Our first day in Rome, after we got off the plane, we went to visit the Spanish Steps. It was really pretty and there were lotsa people. We had dinner in an empty restaurant reserved just for us. Doin it biggg! We arrived at our hotel, which was really creepy and seemed haunted. We were all staying on floor 3, which was really the 4th floor. I roomed with Kelsey, Kalila, and some hoe. In the morning, we went to the Coliseum, some ancient ruins, and then to the Vatican during the afternoon. The architecture in Rome was really spectacular. We also saw the Sistine Chapel. All the artwork there was really beautiful, and I was surprised that it was all intact. We tried to go to St. Peter's Basilica at the end of the day, but the Pope was going to be there for Easter so we got free time to roam the area instead. By the time we went to dinner, everyone was tired from jetlag and walking around all day. Some of us even fell asleep in the restaurant. After dinner we went back to the hotel and packed our things, because we were going to Florence the next day.
The next morning, we all got up, had breakfast, and loaded our luggage onto the bus. We drove a few hours to some pottery factory (I don't know where it was because I was asleep the whole bus ride there, but I'm pretty sure it was somewhere in the Tuscany region), and there was also a store portion that sold pottery, meats, cheeses, wines, and food. I bought salami, chocolate croissants, pesto sauce, and olive oil to bring back home. After that we went to lunch. After lunch, we drove to the hilltop town of Assisi, where the St. Francis Basilica is. It was raining the whole time so that kind of sucked. But the town was really cute, and we got a really good view of the rural landscape below us. The streets were lined with cute little shops such as weapons shops (lulz), chocolate shops, and even a cashmere sweater shop. Inside the church, the paintings were beautiful too, just like the ones in Rome. After we left Assisi, we headed straight for Florence.
When we got to Florence it was pouring. We settled into our rooms, which were all on different floors. I roomed with Kelsey and Erin. That night, we walked through the streets of Florence to go to dinner. Before we got to the restaurant, we rubbed some coins on some metal pig's snout and dropped it through the little slots under it (for good luck I guess?). I didn't really get it but whatever. Florence had some really good designer shops (as well as affordable ones like H&M) and I got excited for the free time that we were going to get the next day to shop. WE finally got to the restaurant and I was soo glad to be able to take my flip flops off and not worry about falling in the middle of the street. The pizzeria we went to served us 3 pizzas per table, along with an appetizer and dessert. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and chillaxed before curfew. After curfew and roomchecks, everyone came into me, Kelsey, and Erin's room and we just hung out and played 10 fingers and whatnot. ALSO, we met an Italian guy from down the hall named Nicola. His friends/roommates were at the discoteca, he was drunk and in his jammies, and his English was ridiculously horrible. He was also super bad at charades. But he was hilarious and that was all that mattered. Everyone was in our room until about 2am, when they left to go to their respective rooms. My roommates and I all went to bed, but throughout the night our phone kept ringing and it was really annoying because I was the one who was closest to the phone. Sometimes I just left it off the hook just so it wouldn't ring again. Also, during the night, I had a really bad stomachache but thought nothing of it. In the morning, my whole room woke up extremely late, like 5min before breakfast time. We all boosted and ran to breakfast, but as soon as I walked out the door with hoebag and Erin, I turned around and told them to go without me because I had to yakk. And that is what I did. I ended up telling the teachers that I didn't want to risk my health and go out that day, especially in the pouring rain. So I stayed in and slept all day while everyone was out shopping. It actually wasn't too bad. Other people were sick too, like Mikey, Marc, Travis, and Ms W's daughter. When everyone got back it wasn't all that great because people were sick so everyone just kind of kept to themselves. But I was feeling a lot better after sleeping all day. That night, other people got sick too, like Erin and Jeremy. Keith and I heard Erin throwing up in the middle of the night, and it was pretty damn gross. ):
