Rome, Italy.. July 30

      Big day. Took the bus to Rome with Semester at Sea. An Italian woman named Dani was our tour guide. We saw Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, Imperial For a, Capitoline Hill, Piazza Novana, Via Del Corso and Victtoriano- the wedding cake of Rome (as the locals call it)…. And we did this all before lunch. Never could I imagine my feet to feel as if they weren’t connected to my legs which were made up of toothpicks held together by jello knees. On top of that I think Rome sat beneath a heat lamp creating a hotbox for all of the tourists to walk around in… and I still have yet to go to Egypt.
        Around noon we had a lunch break. We ate lunch with our friend Austin and visited the Pantheon. In a million years I would never believe the Pantheon to be as beautiful as it was. As I walked into the center of the room I gazed up to the open dome and a huge bird soared in the sunlight. Truly picturesque. We met up with SAS, checked into the hotel (found out Europeans do not believe in air conditioning) and went to dinner. Dinner consisted of a three course meal (two kinds of pasta, a potato casserole thing, and Neapolitan ice-cream) and adorable old men singing “that’s amore.” Dani suspiciously became a little drunk and took us on a night tour to the Spanish steps and Trevi fountain. Barrett and I made sure to throw two coins over our shoulders to find love. After this day we were so exhausted I didn’t even know my own name so we went home and got rest for the next day.
p.s. even though this day was exhausting, i am still awestruck by the fact that I actually got to see Rome… all of the sites I have longed to visit from my art history books. Barrett and I kept turning to one another saying.. “is this real? Are we really in rome already?”