Just following those hats around Rome

Well for starters, I had really good intentions to blog while I was in Rome, but I haven't really held up to that. I have just been so exhausted that I haven't had the time. We flew from Birmingham to Charlotte on Tuesday morning. The plane ride was less than an hour, and really smooth. After that, we rode from Charlotte to Italy on a flight that lasted nine hours. The ride was soooooo long, but it was rather smooth. I tried to sleep on the plane but I didn't have too much luck because every time Kyle moved, he woke me up. It was really strange to see the  up, then set, then come up again all in nine hours. When we had about an hour left on our flight, we flew over some beautiful mountains that were breath taking. It was really enjoyable to look out the windows on the ride in to Italy. When we got into Rome, we took a taxi from the airport to Residence Candia. Our first impressions of Rome were not too good. It reminded us of Mexico because it looked so dirty and there was graffiti everywhere. We checked into the hotel, and our rooms are surprisingly nice. We both have two roommates. I am rooming with Beth from JSU and Kalynn from GSU.

After we got settled into the hotel, Drs. Beezly and Prudlo took us on our first tour. We went to Castle St. Angelo. This changed our entire first impressions of Rome. The view from the top of the castle is breath-taking!! everything about the castle reminded me of Angels and Demons. I loved that they chose to take us there first because so far it has really set the tone for the whole trip. It gave us something to look forward to because we were able to pick out other places that we really wanted to go. Later that night, the professors took us to dinner at a little family restaurant down the street from the hotel. The food was divine, but the jetlag was seriously starting to settle in. I also gave my first attempt at "acquiring" the taste for wine. It still isn't my favorite, but I am coming around. It was really great to get into bed on day one. I had amazing sleep because essentially I hadn't slept in over 24 hours.

On day two, I woke up a little late, but I still had time to experience my first Italian breakfast--cappuccino and a pastry. It was divine. We followed those hats that we can't hardly keep up with (the professors) to Palatine Hill: the birthplace of Roman civilization. The rulers of Rome lived on the Hill, and it is one of the seven hills of Rome--the highest actually. Later that night, we decided to visit the Trevi Fountain. It is said that if you throw a coin in with your right hand over your left shoulder that you will come back to Rome one day--we will just have to see how true that is. We ended up going to a Scottish pub near the fountain, and the Metro stopped running because it was after 9pm. We had to take the bus back to our hotel, but we got so lost along the way. We ended up getting on the wrong  night bus that took us literally all the way across town! We were on the bus and an German/Chicago girl asked the locals where Cipro (our Metro stop) was, and every single local literally pointed in the opposite direction! We had to get off that bus and talk to more locals (with combined English, Spanish, and French) to figure out how and where to get on the correct bus. We ended up finding it, and we made it back to our hotel around 1:30 am. It was hilarious, and we really had a great time.

Onto day three. ...Day three we went to Ostia. Ostia is a little part of Rome near the sea that is where most of the commoners lived. We saw the remains of the baths, theater, toilets, bar, restaurant, etc. It was really neat, but SUPER hot!!! On the was back from Ostia, I got one of the best chicken salad sandwiches I have ever had, then I came back and took a nap. In the afternoon, We visited the Colosseum. It was an awesome site to see. It is basically the ruins for a huge stadium. It is beautiful, and I cannot wait to go back and see it at night. Later that night, we went out with a bunch of JSU students to the first restaurant that the professors first took us to. It was wonderful. We had a nice pleasant dinner that lasted over two hours. It made me feel like a real Italian because Italians eat like 1 million courses and drink a ton of wine so it takes them forever. We had so much fun just chilling and talking with everyone.

For Saturday, we traveled to Florence, Italy. We had to ride a train to get there. On the way there, we rode "the fast train." It took us about an hour and a half to get there, but we had standing room only seating so we stood in the bar area the entire time. Drs. Prudlo and Beezley gave us tours around the city. We saw many beautiful basilicas and walked all over the town. After lunch, we went to a basilica that had the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, and Galileo. It was pretty cool to see their tombs. Florence also had some really great shopping markets. We were so tired that we decided to take the "slow train" back to Rome. The slow train=four hours!!! We bought first class tickets because they were cheaper than the fast train.

Florence was a great end to a wonderful week. It is Sunday now, and it had been a very chillaxing day. It rained today, but it was nice to have an excuse to relax. I am enjoying this adventure; it has been an amazing experience!!! 

Blessings!!!