In other news, Italian McDonald's comes with breadsticks, and olive oil instead of salad dressing.
First stop: the Colosseum. Though there was an clear lack of gladiators ripping each other to shreads, I can't honestly say the same for the tourists waiting in the queue outside.
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Because we're awesome (...) we spent a good portion of our time there looking for Colosseum rocks to take home. This was actually quite the epic search, including many rock-claiming strategies including literal attempts by TJ to pull rocks out of the wall, and was totally worth it...
...up until we turned a corner and saw that there was literally a pile of them right there the whole time. We then proceeded to spend the next five whole minutes laughing at ourselves.
Because it's not everyday that you're in the Rome Colosseum, we did spend at least an hour just hanging out in there. In that time, we had plenty of very interesting conversations, including everything from dinner plans to specific comparisons and classifications of our different shades of blond. Apparently my hair is wheat coloured. Though that sounds significantly less elegant in comparison to the alternatives of honey and sunrise, I am totally satisfied with it due only to its insane accuracy.
The next stop was the Vatican, and what bitter-sweet timing it was. Being only a few days before Easter, we were glad to avoid the crowds, but sorry to be giving up those kinds of bragging rights. Nonetheless, I did at least go back in my free time the following day, being Good Friday. So at least there was that.
The lines for the Sistine Chapel were absolutely insane. The lead up included an hours worth of crowds and endless rooms/hallways of beautiful artwork. Though it is truly breathtaking, at a certain point, nothing in the remaining 30 minutes of artwork is going to amaze you, and you're just ready to see the Michelangelo.
We followed a seemingly infinite number of these signs :P
But - of course - it was much more than worth it in the end, if even just for this one super stealthy picture thanks to Anna.
The Spanish Steps - of all places - being in Italy; confusing but helpful information that would prove to be quite useful in a pub quiz about a month into the future.
Did I mention Rome was absolutely beautiful? Well, it is. It is so, so beautiful.
All my childhood Lizzie McGuire fantasies coming to life.
We saw this being baked, uniformly and instantaneously wished that we had ordered it, then watched in amazement as it was brought to our table and set in front of me. Ah, the beauties and confusions of ordering off an Italian menu.
My first gelato experience in Italy!
This sign provided us with endless amusement. Though absolutely hilarious, the extent to which we laughed at it was a true testament to how utterly exhausted we were at this point in our trip.
We swear we're not building a bomb, sir! We are but humble Americans trying to charge our devices in Europe.
I was fed meat in Italy. The only true flaw in this leg of our adventure. Luckily, I noticed the chicken after only a bite... But still. Veggie pro tip: in many European countries "meat" refers only to red meat, and they will still feed you chicken.
WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT THE ATTEMPTED POISONING OF CHRISTY PFLANZER.
Day 2 consisted primarily of visiting the Imperial City, which was just absolutely beautiful. ... You know, for a city in ruins :)
More gelato!! Eaten on steps in the middle of the city, just watching Italy go by.
We decided to go back to the fashion district. Though some other brave souls ventured on some hurried journies into Burberry's and the like, most of us decided to say outside. I presume most people thought - as I did - that we clearly did not look like millionaires.
That didn't stop us from going into the Ferari store, though. Because when in Italy, how could you not?
... Then we got Burger King for dinner... I mean, what can I say, really? Students traveling through Europe for 3 weeks are on an incredibly right budget.
Gelato, round 3!
On my third real day in Rome, the others had already left me for Nice due to planning mistakes that everybody remedied but me, because it was just too darn expensive. But hey, there are worse things than being stuck in Rome for an extra day. So, battling the rain, I turned down countless street vendors selling umbrellas and had a great time venturing the city alone for a day.
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