DAY THREE: WHEN IN ROME, DO AS THE ROMANS DO

Well our fabulous day began to my alarm going off to Adele at like 5 in the morning. However, I did not get up till like 5:30 AM [whoops] and struggled to get down on time….thankfully I managed. We took what seemed like the longest bus ride to the train station where we sat for 2.5 hours as we made our way to Rome. Once we got to Rome, we ate at Paraná Caffé, which was absolutely delicious. I had some sizzling hot, but delicious tea. After about ehhh 30 minutes, we slowly made our way to one of the most fabulous places in the world: the COLISEUM.

Even though this is my second time to see it, I still acted like it was my first time laying eyes on it: like a kid who sees the biggest lollipop ever. We spent a good while there taking in history and enjoying the beautiful day. Oh and the funniest thing happened—as Clairé, Madds, and I were walking down the stairs to leave, some guy totally turned around to check out the Maddster.

funniest thing ever

It was absolutely hysterical and Clairé and I just could not stop laughing. It was just one of those moments that just happened, and I just got really lucky and got in on the camera. After we departed from the coliseum, our group made our way to the Forum and we practiced taking pictures using depth of field. I took some pictures of Madds and Clairé and they just look absolutely stunning.

                                  

So by this time, we were starving so we ate at this self-serve place—I believe it is called BAR caffé de glianigeli—and I ate some tasty pasta and fruit!! I drank a coke, which was probably not the smartest decision considering how hot it was outside. Finally I got to revisit one of my favorite places in Rome: the TREVI FOUNTAIN.  Don’t worry, I threw my 50 euros into the fountain and made a wish.

  

When I first saw this in the Lizzie McGuire Movie, I was like I have to go here to meet my Paulo. We spent like almost an hour here taking in the beauty of this place. So I got yelled at by a dad while I was out the fountain for taking a picture of their child….that was the only downfall of my time spent at the fountain. I have yet to find my Paulo, but you never know!! As long as the ending is different from the movie I will be happy!! Well obviously since we are in Italy you have to buy some things, so we took like a 30 minute break and shopped for a bit. Of course while everyone was looking at the cute stores, I was getting gelato : ) While half of the group continued to shop, some of us made our way to the Pantheon, which was beautiful.

We relaxed for a bit while the other group made their way over, and then we took off to our last and final historical scene of the day: the SPANISH STEPS.

        

There were soooo many people on the steps just chilling, but Madds, Rachel, and I just chilled at the very bottom while numerous people kept trying to sell stuff. They just could not understand that NO DINERO means NO DINERO. DUH.

 They are sooo silly!! They would not stop laughing. 

We trudged back to the subway, which took us back to the train station. Clairé and I split a fantastic ham and cheese sandwich with some fruit!! We loaded onto the train where after we finished our dinner, began our 2.5 hour descent back to Florence. Madds, Clairé, and I were determined not to fall asleep, so we listened to music and jammed out hardcore: lip singing and dancing of course. We also played zip boing, which was a total failure since we could not even get a word out before splurging with laughter.

                                   

Finally, we got onto the bus and arrived right back at the hotel and I pretty much peaced out. Well, I have another early morning tomorrow and I am beyond thrilled to go to that place that I just can not say to save my life. AY DIOS MIO….this day was just soo phenomenal, but arduous.