For someone who has never seen Rome, it is hard to believe how beautiful life can be

Hey guys!

Even thought there is nothing more I want to do than to crawl into bed and fall asleep I will give you this blog for the day. A) Because a few of you have been moaning at me for not posting as regularly (sorry) but more importantly B) Because I just have to tell you how overwhelmingly beautiful this city is.

I arrived yesterday to this hostel Poliziano Inn and just like the one in Venice, this place isn't manned 24 hours and we can't lock our rooms! (Maybe this is an Italian thing?!) To make matters worse our wifi cut out at 11 o'clock in the evening! Which to me, Siobhan and Sarah was really freaky because we had no way of contacting anyone for help! (I'll fill you in on these two awesome girls in a bit!) Me and Sarah ended up buying Wi-Fi just so we could have some contact to the world beyond this room!

So when we woke up this morning again to no Wi-Fi our first stop was breakfast and trying to get some sort of access. Luckily a little cafe down the road offers such a service. They also give you free breakfast if you're staying at our particular hostel HOWEVER despite breakfast being included in the price that we paid, Siobhan and myself could not get the complimentary breakfast because we weren't given the tokens by the owner. Sarah, the smarter one out of our trio, read the reviews on this place and you're told by previous visitors that you have to ask for the vouchers, they aren't something he willingly dishes out despite the fact we've paid for it! Oh and I forgot to tell you us 3 have a sneaky suspicion that he turned off the wifi when he left last night to save money on his leccy bill as it 'coincidentally' went off as he left the building! Stingy bugger!

Buy anyway I met these guys Siobhan and Sarah who are both from Australia but they didn't know each other prior to this trip. Siobhan is training to be a

community library but has a working visa in the UK and Sarah is a travel blogger too (again with more followers than me haha) but is also a pediatrician! She's also done 25 countries at the age of 25 whoop whoop! Something I now plan to try and do, only got 7 to go in 2 years! They're really cool girls too, so we decided to hang out and go to the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Trevi Fountain!

The Colosseum is huge and so it should be as the largest amphitheatre ever built! You pay 12 euros, or 7.50 if you're under 26 and an EU citizen (again

UK readers travel Europe while you can!). It's just under 2000 years old and it's still mostly standing! (You want to tell those dodgy builders back in England where to get some tips from haha). A maximum of 80,000 people would rock up there back in the day to watch gladiator contests, executions and animal hunting/fighting. It was the place to be in Ancient Rome. When you're in there the place is truly a sight for the eyes from all angles! However, the place was pretty busy while I was there so I can imagine that in Summer it'd be mobbed! Don't worry about having to pre-book tickets and what not. You're absolutely fine to turn up on the day and buy a ticket, in fact the on the day queue was shorter than the prebooked one. Once we headed out of the Colosseum we went and got some gelato = really bloody good ice cream! I'd definitely recommend the Tiramisu flavour, YUM!

Next we headed to the Palatine Hill, which is also included in the fare for the ticket. It's one of the oldest parts of the city and I'm guessing what once stood there in the prime of its life was truly fantastic as this place is the progenitor of the word Palace! It's such a nice little place to walk around and witness some of the oldest buildings in Rome. From what we could see there was only one statute out of a fair few that had survived the test of time and still had its head. Try and find it when you go! (Go the gallery part of this site to see some pics!)

There's a reason that I'm saying 'when' and not 'if' you go to Rome. That's because you'll be forever in my eyes clinically insane if you don't. This is solely based on my visit to the Trevi Fountain. I've never seen anything so breathtaking in all my life. It's the most beautiful piece of exterior art I've ever seen. What makes it even more overwhelming is that it is located in a peculiar place - attached to a side of a building in a completely normal location. By normal I mean that it's casually bang smack in the middle of a road junction with bog standard shops and unimpressive buildings surrounding it. I think that's what makes it that bit more powerful. It is the grandest thing I witnessed with my own eyes so no wonder it's of one of the most famous fountains in the world. I was expecting it to be placed in an extravagant square with chirpy birds all around but in hindsight I think the location is the perfect place for it because there is nothing that could overshadow the experience gazing upon the fountain alone.

It's said that throwing a coin in the fountain is good luck as it mean that you'll return to Rome some day, but you also need to make a wish as you do it. It's said the you have to sit with your back to the fountain and throw the coin with your right hand over your left shoulder (something i didn't know prior to the visit but I still hope my wish comes true and no I'm not telling you what it is!) I'm also guessing that you're also wondering how much money is thrown in the fountain? Well on average it's 3000 euros a day but obviously more will be chucked in during Summer! The donations go towards funding a supermarket they run to feed the poor as far as I'm aware so even if my wish doesn't come true least I've contributed to a good cause!

Nothing will ever taint my love for Paris but this place is the most beautiful city I've ever been too. In all my travels so far Paris and now Rome are the only two cities that I would ever go back to visit or even consider living it. You seriously need to come here!

P.S. Yeah I realise that I didn't post this last night like I planned BUT I feel asleep writing it if it's any consolation. The thought was there!

#rome #italy #trevifountain #traveller #travelling #travelblog