The first 100 miles

I feel like I haven’t written anything for days, but its really only been two! Gosh dang its so hard to keep track of the days and how much time has passed! I feel like ive been here forever but its only been like 5 days! We have done SO FREAKING MUCH in the past 5 days that my feet are starting to look more like ground beef…for real. We walk all over the place and these streets are not our nice paved ones in Utah, they’re the ancient stones placed by the Roman government in the first couple of centuries….a little on the uneven side to say the least. But its totally worth it to walk on those stones, its like I am now part of Romes history because I walked on the same stones they did. Wow crazy.
Ok so the last thing I think I talked about was the colosseum yeah? Ok so the next day we went to this great market in the CampeFiodori…or something like that anyways it was in the Jewish ghetto, oh yes there is one! And the market was beautiful! I got the most delicious white nectarine the size of my hand and it just dripped everywhere and was glorious. Then we got all this dried and sugared fruit that was to die for and great for snacking. I think I drink about 15 liters of water a day no joke. I get SO thirsty in the sun and walking! Thankfully there are random public fountains all over the place, just these ancient fountains spurting water out! People wash their feet in the ones on the ground and then the bigger ones people fill up water bottles and just drink straight out of them. I was a little opposed at first, but after you learn that there are no such things s water fountains in Rome you get over it rull fast. Plus its clean and cold and fresh.
Ok so moving on with the day that afternoon we went to these awesome museums with a million statues in the Victor Emmanuel building I think…hunh I should really know but I cant remember. Wait totally got it, the Musei Capitolini. It was gorgey of course and everything was over the top and they kept yelling at us for using flash photos…soorryyy. So there was this awesome view of the ruins so we were up there and this English guard was like “hey girls where are you from” “America, Utah” we say. “Oh do you know the Amish!” “uh…no? We are Mormons not Amish.” “Ohhhh you are the girls that dont have sex before you’re married!” “ahahahah yeah that’s us!!!” “Wow you girls don’t know what you’re missing!” “Well the boys do it too! And that’s why we get married early!” said I ahahahahhahaha I totally said that and then the girls I was with were like nuuhnh! Bahahahah it was so funny. So after chatting for a while with this awesome guard he was like alright girls be good until youre married! So awesome im glad that’s how they know us right.
On SAaturday we woke up obnoxiously early and headed out to the Spanish Steps. Our proff.Dr.Hatch (who is pretty much my favorite person in the whole wide world) talked to us about the steps and how in WWII aly soldiers slept on the steps and in the Piazza and it looked like a thousand soldiers had died. It was such a great sight because the English (and American) had finally returned to the heart of English speaking Rome. Of course the Shelley and keats museum was there and Babingtons tea house too, but we didn’t go in those. We did hope on some escalators and go to the Borghese Museum and gardends though! Wow talk about statues….there were a ton of them. Bernini statues up the wazoo. The Borghese villa was so elaborate and we tried to imagine what every room may have been back when that family lived there. My favorite sculptures were first the one of David throwing a sling. His face was super handsome and concentrated and pained almost and we really hadn’t seen many emotional sculptures so that was neat, then the one of the girl turning into a tree before hermes catches her and steals here away. Shoot wish I could remember her name. anyway, the sculptor portrayed roots coming from her toes and leaves coming from her hands, it was gorgeous! After the museum we (me and my friend marie) joined up with some of the guys and a few girls and went back to the Spanish steps to go down the most eexpensive store in rome. Holy Crap in a dish that road made me salivate….weird. Everything was dripping with diamonds and cash and fancy fancy. Some names you might recognize…Doce&Gabbanna, Cartier, Maxmara,Gucci, Prada, Valentino, Giorgio Armani, to name a few. I almost died I just wanted to go into every store! Unfortunately every store has a doorman, yes a man who stands right in front and checks out the people who come in judging to see if they will really buy or just are a nuisance to society. So we didn’t go in any, but we did take fancy pics lol.
So then we got some lunch and some stamps (the lunch guy asked us if we liked Obama…I said no and then he didn’t talk to me anymore, bahahahahha.) and then went on a gelato hunt and got some dang good stuff. And yes I have eaten gelato every day since ive been here, even in Austria. You don’t undertand! Its everywhere!!! I Just cant help myself! So after that we were all pooped so we went back to the Borghese park and took a rest in the grass. The un kept following me and a bird tried to eat me..but I did do a great sketch of a lightpost! Random I know but it was just neat ok!
Quickie- one of the guys here was in Michael Rushton’s mish and is in love with him. So ooi talked to him about it and we were telling the whole twisted story to marie and it was sooo fun hearing it from his POV. He is marvelous and I love him we are buds now. Yesterday he was like “Sydney you act just like Elder Daly!” (Sydney whites other mish) ahaha he was so insistent and kept saying that even the way I talk and move are just like him! He was like, you should hang out with him when he gets home!! Ahahah that so funny. So apparently me and elder daly could be good friends, we shall see.
So that night a huge group of us went to the Hard Rock café Roma! Ha! So much fun to eat a giant burger and water with ice! No joke I was sick as a dog after I ate that. That was the most food id eaten all week and my stomach was sooo angry with me. It was getting used to thin pizza and fruit and pasta. We have this awesome little fruit market by our house that sells every fruit imaginable for super super super cheap and the guy loves us and helps us out. Its marvelous.
After burgers we went on a night hike around rome and went to the pantheon and the trevi fountain and the Piazza Novona. We also stopped by the most famous gelato place in Rome but it was PACKED so I didn’t get tp partake, but I will I promise!
Aight this is obnoxiously long, sorry mates. Peace love and roma
<3 syd

p.s- my cousin Reese has brain cancer and has surgery tomorrow. keep him in your prayers please! love you reese!