Our Perfect Tour Guide

I think that Roma is possibly my very favorite place on the entire planet so far. Yeah, I know, I haven't been to very many places, but Rome, truly, was unbelievable and wonderful in so many many ways. I would have enjoyed it no matter what, but the enjoyment of the experience was increased because of the friendship my sisters and I found in Giorgio. The very first night we were there, the three of us walked down to the Coloseo, which was... beautiful and impressive beyond words. It was completely lit up of course, the entire massive structure, so we stood in awe of it. Eventually we decided that we had to do the tourist thing and grab a random person to take a picture of the 3 of us in front of it. We asked the first kid who walked by: Giorgio. As he handed us back the camera, we all introduced ourselves, and then he asked us if we wanted to continue a walk with him. Of course we agreed and we were on our way. We walked forever, and talked the whole time, although often clarifying and repeating what we had said, because English is his third lang. after Albanian (thats what he is) and Italian. It was fun though, because he attempted to teach me italian as much as he could, even though I am a bad student and forget things as soon as he tells me them... I am learning a lot though, surprisingly. I can't wait to move here and learn it for real, because Italian people are so helpful and encouraging whenever you try to speak it. It is fun. Plus I would ask him about anything someone had said to me throughout the day that I hadn't understood and he would clear it all up for me. Anyway, we ended up spending every night following Giorgio around the beautiful and vibrant city. He took us to the Piazza Venezia, which was unbelievable in its grandeur and size. We went to the Spanish steps (Piazza di Spagna) where we drank out of the fountain shaped like a lifesize boat and he bought me a rose from the guys walking around with armfuls of them, making a profit off of the romantic feeling of the setting. He took us to the Pantheon, which I have seen pictures of in history books for my entire life, and...there it was! I looked at it for so long. It was awesome. We went to another famous Piazza that I cant remember the name of where we saw a puppet show that was crazy good, including appearances of charlie chaplin and michael jackson, a guy in a straight jacket and a bag make a houdini-esque escape, a huge group of guys drumming furiously while their buddies did a heart stopping fire dance/martial arts thing. Amazing. There were so many people out and about, doing everything and enjoying a summer night in Roma. In Las Vegas, most of the settings like that where there are tons of people at night, it is purely tourists, which is very different from how it is here. There were definitely tourists other than us, but the majority of the people hanging out in these places were locals, so it was a very different feeling all round. So fun and happy and upbeat of a city! And it was so great to be with someone who lives there, because he knew all the best places to go (and we were never lost... something I canNOT say for the times my fam is on our own) and when to go there, he could get us across the street without us getting hit by a bus or a car (yeah, there don't seem to be any traffic laws here at all, by the way. people just drive everywhere, however they want, park on the sidewalks, if there isnt a spot they just leave their tiny european car in the road, turn on the hazard lights, and call it good while they go into a store) and of course he could respond to the comments of the other Italian guys who would try to follow us and tell them to leave us alone. He was such a good friend to us, and we feel so lucky to have met him on such a random chance! Plus, he worked at the Vatican, so he was the one who told us what time we should get there and where we should go in order to see the Pope, which was the best thing ever. But I will have to talk about that another time because I am now out of time on this hostel computer. I love all you guys so much! There is so much more to tell you, and I can't wait till I can talk to you for real and share it. But just know that this has already been the best and most unforgettable experience of my entire life. Every single day, I can't believe that we are seeing what we are seeing and doing what we are doing. It is perfect.