New Day, New Adventure - ROME: Day 1

My room at Fawlty Towers Hostel for 30 euros a night! Had to share bathroom/shower, but that's okay since I really had it all to myself! :)

I met this one lady on the airplane ride to Rome, and sorta became friends with her. Her friend picked her up from the airport and also gave me a ride to my hostel! It was so nice of them! First friends I made! :) They made sure I made it safely and all to my hostel!

First sight: Colosseum! Since I had the Roma Pass, got to skip the long lines~ and went straight into the Colosseum!

Omg, so there was this cat and mouse. Just sitting there not moving. I think the cat was waiting to pounce. Then all of a sudden, the cat actually pounced onto the mouse and ran away. But some other tourists scared the cat away and saved the mouse! Yay!

TONS of tourists at the Colosseum. Asked a nice Korean man to take a picture for me!

So big! Hard to think this was from centuries ago! 

Arco di Constantino. Arch of Constantine. 

Rode the metro to the Colosseum which is just steps away once you exit the metro. First thing I bought - postcards! 20 postcards for 1 euro!

Then to Palatine Hill~ Only rubbles and ruins left.

I love these rooftop terraces! 

View of Roman Forum from top of the hill overlooking lots of Rome. Behind me you see the Colosseum!

So much history here!

Roman Forum~ broken pieces of columns everywhere. This is Rome's birthplace.

Can you imagine what it'd be like back in the days?

Piazza Venezia and Capitol Hill. The city government is here. 

Victor Emmanuel Monument. Italy's first king. That statue is humongous. It's a 43 foot long statue. O_O

See what I did there? ;) Hahahaa

Lunch time! I had no idea where to do, so I just stopped by some nearby sandwich shop. Got a panini for 4 euros.

SO GOOD! Tomatoes, mozzarella, and prosciutto! What a perfect combination for a light refreshing lunch. The bread was also chewy and crunchy! Bought this near Piazza Venezia and then walked to the Trevi Fountain to eat it.

Trevi Fountain. It was much bigger than I had imagined it to be. MUCH BIGGER!

Tons of people there that day!

Here's me... throwing a coin into the fountain wishing to come back to Rome someday! :) But it only really looks like I'm doing a "Hey! What's up?" sign... Haha.

Next walked to the Spanish Steps! I remember this from the movie "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Pick! One of my favorite movies! SO ... I though I'd be like Audrey Hepburn for a bit and bought some gelato like she did in the movie! :)

Spanish Steps! 

Ciao! :)

There are fountains everywhere! Literally. And so every now and then when I see a fountain I'll fill up my water bottle! The water is really cool and refreshing!

Next walked to the Villa Borghese. A really nice villa/park once owned by the Borghese family. They have a zoo, a lake, tons of monuments and grassy green areas in the villa. 

It's a nice place to have a picnic or a date! :)

Met this super nice family from Long Islang, NY. They rented this motorized bike thingy and I hitched a ride with them. Since the villa is so big, walking around the whole thing would be tiring. So this was nice! :) We rode throughout the whole villa. 

Borghese Gallery! Full of works from Bernini, Raphael, Titian and Caravaggio. 

Inside the gallery. You weren't supposed to take pictures inside, but I snuck a few. Most famous thing in the gallery would probably be the sculpture of Apollo and Daphne. 

Drinking from the fountain! And Luca in the background!

The Asian lady in the one I met on the airplane! And Luca was the friend that picked her up from the airport! We went to the Borghese Gallery together! And then later they took me out to go eat dinner!

My hostel! Near Termini train station!

Ate dinner in Trastavere Area! Luca said the pizza here is one the best! :) 

BIG Menu! 

Luca's friend - Giuseppe.

Appetizer. We sat outside on the second floor terrace. So it was hard to take a picture since it was so dark! 

SO GOOD! Although a bit on the salty side, but it was better than any other pizza I had in the States! We each ordered one for ourselves! I was so full at the end of the night!

