When in Rome...

I've spent the past two days in L'Aquila as you've seen in my previous post. The summit has been nice and all but really the highlight of my two days here has been my night off the other night. My boss said that I could go back to Rome to rest and I quickly took him up on the offer. I slept for part of the way back to the hotel (2 hour car ride) so I was somewhat refreshed when I got back to Rome. So I decided that I would use my free time to explore rather than just sleeping. Sleeping in this case (despite the fact that I had not slept the night before) was soooo overrated. I've never been to Rome before and this was my unexpected chance. I had really thought I would be at the G8 site the whole time so I hadn't done any reading or research of what I wanted to see. And maybe I'm just culturally slow but the only things I really knew off the top of my head was the Colosseum and the Pantheon. To be completely honest, I don't even really know all the history for those two... I know the basics and part of the basics is that they are OLD!

Anyway, in my sleep deprived state, I set out from my hotel (which is really, really nice by the way!) in the hotel's shuttle service with only myself and my map. Oh and I exchanged a few American dollars into euros just in case. The driver dropped me off at the Spanish Steps and I attempted to start my journey without looking toooo touristy and therefore not getting pickpocketed. Along with those two goals, I aimed to just see what I could see. I walked around the streets and took some pictures of unknown buildings. I really wish I knew I was looking at but it was such beautiful weather and such a nice night that it really didn't matter.

If you've been following me on Facebook, I've been one of those annoying people who updates my status frequently this week. That's because there is actually something going on. Kind of like the frequency of me updating my blog! Anyway, I updated my status to say I was exploring the city of Rome and within minutes, I had suggestions of what to see and where to go. The only down side is that I had a limited amount of time and energy. But one message stuck out. That was from good ol' Mom who said that my grandmother's favorite song had something to do with the Trevi Fountain. And that it was in a movie that my grandmother had seen some 40 or 50 years ago! So I decided to try to find it. And lo and behold I got there without getting lost! (I thank Mom for my sense of direction and map-reading skills!) It was sooooo neat! There were a bazillion people there hanging out at this gorgeous statue/fountain! I decided that I was hungry and wanted real Italian food (although the food in the file center at the G8 has been absolutely AMAZING!) So I found one of the many restaurants near the fountain and ate some incredible tortellini. Seriously, those Italians know how to cook. After dinner, I picked one of the hundreds of gelato places and ordered some chocolate and mint gelato. I took it to the Trevi Fountain and just sat and ate and pondered. It was awesome. The whole experience.

After that, I decided I had enough daylight to try to find the Pantheon. So all by myself, I navigated the streets of Rome until I came upon it. It was really really cool. Like I said, I have no idea how old it is but man, it was awesome. I've seen Nashville's version of it and hands down the original WINS! I walked around the plaza for a few minutes and contemplated getting a second round of gelato. Just about then, my feet started screaming at me. I think I audibly heard them. I was just about to literally hit a wall. So I found a cab and with the help of the address on the hotel stationary that I stole from my room before I left, was able to get back in one piece.

I am definitely putting Rome on my list of places to come back one day when I really have time to explore. There's so much I didn't get to see and so much I saw that I didn't know what it was! But I was ever so grateful for that free time to actually see something. I know I had already gotten to see Red Square in Moscow so I really wasn't expecting it!! Most of the time I'm in a country for work, all I see is what is out the window of the airplane and the bus to the workspace. This trip so far has been much different. We've still worked just as much. But I guess we've actually been in each place long enough to actually see something. Who knows if Ghana will be the same but even if it's not, I'm still a happy camper. Onward to Ghana!!!