So we knew that RyanAir had stringent baggage restrictions, but Mom and I had NO idea that they would charge 20 Euros PER kilogram that your bags are overweight (this fact is not clearly expressed on their web-site travel information). And since Mom and I were traveling for more than just one little night, we ended up paying a ridlicious amount of money to get our bags to Rome. The whole weighing the bags, figuring out what we were going to do, having the bags re-weighed, paying for the bags, going through security (where, of course, Mom was frisked again and attempted to explain that her pedometer was a simple health tool, not some sort of explosive device), and then finding our gate ending up taking well over an hour. Thank goodness we had left ourselves plenty of time in the airport. :)
Our flight group was quite the interesting mix too -- our travel partners mostly consisted of a large, boisterous group of (you guessed it) American college students who seemed like they could have been easily cast in MTV's Jersey Shore or VH1's Daisy of Love/Rock of Love. And we waited outside of the gate. And waited. And then we made it through the gate. And then waited on a bus to take us to our plane. And waited. And waited. And then we made it to the airplane. And we waited to get on the plane. And then we made it on the airplane. And then we waited. And well, our flight took off about an hour later than expected. The good news: we did safely arrive in Rome that night, Mom and I were together, a super cute guy with the most amazing smile did sit in front of me on our flight, and all our bags made it too. :)
After settling into our hotel, we crashed and prepared for a full day of sightseeing the next morning. Day one we rode the subway into the center to visit the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, and explore around the city. Seeing the Colosseum for the first time was truly one of the most incredible things I think a person can experience -- climbing the steps up from the subway, you suddenly cast your eyes forward onto this indescribily enermous and anciently beautiful structure. And it's right there! Right before your very own eyes! This thing that you hear about your whole life and that you see in books and on postcards and in pictures -- you are actually there! It was an immense and incredible feeling of gratitude and awe. :)
Mom and I did not go inside the Colosseum -- I'm sad to say that all of the traveling (and the sick children at my school) resulted in me having an incredibly nasty cold/flu during our travels. Day one in Rome is when the flu really began to hit, and we ended up visiting an Italian pharmacy to buy some medicine (which was successfully accomplished via English/Spanish/charades communitation). Being sick on vacation was no fun at all, but I was just SO thankful to have my sweet Mom there to help take care of me! :) She was such a sweet blessing!
After seeing the Colosseum, we wandered through the streets of Rome, admiring the half-standing, half-tumbling ruins, the green and white washed statues, and the cobblestone streets bursting with motorcycles, taxis, and people. We ate an amazing authentic Italian lunch -- pizza with warm tomato sauce, basil, cheese, and onion, and the most mouth-watering delicious toasted garlic bread in the entire world ever. The sun was shining - it was one of those gorgeous days where you just want to be outside. Blue sky, warm sun with some breeze -- our gratitude for warm weather was great then, but it increased even more the further north we traveled into Europe. :)
Strolling through some twisty, narrow side-streets, we finally made it to the Trevi Fountain. The fountain was beautiful, but it was a bit overwhelming with the number of people that were there. The guidebook I read before our travels warned that Rome is an extremely hectic and loud city, and our travels certainly confirmed that statement. At this point, my body was about to quit for the day, so we turned in to the hotel for the night.
Day two we planned to visit the Vatacian, but the flu had other plans for us and kept us resting in the hotel for the day. But, on a humorous and ironic note, we did visit the largest mall in Europe that day instead! This mall - Euroma - is located right behind the hotel we were staying in, and Mom and I wandered out for some lunch. We window-shopped at some of the stores, and later we found out that Euroma is Europe's largest mall! So we may not have seen the Vatacian, but we did visit Europe's largest mall. ;)
Day three I was beginning to feel better thanks to all of the prayers, medicine, and lots of rest, and we packed our bags and hopped on another plane to start our adventure in the beautiful city of love...Paris! :)
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