Tuesday was absolutely incredible. In the morning we started out with a quick stop at a café near our apartment. I got a cappuccino (cold, because our whole block lost power like 15 minutes before we left, but still delicious) and a blueberry cornetto (croissant).         

We then adventured to the American University of Rome for orientation. We braved public transportation for the first time (WITHOUT GOOGLE MAPS MIGHT I ADD) and while it was daunting, it eventually worked! We showed up to orientation about 10 minutes late but we don’t think anyone else took a bus so we felt extra proud of ourselves for figuring it out. After orientation we had some plans but got lost and so just wandered back to our apartment to find lunch and freshen up. We got lunch at a place near our apartment and I got two suppli – a rice, cheese, and beef ball that is fried.

The arches that lead to the American University of Rome.

Our apartment is on Viale di Trastevere. Love the statues embedded in the walls!

Then we went back to AUR and met up for our walking tour. I was super pumped for this. As I should have been. We walked for a solid 2 and a half hours but we saw SO MUCH I COULDN’T EVEN FATHOM IT. The first amazing thing we saw was a beautiful fountain across from a picturesque view of Rome. AUR sits atop a giant hill so all of Rome was splayed out below us. A million pictures were taken. I got goosebumps when I first saw it. This would be a common theme for the day.

My roommates and I in front of the crazy amazing view of Rome!

After this we started walking towards the center of Rome. I’m going to do the rest of this post through mainly pictures because I think that will better convey the beauty and rich history I got to experience.

Crossing the Tiber River. Note the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica peeking out over the trees! There is a law in Rome that no building can be taller than it.

The small cars never fail to crack me up.

Oh hey there, Jesus. Lookin majestic. 

Piazza Navona. The piazza is long, narrow, and rounded at the end. This is because it was built on the site of a stadium in Ancient Rome where people could come watch the games and competitions. 

I will never get over how overwhelmingly beautiful and meaningful the Pantheon was.

The Pantheon holds a church. Stunning.

The mid to late 1800s were marked by enormous flooding in Rome. This marker shows where the water level was in 1870!

Rome is a city built on its own ruins. This was a cool area where we could see where the original street level was when this building was built.

We wandered around after the tour and got dinner. This is a gorgeous shot of Piazza Navona by night.