The next day was our last real day in Rome and it came all too soon.
We took a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The Colosseum was incredible on it's own. From talking about how the Gladiators were trained in a smaller place across the street, to the different battles they had with animals or each other until the death, orcapital punishment, what they saw as surviving and fighting for life, was seen as an entertainment show for the rest of Rome. They fought for freedom, not for honor -- for they were prisoners of war. The entire Colosseum had it's own seating chart, poorest people at the top, richest and noblest front and center, and could be emptied in SEVEN minutes because they all knew which was their own exit. Too bad we don't have that kind of strategy now a days.
We took a tour of the Colosseum and the Roman Forum. The Colosseum was incredible on it's own. From talking about how the Gladiators were trained in a smaller place across the street, to the different battles they had with animals or each other until the death, orcapital punishment, what they saw as surviving and fighting for life, was seen as an entertainment show for the rest of Rome. They fought for freedom, not for honor -- for they were prisoners of war. The entire Colosseum had it's own seating chart, poorest people at the top, richest and noblest front and center, and could be emptied in SEVEN minutes because they all knew which was their own exit. Too bad we don't have that kind of strategy now a days.
After our lovely tour, we again parted like the Red Sea. In hopes of finding a pool, the Fab 5 took off walking and guess what?! We got lost again. We were used to it by now, but the heat caused a little more frustration than it should have.
We found a restaurant to dine at, where we had ICE, yes, ICE, for the first time in weeks. It's the little things that matter in life y'all....
Anyways. Our waiter was this super cool dude who was moving to Miami as soon as he had enough money to take an adventure. So Connor gave him a shirt that he had been carrying around to give to someone that was rad (something that we failed to do in Germany and Switzerland) and the guy was BEYOND excited. Again, it's the little things.
We boarded a random bus and headed to wherever it might take us, which honestly, we had hoped would be near our hotel. Which it wasn't. So we got off, went to a super market, bought water and waited for thirty minutes before the next bus arrived. In the meantime, we all bonded. Talked about our love lives, college, experiences, food, and how we each wished each other the best of luck...in everything. To be honest, we all got pretty lucky and blessed to have had such an awesome group of people to travel with, considering the fact that we were basically strangers starting out on this journey. (Go listen to At the Beginning by Donna Lewis...yes it's from Anastasia but it's fitting).
We eventually made it back to the hotel where we a sadly but surely re-packed our bags and prepared for our "last supper" to coin a phrase, that night.
After eating a 4-course Italian meal, I may or may not have had to loosen my belt...
We went back to the hotel, changed clothes a third time, and headed out for our last night in Rome. We bought some gelato and headed BACK to the Trevi Fountain (for the fourth time in three days). This time we sat in the middle to get a different feel for the fountain and the different perspectives on it.
Then we moved to the far left, we we sat and observed people and made up stories about where everyone came from. We made some friends in the process, took pictures for people and cracked some pretty good jokes. Then BAM.
These four baller guys ran through the middle of the Trevi Fountain, ran through the steps as everyone cleared the way, and the cops ran behind them. Sirens began going off everywhere and we all just sat in shock and talked about how bad ass those guys were. After 20 minutes, the cops came back with two of them, and their parents. Being as nosy as we were, we went and stood nearby as their entire GROUP began chanting a victory song. As soon as the cops backed off a little, we talked to the two guys. They were from Austria and had decided to just do it during the spur of the moment. Two of their friends got away, and the reason they were found was because of their footprints leading to the building they were hiding behind. They each had a find of 150 euros, but they said it was totally worth it.
So what did we do? Captured the moment and took a picture.
We found a restaurant to dine at, where we had ICE, yes, ICE, for the first time in weeks. It's the little things that matter in life y'all....
Anyways. Our waiter was this super cool dude who was moving to Miami as soon as he had enough money to take an adventure. So Connor gave him a shirt that he had been carrying around to give to someone that was rad (something that we failed to do in Germany and Switzerland) and the guy was BEYOND excited. Again, it's the little things.
We boarded a random bus and headed to wherever it might take us, which honestly, we had hoped would be near our hotel. Which it wasn't. So we got off, went to a super market, bought water and waited for thirty minutes before the next bus arrived. In the meantime, we all bonded. Talked about our love lives, college, experiences, food, and how we each wished each other the best of luck...in everything. To be honest, we all got pretty lucky and blessed to have had such an awesome group of people to travel with, considering the fact that we were basically strangers starting out on this journey. (Go listen to At the Beginning by Donna Lewis...yes it's from Anastasia but it's fitting).
We eventually made it back to the hotel where we a sadly but surely re-packed our bags and prepared for our "last supper" to coin a phrase, that night.
After eating a 4-course Italian meal, I may or may not have had to loosen my belt...
We went back to the hotel, changed clothes a third time, and headed out for our last night in Rome. We bought some gelato and headed BACK to the Trevi Fountain (for the fourth time in three days). This time we sat in the middle to get a different feel for the fountain and the different perspectives on it.
Then we moved to the far left, we we sat and observed people and made up stories about where everyone came from. We made some friends in the process, took pictures for people and cracked some pretty good jokes. Then BAM.
