Don't you wish that you could be a fly...

ON MY CAMERA?

Well, wish come true. 

Welcome to our trip to Rome!

The Four Rome-ers!

Pasties. Pronounced PAAAAAsty. Kinda yummy. Super hot. Please allow 30 minutes for cool down before eating.

On the Train...

Paid a pound for internet to send off some last texts to the people we love. Most expensive 5 minutes ever, but oh so worth it. 

The Plane! Rome, here we come, ready or not!

 

In the case of an emergency landing, though you may be scared out of your pants, please take the time to remove the following. Who needs to actually see where they're going when they jump out of a plane anyway?

Oh Ellie. How you love chocolate... Due to turbulence, the whole Cadberry egg ended up in her mouth at once. 

Oops.

Our program directors! 

This is us on a bus in ROMA!

This is us on a bus in ROMA trying to be European.

Our adorable hostel. We got upgraded at no charge when we arrived. Does Rome love us? Oh yeah! 

She called top.

And I was more than fine with it.

Spiritual Enlightenment in Rome? Yes please. Ellie did this every night with me. It was great to talk to her like we were EFY counselors again. 

The Day of Ellie's Birth / Our First Day in Rome!

With a long day ahead, we must start with a good breakfast made up of ...

Pastries.
Chocolate-filled ones.

Hello, world. I'm ready for you.

Did you know that absolutely everything is beautiful in Rome?
Everything. I'm not even joking.

Like ceilings. They know how to do ceilings there, let me tell you!

Bernini's gravestone. Yup. He's buried there. The man himself.

I may have fallen in love with this building. No idea what it is - probably just apartments.

Doesn't look like a whole lot from the outside, but guess what's within?

Michelangelo's Moses? Oh yeah. 

Beautiful ceilings? Again. This spares you the crank in your neck from always looking up, though!

Dialogue to this picture:

Cali: Look guys! There's some cool old ruins on that hill!

Girls: What? Cool! Let's go look.

(Walk 50 paces and turn to the left)

Cali: Oh my gosh.

(Jaw drops when below comes into sight)

Was I utterly content with life after those moments? Oh yes.

Sneaky picture of the Roman soldiers that charge you 1 Euro to take a picture with them. Ha.

Look, mom! I'm touching the Colosseum! 

Funny story:
These cute French people were taking pictures of each other in front of the Colosseum.
We offer to take a group picture for them, but they don't speak English.
We try to sign to them what we are offering to do.
They understand.
They make funny exclamations in French that we pretend to understand and laugh along with.
We take picture.
They are grateful (which I've assumed because they came back saying "Merci, merci, merci!").

My desires after this experience:
Learn French.
Or at least learn how to say "You're welcome" in French.
(I felt stupid after saying "Merci" back to them because I had no idea what else to say).

What is Ellie doing, you ask, writing in her journal while we're standing in front of one of the most incredible buildings in the world?
She's making blog notes. Because her blog is much more detailed than mine.
Wanna see? Check it out here.

  

  

  

The All-powerful Navigator!

Irrelevant Side Note:
I have no sense of direction.
None.
Whatsoever.
So - Ellie has been my angel. 

Our first lunch in Italy...

Authentic Italian Lasagna? Yes please.

Oh Trevi Fountain - make my wish come true!

P.S. If you sit on the side of the fountain, your bum gets watered.
Hope that doesn't mean it's going to grow! ;)

What's a day at the fountain without Gelato?

It's obviously not as fun. 

Then - off to the Pantheon!

Where we were asked to move out of the way because they were filming a scene for "Basket Wives" by the fountain.
Have I ever heard of that show?
Nope.

But it's American.

Maybe I should be worried about drinking water that looks like it comes out of a sewer.
But the locals do it.

so...

bottoms up!

WHAT? Did we just stumble along the Spanish steps?

Yup. My reaction exactly.

Story about these random flowers:

Ellie and I were walking ahead to ascend the Spanish steps.
(It was her birthday)
The other girls were trailing not too far behind when...
a street vendor selling roses comes up to them and offers them roses "because you are so pretty."
In small town innocence, they accept them, assuming that the man was giving the roses to them for free.
They grab two more and give one to Ellie and I in celebration of Ellie's birthday.
But the vendor follows them.
He offers to take our picture (see above).
At this moment everything inside me is saying - there's no way we're getting away with these roses for free.
We turn to walk away.
The vendor stops us and casually suggests we give him just some change.
We all don't have Euro change.
(Well...I do. I have 3 Euros in my purse. But I'm not about to tell him that)
He won't leave us alone.
I get annoyed.
Frustrated.
We try to give him back the flowers.
He won't take them.
(Note - that's the strategy. Get it in their hands and then never accept it back when they say no.)
I throw my hands up and pull out my 3 Euros.
My plan? Give him one.
He sees I have 3 and won't accept anything less.
So - I paid 3 Euros for wilted roses in Rome.

Eh - what a story!

But with the roses, we get cool pictures like these:

And guess what you find down the street from the Spanish steps...?

Hello stores that I can't even afford to walk into... 

Do you know what it's like to walk down a street and just be mesmerized by everything you see?

 You hungry yet? Cause I am!

My new Italian love: Bruschetta. 

 Something you need to know about eating in Italy (or even just in Europe):

It is a social event. 

This means that there is a lot of time between courses and a lot of time before waiters will ever bring you the bill. 

Well, if you just get one course, it means a lot of time to yourself at the table. 

This is what happens while you're waiting:

Yup. We had a weirdest face contest.

Meet the winner:

 Oh and remember the roses?

They made a comeback. 

Sometimes I forget my age.

And you know what?

I love those moments.

Frustrating and somewhat troubling footnote to this post:

This was only our first day in Rome. 

More to come...