Where Vespas are a Way of Life

This weekend in Rome was fabulous! Waking up at 2 AM Friday morning was a bit difficult, but we all worked through it. The best part was, we made it to Rome and to the hostel before 12 PM, giving us plenty of time to spend exploring the city. We arrived at our hostel on Friday a bit sniffly because of the cold rain The first thing the manager did was ask if we wanted tea or cappuccinos. We all took him up on that offer and were greeted with awesome coffee and some yummy pastries! We spent about an hour or so munching on pastries and talking with one of the other hostel residents Belin, who also happened to be studying abroad in Barcelona, while waiting for our room to be cleaned so we could drop our things off. She was in Rome by herself so we invited her along for our afternoon tour of the city. Although it was rainy, we decided to start our visit off in Vatican City. Let me just say we got there at the absolute perfect time! We waited a maximum of 5 minutes to get into St. Peter's Basilica, which was absolutely gorgeous. After walking around the Basilica, we decided to climb to the top of the Cupola (And climb is not an overstatement. At one point there was a rope to help us up a tiny spiral staircase that only got narrower the further up you went). We were rewarded with an amazing view of the city! We then decided to get something to eat and we made the wrong decision to stay near the Vatican. Whenever looking for a place to eat, I try to get out of the touristy areas. The food isn't as good and it is more expensive. But anyways, we stopped at this restaurant and got pizza, it wasn't terrible pizza, but it wasn't great. After the Vatican, we went to the Castel del San Angelo and crossed the beautiful Bridge of Angels. After finishing up at the Castel and Bridge of Angels, we headed back to the hostel because we thought it was time for an awesome dinner, and awesome is definitely what we got. We asked our favorite manager, Ali, what he would recommend that was within walking distance of the hostel. His question back to us was whether we wanted a little food or a lot of food. We replied a lot. The name of the restaurant he sent us to was La Mosca Matta. They had different choices for a set menu and we went with the cheapest set menu. The meal that ensued was fabulous! The appetizers included prosciutto, mozzarella, fried zucchini and mushrooms, eggplant, and much more. After the appetizer came the pasta. I got ravioli in a crema de noci sauce. It was absolutely delicious! And finally for dessert we were served flan. Judging by the amount of locals in the restaurant, it was definitely the place to be; it was packed!

Saturday was filled with sightseeing. We started our day off at the Colosseum and the surrounding archaeological sight, followed by the Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and Spanish stairs. They were all packed as Saturday was a beautiful day, lots of sunshine and warmth! Not much happened on Saturday. After sightseeing we headed back to the hostel to get more dinner recommendations. We decided to order pizza from a local pizzeria. I got the 4 cheese and fried mozzarella. It was all delicious! Definitely better pizza than we had on Friday.

Rome overall was wonderful! If we had had one more day, I would have liked to visit the catacombs, but they close at 5 and open at 9. We just didn't have time. I would also like to return to Italy and visit more of the countryside. The trip was made wonderful by a great group of girls and by the friendly manager at Hotel/Hostel Lodi. Alex, Felicia, Kathleen, and I shared many laughs over the course of the weekend. I couldn't have asked for it to be better.

Now it's time for pictures. I will try to let them speak for themselves!

 (My coin is in there somewhere!)

 
Next weekend we are headed to the Pyrenees Mountains on the border of Spain and France for hopefully some hiking, R&R, and maybe a little trail riding! I will surely have pictures to post after that weekend as well. This journey is quickly coming to a close. I am almost 3/4 of the way done! Isaac gets here in a week, and Mom and Dad arrive in 12 days. It is very hard to believe!

Hope everyone has a great week!

xoxo
Kelcey