Rome is my new home

When In Rome Wear A Poncho?

September 1st, was a very exciting day, because it was the first time embarking on our trip to Rome. It was a jammed pack day and I got to do a lot of cool experiences. Just getting to Rome was a whole journey on its own. We started off by leaving the bus station in Montepulciano to get to chuisi, and then we took the train to the metro. Finally, we got off the metro in Termini. The Termini station was actually really cool and busy. It reminded me of a mall from the U.S. They had a nike store which was cool and a lot of other different stores and places to eat. I witnessed my first McDonalds in Italy here and of course I ended up getting that as my snack before we checked into our hotel. This McDonalds was a lot different than the ones we have back in America. It had these massive touch screens set up in the front when you went in, where you could order your food and also the coolest thing, was this massive coffee bar. It was defiantly a signature thing just for the Italian McDonalds. I saw multiple people in there just eating a croissant with a cup of coffee. 

After I got my food we all dropped off our backs off at the hotel, because our rooms weren't ready. Then, it was back to Termini to catch a train to the Colosseum. When we arrived it was raining out and everyone was jammed packed in the station. We bought some ponchos though, and then headed outside where the Colosseum was right there in front of us. I was not expected it to be there and all I can say is WOW! I was blown away with the immense size and the architecture. I couldn't wait to get inside to check it out, but before we would go in there, we did a tour of the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hills. We met our two tour guides who provided us with so much information as we walked around. The Roman Forum was really cool to see a lot of the ruins from the Roman Empire and the Palatine Hills were interesting. At the end of the tour we got a great spot overlooking the Roman Forum and the rest of Rome. After that it was back over to the Colosseum for our chance to get to go inside the Colosseum. I kept just trying to imagine how they even built that thing. Pictures really don't do it justice, because just the overall size is insane. I was thinking to myself how cool it would have been to see it in its prime. 

 

To the far left is a picture of the coffee bar in the McDonalds that I ate at. The picture in the middle is a couple of us right outside the Colosseum in our new, stylish, ponchos. You know I always got to sneak my selfie in somehow. I thought this was a good spot, because it shows what the inside of the Colosseum looked like.

More Day 1

After the Colosseum and Roman Forum we took a little detour to see the Vittoriano, where Vittorio Emanuele II of Savory's monument is. This was honestly my favorite place that I had saw all day. I mean every little detail that was put onto this monumental complex blew me away. I just felt it was such an iconic site and perfectly represented what Rome was as far as beauty goes. After getting to see all these spectacular places it sure told me how much value and hard work that was put into this city. We were there for about thirty minutes and then we finished our hike back to the hotel. By this point I think I could've spoken for everyone when I say we were all beat. It felt so good to get about an hour in before dinner that night.

After our little rest period in our rooms we were heading to my food highlight of the trip so far and that would be getting to eat at The Hard Rock Cafe in Rome. I was super excited, because as I have already stated multiple times, food gets me pumped up. I went all out of this meal. After all we did that day I had built up an impressive appetite. I started my meal off with a big plates of loaded nachos and then from there I got my atomic burger, as it was labeled on the menu, with fries. That was probably one of the biggest burgers I had ever eaten, but I wasn't finished there. I kept seeing this massive hot fudge sundae going by me the whole night and knew I had to try it. This thing was so crazy! It came in this huge glass, served with a brownie, hot fudge, ice cream, nuts, whipped cream and a cherry on top of course. I split it with Matt and by that point we had reached a food coma.

The picture on the far left is of the beautiful monument in the heart of Rome. As you can tell the next two pictures are from my dinner at The Hard Rock Cafe. The burger in the middle was one of the best burgers that I have ever eaten and the desserts are on the far right. Mama Mia! was right when it came to the size of these bad boys.

