Wandering Roads

Chapter 7

Rome was a very old town, going its way back into BC. I always enjoyed listening to my father's old Roman myths. I always wondered what these places in the books always looked liked in real life. Today, I would finally be able to see these mythical places! Not only was it filled with history, but there was also a big adventure to get to these places. All the buildings looked different from anything I've seen before. Rounded roofs with tall points were everywhere, along with the buildings with huge pillars and lining.

"Are you ready to get up yet, it's already eleven o'clock. You need your daily hot chocolate," Quinton laughed, taking my pillow.

"I'm getting up, relax, I'll be done soon," I said, sleepily walking to the bathroom.

I took a shower and got ready for the day. I put on some brown loose pants and a cream high collar sweater. I grabbed my tiny bag and put on some very delicate makeup, just a tint to be seen, nothing extreme. Where would we go first? There's so much to see!

"There's a place called Coffee Supreme somewhere. Maybe we could get a cab and go there." Quinton said, with a nice sweatshirt on that said 'Astronomy Geek' on the front, with a Big Dipper on the back. We got down to the entrance of the hotel and waited for the cab that we called. Not too long after, the cab pulled up, and we drove over to 'Coffee Supreme'. Quinton gave the driver the money, and we hopped out of the cab. To my surprise, this coffee shop was really big! It was two stories tall, and it looked like a diner. We entered the building, which had a fancy mural on the ceiling.

The waitress sat us down at a very pretty table that had pictures of old ruins on it, the walls had old tools that they'd used to make statues and buildings.

"Hello! I'm Kacey and I'll be your server today, what can I get for you today?" The waitress asked as she approached our table.

"I'll just have some hash browns and some hot chocolate." I said nervously.

"Oh you must be American, we don't serve hash browns here, we have more foods that you can get though, the menu is right there!" She said as she pointed at a menu that was leaned against the wall.

I looked through it, so many delicious foods were on there that I had never heard of before!

"I would love to have a croissant, with some butter to go with it, please!" I announced after looking at a nice, toasted croissant that was shown inside the menu.

She laughed and wrote it down. "And for you?" She asked Quinton.

"I'll have the same thing." He said setting the menu down.

She took the menus and walked off. There was faint music playing somewhere. It was pretty, and I've never heard it before. You could also hear the chefs yelling at each other in Italian, and see them running around with pans and sauces.

"It's so pretty here, the paintings are so pretty, what do you think?" I asked Quinton.

"Yes, I really enjoy them. It takes real talent to make something that looks that great!" He exclaimed.

Not too long after, the waitress came back to the table with our food and drinks. The croissants were steaming and there was butter glazed over them. It was so soft and fluffy, I had never tasted anything as good as this, other than my favorite hot chocolate, which was also very good.

"This is excellent, what do you think Ivani?" Quinton said, ripping another piece of his croissant off.

"It's so good! I think this is the best croissant I've ever had!" I exclaimed.

There was a lot to see in Rome, like the museums, parks, and old buildings. A few of the many places we planned on going to are the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Square, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Colosseum. All of these places are hundreds of years old and if there is one thing I love about Rome is to see all of the old buildings. Not only was the food great but I still was expecting to see Nella, but the chances are very low.

Once we left the restaurant, we went out and bought some things. I bought a scarf that had a lovely pattern on it. Quinton, on the other side, bought a small, handheld fan that had a map of Italy on it. We returned to our hotel room and set down our things.

Today, we are going to the Colosseum, it is not too far away, but we are still going to take a cab, since it would take at least three hours just to walk there. I looked out the window, the whole cab ride. It was so pretty outside! The buildings were so different from the ones back at home in Lynchburg, that I got a little homesick, but I was still excited to see one of the buildings that my father had told me about before he died. He said to take a picture of the Colosseum with me in it and frame it for him. He also told me that if I ever get to go to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, that I should take a picture of it with the illusion that I'm holding the Tower. The minute we got there, I jumped out the car and ran up the steps. After paying the cab driver, Quinton came up and bought our tickets to go on the tour, and to even see the building.

"Okay, hold onto the tickets, the bus will arrive any minute." He said, putting the extra change back into his wallet.

"I'm so excited, you have the camera right?" I asked urgently.

"Yes, I have the camera." He said, laughing.

"Hey! What's so funny?" I asked.

"You are just so excited that you forgot your bag in the cab." He said, pulling my bag from behind him. I hadn't even noticed I forgot it.

"Oh, no! Thanks for grabbing it, that could've been serious, after all, I keep my passport in there!" I said, relieved.

"Remember your bag next time." He said as I put the strap around me.

"I will!" I said excitedly, just as the bus turned the corner. "Look, the bus is arriving!"

Quinton turned around and watched the bus pull up. The bus was filled with people, and they all flooded out like a wave of water. Soon enough, we boarded the bus with around the same number of people that were on before us. We sat down in a seat near the front of the bus.

"Hello Ladies, Gentlemen, and Younger ones! I am your guide, Mr. Joe Hoppins. But you can all call me Joe. I can't wait to start our new journey to the one of a kind, Colosseum!" The guide said. "We will all learn the rules before we start our trip."

"He's really good at this." I whispered to Quinton, which made him laugh.

"First one, always stay with the group. We don't want anyone wandering off. Step two Listen to the guide because some things might be dangerous. Step three... four... five..."

I gazed out for a little while. Quinton nudged me before I could fall asleep.

"And finally, have fun!" Joe said.

Once we arrived, I got off the bus and stayed close to everyone in our group. Joe started walking us to the Colossuem, at first I saw that it was really small, but as we got closer it was extremely tall. We walked about three fourths of a mile to get to it, but it was worth it. Joe told us that we were able to branch off, but we should never be alone and that we should meet him on the side that faces the sun. Quinton and I went off and took many pictures of the Colossuem. It was such a huge ruin, that you would be squished like a bug if it came crashing down on us.

It was about an hour and a half later that we all coiled back together and walked back to the bus. We saw many things like writings on the walls, and we examined old bricks next to new ones, which were so different. Once we got back to the bus, we took a long bus ride to the starting place. We hopped into another cab and drove back to the hotel room. Once we were back in our room, I hopped into my bed. My legs were sore from walking for almost three miles today. I'm not the kind of person that gets a lot of exercise, so I was pretty tired. I removed my makeup and changed into some loose pajamas. I started to watch a movie with Quinton, but I ended up falling asleep at the last ten minutes of the movie. It was a long day, but every day we're going somewhere else. As long as I get my hot chocolate, I'll last. After I fell asleep, my phone buzzed. A new text from Nella, saying, "I was able to get off work! My plane is tomorrow at eight in the morning, hope to see you!"