August 12th

After some of the wildest nights of my life at a place called the Indian Lounge in Barcelona where Bav worked as a DJ, Aaron and I spent the night crashing among fellow backpackers in an airport about an hour or so outside the city. During the train ride to the airport, both of us talked about childhood memories, future goals, and how lucky we are to have this opportunity. We made it to Rome around lunch time today, to find an ancient city with its jaw-dropping structures and history. People are friendly here and we spent most of the day wondering throughout the city taking dozens and dozens of photos. I’ve never seen anything like this city before. They have columns sitting in ruins that have more years of history than the entire establishment of the United States. Later on in the evening, Aaron and I found ourselves in a park scattered with ruins, dimly lit by Rome in the distance, watching shooting stars overhead. The last few days have been the Italian nights of shooting stars, as we were told by our host Riccardo, a Rome native who works as a sound technician for all types of gigs including popular concerts and even speeches by the Pope. We met his friend Diego and the two of them shared more history about the city than we ever could have learned from sightseeing (we should work on our Italian though…he he). Later we went out for coffee, which in Italy is incredible; it is unreal how amazing it is. After that, Riccardo graciously drove us throughout the city, seeing the Coliseum, Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peters in English), and other sights of the city by the light of the moon without a tourist in sight (other than Aaron and I of course, fighting over who could take the best night-mode pic). Tomorrow we pick up Kali from the Termini train station and prepare for another day of endless photos.

By now we have seen the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna), Santa Maria (an incredible cathedral tucked into the Plazza della Repubblica), several archeological ruins, and the Patheon. As I review the photos on my digital camera I am continually astonished by these incredible sights, built by hand thousands of years ago, standing today as monuments of Rome’s past, present, and future.

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About Paige

University of Louisville, College of Business Hometown: Louisville Major: Finance Age: 21 National Student Exchange: Univ. of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Spring 07. Study Abroad: The Hague University, The Netherlands. Fall 07.

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