Roma

Announcement: Lauren passed the last test of the CPA exams!!!


Hi everyone!

It's Lauren here. Harrison and I arrived in Rome yesterday after another train ride. This train had air conditioning, which helped us get through the 102 degree heat. Anyways, we arrived at our hostel around 3pm (not without a delay). After checking in, we embarked up the 3 flights of stairs that really feel like 50. Harrison and I have to strategically think through the order of the day in order to minimize the amount of times we have to go back up and down the stairs.


The heat has been an issue recently. I was pretty sure we would both be fried by the sun, so the other day I told Harrison he should put on sunscreen. As you may have found out in my pre-departure interview, I brought several different types of sunscreen (One of them is called bullfrog which is extremely hard to rub in, but it is sweat and water resistant). I gave Harrison two different types on sunscreen. After we left the hostel, he took about 2 steps into the sunlight. I shrieked and pulled him out of the public. Harrison had applied the bullfrog sunscreen to his face and neglected to use the mirror before he left. As I have mentioned, it is extremely hard to rub in fully. Harrison looked like he had applied white face paint to his face and forehead. I gave him a compact mirror and told him to look at himself. I shrieked too.

We got off to an early start yesterday. We took the Metro to our first destination around 8am. After riding on the metro in London, Paris, and Rome, we have come to realize how nice the Tube is. We have become more confident with the metro systems. I am sure Chicago's will seem like a breeze comparatively.

We started off the day by going to the Colosseum. We loved it. We took about 100 pictures while walking around and reading all about it's history.

This picture count is now over 2,000.

You have seen images already, so there isn't much of a point to talk about the Colosseum. We just walked around and took pictures. Then we went to the Roman Forums. Kind of cool, kind of boring. (It wasn't boring!) There were tons of old buildings, ruins, and columns, and it was on top of a hill so the scenery was really good. In other words, we just took a bunch of pictures. Later that day we went to the Spanish Steps (unimpressive), the Pantheon, and the Piazza Navona.


Today we are going to Vatican City. It's in the 90's here and I have to wear pants to get into this place. (No shorts and no bare shoulders). We are pretty excited though, its probably going to be the best site we see on this whole trip.

----At this point we saved the draft and left for the Vatican---

Vatican City was pretty cool, well guarded. As a matter of fact, everything around here is well guarded. We have noticed random Roma Army men with machine guns walking around the street/train station/buildings every so often. It's kind of creepy. Anyway, we walked through the museums and saw the Sistine Chapel. It was really neat to learn about all the stories behind each image on the ceiling. So it was a good experience to see it, but it was one heck of an adventure to get there. I have never seen so many people in one, or several, small corridors.

Tomorrow morning we leave for Dublin, then the next day we will be back in Chicago.

Other notes:

-I found out where all the Smart Cars are... they are in Rome.
-Also, it is amazing how bad some people smell here.
-As this trip winds down, Lauren says she now understands what strength my mom must have had to raise me.


Lauren & Harrison