When in Rome...

Day 2 - July 6

Sorry we're just now updating, we've seriously been backpacking Europe which means running on 5 hours of sleep within 3 days!!! We're basically running off adrenalin!

So, after returning to our hostel at 2:00 AM on Monday, we woke up early at 7:00 AM to get ready to go to the Vatican. We met up with our tour guide, Jeremiah, from the previous day when we saw the Colosseum at 9:30. Jeremiah is from California so he was a great contact to have while we were there. He helped us find a good tour so we didn't have to wait hours in the line or pay a ton of money. The only hiccup on this whole ordeal is that we were told by our 60-some-odd old hostel granny that in order to be able to see the Vatican, we had to cover our shoulders, knees and feet - wouldn't want the Pope to lust after us! Keep in mind that it is HOT in Rome. So here we are, in our mom jeans, mom sneakers, and tops! We were a site for sore eyes and we looked HOT! Kidding of course, we looked like nerdy tourists but it was funny!

The Vatican we breathtaking. We learned about each room and the art and history each. Of course, the Sistine Chapel was incredible. We finished up the tour of the Vatican and, as luck would have it, Saint Peter's was closed. Y'all, I just don't know how to put into words how hot we were in jeans and sneakers!

By this time it was late afternoon so we walked around a little - trying to find an iPhone store so Ashley could buy another phone - then we wound up heading back to our hostel so we could get ready to meet up with our Italian friends! Long story short - we got back to our hostel, updated our blog, got ready and Flavio and friends picked us up for dinner at fashionable hot spot. We had such an awesome evening with Flavio! He was Lindsay's sister's foreign exchange student. He brought his girlfriend and two of this friends. They bought us dinner and took us to see St. Angeles' Palace and the Treve Fountain. These wound up being two of our favorite places in Rome. St. Angeles' Palace is where the Pope, cardinals, and other dignitaries would flee to if Rome was under attack. It was protected by a moat and you had to take the Bridge of Angels to get there. The bridges of Angels was beautiful too and it was in the movie Angels and Demons which was kind of cool! After that, we made our way to the Treve Fountain, tossed in our pennies and finally headed home...at 2 in the morning!! All in all, we saw so many amazing things and had an awesome time. People were so surprised that we'd covered so much ground in our two days in Rome!

Key learnings today:
- DO NOT WEAR JEANS WHEN TOURING ROME. You will sweat one million pounds of water.
- You DO NOT need to wear closed-toe shoes to the Vatican. The Pope doesn't care!
- There are NO Apple stores in Rome, no matter how hard to look or ask people
- Metro is the best way to travel, do not take the buses
- Italians are SO nice and hospitable
- Hair dryers have the same effect as does one blowing air on your hair with your mouth. If you have more than 5 strands of hair, prepare to sweat, get frustrated and and have your hair look like you stuck your finger in an electrical outlet.
- AC is a commodity that we all take for granted in the states. Just wait until you walk all over Rome, come back to a hot hostel room and then try to sleep. Doesn't happen.

Check in for the next time we blog, we've got a real interesting story from our travels to Cinque Terre :)
-Haley, Lindsay and Ashley