Rome, Italy

Rome was our long weekend vacation, so we got to be there for 4 food-filled days.  We ate gelato every day (we ate it 3 times the last day), real Parma ham, and lots of other fantastical Italian dishes.  The first full day was spent at the Vatican.  When you go to the Vatican, you can't show your shoulders, so all the girls threw on some shawls and cardigans and we sweat profusely because it was so dang hot outside.  The beautiful architecture helped ease our uncomfort though.

Next day was spent at the Colosseum.  Although a little grotesque to think about what went on there, it was really cool to see where the Romans had kept the wild animals and fighters, and to think that thousands of years ago, they watched them fight at the exact place we were at.  

I was surprised at how well kept the outside was.  It was HUGE!

The third day we took the Hop On Hop Off bus tour.  We weren't sure what to do, so we figured this would be the best way to ensure we didn't miss any tourist sites.  What we didn't think about was how hot it was outside and how sitting on the top of the bus with the sun beating down did not help.  It also didn't help that we weren't drinking very much water.  By the time we realized we were all suffering from a mild heat stroke, it was siesta time.  That's when all the stores close down in the middle of the day so people can rest.  Initially, we just thought the Italians were lazy.  Now we understand why they have siesta.  It's too freaking hot to go outside, and if you do, you might have a heat stroke!  We were lucky enough to find one store open (probably for the American tourists who didn't know better) and we bought ALL their water and took our own little siesta in the store.

 After re-charging, we were off to see more Roman sites and to eat more gelato :-)