After dropping our bags off and changing into dresses, Katie and I were ready to go to the Colosseum! AH, HOW EXCITING! Katie had already been to Rome, so she was flexible about doing what I wanted to do!

We got to the Colosseum around 8:50 am and ended up paying 15 euros for a guided tour instead of 12 for individual tours because the guided ones let you skip the two-hour line! We stayed with the tour for a total of 5 minutes… Then we ditched and did our own thing. We did this because my friend Jacob was meeting us outside the colosseum at 10 am! I was so excited to meet up with him. He lives and studies in Perusia, which is two hours outside of Rome!

I love that kid so much. Jacob and I met last semester in a marketing research class and got stuck in a group project together. We were in the best group of about 6 people, and we all became so close, so it was so nice to be with a friend from back home for a day from back home!

The Colosseum was so cool. Probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever seen! It was so rich in history and so unique. I’m still in awe that I am able to see all of these amazing cities that are full of so much history.

So, in the middle of this blog, I would like to say thank you again to my parents. Thanks seriously for getting me here and working so hard to let me live my dreams. I am not sure if you’ll ever understand how grateful I am and how much I think about how much you’ve given up for me to have the most amazing life possible. Every place I’ve been to, I think of you guys and how blessed I’ve been. I am well aware of how unique my life has been and how lucky I am. So thanks again and a million times over ❤️

After the colosseum, we met up with Jacob, and he gave us a full-day tour of the city! He took us through back alleys and to a really cool bar. Jacob showed me the inside and outside of the Vatican, the Trevi fountain, and so much more! I honestly am so blessed to have such a good friend to take a train to Rome to spend the day with me! He is coming to Prague to visit in May, and I’m so excited to show him around.

We saw more than 5 of the main attractions of Rome in about 3 hours, which was unreal. I actually felt like I took a good amount of time in the places we toured, which was amazing considering we were doing Rome in less than 12 hours! Jacob was so helpful and knew the city so well, so it was really fun and nice to have him show us around.

Spending the day with a friend from back home was honestly so amazing! I loved it! We found out that we have our marketing classes next fall together also so that was nice to find out 🙂

At 4:45, we headed back to the train station to pick up our bags for our 5:20 train to the airport. The bag pick-up line was so long that we ended up missing our train, but we planned it so we could take the next one and still get there with plenty of time. It was slightly stressful getting our bags, though. Luckily, Jacob stayed with us and helped us figure things out. He was catching a train home at about 6.

We made it to the train eventually (yes, with our bags) and said goodbye to Jacob!

While we validated the train ticket, we met an American boy named Chris who is studying abroad in Prague as well! We all talked the whole way to the airport and all the way up to the point we sat down in our seats on the plane! He’s a very nice guy, and I enjoyed hanging out with him. I’m really glad we met him!

Well, I am on the plane now, supposed to be studying for my Czech language test tomorrow afternoon, but I felt like typing all of this out first.

Thank goodness for Katie because she’s been helping me study so much here, and I feel way better for my test!

Next stop= HOME