La Città Antica di Roma

Ciao from Italia…this past week was my spring break so I thought what better way to spend it then by traveling through Italy. I left Thursday night for Italy and got into Rome around 9 at night. After checking into my hostel, which was right by the Termini, or main train station in Rome, a group of us went to a Traterria I had pasted along the way for some pizza. This was the first meal of a delicious week of pasta, pizza, and gelato. I had really been missing some good Italian food so I was pumped about being in Italy. After dinner I went to the Spanish steps to meet with the Loyola students studying abroad in Roma. One of my roommates Camille was in Rome so it was great to see her. The Rome kids took us to this place called Campo, which is this plaza with various bars to hang out in. It was a lot of fun being together with other Loyola students. The next morning everyone else had gotten tickets to the Vatican museum but since I just went last year with my family and was trying to save money I instead went to meet Camille and she took me to the Villa Borguese. There is a famous galleria (gallery) in the park but we just walked around since it was beautiful outside and caught up. I got amazing coffee at this cute little café in the park. Afterwards Camille and I headed to St. Peter’s Square to meet the rest of the group.

St Peter's Square

At this point it was time for another delicious Italian meal. Camille wanted to take me to her favorite pizza place that was right near the Vatican, however unfortunately it was closed so instead we just went to a random restaurant and I had really good spinach raviolis. While walking to the metro stop to our next destination I passed Old Bridge Gelateria, which is said to be one of the best places in Rome to get Gelato. I got this flavor that is similar to chocolate chip and chocolate and it was amazing. One of the best gelato I had ever had. Then we went to the Castle of St. Angelo, which is home to a Bernini statue and is a scene in the movie Angles and Demons.

Bridge by Castle

Next everyone wanted to go check out the Coliseum, Roman forum, and Palatine Hill. Since I have been to Rome twice I did not really care what I saw so I just went to with the group because I think the Coliseum is amazing. It was so cool being able to explore the forum and imagine that people built these ridiculous stone structures hundreds to years ago. I climbed to the top of Palatine hill, where it is said that Rome was formed for an amazing view of the city.
Then I went inside the Coliseum and just got lost in the massive stone theater. I was able to see the cages where lions were kept before a pulley system would put them in the ring to fight against a person.

Coliseum

After this my friend Callie had found a free walking tour through this site called New World that meet at the Roman steps. If you are ever in Rome I really recommend this walking tour. For two and a half hours our guide Rich took use around to all the main sights in Rome. I learned about the Spanish steps, the artist Bernini, the Pantheon, St. Ignatius church…Go Loyola, the various obelisks, the Trevi Fountain and various other sights in Rome. I even drank water out of the fountain because it is extremely clean and delicious. The walking tour ended around 8 pm so I went back to the hostel to change for dinner. Last year with my family I went to this amazing pasta place by the Trevi fountain that someone who lived in Rome recommended to us so I decided to take the group there for dinner. I had this delicious pasta with eggplant and mozzarella cheese. After dinner I was exhausted so I just went back to the hostel.
The next morning I had a early train but some people in my group did not have a chance to see St. Peter’s Basilica and wanted to try and see it before we left. I knew it was going to be pushing it but I figured when in Rome. When we got to the square there was a line to get through security but we tried to see if there was just an entrance to the Basilica since we did not need to go into the museum or anything. Unfortunately there was only one line for everything. Some people in the group choose to leave in order not to miss the train but me, Callie, and Greg decided to wait. I am sure glad we did. The inside of St. Peter’s is truly a spectacular site to see. Of course after this we had to run to catch our train to Florence but it ended up working out because the other group accidentally got on a regional train, which takes 2 hours more then the fast train, which is paid for.