Roman holiday

It's our first day in Rome, and, after a 2 hour flight and having to get up at 4am to catch said flight, we are exhausted. After dropping off our bags at the most Americanized hotel possible (The Best Western Roma Globus- its by the university here), we went to lunch and to St. Peter's Basilica for our 2pm scavi tour.

Lunch was our first pizza in Rome. While mine was good and basic (I had just a Margharita pizza), Justin and Jason ordered pizza with sausage, mozzarella and french fries on it. Yes, french fries. It was wild. We made it to St. Peter's Basilica and while Pam was trying to figure out how we get to bag check before the tour, I just kept looking around. I was in awe- I was standing in the middle of St. Peter's Square. I was staring at the Basilica and couldn't stop gaping at the sheer size of the church. We finally got through security, checked our bags and made it to the tour on time.

The scavi tour was a tour of the Necropolis under the Basilica and to view the bones of St. Peter. It was extremely small and hot on the scavi tour, but completely awe inspiring. As we made our way around the Necropolis, you got to see the different tomb markings, the indications that Peter was buried there, and hear a bit of the story of how the Vatican came to be. Our guide, who is in his last year of seminary (who was from Atlanta GA randomly enough) was phenomenal and engaging. We finally saw the famous "Graffiti Wall" and saw where the 14 bones of St. Peter lie. After a moment of silence, we went back up through the Basilica and took it in. Again, the tour groups were getting overwhelming and tried to ruin the experience for me. Didn't happen. I even went up and "kissed" St. Peter's toe for a blessing(I kissed my fingers then touched the fingers to the toe). We decided to come back to the Vatican on Friday to check out St. Peter's again, do the dome climb, and to do the Vatican Museum (and Sistine Chapel), as it was getting ready to close.

We headed back to the hotel to settle in and nap a bit- this hotel isn't Roman AT ALL but that's fine with me! 2 full size beds in each room, air conditioning, cable with an English speaking channel, a huge bathtub- its great. We have a bidet in the bathroom too, which sparked some laughter (especialy since the hotel provides you with lube for it as well).

After the unpacking period, we went to find a place for dinner by the Trevini Fountain. We, of course, got turned around and ended up at the Spanish Steps first (amazing). After playing on the steps for a bit, we walked over to the fountain, following some French tourists that were lost too. We made it to the fountain around sunset- the fountain was crowded but lit up and just beautiful. We all threw in our two coins (right hand over left shoulder) to ensure our return to Rome and for luck in love. We then went to a little cafe for dinner and sat outside-- in an alley. Dinner wasn't what we expected. It was kind of plain tasting. We left a little disappointed, then found a gelato shop which was the best gelato on the planet. I swear, it was amazing. By far the best I've ever had. And to be eating it as we walked by the Trevini fountain at night? I was in Rome. I finally believed it.

Since we couldn't find a Metro station (we were lost again!) we cabbed it back to the hotel. It was extremely cheap- like 3€ a person kind of cheap. We went to bed around midnight and decided to sleep in until 9 the next morning before hitting some of Rome's larger sites.