pizza's cookin' in our oven and i'm feelin' good.

Day 1: After a 4 hour bus traveling South to Rome (Roma-roma-ma as Lady Gaga would say), we immediately embarked on a tour, including the Pantheon (one of my favorite art history topics!), the Trevi Fountain (the top photo is me making a wish!), the Fountain of the Four Rivers, the Spanish Steps, and more amazing things along the way. After a nice nap with the window open and a warm breeze blowing into our room, I had aperitivo (before dinner drinks with food included) outside in Campo di Fiori (which means Field of Flowers!). A fun night out with a ton of friends proceeded!

Day 2: When it would have been blizzarding at home, I stepped out in 70 degree sunny weather. I proceeded to walk through St. Peter's Basilica (one of the most awe-inspiring experiences I've ever had), walked through Castel Sant'Angelico (where the bottom view is from with my friend Amanda), had lunch at the Trevi Fountain, had amazing gelato at the Spanish Steps and people-watched, had delicious apertivo for dinner with all of my friends, and then ended the night sitting outside with a beer at a great bar by the Tiber River.

Day 3: I've never seen so much STUFF in one place as when I went to this famous flea market on Sunday morning! It was really interesting and crowded and fun to see. I bought a coral cameo pin/necklace pendant. I even bargained down! Then we all hopped on the bus and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Colosseum. I felt like I was on a movie set the entire time, it blew my mind. It's just so incredibly OLD! And did you know that one reason it's so deteriorated and destroyed today is that they took tons of stuff off of the Colosseum in order to decorate St. Peter's Basilica?

Where does the Sistine Chapel fit into all of this, you may ask? A week from tomorrow I'm going back to Rome to spend a day with my two best friends! I wanted to save that experience so I could share it with them.

AND yesterday I passed my tour guiding test at Palazzo Vecchio, so now I am an officially tour guide of the secret passages.

Life is good.