Rome April 5th-7th

Rome. What an awesome city.

Friday. We took a 6:20 am flight to Rome, getting there at around 8ish. Our first stop was to our friends’ apartment to drop our stuff off and take a little nap before starting the day. St. Peter’s Cathedral was incredible. It was so pretty inside. There were some preserved dead popes, which was kind of scary. After St. Peter’s, we went to the Trastevere neighborhood and went to Dar Poeta for lunch. I got pizza with eggplant and a nutella and ricotta calzone. This was the best pizza I have ever had and the best calzone I have ever had. It sounds like a really weird combination, but it was delicious. After lunch, we stopped for some iced cappucinos and then went to campo de fiore, a flea market with fresh fruits, vegetables, spices, sauces, and pastas. Piazza Navona was the next stop, where we walked around a little bit and we saw the Jewish synagogue. For dinner, we went to the famous Tony’s, where every abroad student takes all their friends to eat Chicken Parm and Penne a la Vodka. These were both unreal. After dinner, we had a chill night and went to a few different bars.

Saturday. We woke up kinda late and went straight for lunch. We went to Aristo Campo, a make your own panini place. I had a panini with eggplant, grilled chicken, zucchini, mozzarella, pesto, and sundried tomatoes. After getting some fuel in our body, we went to the Pantheon. It started to rain which was no fun, so we got stranded at the pantheon. I got mint and chocolate gelato while we waited for the rain to stop. We passed by Parliament and it finally stopped raining. The Trevi Fountain was gorgeous. We took some pictures, made wishes, and threw a few coins in. The Spanish Steps were the next stop. We walked to the top and stopped at the view point up there to relax for a little while and get some sun. We also passed by the Borgaise Gardens while we were up there. Giolatti was next for the best gelato ever. I had nutella, coffee, and dark chocolate. We went back to our friends’ apartment to get ready for dinner and the night out. Miraggio was the place for dinner. I had eggplant parm and it was the best I ever ate. Drunken Ship was our first stop for the night out. They played great music and it was pretty crowded. It closed on the early side, so we went to Scholars to watch the Final Four, but that also closed at the start of the game, so we just headed home.

Sunday. Forum and Colosseum Day. I could not believe that I had the opportunity to go to the Colosseum. We always learned and read about it in history class and it was finally my chance to go inside. It was breathtaking. The Forum was pretty incredible too. Although not as extravagant as it had once been, you could imagine all that happened there so long ago. As if one Tony’s trip was not enough, we went there for our last meal in Rome. I had the chicken parm the first time, so I decided to get the penne a la vodka. We laid out for about 2 hours and then it was time to head back to Barcelona.

Rome was absolutely incredible and I can’t wait to go back and visit.