green dresses, the Vatican, red roses & wishes by a fountain

So... Chapter 3 of this Eurotrip continues... It is 12:43am, Rome time. We leave for London in less than 6 hours. Next to me, Nereus is trying to scam some Internet access with his left over Euro cents. Three floors above us, in room 35 of the Alessandro Palace, Edwin is asleep, Ags is listening to her Ipod, and EJ is packing. We catch a bus to Ciampino airport at 4:30am.

I have spent the last 10 minutes quickly browsing through emails and having a squiz at Jonna's blog. Right now I'm trying to get used to this European keyboard. Nez is having a sook coz the comp won't let him access his uni email account.

Today... was AMAZING. Rome is, byfar, one amazing city. In think being back into Summer weather has totally upped the excitement level. We arrived yesterday morning and I breathed in the smell of sweat, sunshine and Summer... and realised that the last 22 days have been dream after dream coming true. Here's a brief outline as to what today's adventure around Rome involved...

Woke up to the sound of boys getting ready in the hustle and bustle of our beautiful hostel room. This is my favourite place to stay because we've all been together, we get free coffee in the morning, it's pretty, and the Italian guys at reception seriously crack me up. I got changed on the top bunk because one of the guys was hogging the bathroom. GREEN DRESS from Paris... (oh no... what's going on? is that GIRLYness??? uh-oh...) We finally went down to breakfast at 8:15ish and left for the Vatican just before 9am.

One thing I'm incredibly proud of during this trip is discovering my ability to get around foreign countries. I didn't know if I'd cope... but I've managed to get us around the metro and bus systems of Paris and Italy without any mishaps.

So today... we caught the metro to Vatican City. WOW!!!! Omg... I went into another country today... hahaha... And was amazed by St Peter's Square... enchanted by St Peter's Basilica. You know what was funny? I knew to really appreciate the Vatican, you need at least a day in that place... but I thought "nah... these guys wouldn't want to spend a day in here..." but we got into the basilica and EDWIN of all people was the one who said "hey let's split up and look around for another hour" ... so in the end, after the a couple of hours of being mesmerised by everything in the museums AND ESPECIALLY the Sistine Chapel... me & the boys had lunch just outside the Vatican Walls while Ags went shopping.

This afternoon involved a walk around the city streets, a photo by the Mouth of Truth, a visit to Castel Sant Angelo (dunno if that's it's real name, I might be making that up), breathtaking Roman monuments and an unlucky attempt to find shoes just as the shops were about to close. Today's funniest moment though... was the Trevi Fountain.

This place is beautiful at night... lit up and spectacular. If I'm allowed to show you the photos, then you will laugh and marvel too.. because tonight I got two red roses and a lot of love from three fine young gentlemen who have made this trip to Europe one I'll never forget. Hugs, flowers, jokes, riddles, farts.. the lot. These guys crack me up... seriously.

We had our last Italian dinner just a few minutes away from the Trevi..and bused back to Termini station.

Now I'm just trying to kill time because I need to wake up Eddoes in an hour and a half. Nez is looking up stuff on Ebay. We just bought our tickets to the airport... and tomorrow is London.

I MISS YOU EVERYONE!!! Household, Amardeep, Cobes... and a shoutout to my family.. esp Roanne... whose gibberish I have missed over these 3 weeks. And of course to all the pilgrims. I READ YOUR EMAILS AND OMG I MISS YOU GUYS SO MUCH.

And you know what?? I fell in love during this trip... really I did. In a way you'd never figure... but more details about that later! *oooh...you're excited now ay?! ha! too bad... gotta wait til I'm home on sunday...*

Miss ya Australia!!!