November // Rome Day 3 // Books

Well hello there November! 

This is how I feel... year after year. Don't get me wrong, I love me some summer days. But fall is my season! However, here in Germany, it kind of feels like we just skipped over the whole fall weather thing. :(


Rome

First I am going to share our Day 3 in Rome! If you missed Days 1&2 click here.

We woke to a really beautiful day in Rome. We got up a little late so we grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped on a city bus. We were on a strict itinerary after all!

Well, after 35 minutes of being on the bus, and still not yet arriving at our destination, I pulled up google maps, and sure enough we were going all over Rome, but nowhere near The Colosseum. Not sure what happened, but we got off and walked!

We passed this on our walk! Not sure what it is. 

We made it to our first stop...

The Colosseum

Well, technically our plan was to visit The Roman Forum first. Typically, the line is shorter for the Forum. So you buy your tickets there, and then already have tickets for entering the Colosseum. Well again, the lines were incredibly long at both!!! Like 3 hours each! My plan didn't work, yet again. We chose to admire this from the outside. Looking back, I wish we would've gone inside them both, but oh well - Next time!



All the people.







It was still pretty magical. 

Trying to see what we could of the Forum without actually having tickets to go inside!



Next, we checked out the Spanish Steps!

I loved these! We loved sitting and watching the people! Fun fact: Did you know you can't eat, lay down, or even smoke on the steps! There are guards who walk up and down the steps to remind people of the rules. 





View from the top of the steps!

After the steps, we broke the #1 rule of eating out in Rome. We ate RIGHT BY THE STEPS. (The rule is not to eat near any tourist sites.) The food wasn't that great, and the prices were astronomical. But, we were hungry. Sometimes the convenience factor has to come in to play.

After the steps we wandered to a park that was nearby that promised to have an awesome view!



Getting close!



It was amazing in person.

We wandered through the park for a bit, and enjoyed the sunshine.

Next, we walked back to the Trevi Fountain to see it during the day, and to toss our coin in! It is said that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi Fountain you will return to Rome one day. 

Blake tossed a coin a few years ago when he was there, and it worked for him. :)



We tossed our coins and ate one last gelato before having to head back to the hostel to catch our flight. Again, we broke the rule. We got gelato right by the Trevi. It was a bit more expensive, but guess what? It was the best! We loved it so much we got gelato from the same place twice!

We missed a few things on the second day because of our late start and our weird bus detour. We would've loved to also see the Pantheon and a few more churches.

All in all, we had a great time in Rome and I do feel that we got to see a lot in our short time. We were exhausted for at least 3 days afterwards. But we left with happy hearts, and bellies full of pizza and gelato! Really, what more can you ask for?


Book Review

HOLY books batman! I was busy reading the past two months! 7 books in total, 3 in September, 4 in October. Amongst this collection is quite possibly my new favorite book of all time!

First up was Silver Girl. I love all the Hilderbrand books that I read, but this one was by far my most favorite of hers! It is based off a true story and it was fun to discuss the real events with Blake! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. 

Next up, I read The Choice.  I usually don't read Nicholas Sparks books, I don't have a good reason why, I just usually reach for other things. BUT, many people recommended that I read this one. Well, I loved most of it, but I have mixed feelings about the ending. I am giving this one 3.5 out of 5 stars!

We listened to this book while driving to and from our various destinations. Big Little Lies was one of my favorites from Liane Moriarty! She writes a suspenseful story that even intrigued Blake. Win win for me! I really loved this one. 5 out of 5 stars!

It Ends With Us is probably the best book I have ever read! I loved it so much, and it made sure to make me feel! It is one of those books you will think about long after you have finished. I don't want to give anything away about it, so I am just going to say read it! If you asked me for a book recommendation recently, I probably told you to read this! The amount of love I still feel for this book is crazy. 6 out of 5 stars!

After reading It Ends With Us, I was kind of on a book hangover. I knew that nothing would be able to compare with the love I was having. So I Googled books similar to It Ends With Us and that is how I found Swear on This Life. It was also a really good book. I loved it for different reasons. I bought it in the evening one day, and it just so happened I couldn't sleep that night. SO I read the whole thing by morning. It had many similarities, but enough differences to cure my book hangover. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Hating Game was sassy and quirky! It takes place in an office setting and deals with the relationship between two co-workers. It was really hard to put down! It is a little raunchy, but a great chick lit novel! 5 out of 5 stars!

The Hopefuls is set in Washington, D.C. so naturally I was a little bit interested by that fact alone. But I think anyone would really enjoy this book. It is a novel about a woman who's husband works on Obama's campaign and then works in the White House. It talks a lot about life in D.C., and it was really easy to read. I have never read a book that took place somewhere I lived. So I had fun with that! There were a few parts that seemed to drag on for me, so I am giving 4.5 out of 5 stars. 



This was my life after finishing my books this month. Such a good book month!