Kerry and Kristin's trip to Europe

Sorry for the late update! It's been a very busy (and eventful!) two days, and we didn't get a chance to tell you about our Day 3 adventures...
So yesterday we did the Colliseum and the Roman Forum. WOW is the simplest way to describe it! We took the metro, and as we walked out the station, we were greeted by the Colliseum right in front of us across the street. We were able to skip the lines to get in by buying our ticket down a couple blocks at the entrance to the Roman Forum, where there was no line, (thank you Rick Steves!) We went with two awesome girls that we had met the day before (both from the Vancouver area as well) so it was really fun to be able to hang out with some other people.
None of us were too excited about the Roman Forum, and figured it would be a few piles of ruins overgrown with grass. Were we ever wrong! It was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I won't even try to describe it to you, so you'll just have to wait until we get some more pictures up. (which may be a while...we just got into Florence; our hostel doesn't have internet and it costs over €4 for one hour...that being said, we won't be on much for the next couple of days) We spent a few hours exploring the ruins, and then left to meet up for lunch with one of the girl's we were with, stepmom and brother.
We went to this little restaurant hidden in a little alley about 15 minutes away from the Colliseum and 5 minutes from the Pantheon. It was delicious! And I was quite proud of myself...I tried a traditional Roman dish, OX-TAIL in a tomato sauce! It was actually very good and tasted a bit like stewing beef, though it was next to impossible to get it off the bone/cartilage, so I ended up picking it up and eating it with my hands which consequently somehow resulted in sauce all down the sleeve of my white (and only) sweater. I complemented it with a plate of roasted red peppers in oil and seasonings. The meal was mucho bene! Kerry had a plate of ravioli which was incredible as well. I would highly recommend the restaurant, it was fantastic (thank you Rick Steves again!)
Overall though, it was a long day...we left around 10:30 and didn't get home until after 7. Shortly after 9, we did a night walking tour of the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain. They were beautiful too.
Anyways, my internet time is just about to expire. We might get a chance to get on again while we're here in Florence, but there's a good possibility it won't be until we reach Venice (which will be on Sunday) Hope all is well back home, and we're starting to miss everyone..a little bit! Write again soon.

xoxo

oh and just an interesting side note that I know Mom wanted to know... gas in Rome was €1.31/litre! So no complaining about the $1.25 back home!