Day 24 - Rome
I am still behind on my writing! I am determined to catch up before our next city though - which is tomorrow. Oops!
We left the beautiful blue beaches of Nice behind us, saying we'll be back soon. Our flight was quick! Only an hour and a half. It probably took us longer to board the plane than it did actually get to Rome, but that's how things go in Italy. We'll get there when we get there mentality.
A nice smooth flight and touchdown! Off the plane we planned to meet our friend Gab at baggage claim. We followed the signs and no Gab to be seen. The airport is huge so we decide we're going to try and find each other outside and as soon as we walked out - there she was waiting for us! I dropped my bags and we hugged each other tight. It was so amazing to see our best friend!!!
Next, was finding a train to take us to our hotel. Every city we go to, has tons of public transportation options which is fantastic but it takes some time for us to get used to. So with a bit of struggle, we bought tickets and boarded a train, happy to be sitting and for the time to catch up! Somehow we missed our stop or the train we got on was the wrong one, so we got off and switched the the correct train, which somehow was only one stop away from where we needed to go. I have no idea how any of the above happened, but by some magic, we made it to our hotel. And we were starving.
It was about 4PM and Sam and I have had nothing to eat all day. So we freshened up quickly in our room and walked about 100 feet to a restaurant that welcomed us, gave us a menu with reasonable prices (already so much cheaper than France!) and we ordered. Bruschetta to start for us all and 3 whole pizzas - Margarita, Spicy Salami, and 4 Cheese. It was one of the best meals we've had on the whole trip. A beautiful church sits across from the restaurant, so we decided to take a peek inside.
We walked in, and I couldn't believe the beauty or the size of the place. Truly magnificent. We walked around the quiet church, observing all the paintings and thought we can only imagine what St Peter's Basilica looks like compared to this.
After our little impromptu tour, we decided to walk around the area a bit a get familiar with our surroundings. We walked to a beautiful little park with ruins and palm trees (which surprised us). We found a beautiful little gelato stand each grabbed a cone. Our first taste of gelato, mmm. Walking and enjoying our cones we followed the sound of music which brought us to a group of couples dancing close to one another, unaware of all the onlookers. We watched the dancers weave in and out as the voice of a passionate Italian man carried over them singing love songs. It was a lovely little surprise.
We walked back to the room to relax the rest of the night. Gabb had been traveling for nearly 24 hours and we were ready to call it to leave room for all the adventure the following day. Gabb went to her room to sleep while Sam and I grabbed a drink at the hotel bar and FaceTime with some friends from home.
With a plan for the following day of exploring the Colosseum and the Roman Forum, we turned in early excited for all that was to come.
Happy Travels my friends!
Keely
