Rome

This really isn't a very Italianesque picture, but I thought you would like it, Mom! I took it at the Colosseum.

Well, this post is going to be in a series because we went to sooo many places. Rome was incredible; I couldn't really believe that I was actually in Rome, Italy. I am so grateful that I took this opportunity!

Lets see. Some of the culture differences.

1. The food here is not quite what I expected. The pizza is good, but very different. Its all very thin and has less toppings, but its soo good. The gelato is to die for, and one of the guys with us on the trip had to have it twice a day. Actually, we don't even know good ice cream in the US. Even Spain's ice cream is one hundred times better than ours.

2. Crosswalks are nonexistant. As in, there are no signals to tell pedestrians when to walk across the street, and no lines to dictate where to cross. So, people just walk....in front of oncoming traffic, and the traffic stops, without complaint. Pretty tough to get used to, and then tough to revert back to crosswalks in Spain!

3. I felt like many of the tourist sites were very unorganized. There are tons and tons of people everywhere and not a lot of signs to signal where to send them. Many times tourist attraction hours aren't posted, and nobody knows where to stand in line, or what they are standing in line for. The amount of people at tourist attractions is insane; it feels like being in a discoteca - everyday, all day. Even the metros are packed 99.9% of the time.

4. The city is beautiful. The architecture is amazing, and the buildings are a lot more colorful than in Spain. In Spain, buildings are mostly white; in Italy, there are many colors - yellow, oranges, blues, greens, etc.