When in Rome- Day 1

Ok... soooo I have a lot to catch you guys up on. Two weeks ago I left for Fall Break without even an update on my studio project or anything! Midterms were crazy! This was probably the least complete I have ever been, and not because of procrastination but simply because I am not use to traveling one week and working two and then traveling, while also trying to book and plan my fall break... Now that it's over I am so relieved! If you check out the Sketches tab above you can see some of my work from this semester ;)

My fall break was just a little too hectic and crazy to fit in all one Blog post. So I am going to break it up into pieces. I spent 3 days in Rome, 1 day in Paris (more like 16 hours) and then 5 days in Antibes, France. After Fall Break my class and I went to Cyprus for 5 days so that will also be another post.... eventually.

Back to this blogpost though! When in Rome:

Day 1:

So we left Aegina around 10 am on October 11th and arrived in Italy around 5:30. If you have never flown on Aegean Airline I suggest you do! It is the most comfortable airline I have ever been on, with cushion chairs, awesome leg room and the best meals! For a flight that is just a little over one hour we got Coffee/Tea twice, once before our meal and once after. Our meal going to Rome was a sandwich and greek yogurt with honey. Returning to Athens we got Pasta with meat sauce, bread, and a biscuit. I forgot to mention that at the start of the plane ride they hand out candies!

Anywho, so we make it to Rome and have to find our super cute and cozy hostel, Rose Santa Maria B&B... this is where the fun starts.. We take the easy route and get a bus to drop us off at the exact location.. Can't get any easier than that right? WRONG! So we hop out the bus and the driver hands us our bags and looks around saying well I hope you find it. THERE WAS NOTHING ON THAT STREET! Everything was closed down/ boarded up... Where too next? We didn't know and our driver hopped back in and drove off like nothing happened. We decided to walk up one block and ask a shop owner if he ever heard of the hostel. Of course he hadn't. Then we decided to look at the building numbers. We needed 146-147.... We walked down the hill, up the hill, back down... the building numbers jumped from 145 to 148... I kind of felt like I was in a Harry Potter scene at this point because when we decided to walk back up the hill to the shop owner I spotted a yellow sticky note. It was so small compared to everything else in Rome which seemed like it was built for giants. Here is what it said:

So I do as it says and down comes this girl around our age, in her pj's and who seems very pessimistic. We ask her what we should do at night, someplace to party, shop etc... Her response? "I have no life, sitting here answering the calls is my life".... great right? So she stays with us for 5 minutes and then this guy comes and tells us "Ok follow me!" We oblige, naturally and end up following him around the corner into a back alley (It is dark by this point) and into a deserted bar where he proceeds to ask us for our passports, signature (on a document fully written in Italian) and 50 euros for the 2 nights we are there. Once again we oblige, and are then told to return to the bar for breakfast at 8 and are given this enormous key and showed to our room. Where is the super cute breakfast nook decorated in white and baby pink? What about the colourful rooms? FREE WIFI?! ... wifi only worked on the first step of the entrance to all of the rooms... not even in my room. My bed... good thing the sheets where white enough for me to inspect it for bed bugs. The shower you ask?! I have no idea what you would call it because there was a sort of stool part you sit on (But honestly who is going to sit in a shower in a nasty ass hostel?) My big foot could not even fit in the one square you are suppose to stand in when you shower... I wish I got a picture of that for you guys!

Anyways we freshen up as quickly as possible and then get the hell out of that sketchy place!

Our first idea was to try to find Trastevere, a super cute neighborhood in Rome that supposibly maintains the atmosphere of an old Roman town.... that was a fail.

Rome false advertises everything... We're just going to go with that. Because we got a metro ticket that was suppose to be good for 100 minutes, however, we rode it for 10 minutes, got off to check something and then had to get another ticket! Not to mention the metro advertises that it can get you to Trastevere but if you ever figure that out then let me know because 4 smart girls could not, and it didn't seem like anyone else in Rome knew how to either. So that idea was ditched quickly.

Instead we went to the Trevi fountain which was BEAUTIFUL! Of course it was super crowded at that time. But I am pretty good at pushing my way to the front. 

We spent a half hour there and then decided to get dinner. On our quest for food we stumbled on a famous gelato bar, San Crispino.

(not my photo)

(not my photo)

It was SOOOO good!!! I got Fig (of course) and Honey and although it was the most expensive gelato I have bought, racking up to 3,50euros for a small cup, it was welllll worth it!

Oh wait back to the food! So we found the gelato place and decided to eat at the restaurant right next door just to make sure we wouldn't lose it! So we ended up at Nana, Vini e cucina.

(not my photo)

Here, we stuffed ourselves with delicious Italian pizza. Our waitress was amazing and the Hostess HILARIOUS! I ordered a limoncello shot for Julia, because her birthday was the day before and they brought out two so that I could take it with her (unfortunate for me because I hate limoncello).

So, tipsy from the wine and shot, and gratified by our food choice we went to fill the tiny space next to our hearts with gelato and headed to Piazza Di Spagna (Spanish Steps). I wish I could go back in the spring! At 11 o'clock at night it was pretty empty, and plain. It is definitely much more beautiful in the Spring.

(Not my photo)

After a pretty long stay at the Spanish Steps we decided to walk home instead of take the metro. It was so worth it!

It took us about an hour and half to get home because we made stops at other fountains and monuments along the way. By the end of the trip we made it to our hostel around 1:45! The next day would be just as hectic/ crazy! An early start at 7am will prove to be well worth it. 

A photo I took of a rose petal at the top of the Spanish Steps. Until next time- Ciao :)