Our 5 hour train ride to Rome left us surprisingly tired, so upon arriving in Termini station at 11pm we decided it was bed time. Due to some very strong differences of opinions our sleeping arrangements were split up. I was to be situated in the quaint little hostel on the 4th floor of a building, located just 8 minutes on foot from Termini, with Esther and Lauren. We managed to use a lot of hand motions to find our way to the hostel and then miraculously crammed ourselves (plus 3 suitcases) into the miniscule and ancient elevator that took us up to the fourth floor. While disembarking we saw the sign that recommended no more than 200 pounds in the elevator at once (we continued to fit 3 people in all week). Our room turned out to an adorable green little space with 3 single beds, an armoire, and a sink. It was charming, cozy, and European…the only downfall were the shared showers whose water pressure was literally, a trickle and would occasionally stop all together (I wish I were exaggerating)!
Our first day of sightseeing in Rome, Monday, may have been my favorite day in all of Italy. We started out at the Coliseum where were jumped to the front of the line with our “Roma Passes!” It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so warm and perfect for exploring the Roman Forum after the Colisuem. In addition to the sights of Rome, we experienced the very crude men of Rome…while walking to lunch, Lauren got a “Hi Miley Cyrus,” Esther was shouted at “Hey Cleopatra” and I was greeted with “Bon journo Blondie!” Determined not to eat at a touristy restaurant we wandered down side streets until we deemed ourselves far enough away from the Coliseum to eat.
We had lunch in an adorable little cafe and then promptly found the largest cones of gelato at a nearby gelateria. Without patience or a guidebook we plopped down with our ice cream on the huge steps of what we deemed to be an “Italian palace” not until we had finished our ice cream and were attempting to navigate to more sights did we realize we had been sitting on the back steps of a very famous church! Our next stop of the day was the Trevi Fountain, but in finding our way there we happened to stumble upon a side entrance to the Italian Presidential Palace, flanked by 6’4’’ guards in very ornate outfits. Esther and I befriended them and ended up with our very own photo shoot in the courtyards, mere yards away from the Presidential gardens. The Trevi Fountain at dusk was my favorite sight of Rome – everything was lit up and so beautiful at such a lively time of night! We ended our perfect Roman day with dinner near the Spanish Steps – a very memorable one for me complete with fried artichokes, gorgonzola and pear gnocchi, and tagliatelle with duck sauce!
Of course we all managed to sleep through our alarms on Tuesday morning so Esther and I flew out of bed at 1100 to meet Julianne at the train station where we miraculously caught an 1120 train to Napoli. Once in Napoli we caught another, shorter train to Pompeii that provided us with marvelous views of the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. We spent our day “hiking” around Pompeii and taking more pictures than necessary. We stayed to see dusk fall on the stone city – another beautiful sunset in Italy. The three of us found another pizzeria when we arrived back in Rome and had a really fun dinner with free wine and a dessert platter provided by owner – it pays to be female Americans in Italy!
Wednesday was our “holy” day in Rome. We all woke up early and made our way to the Vatican where we had tickets to the Pope’s public “audience.” Being the only non-Catholics in our group of friends (and perhaps in all of the Vatican that day), Esther and I felt especially lucky to have been blessed by the Pope! On our way out of the Vatican, among the masses of people, I had my first small word Wake meets Italy moment and ran into my friend Albert – what are the odds! We finished our day in Rome eating another fabulous lunch and seeing the Sistine Ceiling before boarding our 4 hour train to Florence.
Our 5 hour train ride to Rome left us surprisingly tired, so upon arriving in Termini station at 11pm we decided it was bed time. Due to some very strong differences of opinions our sleeping arrangements were split up. I was to be situated in the quaint little hostel on the 4th floor of a building, located just 8 minutes on foot from Termini, with Esther and Lauren. We managed to use a lot of hand motions to find our way to the hostel and then miraculously crammed ourselves (plus 3 suitcases) into the miniscule and ancient elevator that took us up to the fourth floor. While disembarking we saw the sign that recommended no more than 200 pounds in the elevator at once (we continued to fit 3 people in all week). Our room turned out to an adorable green little space with 3 single beds, an armoire, and a sink. It was charming, cozy, and European…the only downfall were the shared showers whose water pressure was literally, a trickle and would occasionally stop all together (I wish I were exaggerating)!
Our first day of sightseeing in Rome, Monday, may have been my favorite day in all of Italy. We started out at the Coliseum where were jumped to the front of the line with our “Roma Passes!” It was an absolutely gorgeous day, so warm and perfect for exploring the Roman Forum after the Colisuem. In addition to the sights of Rome, we experienced the very crude men of Rome…while walking to lunch, Lauren got a “Hi Miley Cyrus,” Esther was shouted at “Hey Cleopatra” and I was greeted with “Bon journo Blondie!” Determined not to eat at a touristy restaurant we wandered down side streets until we deemed ourselves far enough away from the Coliseum to eat.
We had lunch in an adorable little cafe and then promptly found the largest cones of gelato at a nearby gelateria. Without patience or a guidebook we plopped down with our ice cream on the huge steps of what we deemed to be an “Italian palace” not until we had finished our ice cream and were attempting to navigate to more sights did we realize we had been sitting on the back steps of a very famous church! Our next stop of the day was the Trevi Fountain, but in finding our way there we happened to stumble upon a side entrance to the Italian Presidential Palace, flanked by 6’4’’ guards in very ornate outfits. Esther and I befriended them and ended up with our very own photo shoot in the courtyards, mere yards away from the Presidential gardens. The Trevi Fountain at dusk was my favorite sight of Rome – everything was lit up and so beautiful at such a lively time of night! We ended our perfect Roman day with dinner near the Spanish Steps – a very memorable one for me complete with fried artichokes, gorgonzola and pear gnocchi, and tagliatelle with duck sauce!
Of course we all managed to sleep through our alarms on Tuesday morning so Esther and I flew out of bed at 1100 to meet Julianne at the train station where we miraculously caught an 1120 train to Napoli. Once in Napoli we caught another, shorter train to Pompeii that provided us with marvelous views of the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. We spent our day “hiking” around Pompeii and taking more pictures than necessary. We stayed to see dusk fall on the stone city – another beautiful sunset in Italy. The three of us found another pizzeria when we arrived back in Rome and had a really fun dinner with free wine and a dessert platter provided by owner – it pays to be female Americans in Italy!
Wednesday was our “holy” day in Rome. We all woke up early and made our way to the Vatican where we had tickets to the Pope’s public “audience.” Being the only non-Catholics in our group of friends (and perhaps in all of the Vatican that day), Esther and I felt especially lucky to have been blessed by the Pope! On our way out of the Vatican, among the masses of people, I had my first small word Wake meets Italy moment and ran into my friend Albert – what are the odds! We finished our day in Rome eating another fabulous lunch and seeing the Sistine Ceiling before boarding our 4 hour train to Florence.
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