Last week, I traveled throughout Italy for about a week. I was traveling solo, but I met the most amazing people and saw the most beautiful things. Here’s a recap of my trip!
Rome:
The first stop on the list was Rome! After sleeping through both of my alarms and almost missing my early morning flight, the trip was off to a rocky start. Luckily, I made the flight, and from there on it was pretty much smooth sailing. I arrived in Rome Monday afternoon, and the weather was gorgeous! It was the first time I had seen the sun in awhile. Even now, in the middle of June, Paris is cold and cloudy. Anyway, I hopped on a bus to the center of the city and got to my hostel. I checked in and wasted no time. First stop, the Colosseum...and some delicious gelato along the way! Let me tell you, the Colosseum is just as amazing as you would imagine it to be. I felt a lot like I was in Athens, with ruins in every direction, spotted all over the city with busy roads and lots of traffic in between. I went inside the Colosseum and spent a while walking around and admiring its immensity. From there, I walked through the Roman Forum on my way to the top of Il Vittoriano where I got a beautiful panoramic view of the city. By then, it was dinner time, and I stopped for probably the most delicious pizza I have ever had. I took one last stop at the Trevi Fountain, which was just as beautiful as everything else in Rome. I did not, however, get a chance to throw my coins in...there were too many people crowding the area. From there, I headed back to my hostel and met some really nice girls staying in my room. I could not have asked for a better first day.
The next morning, one of the girls in my room and I woke up early, had some breakfast, and headed to Vatican City. We first went into St. Peter’s Basilica, which is absolutely beautiful. We then went inside the Vatican Museum. Luckily, we had reserved our tickets the night before so we were able to skip the lines! The museums were pretty crowded, but the walls and ceilings of the halls on the way to the Sistine Chapel were decorated with ornate paintings and designs. After a good fifteen minutes of pushing our way through the hoards of people, we made our way into the Sistine Chapel. It is absolutely stunning...there really is nothing so amazing! It’s incredible to think that one person painted it; every inch of each wall and ceiling is covered with beautiful paintings. It’s actually a bit overwhelming to look at because you’re not quite sure where to look first. We stood in the chapel for a while, just taking it all in, admiring as much as we could see. After a few hours exploring the museums, we had finally seen all the rooms. As we were leaving, we got caught in a thunderstorm, so we ducked into a restaurant for lunch. As expected, my pizza was made to perfection. By the time we finished lunch, the rain had passed, and the sun was once again shining. Of course our meal was not be complete until we had some gelato, so we walked a few minutes to the Gelato Factory, which according to my travel book, has the best gelato in Rome. And I would have to agree...I got a cone with one scoop of chocolate and one scoop of Nutella-flavored, and it was AMAZING!! After our gelato, we headed back to the city, and I headed for the train station. It was a great trip, and I really enjoyed the city! Next stop: Venice!
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