Bye Rome...Hellllooo Paris!

This morning we went to the garden to hang out and say good bye to Rome. At around 12 we headed back and packed our stuff to leave. We lugged our bags to the train station and waited in a cafe for our bus to the airport...or at least we thought it was a bus. I had booked our tickets through a legitimate website but when our ride pulled up it was not a bus it was a white creeper van. This made me really nervous but the women said it was a shuttle service. I trusted that everything was okay but I was super nervous and alert. We picked up some other people and that made me feel better. When we got to the airport we checked in quickly and went to our gate. Again we took a bus to board the plane on the tamarack. The flight was quick and easy. I was in the emergency exit so I had plenty of leg room. The flight attendant thought I was spanish so I was pumped about that!! After we took the orlybus to metro then crowded metro to gard du nord. The metro was so packed!!!! Once we got off an older man asked us if we needed help. We were okay cause we had a map but once on the streets we got a bit confused and a nice guy helped us out. Everyone was so helpful. They were really defying the French stereotype.

I was in awe of where I was. Paris was so beautiful. It also was a relief to be in the last stop of our trip. No more stressing about getting to a new place. Once at the hostel we checked into our extremely small room and then walked around to find food. I am embarrassed to say we got McDonalds. I saw it and instantly was craving a magnum flurry so we grabbed one there.

I was so happy to be in Paris. I was on a Paris high. I loved it already and was excited for the days to come.

Day in the Vatican

Today we woke up and took our time getting ready because we had to be at the Vatican at 12. We wandered the streets and did a little souvenir shopping for ourselves and our family and friends. As we were walking to the Vatican we spotted a place we wanted to go to for dinner in the Piazza Navona.

We arrived at the Vatican and the line to get into the Basilica was extremely long so we headed to the museums first. We bought our tickets ahead of time so it took us only about 10 minutes to get in. It was so crowded and we looked around but a lot of the exhibits were closed so we made our way to the sistine chapel. We had to go through about a 100 rooms of sculptures and artwork before we got to the chapel. It was so hot and stuffy I just wanted to get there. Once we were in the chapel I was sorta disappointed because I thought the finger part was going to be huge but it was small and all the paintings were broken up by molding. It was still breathtaking. One of the workers let us out a secret way to cut the line to the Basilica. It was nice to be able to get right in.

My mind was blown by how huge it was!!!!!! I can't even describe how large it was!!! It was so great!!! I loved it. I really liked how they were strict about the dress code. Also they had a room with the blessed sacrament and this was strictly for prayer. It was nice that there was so much respect for the Lord in his home. It was relaxing and nice to get to pray there.

There were a lot of Popes buried there too. It was a little eerie. Afterwards I hit up the gift shop and we went shopping near the Vatican city.

We also grabbed gelato at an infamous shop outside the Vatican walls. It was called Old bridge. The line was really long. It was so worth it. The workers were hot, the ice cream was cheap, and the ice cream was excellent. I got dark chocolate, pistachio, and caramel...so yummy. There were these pompous Americans that had "connections" inside so they got to cut. What a way to keep up our reputation. When we were getting gifts I found a cute mug for myself. I like to collect mugs and this one said I love Italia with a vespa on it :)

We went back to the hotel and cleaned up. Then we headed to dinner in the Piazza. It was perfect. Our waiter was annoying cause he took forever but I had great food. Focaccia with buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. It was of course really good. Then we went to the Pantheon and we got dessert. I got a cannoli because I had to have one! I was in Italy!!! It was delicious. We took our time and soaked in where we were. It was a great end to our trip. We headed back and got a good night sleep.

Beautiful Ruins...seems like a paradox to me but it works

On our second day in Rome. We decided to hit up the big monuments. We had bought tickets to the Colosseum the day before so we took our time getting ready and headed down the arena. When we got there the lady at the ticket line said we needed to print our a confirmation ticket but we already had printed it out. She told us to try again but that meant we would have to hike back to our hotel. We tried to find another place to print our tickets off but we gave up and went back to argue with her. She let us in finally and it all worked out...pheww. That was easy.

