Roman Holiday

      Our second day in Rome we packed up and moved hostels. (The other hostel only had accomdation for the one night) Its hard to get excited about putting on your backpack...but alas, it is unavoidable. Thankfully, the hostel wasnt to far from the other place and we found it quite easily. This hostel was only about a 10 min walk from the train station and right next to Santa Maria Plazza. This Plazza had a gorgous church with a lovely square in front of it. Later on, we learned of the uniquness of this church. The bells. It has the most melodic bells in Rome, that ring ever hour and half hour. These bells are one of the oldest in Rome and add to the atmosphere. Its haunting to think centuries ago the Romans listened to the same beautiful melody.

      The hostel was easy to find and the owners were friendly. The man, who had a classic Italian accent, was like a character out of a movie. Just before he showed us to our room, it slipped out that it was on the 5th floor. We all looked up the sprial staircase....this was the most stairs yet. So we huffed and puffed and finally got to the room. Bonus? Private kitchen, private room, private bathroom. We hit the jackpot. As soon as we were alone....threw our stuff everywhere. Its alot of fun when you dont get to do it often. The kitchen had a stove, fridge and sink with pots and pans. Considering we were in Rome for 6 nights, we knew to buy groceries and take advantage of the facilities. After buying grocies, (espeically grocies that you can cook...like meat and pasta) we headed back to the hostel. Not fun climbing those stairs....never gets easier....you always dread it. We went to getting some dinner together.

        The Terrance....o the terrance. Its was one more floor up to get to the roof. ( Of course it was only one floor, our room is on the fifth floor) There was two levels with chairs and tables. Nothing fancy to look at...but as soon as you get to the top floor your literally taken back by the beauty of the view. Here we were, seven stories up, overlooking Rome. The view is superb. Everywhere you look, there is a monument peaking over the buildings, or a statue of the Virgin Mary, or a medevil tower....and just down the hill? The Collosuem. The rest of our stay we ate all our meals there, watched the sunset, drank wine, played cards....the Terrance was my favorite highlight.