All Ways Joy: When In Rome

We arrived in Rome by train at about 11:30 pm. We got off one stop too soon and so we had to walk two miles through a very very ghetto part of Rome to our hotel. Landon held my hand so tightly and shepherded me through the dark streets. We walked so fast and at times we ran out of sidewalk and had to pray the crazy Italian drivers wouldn't hit us on the dark streets. It felt so adventuresome! We finally made it to our hotel a long while after we started walking and rang the bell so excited to sleep. A very sleepy Italian woman answered the intercom and kindly informed us that our reservation was mistakenly made for the next night! So we were back on the streets looking for a place to stay! In another short walk we found a large hotel and a comfy place to sleep. I put down my bag and crawled in bed, clothes still on and passed out.

We stayed two days in Rome in order to try and see all the incredible tourist attractions. It ended up though that with the crowds of tourists we saw less attractions than we thought and spent more time eating gelato and enjoying cafes. We did make it to the Colosseum though and had a marvelous time imagining what it would have been like back in Roman times. We watched Gladiator on the train down to Rome and then read a few articles about what Gladiator life was really like. We couldn't wait to stand where it all happened!

After our tour of the Colosseum, we walked through the Roman Forum where the ruins of the old city are. It gave a beautiful view of the Colosseum and was so amazing to walk through such an old civilization.

We didn't bother to check the weather forecast before we went out that day because it was so incredibly hot! What we didn't know was that there was a thunderstorm waiting for us!

The largest thunderstorm I have ever been in! EVER! It felt like the end of the world! It began with some dark clouds above the Colosseum you can see in the picture below. Then in a matter of minutes the wind picked up and it started to drizzle and then quite suddenly it started to pour hard!

We ran to cover under a thin archway in the ruins. There was another couple under the tiny arch and then three more people tried to squeeze in. We were all on the tips of our toes trying to stay covered but the wind picked up even more and the rain came down so hard that pretty soon we weren't dry anymore. About ten minutes into the storm it began flooding where we were standing and the pathways around us had become fast rivers with lots of debris. Then the thunder and lightning started! The lightning moved closer and closer in the skies until it was touching down on trees in the Roman Forum, breaking off branches and shaking the ground with the thunder. It made me think about what the thunder must have sounded like when Christ died on the cross. How it must have shook the Earth. This thunder was the closest to that description I have ever heard!

We decided in order to save our electronics we would try and make a run for a better covering. After a quick smile to each other with chins quivering from the cold I stuffed our bag down my dress and we ran out into the crazy storm!! Dodging debris and slick mud we managed to make it where a group of others were hiding. We were drenched through and through but our electronics made it safe so we felt so proud! The lightning was close around us at this point so everyone huddled in the middle of this covered passageway away from the large metal gates at each entrance. Scary!

After about an hour, the thunderstorm let up a bit and people started to pop up all around the Forum from their hiding spots and leave the Forum. We hadn't been there long before it started to storm and we had not see everything there, but being so cold and wet we decided to make the long walk back to our hotel. We spent the afternoon warming up in bed and then went out to see the Trevi fountain! Along the way we stopped at a little pasta shop and got take-out pesto! It was one of my favorite meals in Italy. We ate it on the steps of the fountain and enjoyed the view.