After a nine hour flight from Atlanta to Rome, my family arrived in Italy around 9 a.m. (that would be 2 a.m. in Orlando). We tried our best to sleep on the plane so we could hit the ground running and really enjoy our first day in Rome.
The time change was a bit of an adjustment, but I think that after a good night’s sleep this evening, we should be good to go! It felt so weird eating “breakfast” at 2 a.m. when I wasn’t hungry in the slightest.
I then found myself snacking on peanut butter M&Ms and Combos that my mom brought along just to keep my energy up.
After meeting up with our Globus tour group, we made our way to our hotel where we quickly changed and headed out onto the streets of Rome. Today is a “free day” from the tour group because everyone is arriving at different times.
Our first mission was to get some authentic Italian food in our bellies.
We bought pizza from a little café outside of our hotel and inhaled it!
My dad and I both commented on how we really enjoyed how this pizza seemed to really put the emphasis on the tomatoes, vegetables and spices rather than the gobs of cheese. Now I’m not saying that a ton of cheese is a bad thing, but this pizza tasted so incredibly fresh and flavorful and not heavy and overly greasy like the pizza I am used to eating.
I can’t wait to try some other flavor combinations. I saw one pizza that looked like it had thinly sliced potatoes on it and another topped with artichokes that were calling my name.
After our bellies were full of pizza, we walked toward the Vatican. Though we will be enjoying a full tour of the Vatican tomorrow, we couldn’t resist exploring and beginning to see what Rome is all about.
En route to the Vatican we stopped for some gelato.
Guys, I don’t even know what to say. I think I found my mother ship. This stuff is unreal. My family and I sampled a ton of different flavors before ordering our own cups and every single one we tried we loved.
My personal cup included a combination of panna cotta and Nutella gelato and I practically licked my bowl clean.
I plan to eat 5,000 cups of this stuff throughout the next 12 days. Thank goodness I packed my elastic-waist pants and flowy dresses.
After eating our gelato and walking a couple of blocks, we stumbled upon St. Peter’s Square…
and the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica.
We waited in a brief line before entering St. Peter’s Basilica where we were blow away by the beauty inside.
The ceilings, the detail, the marble… everything was incredible. I can’t wait to learn more about it tomorrow!
Oh! And great news, Ryan! I found the place where we can renew our vows in a few years…
The feeling in this church was truly unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced. People were walking around with their mouths open and their eyes wide trying to understand how much time, detail and talent was required to make the most amazing Christian church in the world.
I am so excited to absorb as much information as I can about this church and its history tomorrow!
After spending quite a bit of time inside, we wandered outside and out of the square toward Castel Sant’Angelo, the building there the Pope retreated during times of danger. It was quite the site!
We then walked a ways until we reached Piazza Navona, Rome’s most popular piazza, originally built for raceway chariots!
We also have plans to return here tomorrow!
Now we’re relaxing back at the hotel before we join with our tour group for a four-course dinner in Rome. I am beyond pumped for this and am planning on calling in my second stomach!
Ciao for now!
P.S. The Fashion page was updated!
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