Ciao Italia

Ciao Bella,

We got to Italia today at approximately 8:15 in the am ( 1:15 am for all you Mississippi people). Needless to say, we haven't slept in over 24 hours.  28 hours and 8 minutes to be exact. I never knew I could be so tired.

We arrived in Rome, got my bags and then headed for the train station so we could get into downtown Rome.  I felt so extremely out of place on the train, we stuck out like a sore thumb. But so did someone else.  The mom, youngest son, and the daughter from Little People, Big World were on OUR train.  Kinda cool, they were filming too. Check for us on tv, next step..movie stars.

We get to Termini station in Rome and it takes us forever to find the place to validate our eurail passes at (italians aren't full of southern hospitality and charm like we are in the south).  FINALLY, after searching for about an hour we found it. Then we realized the line was forever long, we left.  Backpacks on our backs and suitcases right behind us, we headed for our hotel(hostel). I bet you can guess that we got lost.  By the time we got there Andrea and I were both drenched with sweat, kinda gross.  The lady at the front desk could not speak English so we were very slow at communicating.  She brought us to our room and as soon as she finally got the door unlocked, 3 men walked out.  There are four bedrooms in our hostel, and we all share 2 bathrooms... with stinky boys. Weird.

Our hostel is nice and kinda homey. Very comfy bed and a cute little red table and chair set.  We have a "family" computer too, alright for internet.  The girls next door are from Denmark, the first thing they said to me was, "Do you have a knife?" 

When we got freshened up and got our things set, we went out to explore Rome.  It was hot and there was lots of traffic.  We went to this cute little store and bought drinks, the old lady was nice. We call her Mamma Mia.

Our first stop along the trip was the something or another, we just kinda ran into it and it was gorgeous. I think it was an old but still running catholic church. Gorgeous. Next, we walked and walked and walked until we finally found the Colosseo. It was INCREDIBLE.  Along with the Colosseo, we saw the Arch di Constantino, and the Foro Romano. The architecture is so incredible here, love it.

We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was probably my favorite.  Along the way to the Pantheon, we stopped for pizza. So good!

The Pantheon was breathtaking, all the little details within it were so amazing.  After the Pantheon, we stopped by Fontana Di Trevi!  I did throw a coin in and the water felt incredible, today was a very hot day.  I never realized how big that thing is.It's unbelievable.

We really wanted to see the Spanish Steps, but apparently italian maps are stupid.  We got gelato instead, mmmmm. When we finished our snack, we caught a taxi and went to the train station to validate our tickets and made reservations for all our traveling.  Some italian guy in front of me kept staring at me at the station.  Kinda creepy.

After that we found the short way back to our hotel! Which didn't seem so short because we were verrry tired.  We finally got back to our hostel, took showers, did the facebook thing, and met the manager of the hostel.  She's an african american italian, which me and Andrea find amusing. Did not know that existed. Her name is Sandra and she's sweet. She's been cleaning our hostel and taking care of us. Rome really hasn't been my favorite, too many people. But I am sso blessed that I am here. It's like a dream, nothing feels real. I don't think it will actually sink in until it's over with. Oh well, I'm enjoying my little Italian vacation.

Arrivederci for now,

Gabby