When in Rome

This past weekend was one of the best weekends I have had here in Italy. From local restaurants to street kebabs, and karaoke to packed bars, so many great memories were made. Our travel break this weekend was from Thursday to Sunday. We left for Rome on Wednesday night and arrived at about 11pm. Our hostel was located near the Termini train station. Staying in hostels is a lot different than staying in hotels. Depending on how many people you stay with, there are usually 4-6 bunks to one hostel room. The atmosphere of a hostel is much different, especially when you are staying at a hostel filled with mostly the younger generation. I remember when we stayed in our Venice hostel it was packed with study abroad students, and the atmosphere was young and relaxed. We weren’t obligated to walk down the hallways silently because we were afraid to wake an old couple or a family with small children. Our hostel in Rome was very nice for a hostel, it was almost like a mini apartment. Our bedroom was separate from our bathroom, and the kitchen was separate, as well. Breakfast in Italy is very different. In America, I am used to eating a bowl of cereal (with cold milk) and a piece of peanut butter toast. The breakfast that I have eaten here usually consists of yogurt, toast (which is more like crackers) topped with Nutella or fruit jelly, and cereal (with room temperature milk). At first, this was very hard for me to get used to. But, recently I have become appreciative of the smaller breakfasts since lunch and dinner are usually very filling. So, the hostel didn’t have the typical “continental breakfast.” There were no waffle makers, or toasters for bagels, just some bread, yogurt, and 2 cereal choices. Although hostels are lot different than hotels, I have come to appreciate them a lot because they are much cheaper and it feels like a really long slumber party with all your friends!

My favorite restaurant I have been to since arriving in Italy was Tony’s in Rome. Tony’s is a small, family owned restaurant with a lot of wine and amazing food! Tony’s was so good that we went there two nights in a row for dinner. The dish that literally blew me away was the Pasta with Vodka sauce. The noodles were cooked to perfection, not too chewy, but not too hard. The Vodka sauce was out of this world! I can’t even really explain the taste. The portions were huge, but I ate it all anyway because I didn’t want any of it to go to waste. I used the leftover sauce to dunk the bread in! Another great thing about Tony’s was the wine. Since I have been in Italy, I haven’t found a red wine that I am a huge fan of. This red wine was the only red wine I could drink a whole glass of. It wasn’t too dry and it wasn’t too sweet. It was perfect! Although I was completely stuffed (both Friday and Saturday night) I was extremely satisfied! I miss Tony’s so much already.

The other best part about Rome was the attractions. Rome has so many amazing historical landmarks, including the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and St. Peter’s Basilica. My favorite of the ones listed was St. Peter’s Basilica. The line to get into St. Peter’s was outrageously long! But every minutes standing in the rain ended up being totally worth it. The architecture and paintings on the inside was just breathtaking. Everything painting and every arch was so detailed. I can’t even begin to imagine the numbers days, even hours, it took to build such a beautiful Basilica. If you ever make it to Rome, this has to be number one on your list! My other favorite places in Rome was the Trevi fountain. The main reason I wanted to visit the Trevi Fountain was because it was featured in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, but it ended up being a lot cooler than I thought it would be. I have tossed many coins into fountains before, but this toss seemed so surreal. It made me think deeply about what was really happening. I was really living in Italy, with two of my best friends, tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain. My one Euro coin was really about to be sitting at the bottom of the Trevi Fountain in Rome, Italy. It was so much fun that I did it two more times!

As you can see from reading this blog, Rome is the home of many of my favorite things in Italy, thus far. The experience was unbeatable; the sights, the food, and even the people. Rome is a place that I think everyone should experience at least once in their lifetime. Lizzie McGuire was right, this really is what dreams are made of!

Ciao for now!