Thursday, April 9, 2009

This ... is ... Sparta (Rome, Italy)

Hola Queridos,



I went to ROME! : )

We had another early wake-up time, 3 am early!



The day started off a little rough again as my roomate's luggage was supposed to be left at the hostel (since we're returning there) yet the reception desk wasn't open at 3 am & the receptionist forgot to mention such a detail. So we had to rush and think of who/where/if she should leave it ... all while the Taxi was waiting outside to take us to the airport...meter running.



We got to the airport and fortunately ran into little problems. Once in Rome we waited for a bus and found our hostel surprisingly easy (granted, the bar wasn't set too high). We set out stuff down quickly and set off to see as much of Rome as we could in one day!



To start we headed to The Vatican City! If you're only interested to hear if I saw the Pope, I didn't, although he was in the city, somewhere!



The Vatican was really interesting...we opted to pay for a guided tour which meant we were able to skip the lines, go through security, and then have a guided tour. Although it was a bit more costly than just doing it solo, skipping the typical 3 hour long wait (if not longer) was worth it. I was able to see St. Peter's Basicilica as well as The Sistine Chapel! What an experience!! Both of these places were just breathtaking, as it's still hard to believe that I was actually there!



We then headed for lunch from the grocery store...I fear I'm going to be really sick of sandwich meat by the end of this adventure...



Next we headed to the other 'main' mark, the Coloseum. Wow! Pretty impressive it was!! I kept thinking 300 ... we are Sparta .. from the movie 300.



Afterwards my friend decided to take a nap and I, in Rome, wandered around... taking all the pictures that I could! It was so interesting to see so much of Rome, still intact!



I have a very positive impression of the Italian people...they're very welcoming to foreigners and always trying to assist you either if you ask or sometimes, just looking lost, they would offer to help!



The other "exicting" news from Rome, which didn't really affect us at all, was the fact that an earthquake hit the day before our arrival. Although some street signs were down, I didn't personally notice too much distruction. So phew! I appreciate the concern though.. it means a lot to know people were thinking about me!!



Besos

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