Italian Leather Boots!!

Buongiorno! We have a lot to update about so be ready for a long but entertaining post! We decided we are just going to make a big list of the new stuff we want to tell all of you about so here it goes:

1) Boots. Yes, we both found an amazing pair of 100% Italian leather boots! Alli's are brown and Jenna's are black and they are absolutely amazing!! AND they were 90 Euros, which is about $120, so we got a pretty dang good deal on them, considering they are 100% Italian leather!!

2) Creepers. Let's just say there are A LOT of creeper Italians out there. It seems like everywhere we go we either get stares or guys yell "Ciao Bellissima!" which means very beautiful or they ask to take their photo with us. Haha its pretty comical to say the least. Yesterday we had a group of 3 Italian POLICE OFFICERS, yes, policeman, try to pick us up. Pathetic. Disgusting. Ugh!

3) MEOW! So this one is for Nathan, who better be keeping up with this blog! We saw a cat on the side of the road the other day, and of course, proceeded to MEOW at it because we love to meow and the cat totally ignored us! How rude. So we concluded that the cat didn't understand us because we're in Italy and we don't know how to Meow in Italian! DUH!

4) Graffiti. We are really surprised and pretty disgusted at the abundance of graffiti here in Italy. It is ALL OVER, on the metros, old ancient buildings, the streets, everywhere you look. We thought it would be cleaner than that but apparently not. Hmm...

5) PDAs. So public displays of affection are definitely not a big deal at all here. Couples make out all over the place, on escalators, in the trains, on the sidewalks...and when we say make out, we mean practically go at it right in public! It's so weird and awkward! And they don't even close their eyes! They look all around as they are kissing which is even more awkward! We don't know if this is a European thing or an Italian thing but all we can say is wow...

6) The Pope! Just to let you all know, we are best friends with the Pope now. Yes, the POPE! Yesterday we went to Mass at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican which was incredible. The Pope spoke and led the mass service and it was such an amazing experience! Then we saw the Pope's appearance right in the middle of the Basilica outside the church which was abolutely unreal!! He came out of a window really high up and spoke to a huge audience of people in every language...Italian, German, English, French...it was amazing. We got GREAT pictures zoomed in of him which was awesome! We were really surprised at how little the security was to see the Pope. You didn't have to go through any sort of x-ray or security scanner to come into the square to see his appearance. I guess we are just used to being in America, and I guess there really wouldn't be any reason for someone to assassinate the Pope...at least we hope not! But moral of the story, we totally know the Pope now. So be jealous!

7) Symphony. So we went to this big symphony last night which was jam-packed of rich Italians with fur and expensive clothes and big hair, it was hilarious. But the symphony was actually very impressive. Very talented individuals. It was a great experience, but went on for almost 2 hours, which kind of made us fall asleep...sorry moms and dads but we couldn't help it!!!!

8) Catacombs. Today we went to the Roman Catacombs outside the city walls which were really interesting! They are the underground cemetaries where Christians were buried thousands of years ago. They began being built in 4th Cenutry A.D. and the ones where we were at stretch for over 30 miles underneath Rome! They go as deep at 75 feet as well. We went down 40 feet underground to see them with a tour guide and it was so interesting! They made them out of lava rock and they have been greatly restored since their creation but it was really cool. Very creepy and eerie though!!

9) Purse. So Alli bought a knock off Luis Vuitton purse from one of the marketplaces yesterday and it's totally legit! You cannot even tell its fake! The guy wanted 40 Euros for it, but she talked him down to 25. YES! Pretty exciting...

10) Dinner. We had dinner on our own this weekend which was kind of nice so we could choose where we went to eat instead of having to go to the group. So we decided to go upstairs of our hotel to the restaurant on the roof, which was very beautiful! It was funny though because it was extremely romantic so it definitely made us miss Scott and Derek, but we are pretty good dates together too :) It was a pretty fancy place too so we shared dinner cuz it was so expensive, and the service was INSANE. Like they literally stood there, 15 feet away from our table, STARING at us, watching our every move. Everytime we took a drink of our water they were right there to fill it up again. It was so crazy!!! A little awkward...but DELICIOUS food!

11) Sick. So we are both sick. Almost everyone on our trip is sick or has been sick or is getting sick. How lame! This morning we thought we were going to die but we got outside and started feeling a little bit better. Alli has a sinus infection, but thanks to her mamma making her bring antibiotics and her dad getting her a prescription before she left, she has some medicine to hopefully get rid of it! Jenna is all congested and stuffed up too, but we went to the Pharmacy place today to get some cold medicine so hopefully it will start making us feel better! I mean come on, we're in Rome! We can't be sick!!

12) Dreams. We both have to admit that as much as we LOVE it over here, every once in a while we get homesick and start to really miss everyone. We have both had pretty bad dreams the past couple of nights about our boyfriend's leaving us while we're gone and about Jenna's dad getting cancer. HAHAHA I know a little odd and crazy but it just means we really miss all of you guys and this is a great experience for us but it will be really nice to be back home!!!

13) Crazy Drivers. So apparently Italians really don't know how to drive. They are all over the roads with their little smart cars and fiats and are just absolutely crazy! So many people have vespas as well and have no limits. We don't even think there are speed limits either. We have decided that our cars, Candy and Stella, would not survive over here. Maybe that's because their drivers (aka us) would not be able to handle the craziness on the roads but we know it would not be a good sight.

14) Alli's Birthday! So as we all know, Alli's birthday is on Wednesday! Yayy! That is the day that we all travel to Florence which will be amazing! A bunch of us might go on a pub crawl tomorrow night for our last night in Rome, so we may make that our celebration of Alli's birthday. But don't worry! We will be careful and we will NOT get extremely drunk! Mom's - We are responsible so don't worry! If we don't do the pub crawl we will probably just go out for a bit in Florence once we get there. We're so excited to celebrate her birthday over here!! And everyone back home, be ready for a make-up US celebration once we get back! :)

Well that's all for now. Yes we know, LONG blog, but we had so much to tell you guys! We are enjoying every minute and hopefully we will start feeling better too! We miss you all and hope things back on the homestead are going well!

Ciao!!