Rome

Today was an incredibly busy but exciting day. We toured many places in Rome starting with the Piazza di Spagna or the Spanish Steps. There are one hundred and thirty eight steep steps made from marble. They were decorated with bright pink azaleas to celebrate the spring. These flowers are only put out during April and May. I am so glad I was able to see this because they made the stairs look even more beautiful than they are. At the foot of the Spanish Steps was the La Barcaccia fountain or “The Ugly Boat" fountain. This fountain was built in memory of a terrible flood Rome experienced in 1598. I spotted many different people drinking out of the fountain which seemed odd to me until our tour guide explained that the fountain contains fresh water from an aqueduct. Romans were the first to create an aqueduct system which is now used all over the world. Rome is nothing like the movies portray it. In movies, Rome is not very crowded but in reality Rome is filled with people and cars. I do not believe I would enjoy living Rome because I need my personal space. Our group also visited the Trevi Fountain. It was breath taking. Of course, seeing the Trevi fountain would not be complete unless you threw coins in the fountain. If you throw a coin in the fountain it means you will return to Rome. For lunch I tried some pizza. It was nothing like the pizza back home; it is much better. I will never be satisfied with American pizza again because the two are nothing alike except in name. I was surprised to see so many American drinks at the restaurant we ate at. After lunch we went to the Coliseum. I had seen movies with the Coliseum in them but the two look nothing alike. In the movies the Coliseum is white and beautiful but in reality it was more of a tan or gray color and falling apart. Either way it was still beautiful. In fact I think it was more beautiful in reality because it was full of character and history. I learned that in ancient times women and the poor were not even allowed inside the Coliseum. This made me grateful to be living in modern times.  Once our tour was complete we went shopping! Rome is filled with a variety of different stores from clothes to souvenirs. I enjoyed getting to go into the different stores. While out I also tried gelato for the first time, it was even better than I expected. I did a great deal of walking today and my feet hurt by the time I returned to the room but it was all worth it. It would have been nice to spend more time here but there is so many more places to see. Rome is a beautiful city and I hope to return one day but now I am off to my next adventure.