Hey, all! I’m back home now and it’s kinda bittersweet. I’m happy to be able to see everybody and understand the language but I miss the friends I made and the beautiful culture of Italy. The last few days have been so hectic, I have been unable to write to you about all we’ve gotten to see! So, this post will be all about our last 2 days in Rome.
Wednesday the 16th was a day I’ve been looking forward to practically my entire life. The first Roman landmark we got to see was the Pantheon. Huge church but very beautiful. We got to walk around inside and get closer to the statues and art surrounding the inside, as well as sit in the pews in front of the altar. It has a really high ceiling as well and was just fascinating to look at. Afterwards, we went outside to look around the square surrounding the Pantheon. There were some guys busking on keyboard and guitar and they were amazing, oh my gosh. If you know me at all, you know I’m a sucker for that stuff. There was a big crowd surrounding them and watching them play.
After that we went to the landmark I was most excited about… the Trevi Fountain. The Lizzie McGuire Movie was a part of my childhood and the Trevi was a big part of the movie as well and getting to see it in real life was a surreal experience for me. It is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. It’s huge. Also, very crowded so if you go visit there, be prepared for a TON of people. I have a photo of the crowd we saw, actually. We also all got to to throw coins in the fountain and make our wish to return, so that was pretty awesome too. Ugh, it was just spectacular. That is a moment I will never forget.
Lastly, we saw the Spanish Steps, yet another landmark featured in The Lizzie McGuire Movie. It’s where she is standing with Paolo, after getting her dress for the IMVA’s, and her school shows up and the have to make a run for it. I’ve seen this movie more times than I can count. Lol. But they were beautiful and crowded as well. If you ever decide to visit, one tip I can give you that I learned from this trip (not from experience), is don’t eat on the steps… You could get fined hundreds. They are trying to keep it as nice as possible and people eating on it and leaving their trash isn’t helping. The Polizia are there watching as well and caught someone while we were there and kicked him off. For the most part, though, it seemed like everyone abided by rules. The rest of our day consisted of lunch and some shopping before going back and having a cute little picnic in the courtyard and playing card games and eating some cheese, prosciutto, and chips.
Day 9, our last day in Italy. Very bittersweet day. Although, we had the chance for some beach therapy so that helped a little. We got up early to catch a train to Ostia Antica. We got off at the Ostia Antica stop and made our way to the Ancient Roman ruins where our tour guide for the trip, Richard, led us through and highlighted certain ruins and what they used to be. It was really cool to know that they used to be buildings and part of a city or village where people hundreds of years ago, used to live. We saw bathrooms, gyms, restaurants, etc. At least that’s what our guide compared them to.
After our trip through the ruins, we went back on the train and went to Ostia Lido, where we were stopping for the beach. Every single beach except one was private. We walked practically the entire boardwalk to find the free beach. We finally found it and took some time for some much needed relaxation. After a few hours spent there, we went back to take a few minutes to change and leave for our goodbye dinner.
This trip was everything I could have asked for. It is so wonderful to be able to cross off eating pasta in Italy off of my bucket list. I made so many new friends and learned more than I could ever learn about the culture in a book. I definitely want to come back someday and hopefully I can speak a little more Italian by that point.
Below I featured some of my favorite photos from these two days and the rest are in my Flickr album!
Abigail McNatt Photography 