Lost and Found: This is What Dreams are Made Of

Anybody who was between the age of 8 and 12 during the 2003-ish era will know exactly what is to come in this post, simply because of the title. That's right. We relived our childhood by backpacking through Italy, making sure to hit every stop (and more) that Lizzie McGuire did. Haylie, Natalie, and I began planning this trip back in early September. We knew Italy was a place we wanted to see while studying abroad, so we went for it. Full speed ahead.

Five cities. Four days. Three friends. Two locals. One AMAZING week(end).

We left Alicante on Tuesday night and departed for Milan. We didn't intend to really see or do anything in Milan, but we did happen to see some cool buildings and cute shops during our (extremely) long walk to our hostel. Little did we know how much walking was ahead of us!

Basilica of the Nativity of St. Mary

Shopping, anyone??

We woke up early Wednesday morning, and I subsequently began to freak out about bedbugs, and took our first of many trains to Venice. With no plan in mind, except for a gondola ride, we set out to explore the city. Venice is well known for it's Murano glass and masquerade masks, so it is safe to say we spent quite a bit of time shopping that day. We visited St. Mark's Square, tried various sorts of gelato and cannolis, and shared a gondola ride with a super nice couple who just so happened to be on their honeymoon! Venice was a nice little town, but having a population of only 58,000 people meant that once the day was done....it was done. We killed some time before our midnight train by snacking on yet another gelato.

St. Mark's Square

Welcome to Venice!

After a fairly crappy sleep on our six hour train ride, we arrived in LA CITTA ETERNA. Rome, the eternal city. We may or may not have gotten kicked out of a breakfast cafe (still a little unsure of that one....the language barrier was definitely more profound than we anticipated) but quickly moved on to what would be our busiest day yet. We were in line for the Colosseum by 8:30am. After the Colosseum we saw the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, followed by a walk to Vatican City to see St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. After a quick lunch, we walked back to the center of Rome to visit the Pantheon and of course, the Trevi Fountain. We then proceeded to walk (again) to our hostel, check in, and then visit my friend Bea in the Trastevere region for dinner and dessert. And because we hadn't already done enough walking, we decided to go back to the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain after dinner to see both lit up in all of their glory. Rome was absolutely amazing. Completely exhausting, but one of the most intriguing places I have ever been to.