When in Rome...

 

Buongiorno!

I'm still alive and haven't eaten myself into a carb or gelato coma yet...Yay me! Dang, I may have just jinxed it. 

I'm currently perched up on my bed in Florence after an afternoon trip to Pisa, figured now's a good time to fill you all in on my Rome adventures... You know, before old age memory kicks in and I just have to resort to making up stories.
 

I arrived into Rome on Saturday and it was like a culture shock coming from Amalfi. The train station is definitely the place to be for some entertaining people watching. 

My friend Giovanni was kind enough to host my stay and picked me up from the station. Once I got settled in, first plan of action was to jump on his bike and go for a ride around the outskirts of Rome. He's been pumping me up for this ride for a while so I was pretty excited. We didn't go on a sissy, leisurely ride oh no no no.  This guy had me holding on for dear life but since he's such an experienced rider, I felt completely safe. We drove around to Castel Gandolfo, a picturesque lakeside town where the Pope has a summer home. I totally failed and didn't take my phone with me but here are a few snaps from Giovanni's phone:

A few of my fellow tour mates from Amalfi were also in Rome so we all met up for dinner. Of course, it was left to the local to plan and he didn't fail. We kept dinner plans outside of the city in Ariccia and enjoyed a real local dinner at Sora Lella with wait for it......waaaaaait for ittttttt.... Sparkling. Red. Wine. I kid you not. That shit was amaaaaazeballs. 

Dinner was a feast. We weren't even given menus but plate after plate and bottle after bottle just kept on coming! Ain't nobody complaining! The bill was peanuts too. Again, no complaints. At. All. 

We played drinking games (yes drinking games are the NORM at dinner) and were serenaded by this guy and a guitarist who eluded a photo. 

After dinner, Giovanni and his friend Gianluca gave us a little night tour of Rome. 

You may be thinking "wtf is that last pic??" But it's actually pretty friggin cool. There's a huge wooden door with a tiny peephole in it. Look through it and you see the dome of St. Peter's Bascilica. Of course the pic doesn't do it justice but definitely something we would have missed if it wasn't for the boys. 

The next day, Giovanni was kind enough to take myself and Lauren (fellow tour mate) on a walking tour of Rome. Just follow the local and let it all sink in was our motto, until the rain started that was. It was a very wet day in Rome but thank the raaaaaaain gods that we were right on front of the Pantheon when the black clouds rolled in so we had shelter. Not a bad place to be trapped for an hour I suppose! 

Here are some snaps from the day:

Okay let's just address the MAJOR disappointment that was the Trevi Fountain. Boooooo restorations!!!

Let's jump to Monday shall we...the day I had booked for my Vatican tour. There were metro issues the night before due to the rain and of course as just my luck would have it, the trains still weren't running Monday morning where I needed to get on from. I'm not gonna give you the whole story because I'm not trying to get my blood boiling again but let's just say it took me 4 friggin hours to reach the Vatican. Four!!!!! The entire trip from door to door should have been around an hour... If that. Clearly I missed my tour but was able to get on another one later in the afternoon (not as lengthy as the one I booked but let's not get into that either).  Even though the sun was now shining, my mood was shot so I went home after the tour. Did I mention I was also malnourished? Seriously, Monday sucked but Giovanni was an angel and left work early since I had such a shiteous day and picked up groceries for dinner. Homecooked dinner for this girl! Woop!

Oh ya, some Vatican snaps:

And then the BIIIIIIG day. The epic June 17th alllllll hail Ekta day! It sounds more fancy that way...let it be. My plan was to tour the Colosseum properly if it wasn't raining but of course as soon as I got ready to leave the house, down came the rain and didn't stop. At that point, I had seen the main attractions and made the executive decision to just keep my butt inside for the day. Sorry to break it to you folks, but all this girl did on her birthday were her nails and laundry. After getting home from work, Giovanni once again cooked us dinner and again, would not let me lift a finger (male readers take note). The sneaky little bugger also pulled out a cake he bought... Happy Birthday to meeee!!! Although a quiet, lowkey birthday, it was lovely and I wouldn't change a thing.

Overall, I don't think Rome fully set in. I was overwhelmed with the history of it all and just couldn't really believe I was there... Do you know what I mean? It felt like a weird out of body experience. I saw such iconic sites that I had learned about in my childhood and seeing it in person was just indescribable. Unreal. 

Big thanks goes out to Giovanni who went above and beyond anything and everything. Grazie!

Stay tuned for Florence which all I can say for now is....WOW. 

Ciao!