A 7 years promise finally fulfilled...

7 years ago I arrived in Rome in the evening of a cold January day, on route to Malta bound to arrive in the following there... A portuguese friend ERASMUS "student" there was waiting for me in Tiburtina station. 13h in Rome was what I had available... When G. my friend realised that, he instantly invited me to a scooter ride through the key landmarks of Rome!! That is how, under close to 0'C temperature, I got my first glimpse of the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Forum or Fontana di Trevi. It was so unforgettable that I promised myself to return, with someone, to fully discover this fantastic city!

7 years later I arrived in Termini station in the evening of a cold January day, got into a cab and obviously got an extra tour than I needed (bastard...10 Euro down the drain...), and arrived to my friend L.'s place, an already 9 year old friendship that started in an AIESEC conference and withstood the test of time :) After catching up and settling all the logistic details it was time to sleep, in order to get an early start in Rome!

10h30... 11h... 12h... 13h30... uuuáááá... Time to wake up! By 15h I was ALREADY in the vatican, checking out St. Peters Cathedral, the dome and, what impressed me the most, the tomb of Pope John Paul II. Walking in the level -1 of the Cathedral, in those hallways full of History, and then testifying the faith of hundreds of people that visit that sacred site, left a mark in me.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering literally in the alleys of Rome with no defined course, looking for a nice cafe to stop and write... And I found it... What a staff! 4 potential contenders to the Miss Italy contest!! Jeeeeze... Definitely inspired me to stay and write a bit more than usual while enjoying a smoooooth tiramisú! :)

The next morning I was able to sleep a lit less, until 13h and then I was off again... Nice italian food, monuments and History (walking in the Forum, getting into the Colosseum), a bit of Shopping (...........) a fantastic evening listening to live Jazz, with shhhh shhhh shhhh as supporting artist (...) It was good to spent part of the weekend by myself discovering this city and great to spend the rest of the time catching up with L.

Even if not with someone as I initially planned it, the good things that life has to offer, that we promise ourselves that we will do "one day..." should NOT be aujourned! This weekend was living evidence!

Carpe Diem!

PS - Good luck in the snow... The trendy boots will help ;)