short for alexandra: {when in rome}

We made it!

We are in the beautiful city of Rome, Italy. Getting here was a hassle because our flight from Seattle to Frankfurt was suuuuuper delayed due to disorganization of the flight staff (I know some things can't control, but we didn't even start boarding until about 5 minutes after the plane was supposed to depart) so we ended up having to catch the next flight to Rome from Frankfurt two hours after our original one.

Once we got to Rome, Stacey and I took a cab and got absolutely ripped off, but we didn't care because we were so damn tired. I tried staying up all night the night before we left (went to bed at 4, woke up at 8, with hopes of sleeping on the plane) and I learned that no matter how fucking tired I am my body cannot sleep on planes! Rude.

Once we got to Rome, we checked into the hotel, threw our shit on the bed, and then went exploring. We went to the Trevi fountain, got some dinner, and I crossed a few things off of my bucket list to boot. Yay!

Last night, our first night here, consisted of a lot of walking around a long with gnocchi, wine, and wishes at the Trevi Fountain. We came back to the hotel, and I was so goddamn tired I didn't wanna go explore anymore, so Riley and I went to bed. Then we woke up and took a tour of the Vatican... which was downright beautiful. Now, I'm not religious, but that place was amazing. Seeing all of the artwork, and all of the history was completely breathtaking. We lost my mom for a little bit, but we found her eventually- but trying to find her, and get ahold of her was an adventure in its own. Later in the evening, we took a night tour of Rome, where we saw the colosseum, St Peter's (again), the Embassy de Marta (I may be spelling that wrong), and lots of other goodies that Rome had to offer. It was probably my favourite part of the trip so far, and our tour guide was awesome. He showed us some unconventional places in Rome that not many tourists know about... for example, a 2,000 year old cobblestone road about 20 minutes out of the city center that had marks from chariot's from Caesar's empire. He also brought us to the top of one of Rome's 7 hills and showed us an awe-inspiring panoramic view of Rome at night, as well as warding off some street vendors who kept trying to get us to buy roses. Nooo, thank you. Finally, he showed us a little part of the city where lots of painter's go. He pointed us out to "Rome's best gelato" (coming from a man born in Rome, I believed him) where we got AMAZING gelato, and even tried the Viagra flavor.

Rome has been full of adventure, food, laughs, history, and art work. I'll be sad to leave tomorrow morning to get on our cruise ship, but excited to see what other parts of Europe have to offer. Next up is Naples, Italy, including a tour of Pompeii. Another place I'm stoked to see!

Here's a teeny peek at what we've done so far!