Rome: the pope, piazzas and pizzas

Before I talk about Italy, I would like to tell you about the combination of snow and England. In short, they don't mix. Think oil and vinegar, light and dark, Paula Deen and fat-free butter...you get the idea. It did snow a little over a foot, which is a good amount. But is a foot enough for the whole country to shut down? I don't think so. Classes were cancelled. Most of the airports were shut down. The trains didn't run. The buses and cars couldn't drive. All of this was happening just days before our trip. The schedules were all messed up and only a few trains were running.

Late Friday night, we jumped on a train heading to Gatwick Airport which was supposed to be functioning properly...until we got stranded in London, which was an hour away from the airport. We got off at St. Pancras station which was shut down so we were told to go on the tube to London Bridge station which turned out to be shut down as well. Then they told us to hop on the tube to Victoria station which surprise, surprise was closed. Kevin and I started to talk to some fellow students and we decided to split a taxi five ways. It would cost 25 quid each...that's quite expensive. One of the guys suggested we headed south on the tube about 8 stops and then take a taxi which we did and we ended up paying about 12 quid each. We arrived at the airport which was packed with people trying to get out at around 1am. We slept for a few hours and finally boarded our plane at 6:40am. Talk about an adventure.

We arrived in Rome and it was a nice 70 degrees here, no snow, no problems. On our first day, we decided to walk around the ancient part of the historic city.

The Coliseum

Trajan's Column

We ended the day with some basil and pine nut gelato from San Crispino's.

On Sunday, Kevin and I went to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. On most Sundays at noon, the pope appears out of his library window and blesses the crowd. So I decided to take my picture with the pope (He's the dot in the window on the right hand side). Not something you do everyday is it.

Picture with the pope

Pope Benedict XVI

St. Peter's Basilica

Sistine Chapel. We weren't supposed to take pictures, don't tell.

Later we saw the Spanish Steps.

Then we ate some tasty pizza.

On Monday, Kevin and I took a trip to a small town about an hour and a half outside of Rome called Orvieto. It was exactly how I imagined a small Italian city. On Tuesday, we traveled to another small city called Tivoli. I am going to make a separate post about these two cities. Also, I'll blog about the tasty tasty food of Italy on Salt and Spatula hopefully soon.

On Wednesday, our final day in Rome, Kevin and I explored Rome some more.

Oculus of the Pantheon

Famous Espresso at Sant'Estachio

Trevi Fountain.

To ensure my return, I tossed my coin into Trevi Fountain. It was a great way to end our trip to Italy. I had such a great time in Rome but to be honest, I enjoyed our day trips even more. I'll post my pictures tomorrow. Don't worry.