Aly in Italy: Day 1 in Roma

Today was a huge touring day! Woke up at 9 for breakfast and hung out a little before going on our afternoon tour. For some reason, my professor chose the hottest hours of the day for this tour. Not to mention, this is notably the hottest week Italy has had in years. Yes, I'm hot, sweaty, and sunburned. We went to various sites today. I can't even name everything that I saw. Lots of fountains, outsides of churches, statues, etc. The main attraction for today was the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Capitol Hill, Trevi Fountain, and Vittoriano. At the Trevi Fountain we took tons of pictures and of course I throw a coin in my right hand over my left shoulder (that's the proper way to do it) which means that I'll return to Rome on day. Guess what?! You can drink the water out of the fountains! It's totally clean. Comes through the ancient aquaducts (not sure how to spell that) that Rome has been using for centuries. 11 have existed, and one still works today. We got tasty Gelato near the Trevi Fountain. It was delicious, and the guy serving me my gelato was delicious as well. haha. He was a total flirt. He didn't even say anything to me. It was all in his body language behind the counter. My friends were hysterical. Morgan was watching the entire act. "It's gotta be the blonde hair," she said. It must have been, because my Italian definitely was not impressive. However, that was some of the best gelato! My gelato last night at dinner at this restaurant called La Gallina Bianca was delicious as well. We had a planned menu. Pizza, Choice of Pizza, and Lemon Gelato that tasted like Lemon Pound Cake. Yum! I've taken at least 200 photos already, but none of you should be surprised. You know me. I want to try and take more random photos of those little funny things you pass when you're walking around a city. Rome has some interesting store fronts and people. Even today, we passed a shop that sold things carved out of wood. Like Geppetto from Pinocchio. I absolutely love all of the food and fruit stands. So cute and especially handy when you are dying of thirst during a hot tour! It's such an amazing feeling to be sitting in a cafe that is probably a renovated building that is hundreds of years old while typing on my Mac computer and blogging. Old and new are so close. It's a strange feeling. Exciting. Parts of old buildings are used to build new ones. And, when you just look at the siding of a building, you see layers and layers of different building materials. The bottom most part could be ancient roman ruins. Americans do not know history or appreciate "oldness" like the Italians do. Perhaps Italians are always high fashion and in touch with the latest trends, but they also have a good sense of where they come from. In Rome, residents live with history and appreciate it day by day. I wonder if it ever gets boring for them. If they begin to ignore it. I don't see how they could. Walking down little side streets, turn a corner, and BAM! There is the gigantic Pantheon just sitting there. Huge, Old, and Overwhelming. I had no idea it was just around the small corner. The Colosseum was cool I guess. Not a ton to see. Much of it has been weathered away, torn down, or taken to build something new. So, it was hard getting a sense of how it all used to be. I did see the cross that was through the emperor's entrance - the one that Andy Stanley talked about in one of his messages I mentioned earlier in my blog. Tonight we have dinner at a different restaurant. I'm hoping for some pasta since I had pizza twice yesterday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! After dinner, a few of us girls want to go watch the Italian vs. Ireland futbol match at a local Bar. Speaking of bars, bars in Italy aren't like bars in the U.S. Yes, they serve alcohol but also Cappuccinos, Espresso, etc. They serve food as well like pastries and sandwiches. A lot of the Bars sit on the busy streets with the windows and doors open. Tables line the sidewalks. To compare it to something familiar in the U.S, Bars in Italy are like the restaurants on Canton Street. Hang out spots to drink and talk. Lots of out door seating. You get the picture :) Italians definitely know how to enjoy a meal. I'm hoping for some wine tonight! Since we are with the program that includes high schoolers, no wine is included in our meals with the program. But, if I'm having pasta tonight, wine would go so well with it! Tomorrow is a bus sightseeing tour! They have double decker buses here just as they do in London. It's going to be great!