miss emma.

i am back from roma! and i loved it. it is still my favorite city in the world.

we left at ten on wednesday night because susan told us that the airport is super sketchy, so we decided to spend the night at the airport. don't freak out mom, but we slept on cold hard tile all night. and it was freezing and gross, so we basically didn't sleep all night. our flight left at five am, and i don't remember anything about the two and a half hour ride. i was passed out. and then we took a bus and the train into the city. i love rome. it is a magical place. we stayed at the loveliest little hotel that was literally a minute's walk from the trevi fountain. it was so charming and cozy. the first day we got there, we were exhausted, so saw the trevi fountain, got lunch, and dropped off our stuff at the hotel. we then went downtown to shop around and see the spanish steps. i had seen all of this before, but it didn't make it any less wonderful. rome is incredible. if you haven't been, go. seriously, you don't regret it. just don't go in february. 

we went to this really cute place called la bruschetta for dinner and had this really charming old italian waiter named bonifache. he kept talking about how women are God's most beautiful creation and how men are stupid. i liked him a lot. and then i found my favorite gelato place ever, which is right next to the trevi fountain and our hotel. biscotto gelato and niccola gelato = heaven on earth.

we went to bed early because we had to be up early for the next day. we had two twin beds and one queen, so macy and jenny and i all slept in the queen. it was cozy. can't say i didn't like it. sorry that my leg hair is so long girls. that probably wasn't too fun to cuddle up next to.

anyway, the next day we got up early and it was a little rainy but not too bad. we went to the vatican after a delish nutella and croissant breakfast. we went into the church first, saw the pieta, and i loved seeing it again after i had watched angels and deamons. i was like ohhhh heyyy this is where the helicopter took off and oh wow this is where that bad guy lit himself on fire!! and this time we went down to the crypt and saw where the popes are buried and even where the apostle peter is supposedly buried. we love crypts and murder scenes. we love death apparently. 

we were in line for the vatican museum when it started snowing like crazy. i'm talking huge giant snow flakes. i had to buy an umbrella. and we were waiting outside in line for like twenty minutes, my leather boots soaked through and my toes were numb. numb. so painful. i forgot how much i sincerely hate snow. once we got into the museum, we walked through and then got to the sistine chapel. the guards in the sistine chapel are super sassy and hate talking or pictures being taken, but i was super sneaky and snapped some. caitlin and audrey and macy and i kind of dozed off for a couple minutes and then woke up to find a bunch of tourists taking pictures of us. weird. 

we left the museum and got the best pizza from this little shop and walked around the stores and eventually went to see this bridge and overlook the city. rome is beautiful. we crossed the bridge and walked to the four seasons and then the pantheon. when i went to rome in august, the pantheon was closed and i didn't get to go in, so i was so excited to see the hole. while we were taking pictures outside the pantheon, this man came up to us and gave us flyers about going to this bar tour that night. he was talking about how they go to eight bars in one night and free drinks are offered and we could have all the alcohol we wanted and all i could think about was the movie taken. hello, this sounds like a rape tour. i really hope it wasn't like that, but i am so glad that i am not that kind of girl. so glad.

after the pantheon we got gelato and then went back to the hotel to warm up before dinner. we took showers and changed our socks because they were soaking and then we bundled up again and went to dinner. we went to this medieval-ish place and we thought we were being so smart by not eating the bread that they put on our table because we didn't want to be charged, but low and behold, they charged us for it anyway. nine euros, for bread. seriously? that is one thing about rome that i realized this trip. it seemed like everyone was trying to rip me off. i did not like that.

the next day we checked out and went straight to the colosseum. we all brought backpacks except macy, who decided to bring a rolly suitcase. we nicknamed the suitcase r2d2. she had to pull it all through the colosseum tour and the forum and the streets of rome. so funny. the sun was out and shining and it felt so good to soak up some vitamin d. we probably sat in the sun for a good hour. and i loved every minute of it. we got more pizza and more gelato for lunch (surprise surprise) and then took a bus to the train station, where we looked at more shops and eventually headed to the airport. 

once we got back to london, we were starving so we grabbed burger king for the train ride home. london felt surprisingly safe and comfortable to me. i loved it. i loved getting on the circle line and getting off at queensway and feeling like i was at my home away from home.

 i love london. i love 27 palace court. and i really really love dorm 4 and the lovely girls who live here.

today was valentines day, and it was really hard for me to be away from my honey. in our dorm, we decided to pick names and be each other's valentines, which was fun. we had ward conference today, and i have to admit that i slept through most of it. except i did hear a lady bear her testimony about how she sees Jesus and angels every sunday. it was interesting to say the least. i came home from church to find lovely roses on my pillow from sweet maddy :) she's a doll. i then took my regular sunday nap and woke up just in time for dinner. i love sunday dinners. and i love finishing off dinner with ben's cookies. dorm 4 and ben's cookies were my valentines today. i loved it.

in honor of the holiday, i am going to post a pic of last years valentines day with my man. 

love him more and more each and every day.