A Day At The Vatican 

So after a very busy first day, I started my second day in Rome with the hotel's complementary breakfast. They actually had food that I am used to seeing for breakfast here. There were eggs, bacon, juice and the best thing were the danishes that they had. I had about two of these delicious cheese danishes with coffee and that got me feeling good for the day ahead of us. Our plan for the day was to head over to the Vatican and see St. Peter's Basilica and to do a tour of the Vatican museum. The whole picture of walking up to see the St. Peter's Basilica is stuck in my head and makes me want to go back. It was such an awesome looking structure, with all the massive columns around it. We had to wait about an hour to get inside to get to go up to the top of it. Once we got in, then we had to get up.. It was literally a maze to get to the top. The ceilings started to curve and the sides of the walls. Also, it was such a tight squeeze in some parts. Once we got to the top though the view was insane getting to see all of Rome. The coolest thing I saw was the bridge the Pope would take when the Vatican would get invaded, so it was like his secret passage out to this castle. Also, we got to be in the inside of the Dome in St. Peter's Basilica. I was speechless with all the little details. When you were up that high you could even see all the little squares of tile used for the pictures. I couldn't believe that I was up in a church. When we got down to ground level we had a little break to get something to eat. I ate at this cool little pasta place and it was some of the best pasta that I have ever eaten. 

 
The picture on the far left is me in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The picture on the right is my view from the top of St. Peter's Basilica. As you can see I had a great view of the courtyard and the columns surrounding it. 

The Vatican museum was overwhelming to say the least. The amount of rooms filled with art and just the decorations in the rooms themselves was so much to take in. From massive portraits, to huge quilts and statues, I saw it all. I was in there a good three hours and my favorite thing had to have been the Sistine Chapel. Michaelangelo's contributions to the chapel with the blue sky and the people was the coolest thing. I could have stared at it all day. You aren't allowed to take pictures in there or else I would share with you what I saw.

Everywhere You Go You'll See Something

The history that Rome has to offer is nothing like the U.S. Everywhere you go here there is something to see. After all we got to see and do already, there was more. First, we needed something to eat. After walking around for awhile we finally stumbled upon a cool little Italian place. The pizza that I had there was the best I have this whole trip. There was a gelato place right near it that I got and boy was it good. I got cookie flavored gelato and it was delicious. Eating my gelato we made it to our next stop, the Pantheon. It was crazy how this massive temple looking thing was just casual there in the center of the piazza. The Pantheon was so cool because it was lit by natural light from the very by this giant hole in the center. Also, I got to see Raphael's tomb. We were there a couple minutes and then we stopped at another place for gelato. This place was the coolest gelato shop yet and you got the most bang for your buck. I got so much gelato for such a good price and it was my favorite yet.  I took note of the place and dropped a location. It was called Giolitti and if I ever get a chance to come back to Rome I will defiantly be coming back. Oh, and yes I did have two large gelato in a matter of twenty minutes.  Our last stop before heading back to the hotel was the Trevi fountain. I loved this place, mainly because of the massive Zeus sculpture in the dead center. If you throw a coin in over you head backwards you wish is suppose to come true. I did it, so now I got to wait and see if it will come true. The fountain once again had such immense structure and just the color of marble that they used gave it that Greece look, like I could see it in some greek good environment. This was one of the best days I have had while being here and I still had one more!

 

The Pantheon is the picture on the far right, as you can see what I mean by this massive temple. The Trevi fountain is the photo in the middle and the lights really make it cool at night. Last but not least, my fabulous gelato cone from my favorite gelato place. I had gotten tiramisu, coffee and chocolate oreo, topped with homemade whipped cream on a cone.

The Grand Finally

The last day was a sad day, because Rome had been my favorite place that we had gone to. I started my last day with my coffee and danish and then we checked out of our rooms and our next destination was the Spanish Steps. It was very cool to see the view overlooking Rome from the top of the steps. While we were there we actually witnessed a wedding on the steps, which was a rare occurrence and what a cool place to have a wedding! We saw the statue that the Pope had put there, because there was this big flood and a boat had landed there, so they built this statue there. After the steps we went to the Villa Borghese garden to throw the frisbee for a bit, until we came upon bike rentals for five euros for an hour. A couple of us rented some bikes and we got a beautiful view of the gardens. It felt good to get a nice breeze and see some of the beauties of that the garden had to offer. We also saw the Piazza de Popolo, which means the the people and was my favorite piazza that I have seen so far. I think that has been one of my favorite cultural things about Italy, is that all these places have piazzas, but they are all unique from one another. After the park we were on our way back to the hotel and I got McDonalds as a cheap meal before getting on the bus that would take us back to Montepulciano. Overall the trip to Rome was one that I will remember forever and I hope to get a chance to come back sometime in the future. 

 

The wedding picture I got of the bride and groom on the steps on the far right. In the center photo I am on the bike that I had to ride around the Villa Borghese garden and to finish off my last blog a selfie with the Spanish Steps behind me.