You can't spell Romance without Roma

I should mention first that Rome packs quite a punch. We could have spent a week in Rome and still not uncovered all that is hidden deep within the walls of this city. 4 ish days gave us a mouthfull though and the general itinerary that we adhered to each day in Rome went something like this:

1) Wipe the sleep from the eyes around 9 and proceed to fill belly with as much free hostel "breakfast" as one can manage.

2) Waste no time logging some serious mileage on the street. With all that sight seeing you really work up an appetite - but there are absolutely no guilty feelings assosciated with stopping for gelato (remember that gelato - everyday - diet I alluded to earlier? You can bet your bottom dollar that I stuck with it.) PS My 3 all time fav flavors of gelato were mint, amaretto and nutella. I made a relatively conscious effort to try to sample new flavors each time around but no matter what the combination was, the girls and I concluded that any dairy concoction in Italy was straight up organsmic.

3) Head back to the hostel around 5 ish for a pre - dinner siesta.

4) Shower; beautify; go out to an authentic Italian dinner and flirt shamelessly with handsome waiters (yeah, I said it).

5) When the general touristy crowd is itching to drift into sweet dreams after finishing their pasta and wine, those smart enough to have taken a little cap nap have the energy needed to keep going for hours. So what's a girl to do in order to burn off all those carbs? Why go dancing of course! Into the wee hours of the morning...

Just some of the highlights of my time spent in Rome:

• Coliseum (yeah Roma Pass! We bypass the massive que) and the Roman Forum (where oldly enough on the top of Palentine Hill I hear my name called. I turn around only to find a girl (Tracy) from Redlands who lived down the hall from me freshmen year waving in my direction. She's studying in Barca this semester and was in Rome on holiday. Talk about a small world!!)



• The Trevi fountain and the hordes of tourists who push their way to the front of the ledge to toss their loot into the waters. Um, I'd fancy having a fountain of that magnitude in my backyard at some point in my life. Please, and thank you.



• Eating lunch right next door to the Panthenon. (I'm telling you: we could have touched it from our table.) We loved finding restaurants that were a bit off the beaten path (actually, we made it our unofficial mission to find these local eateries). It's amazing what delicious finds you come across when you walk only an additional five minutes (away from the tourists!) down an alley.



• Attending mass in St. Peter's Basilica. What an amazing experience.
  


• Hanging out in the Jewish Ghetto. We had another delicious meal and met the cutest dog that we named Gita. Julia would have brought her back to our hostel if I hadn't intervened.



• Attempting to go to the Vatican. I'll say it again: attempting. In all fairness, Julia's "Let's Go" travel guide gave us amazing recommendations all along the journey. Being the cheap students that we are, we jumped at the opportunity to see the Vatican for free (the last Sunday of each month). We didn't quite read the fine print that states the hours are some what limited on free days. Operator error, for Let's Guide clearly highlights that in their description of the Vatican. We arrived at the gates, with stars in our eyes, only to be turned away. (The pictures are quite priceless. Julia trying to bang the doors to the Vatican down. Me in a sour and somber "thumbs down" mood. Julia still thinks the world of LG; I, on the other hand, think that the book can burn in you - know - where. Oh, only kidding. For the record Mom and Dad, this disappointment only means that I will just have to come back to Rome...)
  


• Taking a little siesta in the grass under the piercing sunshine at Domus Aurea. What a beautiful way to end a day. (These are the types of days that I wish would stretch on forever...)
  


• Admiring the Borghese Museum. This gem of a museum is dripping in art - from the floor to the ceiling. By far my favorite museum that I have ever been too. I'd highly recommend it if you get a chance to pay Rome a visit.
  


• Running into someone who I went to high school with in the lobby of our hostel late at night. He is studying in England for a year which added even more so to the "It's a Small World" feeling.