Rome: What Dreams Are Made Of

Ciao! I recently took my last weekend trip of my time abroad (I can’t believe how quickly it gone by) Two weekends ago I had the most amazing weekend in Rome! Besides the stormy send off my trip to Rome had been beyond amazing. 

The amazing thing about Rome is that you can walk around everywhere so on our first day we hit most of the major sites in central Rome. This included Piazza de Popolo, The Trevy Fountain, The Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Spanish Steps. We were lucky we didn't have to wait too horribly wrong for tickets for the Colosseum or Forum. Everything we saw that day was amazing and the perfect weather made it easy to walk around and see everything. Sadly though there were no Italian pop stars hanging around the Trevy Fountain :( The food on our first day was also amazing, while I usually try to eat somewhat healthy when I travel I pretty much threw that all away for this weekend (when in Rome do as the Romans do), so for the whole weekend it was pasta and gelato (again thankfully we did walk everywhere which helps with the guilt).

On our second day we went to Vatican City to go the the Vatican Museum, Cistine Chapel, and St Peter’s Basilica. It was incredibly crowded so we honestly spent most of the day waiting in line, but it was definitely worth it to see how amazing the Cistine Chapel was (sadly no pictures were allowed) I was also awstrucked about the ginormous size of St Peter’s Basilica. We spent the evening walking around the city admiring everything lit up. This was also the night of our best dinner which for me included bruschetta, prosecco, cacio e pepe and of course gelato!

Sunday was easy to plan because there was only one thing we really wanted to do, and that was to see Papa Francis. Right after breakfast we headed straight to the Vatican, which was actually not as crowded as the day before (because the Museum and Chapel are both closed on Sunday) we sat through a mass, which was in either Italian or Latin, neither of us could tell. Right after the mass Pope Francis came out and started greeting people near the outdoor alter. This alone surprised us because we thought he would simply poke his head out of a high window, say a few words then retreat back into the Vatican. Instead he spent time talking to people and then hopped in the Pope Mobile and was driven around the crowd waving to everyone. He passed us twice and both times he was much closer than I ever expected him to be. This was very exciting and definitely a highlight of my entire time abroad. My travel companion (and future roomie) Lauren left after this. Since I don't have classes on Monday I decided to spend an extra day there. I spent the rest of the day literally just walking around exploring the shops near the Spanish Steps and this beautiful garden that was not far from my hotel. This night was also the night I ate dinner alone in a real restaurant for the first time ever, thats right no takeout! Sadly my top two options were both fully booked but I was recommended another place that was pretty good (again you cant go wrong with pasta and prosecco! It was also this night I had the best gelato of the trip. There was a queue outside of the place (which means you know its good) I got caramel gelato dipped in white chocolate which was absolutely divine!

On Monday since the weather was an utter disaster the farthest I could make it was to a cafe about 10 minutes away that actually served breakfast. It was nothing spectacular but by this point I just wanted out of the rain.

Overall I had an amazing time in Rome visiting all the beautiful sites, eating the decadent food,  enjoying the perfect weather, and of course quoting the Lizzie McGuire Movie every opportunity I had!