When in Rome!

Bonjourno!! That's one of the few words I've actually picked up on since arriving in Italy ~ I keep mixing Spanish and French to come up with Italian words...it's not really working for me.

We arrived safe and sound in Rome Wednesday morning around 7 a.m (Rome time, it was midnight back home). On our flight we met a very nice guy from the states that lives in Rome now. He is a federal agent for the U.S. and works at the U.S. Embassy in Rome and he gave us some great advice for our time in Rome. We decided to stay up all day so we could go to bed early and catch up, and fortunately we have not been too jet-lagged since Day 1.

Day 1: We were walking zombies, but got a lot accomplished. We checked right into our Hostel (which was not too great) and left immediately to go sightseeing. The less time in the hostel the better. They tried to put the two of us girls in a room with a 40 year old man, so we decided to pay 5 extra euros to have our own room. We caught on quickly to the bus system and rode down to Vatican City and explored St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was phenomenal, there was room after room of beautiful artwork, and long elaborate hallways, but unfortunately we could not fully appreciate it because we don't know too much about it all. We then walked around, stopped in some shops, and grabbed a quick bite to eat and went to bed at 7 p.m. (Woohooo Party!!!).

Day 2: Was much better! We did some shopping (I finally found some boots!!!), and more sightseeing. We saw...the Spanish Steps (not too exciting, probably due to the time of year), Colleseum and Ruins (amazing!!!!), and ate outside at a typical Roman bistro. We then saw a beautiful church and decided to go inside and check it out and it was gorgeous. We decided to sit down and listen to a service that was going on, the people started singing Christmas songs in Italian, but we could tell by the tune what they were singing so we joined in singing in English (quietly). I do have to say we felt much safer than expected in Rome, we were always cautious of pickpockets, but never had any problems. (Confession - I called mom from St. Peter's Plaza and accidentally left my wallet on top of the payphone, didn't realize it until a little girl ran up and gave it to me...guess I should hang out in holy areas more often!). Trust me, that won't happen again!

Day 3: Sick of Rome! We were ready to get somewhere with less hustle and bustle, and with a better hostel. We hopped on a train early and headed to Florence and already feel much more at home. The people are nice, the town is beautiful and quaint. We feel safer here and have a much better hostel! Gotta run, I'm in an internet cafe and about to run out of time.

Love and Miss You All!!!

Ciao!!!

Jenna

P.S. I'll get Napes to write soon! : )