Rome

the view from the steps of the heritage building

Andrew modeling in front of St. Peters 

Best gelato in Italy so far!

maple walnut, white chocolate, and banana!!

Before the sun had come up outside the trainstation

before sun rise at the coloseum

later in the day at the Coloseum

I hate crossing streets

it was so beautiful i had to take a lot of pictures

VIVE ROMA!

Sunrise shot

another sunrise shot

early morning lights among the ruins

more ancient ruins

nature in the busy city

isnt it lovely? i love rome.

fruit stand outside of the ruins. the guy running it threw a bucket of dirty water on chelsea, he was one of those indian guys who are always selling useless shit. at least the fruit looked good.

i dont know who this is.

The heritage building! 

best vinegar ive ever had. tangy and sweet.

fountain outside of santa maria

the pantheon... note the occulus.

ohh i want this cute little car. or one like it. it would make me so happy.

walking along the canal!

along the canal outside of the castle

a small bit of the large castle

inside the coloseum

piazza di popolo

back inside the coloseum, sorry these photos aren't in any particular order.

andrew and his delicious sandwich!!

Roma.

     Rome was pretty fabulous, not going to lie.  My mom had heard from someone else who had visited that it was over rated, but i would have to disagree completely.  Craig had decided to go to Modena, home of Ferrari's and since I wasn't about to travel in such a major city all alone, I recruited Andrew Smith and housemate and friend of mine, to accompany me.  Chelsea was already headed to Rome that weekend to meet up with her parents, who were taking advantage of their daughter being in Italy, by making a visit here themselves.  We all took a night train in. My first night train experience. Wow, night trains are rough, six people per cabin, think hogwarts express, with the sliding glass doors.  It was a bit too cramped to really sleep, but i drifted in and out of consciousness for a little while on the 10 hour train ride.  We arrived in Rome at 5:50 am... the tough life of a traveler. haha. Nothing was really open yet, so after making a quick bathroom stop in the train station, we watched the sun rise over the Coloseum. yeah pretty amazing. We walked around some ruins as the sun continued rising, visited the national heritage building, headed over to the Pantheon, and ended up seeing the fountain of Trevi on the way.  The weather couldn't have been better, clear skies perfect temperature.  We saw Santa Maria Magiore and then stopped for gelato at the best gelataria i had seen in all of italy...so many flavors!! i got white chocolate, maple walnut, and banana.  Banana quickly became my favorite flavor of gelato. so delicious!! We made a point of walking through Campo di Fiori, a famous marketplace with tons of vendors selling truffle paste, lemoncello, and olive oil.  I tried some of the best balsamic vinegar id ever had, and we all smiled and helped ourselves to sample Cinnamon and Chocolate-cello shots. Who can say no to free samples? even if it was before lunch. Then Andrew and I visited the Vatican City and headed off to check into our hostel for a nap.  We woke up later that evening and met up with Chelsea and her parents at the spanish steps for a few glasses of wine and some apartifs. mmm. Back at the hostel we met our room mates, two guys from the Peace Corps, who were vacationing from Moldova where they were stationed in eastern europe, as well as two australian guys who were spending six months traveling.  We asked everyones favorite foods (giros from greece and pastries from berlin and eastern cuisine in general), favorite places (BUDAPEST all around! but berlin came up as well, smile), and the place with the best looking girls. okay andrew asked that not me and to be honest i forget where they said.

     The next morning, i took full advantage of our hostels full continental breakfast with little cheese platters, fresh pastries, granola, milk, juice, yogurt, and meats. Then i stood in line to enter St. Peters Basilica, completely worth the 15 minute wait, it was strikingly gorgeous.  It was the only thing that has ever made me consider becoming a nun.  Luckily for craig, i didn't really look into the matter and headed off to the Castle Sant'Angelo.  After some pictures, i headed off along the canal, walked two main shopping streets, and ate lunch at the famous Piazza de Popolo.  Then I walked back to the Coloseum and this time went inside, since it was open.  Crazy actually being inside.  I watched the sunset on the coloseum while wandering up a winding path to a small church, before meeting up with andrew for some chinese food!  After the Chinese food we visited some ritzy hotels and the opera house, as well as a monostary.  We made one last stop at an eastern food vendor so andrew could munch on a giro while we waited for our train.  Another night train back to Alba with some cranky middle aged women cabin mates before we made it back to homebase for a long well deserved nap.