Hi everyone! I've been back from Rome for about a month now but it was yet another amazing travel experience. Originally, I was supposed to go to Rome on my way back from Africa. Since I was sent home early I didn't get the chance to go to Italy like I had planned. After being back in the states for a few weeks after I left Kenya I decided to go anyway. So, I found some cheap airfare, packed my bags, and flew off to Rome two weeks later.
The thing I loved about the trip was how spontaneous it was. I loved being able to decide to go and then just do it. I did little in the way of planning besides find a place to stay, which may not have been the best idea but it worked out in the end.
After about a full day of travel, three planes, and four airports, I arrived in Rome. I was traveling completely alone and was tasked with finding my way through a foreign city where I didn't speak a bit of Italian. Challenge accepted. Luckily most of the signs were also in English so I was able to find a train into the city and then my hostel without much trouble. Honestly, being alone in such a big city in a country I had never been to was incredibly intimidating at first. But, I found a map and started to explore.
I saw all of the big attractions such as the pantheon, trevi fountain, the roman forum, the Vatican, the Spanish steps, and the Colosseum. All of these were beautiful and amazing to see in person. I went inside the Colosseum which was one of the best things I did in Rome. The Vatican was definitely my favorite though. I am not a religious person by any means but the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel absolutely blew me away. The scale of the place and the history was stunning. To be able to be in the same place as people that lived thousands of years ago that you learn about in history class.. wow. There really aren't words for how beautiful it all was... my advice? Just go and see, you won't regret it.
Now all of these places were great but one of the other reasons I chose Italy was the food. Oh my was it good. After arriving in Rome, I quickly found a couple of bakeries close by that I frequented quite often. The gelato was my favorite and I am not ashamed to say that I had it every single day. And the espresso, so good. The food is an attraction in itself and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else in the world.
When I was in Rome, I wanted to be more than just a tourist. I wanted to live like a Roman and see how they did things. Some days I did a whole lot of nothing, but that was the point. I had no where in particular to go so I just wandered the city, sat for a while, watched people, ate. That is how you should see Rome, not running from the Pantheon to the Colosseum, to Trevi and calling it day. I love seeing how other people live. Traveling alone was also quite the experience. I didn't realize how much I like people and how much I like to talk.. But it gave me a chance to be completely self reliant and make all of my own decisions.
So, it was basically two weeks of getting lost in Rome, seeing beautiful ruins, eating as much Italian food as I could, trying not to look like a tourist, and maybe learning something in the process.
Here are some pictures of my time in Rome.
On a different note, my friend Peter that was on the Kenya trip with me made a really awesome video of our time there. You should check it out. I am in it so you may see me towards the end of the video.
Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzOx_XEMKUs
Now when I think of traveling it is no longer a question of "can I do it?" but a question of "where to next?"
I leave for Tanzania on August 27th, just two more months!!!
Until the next time,
~Emily
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