One of the great benefits of this trip is visiting so many cities and sites in just the month of May. Today was a great example of while although that is a plus in the long run, it isn't always the best route. We woke up at 7:00 a.m. and got back to the hotel room at 11:00 p.m. During these 16 hours we walked 10 miles and saw the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, the Colosseum, the Piazza Novana, the Palazzo Altemps, the Pantheon, and the Trevi Fountain. So basically I have no idea what we did today. We also ate an amazing dinner and wandered around Rome, but that comes later.
Ok so honesty I paid zero attention to the lectures today. I took maybe 10 notes. It's really hard to pay attention when we are moving so quickly and it gets hard to appreciate each place. After a while they all start to run together. Something I really enjoyed today though was getting to talk and hangout with different people in our group. Since barely anyone has cell phone service, and we are all stuck walking and hanging out together, it's easy to strike up conversations with people and get to know them a little better. I've made a lot of new friends already. It's crazy that it's only the third day into the trip, it feels like at least two weeks!
Since today was a blur I'll just touch on the parts that stuck out to me. I thought the coliseum was AWESOME. I'm not very good at having "visions" and imagining things, so I really liked how the coliseum's sketeton structure was still in tact. People had added additions too so visitors would know what it would have looked like back in the days of gladiator fights and gorey entertainment. We only got to walk around for maybe 45 minutes but we got to see the view from the seats as well as the view from the floor. Something cool I learned was under the floor of the coliseum was an intricate maze where slaves used to tend to the animals and prepare for "shows". It's crazy to think of entertaining such a big stadium having people chanting for or against you. Another interesting fact was they used to make prisoner fight each other, gladiators fight each other, and gladiators fight various animals. It was like the SEC of Rome, except they had games more than once a week in the fall! 
Prepare yourselves for the depressing part of the day.. The Trevi fountain was under construction and looked atrocious 😢 How am I supposed to copy Lizzie McGuire and become a true super star if I can't toss a coin in the fountain?! Ok, we actually could toss coins in but there was scaffolding covering almost the entire front part, there was no water, and the security guards ushered you across the walkway so fast we barely had time to throw a coin! 
For lunch we went to a hole in the wall Italian place where we could order pizza or lasagna. Since I got lasagna last night I decided to order the pizza. It was delicious and made in a brick oven fireplace right in front of us. I love Italy.
I can only imagine how breathtaking it is when there is no construction and the fountain is flowing. Word on the street is if you toss one coin in, you get to come back to Rome, two coins, you find love in Rome, and three coins, you get married in Rome. I tossed one coin. So fingers crossed for me!
When we were released from "class" at 5:30, we decided to stay out on the town and find a place for dinner. With a group of around 12 people this proved a little difficult. After walking through an insane amount of unnecessary streets, we split into groups of two and left each group to their own tastes. I have figured out the trick to dining in Italy, split everything! Tonight between Janae and I we split a dish of fettuccini Alfredo, a side of French fries, two bottles of wine, and only paid 22€ each! (The second bottle of wine was between four people so that helped too). Since all anyone eats here is carbs, you get really full really fast so I think splitting dishes is always the best way to go. Plus, you need to save room for the gelato that comes after! 😊
After dinner we walked around the streets trying to find a discoteca but apparently those aren't popular on Sunday nights.. Who knew?! We got the names of some good ones and settled on a nice gelato place instead. All I have to say after today is TTL (thank the Lord) Wendy (my mom) hooked me up with such awesome walking shoes!! All day people were complaining about their feet but my sandals could not have been more comfortable. The straps didn't rub, they fit perfectly to my feet, and they had awesome arch support. THANKS MOM! 😘 I'm definitely wearing them on the long days for the rest of the trip!
So a quick and random fun fact, people here don't have water fountains, but they DO have non stop running water coming out of random spickets! We will stop on the side on a street and stick our water bottles under these faucets and fill up there. I don't quite understand how this isn't wasteful but I guess it works for them! ALSO one of the girls recorded our steps today... TEN MILES. TEN. My feet are hurting just typing this. 
Tomorrow we go to see a princess! She's really from Texas, but she married a prince. Dreams really can come true. Also maybe she's in the market for a new best friend?? Keep your fingers crossed for me 👑
Ciao!
~emily
No comments:
Post a Comment