DAY 1
Ciao from Rome, everyone! After a dissatisfying breakfast at our hotel in Paris (why they didn’t put out a lot of food right at the open, I don’t know), we waited on our ride. Once again, Monograms Travel provided us with transportation to the airport where we were greeted by another Monograms guide, booked our flight (wayyyy ahead of time), gave us our boarding passes & answered any questions we had. We flew with Alitalia Airlines. Not going to lie; I am disappointed. Even though the flight was only 2 hours, the seats are not comfortable for us long-legged folks. My knees we right on the seat in front of me & to make matters worse, the lady in front of me reclined her seat back the entire way while I was attempting to adjust myself in the seat. THEN the jerk behind me kept kicking my seat & acted like he did not speak English when I asked him to stop. The flight attendants were not the nicest either. It is safe to say that I will never fly with them again if I do not have to.
Just like Paris, the traffic was not the best & our driver was all over the road. I was extremely grateful to finally get to the hotel safely. After being greeted by another Monogram representative, she directed us to the closest restaurant, Amedeo. The wine was great, and the lasagna was even better. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of our meal because I ran out of memory on my camera & the memory card I brought with me was the WRONG ONE. Guess who had to buy another memory card in Rome? (This girl right here.) Luckily there was a shop close to the restaurant that sold the exact one I needed. Since we were told by our guide that the train station had places to eat and shop, we decided that was our next stop. Plus, it gave us a chance to walk off all the food we just ate. Much like Paris, there are pickpockets and people on the street trying to sell something to you. We had a guy try to follow us because he wanted us to buy whatever he was trying to sell. Due to us saying NO multiple times & finally getting pissed off, he left us alone. Being our first time in Rome, we obviously got LOST finding the train station but eventually found it with the handy dandy international phone provided by our hotel. We stopped at Venchi for gelato; mom got tiramisu flavor & as normal, I ended up with chocolate. After walking around for what seemed like forever, we made our way back to the hotel & stopped at a spot named Pizza House. Now here in the states, pizza has sauce on it. There was NO sauce on this pizza which kinda threw me off, but I wanted to try it anyway. I was not a fan, but you never know if you like something until you try it.
DAY 2
I woke up a little grumpy. My mother, as well as my grandmother, snore, so sleep was extremely hard. At least I was able to take a power nap on the tour bus on the way to Vatican City. For those that do not know, Vatican City is home to the Roman Catholic Church, the pope, as well as multiple museums. If I am ever back in Rome, I will make a point to visit some of the other museums as well. We were there specifically for the Sistine Chapel & Saint Peters Basilica. Our tour was a fairly large group; therefore, everyone had a headphone set where we were able to listen to our tour guide without struggling to hear the mounds of history being thrown at us. If you end up in Vatican City, swing by the gift shop. It is connected to a little cafe that has the BEST spaghetti I have ever had without any meat. The last stop of the tour was the Roman Forum & the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built in the 1st century AD during the Flavian dynasty and became home to events such as hunts and the gladiator games. Something I learned that I did not know before was that the Colosseum could be flooded for mock naval battles and that there was a pulley system designed for the gladiators to be lifted up and down to the arena floor. For dinner, we stopped by another one of the local restaurants that were known for their wine. The wine was fantastic, but the food was not of my taste.
DAY 3
Last full day in Rome! Sad to leave this beautiful place but happy to gather my belongings and head home. I was deeply missing my fur babies and my bed... especially since there are two other people in the room sawing logs. My lack of sleep has definitely affected my attitude; I have been a little extra sassy. BUT I think I made the most of the day running off of fumes. We started the day with breakfast at the hotel, where I also made myself a sandwich to-go so I would not have to spend money out. After the non-satisfactory meal I had the night before, I was not eager to eat out again unless I could get back into Vatican City for some more of that awesome spaghetti! Our first stop for the day was the Pantheon, one of the best-preserved Roman temples in existence, even though it was rebuilt after burning down between 80 A.D. & 110 A.D. We swung through the hustle and bustle of Navona Square, stopping at shops and for more gelato on the way to the Trevi Fountain. Legend says that if you toss a coin in the fountain, it will ensure your return to Rome. I was not and am still not sure how accurate that is, but I went ahead and tossed my coin in there anyway—definitely, a wonderful way to say goodbye to Rome.
I will also add, even though there is a tour bus to get you to where you need to go, we still did a LOT of walking. Not just for here in Rome but for Paris & London as well. Please be sure to wear comfortable shoes!!!!!
Until later folks,
Anastasia
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