Oh Rome, the eternal city! Even though I was sick the whole time, Christina and I made the best of it.  On Thursday when I got there, I was totally exhausted.  I’d woken up at 7am to get to the airport in time, and I finally got there around 4 or 5.  We ordered pizza from the place they usually get it from, and it was FAB. I got mozzarella balls and a four cheese pizza.  We went to sleep pretty early (or at least I did), because we were going to have a pretty early day on Friday.  We started at the Vatican museum, and that’s where the above picture is from.  It was fabulous, particularly because it ended in the Sistine Chapel.  It’s technically illegal to take pictures there, but I snuck a few pretty good ones.  Then we went to St. Peter’s Basilica.  The line was long, but we stuck it out, and it was totally worth it.  Then we even paid to go up to the top of the basilica.  It was actually terrifying to walk up slanted/teeny staircases.  We had lunch at an adorable little restaurant, and then we shopped for a while.  We went back to the apartment and played a drinking game in the typical student way (students in Italy? not so different from students in America).

On Saturday, we had leftover pizza for breakfast.  Then we hit the Colloseum.  We were planning to just wait in the line, but it was going to take about three hours, so we just decided to pay to take a tour.  We had a good tour guide, and I loved the Colloseum.  As part of our tour package, we also got to do a tour of the palatine.  Our tour guide for that one was SUPER hot.  His name is Alex, and he worked on America’s Next Top Model in season 10!! Then we hit the Trevvi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and the Pantheon.  At the Trevvi, I had my Lizzie McGuire Movie moment, and it was amazing!  That night, we had a fabulous dinner at a restaurant called “Once Upon A Time.”  I had a fabulous meal of buffalo mozzarella, pasta, and creme caramel.  It was fantastic!

On Sunday, we went to Firenze.  After some trouble with the trains, we got there around noon. We started out at the Ufizi Gallery.  It was super crowded, so we didn’t actually go in, but we took pictures outside!  Then we got lunch at a really cute little restaurant. We got the fixed price menu, and I got pasta in a meat sauce, then caprese salad, and then a latte.  We walked for about two minutes, and found some street vendors.  I got my own Ciao Bella shirt, and purses for Sarah and myself.  Then we hit the Duomo.  We couldn’t go in, because the line was super-long, but then we went to the Accademia.  We waited for like an hour, and then we went in to see the David statue! That was our last thing in Florence, and then we took the train back to Rome.

We ordered in again (I got a calzone), and watched the Lizzie McGuire movie in celebration of our weekend.  I flew home on Monday, and it was a good flight, but I was really sick by that point.  Now I’m back home in London, and after a quick trip to the doctor’s this morning, I am medicated and feeling like a real human being again.  Sorry that this one is so long, but that’s that.