The colosseum was so amazing. It isn't anything close to what it use to be like but it was cool imaging what it was like and what went on. I wish my brother was there to fill me in on all the history because I know very little about Roman history. An interesting fact I learned was that they used the shed gladiator blood to treat epilepsy...gross I know.

After wandering around the colosseum we went to the Forum and Palentines. We honestly did not know what any of it was and what it use to be so we made up our own stories and talked in British accents. We saw a cupid breaking it down on the dance floor haha. As we were walking around we ran into Amy and her friends from SMSP!!!! It was so weird to see people from U of M!!!! We decided to meet up for dinner. After we walked around some more than got lunch. As we were sitting down this asian man took a picture of us. awkward....

Also pigeons were swarming us so we moved on and walked back to our park. We dipped our tired feet into a fountain then took a nap in the park. After we went back to the hotel to clean up and then meet up with Amy and the crew for dinner. We went to a cute jazz restaurant were I split pizza and salad with Kelly. Kelly and I were at the end of the table so we talked between ourselves. I love Kelly and we had some good laughs at dinner. After dinner we walked and looked at the Colessum at night then headed back to get some sleep. On the way back I found a 10 euro bill! Score!!!

First full day in Rome

Today we woke up at a decent time to have the wonderful provided breakfast at our hostel. They had cereal and COLD MILK!!!!! OMG I was beyond thrilled about the cold milk. It had been way too long since I enjoyed some cold milk and cereal. The breakfast was surprisingly very tasty and we took our time.

We had decided the night before that we wanted to explore all the historic district in Rome. So we went of with the Pantheon as our first stop. We stopped by the Trevi fountain on our way there because we wanted to see it during the day time. We got some pictures in front and then each threw a coin in the fountain. We wanted a picture together so we asked a nice looking women by us but she shook her head. I have never seen someone refuse to take a picture so it was odd but we got someone else to do it for us. After the fountain we walked around taking everything in. They had market tents set up with souvenirs in the streets that were made for pedestrians. We also saw a shop that was of all handmade wooden things like Pinocchio. The builidngs here are so beautiful...like I expected. I just like it because even the most insiginificant of buildings are beautiful here unlike in the states.

We went all around the historic district the entire day. Making our mark on Rome by walking about 6 miles or more that day. First stop was the Pantheon where mass was just about to start. We wanted to attend but I had a strapless dress on...bummer. After that we walked to the Piazza Navona. It was mobbed with people but it was still beautiful. After this we walked up to the river and visited the castle of Saint Angelo. On the roof we got an amazing view of all of Rome. It was beautiful.

The weather that day was so hot and sunny but it was beautiful for viewing the city. After the castle we walked past some government buildings and walked more along the river. We passed a cool synagogue. Then we walked around some ruins and the temple of Apollo. Next we climbed these really intense stairs that lead up to the monument that was erected in order to unify Italy a hundred or so years ago. It also is the tomb of the unknown solider. We walked around a basilica nearby and I lit a candle for my grandparents then we walked into the white memorial and looked around.

We then wandered around the streets to look for lunch. We ended up going the a cafe near the Trevi fountain where I got a cheese and tomato panini. It was very yummy. Afterwards we headed to the piazza de triton near our hotel to get gelato. I got Bacio and Kinder flavored gelato. It was delicious!!!!

After our gelato break we walked up towards the Spanish steps. The street leading to the steps had some really fancy shops. We were obviously in the ritzy neighborhood. The steps were different than I expected. A bunch of people were just hanging out there and we sat down for a minute. Our next stop was the big park in northern Rome. In front of the park there was another plaza...shock!

We walked up to the park that was on a hill. The view from the top was breathtaking. The best view of Rome I had seen so far. Also there was a nice breeze and a guitar player strumming some popular songs. It was a perfect moment. We passed an hour or so in the park wandering around and watching some rollerbladers do tricks.

After we walked back to the hotel and got on the internet to buy tickets for the Vatican and Colosseum. We met a father and son at our hotel. The son went to Texas Tech and was a year younger than us.

