Euro Trip Recap: Take One

I'm going to have to break this post down into several different ones because there was just SO MUCH to talk about and so many pictures! I can't believe my trip is already over.. It went by so fast, but at the same time it seems as though we were there for way longer than ten days. I just moved all of the pictures I took on my phone to my computer and it's so bittersweet looking through all of them. It seems like it was all just a dream. A lovely, wonderful, majestic dream that I never wanted to wake up from. Anyways! I briefly wrote a little bit about our first few days of our trip, I honestly didn't really have much time to keep up with writing at all! I wrote in my journal as much as I could but in between jet lag, and going to bed really late, waking up really early, walking several miles every day... I couldn't really focus on writing anything. The first day we arrived in Rome, we met up with Tania, one of the staff members who immediately began rounding up our luggage and showing us to the bus. We fell in love with our tour guide, Sergio, right away. He began talking the minute we got on the bus and told us all about the different land marks we were passing, and shared a little bit of the history.  Our first stop was the Basilica of St. Paul, crossing the Tiber river to get there. We drove along the famous Ostiense Way, or Via Ostiensis, which was a very important road in ancient Rome that lead to the sea port Ostia Antica. At the Basilica of St. Paul, we heard a brief word spoken by Pastor John Collins, and then were let loose to wander around and take pictures. We met the other tour guide, Matej, and had him snap a few pictures of us and then wandered around the church.

Our warm welcome.

Entering St. Paul's Basilica

We found tourists from Ukraine!

Trying to decide on lunch with the help of Sergio.

For lunch, Larisa and I both chose a salad, and sat down to eat with Matej. I didn't eat much, being a little out of it after not having slept for nearly two days. Then, we hopped back onto the bus and drove to the Palatine Hill. We got off the bus and crossed the street to see a really beautiful rose garden, but after a few minutes L and I decided to go back to the Palatine Hill to take more pictures, seeing as we already see roses every day at home. After about ten or fifteen minutes, we headed to our next stop: Tre Fontane Abbey. This was the place where St. Paul was beheaded, and according to legend, his head bounced and struck the earth in three different places from whence fountains sprung up. After visiting the three sanctuaries, we headed to the hotel to freshen up a bit before dinner. On the way there, we passed the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Barberini Square, Triton Fountain, and Via Veneto. 

The Palatine Hill is one of the oldest parts of the city, and is the center of the seven hills of Rome. According to Legend, this is where Romulus and Remus were found. This is also where some of the wealthiest citizens, including several emperors lived.

At Tre Fontane Abbey.

Original Mosaic

Our first day we were kind of tired, but we were so excited that it didn't really matter. Everything was so beautiful. On our way to the hotel, we passed by many historic sites and buildings, including the Aurelian Walls, and the Pyramid of Caius Cestius. We also passed the balcony where Mussolini made his speeches. Day one was a huge success.