When in Roma...and Florence

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed their turkey while I had delicious authentic Italian pasta! 
I apologize in advance for how long this post is, but I didn't want to skip out on anything! 

My students were so excited to make turkey feathers and write what they were thankful for! 

Kristen and I went to the airport and headed for ROMA! We met some Italian guys on the plane who helped us learn how to say hello, good-bye and order wine! We got to the hostel to find out we were upgraded to a private suite! We went and got some pizza, had a few drinks at the bar downstairs and went to bed to get up and explore! 

In the morning, Kristen and I wandered around the Colosseum area and found ourself in San Pietro in Vincoli. We noticed people taking a picture of this statue called Moses. We decided to take a picture and I paid 1 whole euro to "light up" Moses. Turns out that Moses is a statue done by the one and only Michelangelo! 

We found our way to the Colosseum so I could meet up with my walking tour! 

The walking tour was my FAVORITE thing that I did the entire trip. We went into the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, but not just the basics of the Colosseum but the underground chambers and the third tier! 

We started at the Roman Forum which was so cool! 

 I was neat to see all the ruins and imagine that people actual lived their daily lives there. 

We went up to Palatine Hill and seeing where the Emperor lived was so interesting! We got to see original flooring, wall art and the Circus Maximus which is where most stadiums get their look from. 

Going into the Colosseum was my FAVORITE part!!! I could barely contain my excitement  We walked in and someone was there waiting for us with a key to go behind the gate and what was behind the gate was incredible! 

IS THIS NOT BEAUTIFUL!!!! 

We headed down for the chambers which was the part of the tour that I was the most anxious for! We got to see the trap doors up close, the animal cages and actually walk the tunnels that the gladiators walked before starting the "show". 

 

Once we were all ready to go, we went up to the third tier which gave us the BEST view of the Colosseum! 

If I could recommend one thing to do in Rome, it would be to pay the extra money to see the entire Colosseum.  

I met up with Carly and Kristen and we went to the Pantheon and ate a delcious spaghetti Thanksgiving dinner!  

We went back to the hostel and got ready to go out for the night! We had so much dancing and meeting new people! 

We woke up early and headed to Vatican City. While Kristen and Carly went in, I decided to go shopping! 

We finished our night in Rome with shopping, gelato, the Spanish steps and a trip to the under construction Trevi Fountain. Kristen and I still threw pretend coins into it! :) 

 

We took the train to Florence and met up with Jamie! I got ready for a fun-filled day of sight seeing! 

First thing in the morning, we went to the leather market! It was huge and made me want to buy hundreds of purses...I resisted and only got 1! 

From there, the girls went on a wine tour while I went and discovered Florence! The first thing I saw was the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. It was gorgeous and so big! 

Then I went to see David!

I walked to Ponte Vecchio and crossed to the other side! It was fun looking at all the jewelry shops and seeing a different side of Florence. 

When I was headed back, I ran into Special Olympics Italia. They were having a flash dance and I couldn't help but stay to watch! I was excited to meet them and see that people with disabilities in Italy have a great support system! 

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving break in Italy with great friends! I cannot believe that I only have a month left in Europe; the time really flew!