when in roma: spring break part 2

ciao!

i know what your thinking. can you stop with the blog posting? the last two were short, but mostly pointless. you by no means have to torture yourself and read this awfully long blog post...however it's about rome so if anything you may just want to skim through for the pictures. i gave you a fair warning. also, it's been a long time, so forgive me for not being more detailed or passionate. i loved rome! it's just...it's been over a months since we were there so it's hard to remember the order in which we did things, and all the small little side stories :)

so we started landed in the afternoon and were very tired from sleeping in the airport in athens the night before. all extremely worn out. we walked around for awhile, but then decided to call it a day and head back. essentially are adventures didn't start until day 2.

first we walked toward the spanish steps, and hung out for awhile waiting for colleen who was staying at her friend's apartment. i have to say i loved the people watching, and the flowers were unbelievably beautiful. the weather was just perfect too. high 70's, low 80's was the perfect day. we even managed to get in some morning gelato:

gelato: part of a balanced breakfast

spanish steps

our next stop was my favorite place in rome: the trevi fountain. it was breathtaking. but really, i put my hand to my chest when i first saw it and my mouth was agape in awe. when you turn the corner it's just...there. and you think to yourself, i'm in rome! i think i came back to the fountain about 6 or 7 different times during my stay in rome because i had a slight obsession. i think i wasted a lot of money throwing it in/making wishes :) mind you, they were all very good wishes! was definitely having an audrey hepburn roman holiday moment...my heart was singing happyhappyjoyjoyilovelife, and the day only got better from there as we wandered through so many different streets and got the entire roman experience.

having a moment...i'm in rome :)

so we got fairly lost on the way to the colleseum, and there was a very long line to enter but it was amazing and completely worth it once we finally got inside. we were making a joke about all the different angles for taking a photo- but if you take one from this angle, no wait if you take one from this angle. i can't even imagine all the people that have been inside this place, and thousands of years ago! the things that went down here are...i mean i'm at a loss for words so i'm going to say indescribable! it was beautiful, and amazing to think it was created so long ago. also, i'm a big fan of the movie gladiator so it was neat to put my imagination to work ha (i'm nerdy) :) 

our next stop was the roman forum, and at this time we were absolutely exhausted, so we also chilled in the palantino for awhile which are essentially just beautiful gardens and a big, beautiful park on top of the hill overlooking the city. i had fun picking wildflowaz, and watching the sun slowly set with the wolfpack.

palantino lovin'. standing on a big column.

the following day (good thursday) we went to st peter's square, the basilica, and we went inside the vatican museum. um, so much famous art, and beautiful, precious things to look at. eye candy galore. so much stimulation! our tour guide was very knowledgeable and i learned a tonnnn. sooo much that i can't even write all of it on here! nor do i want to bore you all. it was fun to do a tour at a place that has so much significance and important things to see and learn about. how educational of us!

 where's raphael?

oops i cheated- a partial pic of the sistine chapel

after hanging out at the vatican all day, i left the gang and went to meet up with my roman ladies who are studying abroad there. i had already met up with them earlier and gone out with them the night before (pictures below to follow), but they took me to mickey's (right behind the pantheon) for some amazing bruschetta and vino and we then went back to the dorms at john cabot and we hung out for awhile, and had some seriously needed girl catchup time and relaxing. complete with AMERICAN MAGAZINES! i never thought i would take that for granted...i caught up on some of the latest gossip in the tabloids it was a low moment ha. it was so amazing to see and catch up with my friends, we really did have a blast together.

so these pictures are somewhat out of order, but in regards to the sistine chapel earlier- i ran into will! my friend from marquette who was studying abroad in ireland. i saw him looking up at the ceiling so i went up to him and surprised him ha it was so fun to see him in such a historic place. i suppose you don't really expect to see a friend in the sistine chapel! later that night, we all went out for drinks and had a blast. campo de fiorri is awesomely fun to experience at night.

so the following day, will and ryan met up with us again and we went to piazza nivonna (spelling?) and went in the awesome church, shopped around for awesome art, and marveled at more fountains, while finally making our way over to the pantheon. it had been closed for a few days and was finally open so we went inside. i have to say i think this was my second favorite spot. not even just inside-the outside is a super fun area as well- so many people, and the view from the front is a dream.

so we went inside, and i was bummed out because it wasn't super sunny so the beam of light wasn't coming through the top :( but it was still everything i imagined and more inside. the dome was unreal, and there was a built in drainage system for when it rains. guay. something else super guay i was told to pay special attention to once inside the pantheon was the inscription on raphael's tomb inside. it read: 

"here lies Raphael, by whom Nature feared to be outdone while he was alive, and when he died, feared that she herself would die." CHILLS.

pantheon :)

found ya will!

it's funny....you know what's next to the pantheon? THE BEST GELATO IN THE WORLD! GIOLLTI! :) :)

i think i had giolliti a grand total of 6 times during my stay in rome. YUM. my favorite was nutella, oreo, and fragola. ughh the fragola was seriously the best! obsessed. i can't believe i haven't even talked about food that much on here yet? did i mention i went on a carb overload during this trip? welp i did, and it was great. paninis, pizza, pasta, bread, just anything italian you can name...i probably ate. (tummy fine now- that one's for you mom!)

NOMZ

hello, my name is carolyn. i love ice cream and i also have no social cues.

like i said these pictures are semi out of order- these ones are from the night before. we made mer take us to a lot of the sites at night! so much fun, and so beautiful to see when so many less people are around- a completely different experience if you will.

mer and i at the trevi at night <3

will ryan and i at piazza nivonna. silly.

like i said- still out of order. these pics are from the second night we were in rome. taylor, theresa, mer, molly, and i went out to dinner at tony's in trastevere which was so much fun. i can't remember when i've laughed that hard-probably the last time i was in the presence of mer! her laugh is contagious and always makes me laugh. us ladies always have a wonderful time together. we also had some nice looking italian men sitting next to us during our meal, and we enjoyed the eye candy and conversation. i was lucky and was sitting right next to them <3 sigh. after dinner, we went to a few different bars and had an absolute blast. lovefest round 2 had officially commenced. so much to catch up on, and definitely loving life together in rome! it was rough in the morning waking up, but so worth all the fun we had dancing the night away and catching up together. i can't wait to get back and be together at marquette to relive our glory days :)

normal? 

my mer :)

chocolate shots with my bellas

even though a lot of this is out of order i hope you understood the gist of when went down on my roman holiday. rome, the eternal city...unlike anywhere i've been during my time here abroad- there's something so romantic, so fun, and so legendary about this place. definitely in the top 5. you hear about it so much but you can only really understand it by experiencing it for yourself. i loved rome, my friends, and all the experiences we had. the broken record in me will say again: i am so blessed!

i'm coming back here someday, i don't know when. but it's going to be even more adventurous and beautiful a second time.

ciao roma i miss you lots!

-always your bella <3