I won't let a little Strep stop me

One of the benefits of teaching abroad is traveling during term breaks. When I returned in January, I already was thinking of where to travel during my February break. The snow and cold weather makes you want to escape to a warm tropical beach and soak up the sun and the closest/most affordable trip that a lot of Europeans take in the winter is to Egypt. A few coworkers were set on the idea of taking the week off in February and laying pool side at an Egyptian Resort sipping some exotic cocktails. As time got closer to break, as you all remember, there were riots in Egypt and it kept getting worse and worse each day. Considering everything going on and US government warning US citizens to stay out of Egypt, we decided we needed a plan B.

The three major places in Europe to go are Paris (done that), London (did that as well, and ROME! Now that I have to see. Sarah (coworker) and I decided to plan our week of in February to Rome, Italy!

February was a brutal month for my immune system and planning my trip was difficult as I was trying to take care of myself in a foreign country. Where's the chicken noodle soup when you need it. Sarah luckily was on top of her game and found a hotel and gave some ideas of an itinerary. It was a good thing because the weekend before we would leave for Rome I got strep! I went to the doctor Monday and my flight was Tuesday! However, (with consent of Sarah being ok with it) I wouldn't let strep ruin my vacation and I packed my bags and ready to go to Rome.

We left Prague early Tuesday morning and arrived in Rome 2 hours later. I was feeling better with the antibiotics and throat spray but still rough travels. We took the train into town and the hotel told us to find the 16 bus to get to the hotel. I don't know if you have been to Rome but it is pure chaos with tons of buses and crazy drivers. We could not find the 16 bus to save our lives, so we decided to take a cab. When we landed in Rome, I told Sarah we should get a Vespa and cruise around Rome. While driving in the cab, I quickly realized that driving a Vespa would be SUDDEN DEATH! The drivers are insane but strange enough it's controlled chaos. They honk, cut you off, yell at each other in Italian, speed, you name it, they do it!

We made it to our hotel and dropped off our luggage. We then headed to the Colosseum to meet up with another coworker and her husband. Sarah and I took the bus (found it this time) towards the town and I will NEVER forget the first time we spotted the Colosseum. It was like finding the Matterhorn in Disneyland off the freeway but SO MUCH COOLER!

The Colosseum at first sight is incredible. How in the world did they create such an impressive building. The genius in their architecture is baffling. We met up with our friends and had a cappuccino and dessert. I had prosciutto with melon (which was delicious but sadly enough the only time I had it....will explain later) We then walked at night by the Colosseum and Roman Forum and headed towards the Pantheon to find a place to have dinner. Italians don't eat dinner til very late around 8:30pm to 9pm. We had a nice little pasta dinner and wine however, thanks to antibiotics I was stuck drinking Sprite (yay). Sarah and I headed back and anxious to start our day of touring at the Colosseum!