Rome

November 12

Dara and I woke up bright and early (not actually bright at all) to catch a bus to the airport. In the lobby of the hotel we met up with Maggie, who was flying to London, and she walked with us. When we got to the bus stop there were two places the bus could be. Dara, being Dara, asked very single person she saw and it was good too, because after so long of waiting we ended up moving across the street. The guy from Boston, who was also waiting, came with us and ended up spotting the bus in some weird location. We all ran to the bus and made it on just before it left...it was an adventure. 

I couldn't sleep on the plane, and the landing was actually, most likely, the worst landing I've ever experienced, it was really, really, rough. Once getting to the airport we got cheap bus tickets to a station near our hostel and on we went. We walked to the hostel, was able to check-in early, and just laid on our beds for a half an hour before going to explore. 

We walked to the catacombs...which is probably something most people don't do, as there were points where we were walking in the streets due to lack of sidewalks. I also got this pizza sandwich thing along the way, because I didn't really eat breakfast. Dara had bought sandwiches the previous night, left them un-refrigerated, and ate them anyways...gross. We bought our tickets, did the tour, but they took out all of the bones about 40 years ago when people started stealing them...so there wasn't too much to see, it was interesting though. We found a bus that would take us back towards our side of town. On our walk back to the hostel Dara got this mini lasagna, but they didn't give her a fork. We sat in the room, while she ate it with her fingers, that was an experience. It worked, though, she ate it all and said it was the best lasagna she'd ever had. 

We walked towards the Colosseum and stopped to get gelato along the way. We walked around the Colosseum and the arc at night and took some photos, of course (that Dara has). We also listened in on one couple talking to another, one was on their honeymoon and the other it was a spontaneous 27th anniversary trip. The older couple was giving the newly weds advice and it was kind of entertaining. Also, the older couple had nine children, and when they left the younger couple sat down and decided they did not want nine children. 

November 13 

This day we decided to buy tickets for a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. We decided it would be worth it because we'd have a guided tour, and transportation to all of the main attractions. We did a full circuit of the tour, per Dara's request, then got off at Palatine Hill, which is one of the oldest parts of the city. Here we bought tickets for that and the Colosseum, which was smart because we didn't have to wait in line at the Colosseum then. 

After the hill we got paninos, sandwiches, which were really good, and walked back towards the Colosseum. The inside was not what I was expecting, there were no steps or seats! Apparently, once it was out of commission people took the bricks to build roads and houses and that's why it's missing a lot. 

We took the bus to the Spanish steps, which were under construction and walked towards the Borghese Museum, which is located in a park, at dark. It was only about 5:30, but it was dark, so I was being really skeptical about where we were going. We made it there, but they were no longer selling tickets, which was bummer for Dara who really wanted to see it. We walked back towards the Trevi Fountain. We had to fight for a spot to take photos, but we had no problem throwing our coins in. 

As it was our last "official" night in Rome, we got wine and pasta and stumbled upon the BEST gelato ever. No joke, it was the best. 

When we got back to the hostel I had found out Zoboomafoo had died, Dara, who had never watched the show, watched at least 2 episodes that night. Then, as I was checking up on the news I got the breaking news alert on Paris and after a while of refreshing the CNN feed, I decided I just needed to go to sleep.

November 14

This was the day for The Vatican. We tried to wait in line, but ended up going to get tickets through some company. At least here we got prices off for being students, the majority of places we've been didn't give us discounts unless we were a part of the EU, (which we are, we just don't have our residency cards yet). Anyways, we made it into the museum and to the Sistine Chapel, it's pretty awesome. We actually did that twice. The company we got our tickets from told us to go through the right door instead of the left when exiting the chapel, to get to the Basilica, but we wanted to go through the museum all the way first. So after the first time round we got a huge slice of pizza for lunch and water for only 5 Euro. My pizza actually had scrambled eggs and sausage on it, it tasted like breakfast, it was great. We then did our second run through to the Sistine Chapel and onto St. Peter's. 

St. Peter's is HUGE! The largest in the world, it's honestly insane. The amount of time that it must have taken to build and paint inside....insane. Dara and I decided to pay the 6 Euros to climb the 551 steps to the top of the dome. It was well worth it. The sight at the top looking into the basilica was great, but so was looking out over Rome from the outside of the dome. 

We stopped for celebratory gelato, having climbed up and down all 551 steps, on our way back to the hostel for our bags. We ended up being about 10 minutes late for the bus to the airport and the next wasn't for an hour and fifteen minutes, which is dumb. We had time though, so we weren't worried. Dara took a nap in the McDonalds, and we just waited until 6:30. 

The bus ride was very stop and go, so by the time we got to the airport I felt absolutely sick. I had crackers for dinner, which was fine by me, and we were on our plane by 9pm. We got back to Valencia half an hour early, but we had to wait that extra half an hour for the metro anyways.