On arriving in Rome, I very quickly realized that it was most definitely NOT Florence! Although I was only in Rome for a weekend, and I am really taking any experience I get over here as bonus and amazing, being in Rome really made me miss Florence. It’s a huge city with tons of people, cars and tourists. Unlike other big cities though, there really aren’t sidewalks and it is crazy to get around! I was constantly feeling like I was about to be hit by a car/vespa/bus etc. and one guy from TCU even got hit by a Smart Car! Last weekend, my 48 hours in Paris made me completely fall in love with the city and never want to leave. Being in Rome was a completely different experience and made me so, so soooo glad that I live in Florence! Now that, that rant is over, heres the breakdown of my trip!
Friday: This trip was with all of the TCU people because it was organized by ACCENT, so we were always in large groups (which is probably another reason I didn’t like it as much). We caught the 8:45 train from Florence to Rome and got there around 10 (usually it’s a 3 hour train ride, but we took the fast train). After getting there, we were set free to get lunch etc. and we went to what looked like a cute café. After spending the weekend in Rome, I realized that really it’s a major tourist restaurant, but at the time it seemed cute. I ordered pasta carbonera which if anyone has had it, is an egg/bacon/cheese type pasta. Its usually really good, but this version of the dish was basically Velveeta pasta with bacon. It was wayyyyy too rich and felt like a rock in my stomach after lunch. Then we met up with our guide for the trip, Frea (she is from Australia, but has lived in Italy for 7 years and is super cool) for a walking tour. We saw a bunch of really cool churches, palaces, and ended at Trevi Fountain. Again, not to sound like a spoiled brat, but after 4 churches, its pretty hard to differentiate between and appreciate them, so I can’t really tell you much more about what I saw. Trevi Fountain was pretty fun to see again (the last time I was in Rome, I was a sophomore in High School) and we threw coins in the fountain.
Government building
weird looking fountain
pretty church (#2 I think??)
throwing coins in Trevi Fountain
Then we were set loose for dinner and free time. Kaylen, Nicole, Sam and I went to dinner at this really awesome place which had a 15 euro special. You got bruscetta, pizza, pasta, dessert, and 2 types of wine (all you can drink) and it was all soooo good! After a ton of food and wine, we went to the piazza by our hotel which has a bunch of bars at night. We ended up at the Drunken Ship, which was a lot of Americans, but still very fun! Also, Sam and Nicole knew a couple of guys that they met in Venice who met up with us. They tried to take us to another bar, but we got lost and ended up back at the Drunken Ship. Around 1:30, Kaylen and I decided to call it a night and tried to start making our way back to our hotel. Unfortunately, the map we were given of Rome has the hotel taking up a 5 block area, which it definitely does not in real life! Because of this, and since we had only been in Rome for less than a day, we could not figure out how to get back and ended up asking a group of Italian girls that we ran into. They were super fun and it was one of theirs 23rd birthday! She kept trying to get us to drink with them, but we were needing to go back to the hotel, so they showed us how to get home. FINALLY we made it back to the hotel about 45 minutes later.
Our new Italian friends
Drunken Ship!
Saturday: Around 9, we met with Frea and the TCU group to go to the Vatican. Again, I have seen all of this before, but it was definitely nice to see with a set of older and more appreciative eyes! Compared with the Louvre and Musee Orsay in Paris, I didn’t like the Vatican museum as much, but all of the artwork is still incredible. Probably even more amazing than the art though is the building. Every room has ceilings painted in elaborate designs and scenes from the bible. The Sistine chapel ceiling is of course, amazing, but even better I think is the painting of Judgment Day (also by Michelangelo) on one of the walls of the chapel. As Michelangelo was painting it, many people were critical of his work, especially a cardinal who said it belonged in a brothel. To get back at the cardinal, Michelangelo painted him as one of the guards of Hell. Rumor has it that when the cardinal complained to the Pope about being painted as a guardian of Hell, the Pope told him that “while he had jurisdiction on earth, he had no power in Hell”. We also saw St. Peters Basilica which is huge and amazing, but in my opinion, just another church. I can definitely see how those with catholic roots would appreciate it more though!
Inside the Vatican museum
The Vatican/ St. Peters Basilica
At this point, Kaylen and I split up from the group and grabbed some much needed lunch (it was around 2:30 and we hadn’t eaten since 8 am!) at a pizza place. Then we went back to the hotel and napped/read/relaxed for a few hours before dinner. Around 8, a big group of us went back to the restaurant we had been to the night before, which was just as good a second time! Because we can have Italian food any time we want, I didn’t really feel guilty going back to the same place twice…just like in Florence, I frequent places more than once! After dinner, we went back to the Drunken Ship and danced to lots of American music (the Italians love American music) and I met a guy that I though was Italian, but apparently was from Ohio… whoops. Stupid fake Pablo!
silly Pablo... (real one)
Dinner!
Sunday: We got up SOOO early, and headed on a walking tour of the Forum and the Coliseum. Not much to say except that all of those things are so cool! If you get a chance, they are pretty awesome to see in person!
Chillin at the Coliseum
Roman Forum
It started raining around lunch time which was bummer because I didn’t have an umbrella, but on the bright side, we got to see it rain in the Pantheon! It was probably one of my fav parts of the weekend, because it looks like something is descending from the heavens or something. Also, there was a choir singing in the Pantheon, which added to the whole effect of the rain.
After lunch, we went back to the hotel and hung in the lobby for a few mins waiting for everyone else. Then we headed back to the train station and back to Florence! I went to sleep around 9 pm on Sunday and got some much needed sleep!
Overall, it was a really fun weekend, but I don’t think I will be going back to Rome any time soon (unless to visit Megan!). That’s about it for that trip though… LOVE YALL!
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