Day 6- Rome Sightseeing

Today we woke up early to get on a bus to Rome. Everything did not go to plan, however, as the bus didn’t come until 10:30 - over 2 hours late.

We had a long day of travel ahead of us. The trip would be about 5 hours total, but to split up the trip we stopped at a winery for lunch. 

The team had a great time there, we got to taste 3 different wines: 1 white and 2 reds. Maddie and Mimi were the experts. Mimi said you need to smell the wine with your mouth open so you get the taste too. Maddie had a trick for drinking the wine: “fancy gargle” it so you coat your whole tongue. They also brought out a lot of different dishes for us to try. There were cooked vegetables such as mushrooms, zucchini, and peppers, bread with tomatoes, lasagne, and a dessert with jam. 

We also found a super cute place for photos at the winery!! The view was super pretty where we sat, overlooking hills and trees. The place we took a lot of photos though was a flower wall. 

After our stop for lunch we got back on the bus, expecting just another 2 and a half hour drive. Things, however, did not go as planned. Instead of 2 hours, we spent almost 5 on the bus due to traffic being completely stopped. We literally sat in the same place for so long some of the girls grabbed a towel and went to the bathroom on the side of the road. Another driver next to us got out and lit a cigarette. 

During our time in traffic we had a team meeting discussing how to up student attendance at our games. We threw out a lot of ideas including giving out rewards for coming to a lot of games. 

As time dragged on, we slowly accepted we would not be seeing the Colosseum when/if we ever got to Rome. We were definitely disappointed that we wouldn’t see the most iconic landmark in Rome but in all honesty I think we all just wanted off the bus more than anything. 

Finally, a little after 7 we got to the hotel. As we were driving through town we were looking at all the cars. Compared to home they’re tiny!! Syd described it as the mouse town in zootopia (she LOVED the tiny cars, especially the fun colored ones). 

Our hotel was also small. I shared a room with Mimi and we had about a foot of space to walk. Our beds were facing each other, toe to toe. 

We had a bit of time to relax then headed off to dinner at 8. We went to a pizza place. After a week in Italy we all thought we knew the meal that lied ahead of us, but little did we know that this restaurant was not like the others. 

Instead of 4 courses (pasta, meat, salad, dessert), this place had more like 10. We started off with a pile of bread and then they brought out more bread, but with tomatoes. Following the bread, we got salad with tomatoes, mozzarella, and carrots. Then came the pizza: cheese, and mushroom. Up next was a pasta dish. We had ravioli with spinach and a red sauce of some kind. After all this food we figured dessert was next. But no, we got yet another course of pot roast. And yes, it was a direct taste from home (it was nearly identical to the one my grandma makes). 

Instead of dessert they brought out lemon cello and we each got to try a little bit. It was very sour and tasted like a lemon head. 

When we got back to the hotel it was close to midnight. I, for one, went straight to bed.

- Rachel Greek, Freshman