These four baller guys ran through the middle of the Trevi Fountain, ran through the steps as everyone cleared the way, and the cops ran behind them. Sirens began going off everywhere and we all just sat in shock and talked about how bad ass those guys were. After 20 minutes, the cops came back with two of them, and their parents. Being as nosy as we were, we went and stood nearby as their entire GROUP began chanting a victory song. As soon as the cops backed off a little, we talked to the two guys. They were from Austria and had decided to just do it during the spur of the moment. Two of their friends got away, and the reason they were found was because of their footprints leading to the building they were hiding behind. They each had a find of 150 euros, but they said it was totally worth it.
So what did we do? Captured the moment and took a picture.
We walked around the city for about twenty more minutes before deciding to head back to the hotel. We were getting up at 3am in order to make it to the airport.
We had a short night's sleep before waking up. Candace, Megan and I went upstairs to drag Christian out of his room and bid Connor a farewell (he was staying with his dad to travel a bit more). It was an exhausting bus ride to the air port, where we had to check everything in and I can PROUDLY say that my luggage was 6 pounds under the weight limit. (YESS!).
We bid our sweet Candace another goodbye because she was heading back to Germany to visit a family friend.
As we sat in the airport I couldn't help but think about the entire trip. The good, the bad, the funny, the stupid, the sad, the crazy, and the frustrating.
Some people will look at this series of blog entries and pictures and not read the content and say, "Wow, all they did was drink." Some will say, "They saw some pretty cool places."
And this is what I say. (Go find the song Brave by Sara Barellies and blast it through your speakers as you read) Life is too short to care about what people think. It's YOUR life, the choices you make are the ones that define who you'll be. Nobody else is going to sit there and re-play the memories in their head like you are, so might as well make it worth it. No, I'm not saying get drunk every chance you get and party like there's no tomorrow. You've clearly missed the point if that's what you took from that. What I'm saying is that, people are gonna stare, make it worth it! Dress cute and not like a tourist. Drink your wine with every time you eat pasta. Take a risk! Get out of your comfort zone. We aren't called to live our lives comfortably. I'm a control freak, I like to have plans, I like to know what's going to happen, I like being prepared. But when you live every moment of your life like that, you miss a lot. Take a chance to be different. To go with the flow, not have a plan, get lost in a city that you don't know how to get around it, tear up your map and have fun!!
Traveling gives you experience, it gives you adventure, it gives you LIFE. Loosen up and remember why we're alive! There's a world that's waiting to be seen! Go take a chance with a group of people you don't know and see how it plays out. You end up having multiple things in common. Go meet random people in random cities who impact your life and teach you something new. Go find yourself out there and get lost in an adventure that you can capture in words and in photos. Not all who wander are lost. Sometimes if something scares you, it might be a good thing to try. You haven't lived until you've lost your mind. And you haven't felt the blood rushing through your body until you make the decision to venture out and not look back on anything negative in your life, after-all, that's not the direction you're going in.
Be different. Be bold. Be adventurous. Be daring. Be wild. Be free. Be young. Be loving. Be unique. And be you.
If you've taken a recent adventure, I'd love to hear about it. Comment on my blog or email me through my contact info on the home page of my blog.
GO BE RAD AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. The world isn't going to change itself ;)
Xoxo,
Ana
We had a short night's sleep before waking up. Candace, Megan and I went upstairs to drag Christian out of his room and bid Connor a farewell (he was staying with his dad to travel a bit more). It was an exhausting bus ride to the air port, where we had to check everything in and I can PROUDLY say that my luggage was 6 pounds under the weight limit. (YESS!).
We bid our sweet Candace another goodbye because she was heading back to Germany to visit a family friend.
As we sat in the airport I couldn't help but think about the entire trip. The good, the bad, the funny, the stupid, the sad, the crazy, and the frustrating.
Some people will look at this series of blog entries and pictures and not read the content and say, "Wow, all they did was drink." Some will say, "They saw some pretty cool places."
And this is what I say. (Go find the song Brave by Sara Barellies and blast it through your speakers as you read) Life is too short to care about what people think. It's YOUR life, the choices you make are the ones that define who you'll be. Nobody else is going to sit there and re-play the memories in their head like you are, so might as well make it worth it. No, I'm not saying get drunk every chance you get and party like there's no tomorrow. You've clearly missed the point if that's what you took from that. What I'm saying is that, people are gonna stare, make it worth it! Dress cute and not like a tourist. Drink your wine with every time you eat pasta. Take a risk! Get out of your comfort zone. We aren't called to live our lives comfortably. I'm a control freak, I like to have plans, I like to know what's going to happen, I like being prepared. But when you live every moment of your life like that, you miss a lot. Take a chance to be different. To go with the flow, not have a plan, get lost in a city that you don't know how to get around it, tear up your map and have fun!!
Traveling gives you experience, it gives you adventure, it gives you LIFE. Loosen up and remember why we're alive! There's a world that's waiting to be seen! Go take a chance with a group of people you don't know and see how it plays out. You end up having multiple things in common. Go meet random people in random cities who impact your life and teach you something new. Go find yourself out there and get lost in an adventure that you can capture in words and in photos. Not all who wander are lost. Sometimes if something scares you, it might be a good thing to try. You haven't lived until you've lost your mind. And you haven't felt the blood rushing through your body until you make the decision to venture out and not look back on anything negative in your life, after-all, that's not the direction you're going in.
Be different. Be bold. Be adventurous. Be daring. Be wild. Be free. Be young. Be loving. Be unique. And be you.
If you've taken a recent adventure, I'd love to hear about it. Comment on my blog or email me through my contact info on the home page of my blog.
GO BE RAD AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD. The world isn't going to change itself ;)
Xoxo,
Ana