So, after a delayed flight we got to Rome late into the night, and took a taxi to our accommodation. When we were almost there our Taxi driver and Emily pointed out a prostitute on the side of the road. Ironically, neither I nor Colin saw said woman. At the accommodation we were given a room and restroom as the couple who runs this Airbnb lives there as well.
The next morning we slept in a bit, and breakfast had been laid out for us at the time that we had asked for (We didn’t just ask them to feed us, this was a part of their Airbnb business style). After some toast juice, and cake like items we headed to the metro and got 72 hour transportation passes, which were definitely worth their price. Next stop was the Colosseum.
Our first whole day in Rome happened to be the first day of the month, which means everything like the Colosseum was free. We did end up paying student prices for a guided tour, but this was mostly to skip the line. Plus they had reduced their prices already since they didn’t have to buy us tickets. The tour we bought also included a tour of the Imperial Forum and Paletine Hill, but Colin and Emily outvoted me/made good points. We had planned to do a walking tour later in the day and if we were to make this we needed to eat lunch and go find the meeting point.
We got some good food in a small local shop, and then headed to the Spanish Steps and met the walking tour near there. The tour isn’t run by a company just a group of friends who wanted to do free walking tours of Rome. All they ask for is a good review on Tripadvisor and tips if you liked the guide. This is great considering tour guides in Italy have to be licensed. Our tour that day went to the Spanish Steps, a church, Piazza Venezia, Trevi Fountain, Roman Forums, and ended outside the Colosseum. Our guide was informative and went at a good pace, so we tipped her. To end the day we went back to a Gelato place near by the Trevi Fountain, and sat down on some steps near there to dig in!
Until next time,
Reed
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Read more from Reed at https://reedingatcolchester.files.wordpress.com/
To find out more about the Exchange program with University of Essex, visit http://studyabroad.uark.edu/exchange/essex