For dinner we hit up a pasta place. The seating was different. You sat at a long table with a lot of people. We were near a french Gma and her grandkid. Also they slapped on extra charges for service and bread. It was annoying but the food was really good so it was worth it.

Afterwards we got some dessert at a cute cafe. There were two old men working there. They were so cute and funny. I got Tiramisu. It was so delicious. I was in love with the food in Roma!

We were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel to pass out.

It was an eventful but wonderful first full day in Roma!

Off to Roma

Saturday I left to head to ROMA!!!! I woke up early and had to say good bye to Salamanca. It was hard to leave but I tried not to think about it, also it was easier to leave since I knew I was headed to Roma! Megan and I took the bus to the airport. I was just ready to get the day over with because last time I flew it was a horrible day (the day I got to Salamanca). When we got to the airport we were a little confused at where to go since the airport set up in Spain is a little different. We asked some guys working for our airline where to go. They spoke to us in English (still weird for me) and asked where we were from. We told them the US and they asked us where in the states. We told them we went to U of Michigan. They got so excited and told us they knew Magic Johnson was from University of Michigan and they were like "Eminem"! haha I tried to tell them that Magic was from State but they were too excited about the Eminem part of Michigan. After the excitement faded they pointed us in the right direction. We got our tickets and checked our baggage with ease...whheewww... one less stress. We got to our gate and chilled for an hour and a half before boarding. About an hour before boarding people started lining up. I laughed because it is just like Spaniards to crowd together and get in line early. When we boarded we had to take a bus out to the tarmac and walk up those stairs you see in movies to get onto the plane. I told Meg that I felt like the president haha.

The plane we got on was huge! One of the biggest planes I have been on to date. I was not expecting this since we were just flying a short distance but it was a full plane. I was seated next to an italian women and her husband. Once we took off she started talking to me. She didn't speak english and immediatley she started talking to me in Italian. I guess I looked like I was italian but I just talked back to her in spanish. We were able to communicate a little bit. She asked me about school and I tried to tell her what I was studying but I just told her medicine and spanish. After chatting I took a siesta since it was about that time in Spain. The flight was short and when we landed we waited about an hour for our bags and then we got to leave with out doing customs! thank you EU treaties!

We took our bags to the train station that was connected to the airport and booked tickets on the express to the Rome Termini which is like their grand central station. We took the train and so far we couldn't see the city much. Once we got off the train we lugged our bags about 20 minutes to our hotel. I thought it was a short walk, and it was, but with a 13 kg bag things seem a little slower ya know haha.

Our hotel is on a cute side street. via frenzie. on the fourth floor so we get to take an old school elevator up. It has a warm atmosphere and breakfast area. After laying down and collecting ourselves we asked the man at the desk for a good pizza place. He told us about a delicious good priced place near the hotel. We had to wait a bit to get a seat outside but it was worth it. We split 2 pizzas between the three of us. Oh yeah my friend Kelly is with us now. She met us at the hotel. The pizza was amazing. I was in heaven.

It had been so so long since I had great pizza and this was ITALIAN pizza. for real! I also had sparkling white wine with it. At dinner we saw a little girl having wine. When in Rome i guess haha....We had a perfect dinner though. We spent about 2-3 hours eating and talking. Then we headed to the Trevi Fountain for a glimpse of it at night. This was the first big beautiful monument we had seen in Rome. We were all taken away. We snapped a few pics and then headed back to the hotel. As we were leaving the fountain we saw a proposal at the fountain! It was so cute everyone was cheering and the girl said yes. It gave me the chills it was so romantic. I am sure it happens about every week there. haha. We checked email and such when we got back and I talked with mis padres finally. Then we passed out from exhaustion.

Good first night in Rome. It is so weird to think that I am in Italy. It is surreal. So surreal.

:(

ya echo de menos Salamanca. Fue muy difícil decir adíos a la Plaza Mayor.

Me and Pedro (one of our program directors)

Salsa dancing :)

Andy and me

Farewell Dinner