so this past weekend, Carson, Sara and I went to Rome! we only wanted to go for one night, which was slightly ambitious of us and the forcast for friday was rainy. So we got up at 6 am on saturday morning to catch the 7 am train to Rome! i called the cab to come get us and i was very proud at my italian skills. we got into the train station in Rome by 9:30 in the morning! so we stopped for a cappucino and pastry and then walked to our Hostel: Pappa Germano, which was only two blocks away from the train station and sooo nice! we paid only 7 euros more a night for this hostel than the one in Sorrento and we got free internet, free breakfast, towels, shampoo and oh yea a clean modern room! soo worth it.

so after that we took off to take over Rome! we went to the Coloseum first and decided to play an extra 10 euros to skip the huge line and get an english tour as well. it was magnificent. even though i have already seen it, it was like seeing it for the first time again. I had made the executive decision to wear/bring only one pair of shoes, my riding boots. and although i love them and looked fabulous, they were not th best walking shoes. next time i will definitely choose sneakers over fashion... well maybe. after wandering through the Roman Forum and getting a little lost we stopped for lunch before heading right for Via del Corso, the main shopping street. i actually didnt see as many things that i wanted as i anticipated, i think my exhaustion put a damper on my shopping capability. however you will be happy to know that i found a pair of black flats and a long shirt. mind you at this point it is about 430 pm and we have been up since 6. we preservere on to the spanish steps where i have a minor crisis because my debit card has been blocked because of the group flight i purchased earlier in the week. ANYWAYs, we saw the Spanish Steps and a couple taking not only wedding photos but a wedding VIDEO. that was pretty cute and romantic. Finally we found the Piazza Popolo and the restaurant that i went to a few years ago called La Bucca di Ripetta. The food was pretty awesome. i had home madepear ravioli in an orange sauce. it was interesting and expensive considering they only gave me 6 small raviolis. it wass a pretty successful day but definitely chaotic. we went back to the hostel and were all asleep before 11.

on sunday we wanted to catch the 2pm train so sara and i got up early to go to the Vatican. Carson did not want to come so she went to Villa Borgese and ate 3 sandwiches and read by her self in the beautiful gardens. Sara and i went into the Basilico Sant Pietro (the main Vatican Church) and it was stunning. the Museum was closed because it was sunday, but we wouldnt have had time for it anyways. We still had so much we wanted to see that day before we left that we did rush a little bit through everything. we also went to Piazza Navona and the Trevi Fountain! SOOOOO MUCH walking in only 30 hours in Rome. I definitely burned off all of the calories i consumed that weekend. including the little gelato i got right before getting on the train ride home.

the train home wasnt too bad but its annoying going through all of the mountains because there are sooo many tunnels and your ears are constantly popping! gah but it was worth it. I would definitely love to go back to Rome. there is still so much left to see and do. Plus it is such a glamorous city! i love it! its just like the New York of Italy. So many beautiful people and history and amazing-ness. but its internationality definitely has some draw backs. if you try to speak italian to people they usually just answer you in english. i cant imagine studying there and never getting to experience an authentic italian city. Still to see all of the ruins and architecture from the Roman Empire was priceless.