ITALY
I was so thrilled to pack my suitcase for Italy on October 1, 2018. I started by flying into Rome to visit the must sees, of course. I was the most joyful tourist arriving into Rome, mostly because of the pasta that I was about to indulge in. There was just too much stuff to see in Rome so I decided to purchase a hop on hop off bus to visit all the historical touristy areas. The hop on started my Rome journey at the Basilica of Santa Maria. This Church was absolutely stunning. I couldn't believe the architecture of it. After roaming around the church for a solid hour I decided to go get some refreshing gelato while waiting on my bus to arrive. I ordered fresh strawberry and pistachio, mmmmm. It was the freshest gelato that I have ever tasted. My bus then took me to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, and lastly, the Trevi Fountain. I have dreamed of the Trevi fountain ever since I watched the Lizzie Mcguire movie back in fifth grade when Paolo rode Lizzie around it on a moped! I couldn't believe all the people surrounding this fountain, it was packed!!!...I soon realized that I didn't take out any euros, so I had no change to toss behind my head to wish for true love, *cheesy* so I began to scavenge for coins on the ground, but had no luck. I eventually found a twist off beer cap and said it will work. *fitting for my life.* So I tossed the beer cap behind me and continued with my wish.
My next stop in Italy was Florence and Tuscany. My only plan I had for here was to go see David and walk my way to the Duomo and Bell Tower. After these stops, I ordered my ticket for the bus to continue my adventure to Pisa!
After arriving in Pisa, I flagged down my cab quickly because I was on a time constraint to meet my friend in Venice, but I knew that I couldn't miss the Leaning Tower!!!! I finally arrived to the tower and I found that it was truly leaning. It was so beautiful. The whole Pisa area was just stunning. I found the cutest quaint church on my walk back that was so photogenic, and of course, I had to get all of the angles.
After arriving to Venice, I soon realized I had not booked a hostel and it was 11pm. So walking through the miniature streets of Venice I began to frantically scroll through Airbnb with no responses from any hosts. *OH NO!* I kept thinking, so I began to look into hotels, and naturally, they were all booked. Eventually, I ran into this small hotel that had a shared room open, I said, "I'll take it!!" It was the tiniest room with a bidet. *weirdest experience ever, but you must try it*.. The next day I had a candle light dinner by the canal watching the boats sail by while sipping the sweetest Italian wine. I finished my Italian excursion by spending 100 euros on a gondola ride. *totally worth it* My gondola captain toured me through all the canals and gave me a historical overview of the city. It was such a romantic country and I can't wait to visit here again.
XOXO,
JASE
