ROMAN HOLIDAY

(Clockwise Center: Christie, Aryn, Jackie, Lizandra, Candy, Drew, ME!)

I just got back from Spring Break in Italy. We went to Rome, Florence and Venice. All cities that I have been to in the past but it was still a ton of fun with the new friends I have made. There is so much history in these cities it is so incredible. And the pictures don’t always capture the beauty. Plus half of the cities were under construction so a lot of things were behind scaffolding.

We arrived in Rome late Saturday night. Luckily we found our hostel very easily and were able to get a good night’s rest before our adventure.

On Sunday our first stop to Rome was the Colosseum.

To all the OMers. I swear this was there before.

Acting silly and pretending to be a statue. Jackie is doing the "David" and I am posing as the Satutue of Liberty.

We walked around the area and went to Palatine Hill which overlooks the Roman Forum. After, we went to the St. Peter-in-Chains Church where Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses is.

Then we walked down to the Victor Emmanuel Monument and to the Piazza Venezia. We spent the evening at the top of Spanish Steps.

Monday, we went to the rest of the sites in Rome. We tossed a coin backwards into the Trevi Fountains in hopes of returning to Rome.

Then we went into the Pantheon, which is really massive. You don’t realize how big it is until you are standing inside.

We went to the Boca de Veritas, Mouth of truth. We tried to walk through the Roman Forum but we were to late and it was closed so we sat there and rested while we took in the view.

Tuesday we got up early to go to the Vatican. We were one of the first groups there. We climbed up the 500+ steps to the top St. Peter’s Dome the largest dome anywhere by Michelangelo. The inside of the dome cannot be missed. The artwork is incredible the entire dome is decorated in two-tone mosaic. I couldn’t believe it with my own eyes. The detail and shading is so perfect that it seems like it must be painted. The view of the city from the very top is amazing and worth every step. After we came down we went into the basilica saw Micheangelo's pieta and then we went into the Sistine Chapel. I am glad I got to go back. This time around we took our time to stare up at the ceilling. I was able to sneek a picture.

After the Vatican we had made our way to the train station and went on to Florence. We arrived in Florence in the evening and checked into our hostel. And we had a great Italian dinner at H2O2. It was a long wait but the meal was worth every minute. I sampled the salad, pasta, and deserts and everything was delicious.

Wednesday we went to the Duomo. The painting inside the dome is amazing. What is more incredible is when you think how the artist has to paint the image on the curve of the dome so that it looks real from the people looking up from the bottom. We got a peak of Michelangelo’s David. And we did some shopping in the markets. Our best meal the whole trip was at Mamma Gina’s Restaurant.A bit pricy but incredibly mouth-watering food.

Thursday our group separated some went to Pisa and back home to London while the rest of us made our way to our final destination, Venice. I think it is one of my favorite cities. After we dropped off our bags, we wondered through the streets and alleys of Venice. We found an incredible pizza place, only 1 Euro a slice. We went back four more times. We wondered through the city to the Piazza San Marco with all the pigeons. We tried to take a group picture but some Pigeons attacked. We spent most of our time on Friday in Venice wondering the streets, keeping an eye out for good treats: gelato and cannoli. We couldn’t afford a real ride on a gondola so we took the short 1 minute, 50 Euro Cent, rides across the river. By the end of the trip we were all so exhausted we could not wait to go back home to London.