And of course, had to end the meal with an espresso! I had to add the whole pack of sugar or else I couldn't handle the bitterness. I'm not a true Italian yet. :P Also had a sip of Grappa, which is like the equivalent of our standard liquor in the states but much sweeter. 

Then walked around Trastavere, alongside the Tiber river, which is a bustlin' area for younger people at night. You got juke bars, people performing. Music everywhere. Bars and hookahs. What a night scene! Stopped by the one bar and sat down to have one last drink. I got a bellini to end the night! I was pretty buzzed... because during dinner we had a whole bottle of wine.

Tiber River! Just a tad bit smelly. This river leads out into the ocean!
It was a wonderful first day in Rome! I'm glad I made some friends or else I would have had to eat by my lonely self! Hahaha. PLUS, I didn't have to pay for my dinner or my drink! ;)

Here's a little video of what is was like in Trastavere! Europeans sure love to dance and express themselves! :)

Sigh... Goodbye Taiwan!

Last day in Taiwan!!! :( So sad. Who knows when the next time I'll be coming back to Taiwan now. Time to grow up and get a job. Get on with my life. -_- Anyways, last few pictures at the TTT banquet from Betty's camera! :)

The interns at Ta Hwa! Gare-Bear! Hahah

Me and my lovely roommates!

Come visit Texas!!! :) Nah, I'll come visit California instead!

Met up with another person from Couchsurfing! His name is Adam and he's from Virginia! His Chinese is better than mine! We went to go eat some shaved ice, dinner and then shoot some pool! On the way, we saw these teeny weeny little dogs on the street that were for sale.

MONEY MONEY MONEY! Euros look kinda like fake monopoly money....hahah.

Last time meeting up with Cindy! We went to eat some hibachi near National Tsing Hua University! Then some yummy starbucks. Later that night, she took me to go watch the best movie of the year! :) 那些年, 我們一起追的女孩!

Ate dinner with the grandparents at Island Cafe (海島) which is right next to where we live on 東山街!

Then came up to Taipei and wandered around Danshui with 妹妹 for a bit~

Discovered that my love is not only in Shilin night market, but also here in Danshui as well! :) So I got one... of course! They also have one in Hsinchu now, too!!! Yippeee!

<3 <3 <3 Love this movie. I'm so crazy about it right now!

My favorite combination at 鮮芋仙. It's got sweet potatoes (地瓜), tapioca pearls, 芋園, and 薏仁! Delicious!

Then rode on the Maokong Gondolas again with Aimee, Mimi and Mimi's friend! Went to the same cafe as last time with my parents! This is Aimee's cold brew Ooolong Tea~ 

I like to take pretty pictures! :)

I got a beef lasagna!

Mimi and Aimee shared a dessert platter. Fake macaroons in the middle! Blegh. Tiramisu and cheesecake on the bottom and fruit on top!

My 芒果冰沙!!! Yummm

Yayyyy!!! :)

Trying to do a cat pose!

Meowwrrrr ;)

So cute~

Wow, I can't believe how fast time flies. The day for Italy is almost here. At the beginning I was all like, ah, it's okay. I got all summer to prepare. BUT now that it's actually here, I'm kind of freaking out.

Oh well, most of my trip I'm just going to wing it. In my Rick Steve's book that I bought, he said "Accept Italy as Italy. Zero in on the fine points. Don't dwell on the problems. Savor your cappuccino, dangle your feet over a canal (if it smells, breathe through your mouth), and imagine what it was like centuries ago. Write a poem over a glass of local wine in a sun-splashed, wave dashed Riviera village. If you fall off your moral horse, call it a cultural experience. Italy is for romantics."

Ahhh, Love it! Thanks Rick Steve's!!! I'm definitely a romantic. A completely and utterly hopeless romantic. I think I'll just enjoy myself peacefully in Italy. I'll come back looking tanner, fatter, and prettier! ;) Heehee