¡Roma!

Part 1
    Alright, I've put this task of blogging about my fantastic weekend to Rome off long enough! I took just under 500 pictures in 4 days so it's yet to be determined how many "parts" this trip will take, so stay tuned! First of all, let me just say that Rome is BEAUTIFUL! I am so thankful for this unbelievable opportunity to visit such an incredibly amazing city. (Sometimes there just aren't enough superlatives, you know?!)

     I have learned SO much through this trip- as it was my first time to ever plan a trip on my own with out the help of my program. Why not go to a country that doesn't speak either of the languages I know?! That seems like a great idea. ;) I was blessed beyond measure with some fantastic traveling buddies. I left last Wednesday morning after my class with my Japanese friend, Minako. Now keep in mind that Minako doesn't speak hardly any English, so the only way we could communicate was through Spanish. Awesome opportunity! Two other English & Spanish speaking American girls (Kara y Gloria) from my program met Minako and I in Rome a day later. And finally, to make it a little bit more culturally diverse Kara has a Italian friend, Anna, that met up with us this weekend too. Anna speaks Italian and English, but no Spanish. Meaning that I got to do lots & lots of translating this weekend!

I'm so culturally confused these days... ;)

Here's the picture of the whole gang. 

From left to right- Kara, Anna, me!, Gloria, & Minako.

    And now, about my adventure in just GETTING to Rome! Seeing that getting a direct flight from Granada airport to the center of Rome would be WAY to easy for my first trip out of Spain, I decided to choose the slower paced, cheaper, student-budget friendly option of flying from Madrid airport to Ciampino, Italy airport. Challenge accepted. ;) Here's a glimpse at all the public transportation systems I used this weekend...

• Left my morning class at 11:30am to catch the Granada public bus to get to the Granada main bus station.
• Caught the 1pm Charter bus from Granada to Madrid- 5hours of Spanish countryside ;)
• Used the Madrid metro system to get from the bus station to the Airport
• (After wandering around in Terminal 4 looking for our gate that was scheduled to leave from Terminal 1) Took the Terminal transfer bus to our correct terminal- who knew Madrid airport had multiple terminals?! Not me... Thank goodness for kind security men!
• Finally got to our gate for our 9:10pm flight with a 1/2 hour to spare!
• Arrived in Ciampino airport around midnight & caught the first taxi to our hotel- we slept good that night- what a day!
• Next morning we woke up bright & early to catch the Rome metro to get into Termi Station- the center of Rome. :)



Here we are about to catch our bus to Madrid,
oh so excited to let the Roman adventure begin!
P.S. Had to pay extra for a suitcase... Amazing what you can fit in a backpack! 

Here we are safe & sound in Termini Station.

   So yeah... it was an adventure! Although I've had hardly any experience using public transportion in general, I figured why not try  to do it in Spanish/Italian first?!
Sink or swim theory, right?! I decided to swim! ;)

   Once Minako and I got to Rome early afternoon, we spent the day wandering around enjoying the beautiful sights of Rome. Looking like gawking tourists I'm afraid with our mouths hanging open and our ever so important maps in hand. I was amazed at how easy it was to walk around Rome and we hit many of the must-see's on our list that very first day.

We visited...

A beautiful Basilica super close to our hostel.

There was no sign saying that we couldn't go in, so we did! 

Plaza de Venezia

Everything in Rome is HUGE!

More statues, plazas and beautiful buildings. ;) 

(I don't remember the name of this plaza!)

Ancient Theater ruins, so ridiculously awesome!

We discovered this amazing lookout view of the Roman Forum and the Colosseum

- by accident! I love it when that happens! ;) 

So many statues...

The Colosseum- I know this is hardly an original pose but amazing none the less!

Trevi Fountain

The Pantheon

Way too many plazas to count! This one's the plaza in front of the Pantheon.

Plaza Navona

:)

 

Then later that evening the other 2 flew in from Spain & Anna came by train.

We were so thankful for safe travels all around! 

Did some exploring of the city by night- it was so neat to see everything all lite up!

Arch of Constantine

 Pretty successful first day in Rome, wouldn't you say?! :)