Trip #7: Rome

I'll start by apologizing because this blog post is going to be annoyingly long. I was in Rome from Wednesday night to Monday evening and it was one of the best long weekends of my life. Literally everything was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect trip. That being said, here is my attempt at encompassing all my love for Roma in one blog post:

I arrived at Termini station around 11pm Wednesday night and with some help from 3 guys from Wisconsin that I met on the plane, I found the Nike store and met up with Gwen. I exchanged numbers with the guys and we were supposed to meet up but never did so those details are un-important. 

Walking back to Gwen's apartment was crazy because Thursday was the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy so everyone was celebrating Wednesday night. The streets were hectic and there were people everywhere. The national monument had a concert going on in front of it and all the other famous monuments were lit up. 

Next morning I woke up early to meet up with my best friend Eileen and her friend, Sarah, at the Vatican Musuem. On my way there I ran into one of my friends from high school -- small world! The museum was interesting and it was good we went so early because it wasn't crowded at all, and we got to skip the line with our pre-reserved tickets. The ticket to the museum includes seeing the Sistine Chapel, which was neat (but a little overrated if you ask me). After that we went to St. Peter's, which I love. It is so overwhelmingly large and amazing to be in. At St. Peter's we met up with another Notre Dame student who is studying abroad in Rome and he took us all over Roma. We went to this great little pizza place by the Vatican which was delicious, got some gelato, passed Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and looked over the Forum. It was raining on and off all day so after the Forum we decided it was a good idea to head back to Gwen's apartment to dry off and decide what we were doing that night.

St.Peter's

Sarah, Eileen and I in the map room of the Vatican Museum

Me & Eileen in St. Peter's

Sarah, Me and Eileen at the Trevi

Saturn's Temple at the Forum

That night we went to dinner at Dar Poeta which was FABULOUS. The food was cheap and delicious. For dessert Eileen, Gwen and I split a Nutella and Ricotta Calzone. I would have taken a picture to show the deliciousness, but it was gone too fast. That night was St.Patrick's day so Gwen and I went on our own adventure to Irish Pubs around Rome and had a blast. It was great start to our reunion. 

Eileen and I at dinner with our yummy pizzas

The next morning I was supposed to wake up early and go to Florence to go bike riding with Sarah and Eileen but for some reason my alarm didn't go off so I wasn't able to make the train. It was a blessing in disguise though because Gwen and I had the best day ever in Roma. We walked over to Borghese gardens and rented bikes for the day and literally rode all over the city. It was the most perfect day. We passed nearly every famous landmark and even made our way to the edge of the city to some less-famous areas. The weather was perfect -- clear, blue skies -- and we just soaked in how awesome our lives were. Late in the afternoon we stopped at Duecenta Gradi (i think), which is this amazing Panini place close to St. Peter's. We walked over to a plaza close by to eat our sandwiches and who do we see outside but Jimmy and Pat, two of my friends who go to Marquette who were visiting Rome for their Spring Break. Once again, small world! I had known they were coming but it was so random to run into them there. To top it all off, we got back to Gwen's apartment and literally 10 minutes later it started raining, so we arrived at just the right time! And by the time we left to go out to dinner, it had stopped raining and was pretty warm out. 

the beginning of the Mallon-Toupin bike tour

random road we wandered down

artsy

in st.peter's square!

For dinner that night we went to a restaurant that Gwen's teacher suggested that was once again, cheap and delicious! Roman pizza is so much tastier than fish and chips!! After dinner we went to Scholar's and met up with a ton of friend's from High School. It was so great to see everyone and catch up. We ended up staying out much later than planned, but it was completely worth it because it was such a blast. 

some fenwick alums

Saturday morning Gwen was leaving for her Spring Break to Barcelona and Ireland so I moved my stuff to a hostel close to Eileen. I met up with Eileen, Sarah and Sarah's friend (also named Sarah...) at a church in between us and then made our way over to the Colossuem. We got a guided tour because it was crazy busy due to the Roman Marathon being the next day. The tour let us skip the long individual line, which was nice and provided us with some historical information on the monument. After that we made our way over the Palatine Hill and the Forum. It was crazy to think how big the palace built on Palatine must have been. Also it was a great view of the Forum... so cool. 

After the Forum we walked over to the Vatican area to go back to Duecento Gradi for panini's, they're just so good I had to bring Eileen there! We then got delicious (i need to look up a synonym) gelato at Old Bridge, which is also by the Vatican. With our stomachs filled, we walked over to St.Peter's to take some pictures in front of it when it was sunny and drop off Sarah to meet up with some other friends. Then the original Sarah, Eileen and I went to Castle St. Angelo (which was originally Hadrian's Tomb). I'm so glad we decided to go there because it was really awesome! It wasn't crowded and we just wandered around the castle and went up to the top to get some spectacular views of the city. 

Eileen and I at the Colosseum

View from Castle St. Angelo

From the Castle we went over to the Trevi Foutain then to the Spanish Steps and the Gucci store. We then made our way back to our Hostel/hotel to switch our shoes and quickly get ready for dinner. For dinner we met up with Bolzan and Kit at a place that had some wonderful home made gnocchi! We got some gelato and met up with Jimmy and Pat, then with some other Fenwick friends. That night we started everything late, and the next morning both Jimmy and Pat and Eileen and Sarah had to leave at 7am so what was the most responsible thing to do? Stay up all night. We were out pretty late and then went over to the Trevi Fountain, which was beyond amazing. No one else was there and we just took it all in. Jimmy and Pat walked us back to Eileen's hotel, making it back in perfect timing. Such a fun night.

Jimmy & I in front of the Trevi at night

Sunday I slept in a little bit and then left to go to mass at St.Peter's. However, because of the marathon it was a huge pain to get anywhere, so I ended up instead just stopping in a random church on the way there. It was cool because instead of being in a huge place I was in a smaller church with, I think, locals. Another unique experience. After that I made my way over to St.Peter's to make it for the Pope's blessing and then met up with Kit, Tommy and Paul to go up to the Dome of St.Peter's for some spectacular views of the city. After that we hung out in St.Peter's square for a bit, then I met up with Bolzan to grab some dinner and then said goodbye and went back to my hostel for an early night's rest. 

Monday I went over to the Pantheon, then wandered around the Jewish Quarter as well as Trastervere. Then I made my way to Duecento Gradi for one last panini (I told you they were good!!). I took it to-go and made my way over to a hill about a ten minutes walk from St. Peter's. It was very cool, I sat on some stones and overlooked the city while enjoying my sandwich. It was a great way to end my time in Rome! After that I just went back to my hostel to pick up my bag, go to the bus station, the airport and home.

Did I use the word perfect enough in my descriptions to show how wonderful my weekend was? The best time ever. 

Cheers.