no intentions on returning to the US of A.  Everything about Italian life in my opinion is better than anything that I have ever experienced! The food is so fresh and rich in flavor, the espresso is better than anything I could whip up after 6 years of being a barista and the people are beautiful!  The first day that I was here, I was a little pooped from all of the traveling. I'm pretty sure I am the furthest away from home out of the group. Most of the students tend to be from either the midwest, south or east coast. So pretty much everywhere but the west coast, so I'm going to have to hold my own.  My luggage ended up getting lost but I was surprisingly calm about it. I think it had something to do with the fact that Im one smart cookie and packed my carry on with a few days worth of clothes along with my makeup and other essential items. The first night we were here, I met all of my roommates who are awesome by the way, and we decided to go grab dinner somewhere close to our hotel.  The place that we stopped was absolutely perfect and the man working there, Manuelo, loved to help teach us italian. We ate some panini's and drank a bottle of wine and started getting to know one another.  Something that is very true of Italians is that they don't like to rush anything, especially dinner.  We were there for about 2 hours which Manuelo thought was not near long enough. He decided to treat us to some cappuccinos, on the house.  Mine had amaretto and it was to die for!! I cant explain how good it was, it just has to be experienced.  After din we went back to the hotel and called it a night.

Flavored cappuccinos Manuelo made us

The roomies and I out to dinner 

Yesterday and today were a lot more eventful! Yesterday we took a bus to Vatican City where we got a tour of the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel.  I've learned about the fresco paintings by Michael Angelo in the Sistine Chapel in college but seeing them was absolutely breathe taking! To think that all of this history in Rome is from over 500+ years ago is seriously unreal! We walked through St. Peters Basilica which was beautiful as well. Once the tour was over, we went back to the hotel to freshen up and head out to dinner.  Meeting in Piazza Navona then heading to Tarastevere for dinner as a group with our program.  The dinner wasnt the best I've had yet but the night life in Tarastevere was incredible! Everyone just hangs out in the streets socializing, drinking and eating gelato.  Seriously a lifestyle I would'nt mind getting used to! The boys are so my type and although there is quite a language barrier, broken english/italian can be somewhat fun.  The girls and I got roses bought for us by some of the locals and had fun venturing around.

Jennifer, Amy, Me and Kim (3 of my roomies) outside of the Vatican Museum

The torso sculpture inside the Vatican museum 

Today was our walking tour of the city viewing sites including the Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi fountain and a few others.  The colosseum was really interesting to learn about and our guide was the cutest Italian man who was born and raised in Rome.  He was really silly and made the tour a lot of fun by cracking little jokes here and there.  I think the Pantheon was my favorite because of the fact that it was built in the first century BC and is still in incredible shape. Its seriously hard to wrap my mind around the fact that its been around for that long.  Trevi fountain was soo beautiful and the Romans believe that if you throw a coin over your shoulder and make a wish than you will return to Rome. Throw a coin or not, Im pretty sure this isnt going to be my only trip to this amazing city.  The girls and I stopped for some gelato and then had lunch in Piazza Navona before heading back.  I think Im fully adjusted to the time difference which didnt take long but am seriously exhausted from all of the walking in the balmy heat of Rome.  I'll try to spice things up a bit more in the following posts! Love to all of you back in the states! Next stop, Florence!! :) xoxox

The Colosseum 

Outside the Pantheon

A couple of the roomies and I in front of Trevi fountain! :)

Arrivederci!