Roma At Night And Another Full Day

I’m having a great time in Roma. Last night at dinner I ended up meeting and hanging out with 5 other people and we decided to take a stroll around the city at night. We went to the Trevi Fountain to see it lit up, and not only were the fountains actually on but I was able to make my way up to it to throw in a coin. Woo! We wondered around to the Colosseo as well, and just kind of strolled along as we tried to make our way into a park to get a view of the entire city at night. Unfortunately the gates were all locked and there was no way to get in, but the stars and the city were beautiful.

Today I got up early again (whoa! Two days in a row!? Save the shock, but that’s probably going to be the trend) and first thing I did was go down to the Colosseo with one of the guys I met and hung out with last night, Dan. We wondered through the Colosseo then went to the Palatino and the Foro Romano. They were both huge, but after looking at ruins all day it got to be a bit repetitive. Still excellent though. Oh, and I couldn’t help but feel like I needed to fight a lion while I was in the Colosseo. Too bad there weren’t any. (Also, you know what's lame? They wouldn't give me a student discount! I showed my student ID and my France residency permit, but apparently you have to be an EU citizen. Boooooo!)

After that we wondered around some more and ended up at the Pantheon. That was pretty cool. I especially liked Raphael’s tomb. After that it was a quick jaunt up to Piazza Navona where there were tons of artists sitting about selling their work. The central fountain is incredible, and is representative of the four major rivers in the ancient world. From there we went to the Campo de Fiori where there is a big open-air market. I tried some dried limes that were a bit tough to eat but still tasty. And, because Mom told me I needed to try it, I bought a tiny bottle of Lemoncello (also known as Lemoncino) for only 1€. I haven’t given it a try yet, but I’ll let you know how it is! After that we walked to San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains), which is another basilica. This one has Michelangelo’s Moses in it. After spending a little bit of time there, we walked up to Santa Maria Maggiore. So much art and so much gold inside. My jaw literally dropped when I saw one of the side chapels inside it.

That was about all the walking I could do for today. And I feel like I’ve seen everything I wanted to see in Rome, so I came back to the hostel and chilled out, which brings me up to the present time. I don’t know what my plans are for tonight, but I leave at 10:30am tomorrow for Firenze (Florence)!

Ciao, Roma!