When I was in Rome...

 So sorry that it has taken me so long to update again, I got confused with what account name I should have been using. Anyways, I can/cannot believe how long I have been abroad. Since being in Florence, I have gone to Venice for Carnival, gone to a Rome V. Florence futbol match, gone to Albania for the weekend to visit my father and just got back from four days in Rome.
 Two weekends ago, I got to visit my dad in Tirana which is quite a different world than Florence. I was incredibly impressed by the spaciousness of his apartment and its stunning view of the mountains. Unfortunately, the whole weekend it was fairly rainy and cold but we still managed to walk around the city and see the sights on Saturday. I quickly learned that driving in Albania requires constant alertness because traffic lights are mostly seen as suggestions for both drivers and pedestrians. Double parking or cars parked halfway in the middle of the road is also not an uncommon sight.

On Sunday, we went to Durres which is a port city about a half an hour away from Tirana where we saw a Roman Theatre from the 2nd century A.D. and went into an Archeology museum. We had fresh sea bass for lunch as well.
 My weekend in Rome may have been my favorite weekend thus far. We left at 8 in the morning on Thursday and arrived around 12:30. Our tour started at 2, and my tour guide for the weekend was my teacher of Art History, Peter. Peter speaks seven languages, went to Columbia, always wears a llama sweater and a scarf and basically knows everything about everything. He lets us know the inside stories to everything and is  VERY well read. On Thursday, we saw Piazza di Spagna, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, we had a taste of the most famous coffee at Caffe S. Eustachio and had famous gelato with no artifical colors at Santo Crispino. We were walking around until 7 pm. That night, I went on the Colosseum Pub Crawl which was extremely fun.
  On Friday morning, we had to leave the hotel at 7:45 am because there was a transportation strike at 8:30 which was our original time of departure. We went to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica until around 1 pm. I then walked around Rome until almost 4:30. I went out that night for dinner and met up with Kristen's friend who is studying in Rome and her guy friends.
  Saturday morning, we met at 8:30 to leave the hotel and walked to the Colossum, San Pietro in Vincoli, and the Roman Forum. After lunch, we met up again in Piazza Navona (my favorite piazza in Rome) and went to see Caravaggio's work. That night, I went to Campo dei Fiori.

       Sunday morning found me up again and ready to leave with my luggage at 8:30 am. I signed up for the optional visit to Villa D'Este in Tivoli and I am certainly glad that I did. It was an absolutely beautiful day to be outside and all the fountains were gorgeous. We were back on the bus around 2:30 and arrived in Florence around 6. I went to dinner at The Diner and had an unbelievable burger with home fries. Considering the fact that I didn't nap the whole time I was in Rome, I was pretty exhausted and went to bed at 12.