First of all, I just want to apologize for my inconsistency with this whole blogging thing! I think that they took a few hours out of the day when we got here. I feel like I'm doing homework all the time or planning my next trip! So, needless to say, I am just now getting around to writing about our spring break trip to Rome, Assisi, and Florence. If it's any excuse, I've written about a million papers this week!:D I am also trying to keep a journal so I have to keep up with that too!
Anywho, we left Sat the 17th and flew out of London to Rome! There were 36 of us, so it was CRAZY! We got to Rome in the late afternoon and Janine's cousin, Mike Paden, was at the airport to pick us up and show us around town. He took us to a few churches and on a bus tour of all the big places around Rome. That night, he took us to get gelato which was AMAZING! I think I had it everynight after that! Then we went to Trevi fountain and 2 drunk guys jumped into the fountain (a 400 Euro fine)! They were all decked out in green, white, and orange for St. Patrick's Day! Then we all took turns tossing coins into the fountain. If you threw one in, you would come back some day, for 2 coins, you would fall in love, and for 3 coins, you would marry. So of course, I threw in 3 and hoped that I would fall in love with someone and marry them at the fountain! Ha j/k Then we went to the Lover's Fountain and I drank my fill! All the girls were like camels! haha Then as we were leaving, someone dared Scott Morrison to jump in and he did! It was so great! Then we walked to the Spanish Steps and raced to the top! A little more than I was used to...I had to stop and walk the last 5 steps! It was so tiring. By that time, we were all dead on our feet, so we went back to the hotel and crashed.
The next morning I got up early and went to the market and looked around. It was fun, but I decided to wait to buy stuff in Florence. Then we made our way around town and had to be escorted by security guards across the big streets b/c there was a marathon going on. We went to St. Peter's Cathedral and the Pope was speaking when we got there! That was really neat! Then we went shopping on the bridge where people had blankets laid out with fake Prada purses and Chanel sunglasses. I got a cute colorful purse and bargained down to half price. Then we went shopping at a square and saw some drunk Americans dancing in the streets! It was funny! Then we ate at a pizzeria and took it back to the room and ate and talked and played games in the room!
We went to the Colliseum the next day and it was huge! That was really cool to be standing inside of it! We also went to the Circus Maximus and had our own horse races! Ben and I got last place :( I guess I don't make a very good horse! ha Then we went to the mouth of truth (the one on "Only You")! By that time, it was pouring rain, but we still wanted to enjoy our last day in Rome, so we just walked up and down the river, but it ended up being about 3 hours! Ha By the time we got back to the hotel, we were all soaked and cold from all the rain! But we had fun!
The next day we drove to Assisi and when we got there non of us were prepared for the weather. We had driven up into the mountains of Italy and it was FREEZING! We took a tour of the Basilica of St. Francis and when we came out, it was snowing/sleeting! Most of us just had on light jackets! We walked to the city center and by the time we found a good cafe, we had to thaw out! We got spiniach pizza! Wonderful! Then we shopped around in little shops and took pics of the gorgeous view! Then we headed to Florence! The drive was absolutely breathtaking! We were driving by the Italian Alps covered in snow! WOW! When we got to Florence, we went to our hotel which doubled as a convent! Ha! There were cute old nuns everwhere! Then we went shopping at a market and looked in little shops and walked by the river. Mike took us to get gelato again and he recommended getting the pistacio gelato and I'm so glad I did! It was incredible!
We went to the duomo and to the markets the next day! I got a lot of souveniers for cheap and it was a huge market. One of the markets was covered and was about the size of a city square and the other one was an outside market and was HUGE! In fact, we got lost a couple times! It had to be a couple miles long! Needless to say, it was a money trap! We had such a fun time bargaining! Then we went to Michaelangelo's David and he was huge! For dinner, we had a 5 course meal at a palace! It was great! It was so nice! We all ate soooo much!
Thursday we got up and walked around the shops and market areas and then went to the train station and hopped the train to Pisa. Once we got to Pisa, we had to switch trains, but everything was in Italian, so it took us an hour to figure out what train we were supposed to be on and to actually get on the right one. We got to La Spezia and had to switch again to Riomaggiore. We were so tired and mad at Trenitalia(the train station), but as soon as we stepped off the train in Riomaggiore, we were in AWE!
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