Rome, day 2

We started the morning by heading to the supermarket down the street from our hostel. My friend Em took a look at a pack of prosciutto and said, “let’s have a picnic.” We picked up some bread, meat, cheese, fruit, and chips – all you need for a quality lunch. We walked up a dozen flights of uneven stairs to reach a beautiful overlook where we sat on a ledge, put together our mismatched picnic, and cheered to the fact that we are in Italy. (For the record, it still doesn’t feel real.)

                  

We also found this absolutely beautiful garden called Fleur Garden, which was closed the first time we passed it yesterday. We finally got to go this morning, and it was absolutely magical. I think there’s something truly healing about a plant-filled space, and this little garden was no exception. Photo-ops all around!

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SORRY, I JUST LOVE LEMONS AND THIS PICTURE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moving on!

We walked to the American University of Rome, where one of the professors of media and cinema gave a lecture on the history of Italian media. Despite still being jet-lagged and sleepy, I managed to stay awake (S/O to Em Yurch for nudging me when I nodded off one time…just once…) and I’m glad I did. The professor was knowledgable and interesting, and I learned a lot about Italian media and how utterly tied together politics and media are over here. It’s pretty sad…normal people have no hope for really making it here…the professor had probably 10 slides in a row, and here how they went:

“this is the host of ____ show. She’s married to the president of ______”

“meet the new owner of ______. Her grandfather founded ______.”

“this is a power couple. He is the elected _______ of _______, and she hosts this cooking show on the _____ network.”

Need I go on?

The American University of Rome was so beautiful, as is everything (see right picture).

 

 

OKAY. THE COLOSSEUM.

Truly, truly, truly, I cannot even describe how amazing this structure is. Even more amazing that the actual structure is the history behind it – I strongly urge you to read up on the history of this phenomenal place. To reiterate some of the facts would take too much time and brain power (it’s 1am here…I’m tired…), but just know that it’s all so fascinating. Looking into the structure and thinking about how many people and animals (elephants!!! giraffes!!! more!!!) were brutally killed/tortured there was overwhelming…it all was. Romans were some pretty messed up people…

Take a look at some of these pictures and imagine standing inside this vast arena yourself. Imagine the 50,000+ Romans who came to watch the games and the ones who were in the center, fighting with real weapons surrounded by exotic animals. Imagine what it must have smelled like (ew). Everywhere we turned, there was another beautiful picture waiting to be taken, but there was also more history ready to be told.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished up at the Colosseum, we walked through the Roman Forum (equally as interesting, but my camera was dying and I was so tired that I didn’t take many pictures). The big take away from that excursion was that when the virgins misbehaved they were buried alive to “respect their bodies.” Didn’t see that one coming. We traveled back to our hostel, where we freshened up a bit, put on new clothes (makes a huge difference), and picked a place for dinner. We got ourselves there, but the wait was an hour long, so we settled for a tiny place called Insalata Ricca. I don’t have to tell you what I got. Instead, I’ll show you. 😉

Also, I turned to the right during dinner and had to do a double take because SIMON COWELL’S TWIN BROTHER WAS SITTING AT THE TABLE ACROSS THE WAY. I don’t believe Simon has a twin brother, but if he does, he was at Insalata Ricci tonight, and he was wearing jeans and a fitted black t-shirt. Needless to say, we could not stop laughing about it, and Beth and I shared our favorite Simon Cowell insults with each other. I also snuck a picture of him by pretending I was talking on the phone. Enjoy –>

          

 

I wish I could share absolutely everything on here…believe me. But I simply cannot remember it all:( I also refuse to spend time editing these photos, because I already spend so much time trying to FORMAT THEM IN THIS POST (thx WordPress for being increasingly difficult to work with). So here you have unedited photos taken by my beloved Camera, affectionately referred to as Cam Jansen.

Tomorrow – the Vatican! Stay tuned for more adventures. Much love to those who have made it this far! ❤

Peace + love,

Carrie