Assorted sights and friends

On my last morning in Rome I want to make an entry of the sights that didn’t get their own entry as well as the friends that I made here.
My favorite thing about Rome is anywhere you walk you’ll pass several churches that are far more ornate and enormous than anything you’d see in the states. They are so beautiful and I love the atmosphere in there. It is different than seeing other sites because they are not just historical, they are living and breathing with a mix of tourists and actual churchgoers, priests and nuns. The art is mind blowing in all of them.
The hostel I stayed at was great and it was very easy to make friends sitting out in the garden at night. I had a great time and it was so fun meeting people from all over - UK, France, Netherlands, Singapore, and Morocco to name a few. It was interesting to compare cultures and the anti-American sentiment I expected was really not present at all. Lots of people told me Chicago was on their bucket list, everyone loves Michael Jordan, and they know a lot about American politics and events and are genuinely interested in asking questions. The only people shitting on America were myself and the other Americans, and everyone else made fun of their own country.
I made some great friends here and went out with a big group one night. I got close with an American couple a year older than me - who got engaged at the colosseum a few days ago - we did a lot of stuff together and I even switched hostels in Venice to theirs as we will be there at the same time.Les mer