Welcome to Roma! Day 1

After a 2 hour flight to Chicago, another LONG 9.5 hour flight (Micah and Mukul were on mine, Nick's arrived a little later), a half-hour train ride, and a long walk through the city with huge backpacks and suitcases, we finally made it Hotel Verano in Rome! We were so excited to start exploring the city, so we literally dropped our bags, sat down and decided what we wanted to see first, and then hurried out. Everything here is so beautiful; there is LITERALLY a cool thing on EVERY single block. So as we started walking towards the landmarks, we made numerous detours. We were all starving, so we stopped at a small cafe for some salami paninis. The bread here is so salty! None of us knew how to order in italian (we've since learned how: "Prendo...pizza per favore...Grazie!"), which was hilarious because we can say "pizza" and "pasta" or read the italian off the menu, but as soon as they ask us a question we have NO IDEA how to respond. Each of us hopes we won't be the first one to order because we will inevitably embarrass ourselves; I know why Europeans make fun of Americans. However, we eventually got our delicious sandwiches. First thing after eating lunch, we looked down the street and saw an enormous white building, so we decided to investigate:

This is Italy's version of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (like the one in Washington D.C.) but much bigger. The Italian National Guard guards the tomb just like in America. We climbed hundreds of steps to the top, where we got a great view of the city:

Then we went an saw lots of various Piazzas and walked through the streets some more, until we found the Pantheon, built in 126 A.D. as a temple to all the gods of ancient Rome. It has since been used as a Roman Catholic church and contains the largest dome in the world:

Next, we had to visit the Trevi fountain because we were all dying to see it after seeing the Lizzie McGuire movie (...so cultured, right?!). It is HUGE and so beautiful. We stopped and sat down for awhile, ate some gelato (I had Nutella and mint chocolate chip), and rested by the fountain:

Finally, we walked by the Spanish Steps, one of Rome's main tourist attractions. They were so gorgeous as well. We ended the night by eating dinner at a nice restaurant right underneath the Coliseum and then taking a walk to see the city lit up at night!