In an attempt to cheer me up after my failed Interrail trip, and as she had always wanted to go there, my mum and I decided to go to Rome for a couple of nights. I LOVE Rome, as it is the most amazingly beautiful city I have ever been to. I first visited the place a couple of years ago when I went on a sixth form trip to Rome and Venice. It was, and possibly still remains, the funnest trip I've ever been on, partly due to the fact we were 16 and took full advantage of the lower drinking age in Italy. This probably served to why it was such a fun holiday, b
ut none the less i was very excited to be returning to one of my favourite cities. As I was going with my mum it was obviously going to be a very different trip to what I had experienced before. (My mum is the kind of person who gets a headache after one glass of wine..so definitely was not going to be a party holiday.) It was also a chance for me to put what I'd learnt at Uni for the past two years to the test. Studying History of Art meant that I had spent the last two years learning all about Rome, as it holds some of the most famous art and architecture in the world. Studying a bit of Archaeology also meant I learnt a lot about the Roman empire, so I was smugly looking forward to sharing some of my knowledge with my mum. Therefore it came as quite a shock to find out that I knew nothing. We were wandering around St Peter's Basilica and although I recognised pretty much everything around me from various lectures, I couldn't actually talk about them, much to my mums frustration. She obviously held a lot of faith in me as she had kept turning down guided tours on the basis that 'my daughter is going to be my tour guide' err yea, sorry mum. What the hell have I been doing the last two years? because it certainly hasn't been gaining an education...I'd never felt so stupid in my life.
ut none the less i was very excited to be returning to one of my favourite cities. As I was going with my mum it was obviously going to be a very different trip to what I had experienced before. (My mum is the kind of person who gets a headache after one glass of wine..so definitely was not going to be a party holiday.) It was also a chance for me to put what I'd learnt at Uni for the past two years to the test. Studying History of Art meant that I had spent the last two years learning all about Rome, as it holds some of the most famous art and architecture in the world. Studying a bit of Archaeology also meant I learnt a lot about the Roman empire, so I was smugly looking forward to sharing some of my knowledge with my mum. Therefore it came as quite a shock to find out that I knew nothing. We were wandering around St Peter's Basilica and although I recognised pretty much everything around me from various lectures, I couldn't actually talk about them, much to my mums frustration. She obviously held a lot of faith in me as she had kept turning down guided tours on the basis that 'my daughter is going to be my tour guide' err yea, sorry mum. What the hell have I been doing the last two years? because it certainly hasn't been gaining an education...I'd never felt so stupid in my life.I did however take some lovely pictures, so you know, thats something I suppose.
After returning from the Vatican somewhat bemused, I was sat outside a lovely quaint Italian coffee shop when it suddenly dawned on me that I'd been here before. Not to that particular coffee shop but the
road it was on and the giant square and church that were opposite definitely seemed familiar, and suddenly visions of drunkenly wandering around this area hurtled back to me. Then I had a look around and to my absolute joy spotted a little Irish pub across the road, and realised my hotel was right round the corner to where I had stayed back in 2007! I was elated, as this little pub held so many memories, dancing and drunkenly talking to teachers, Hannah having to be walked home by Mr Grant, people sneakily smoking outside feeling horrified after being discovered by Miss Smith. I did wander round to try and find the famous 'Italian wine' restaurant, but as I had pretty much no recollection of that night I had no hope in finding it. Other than realising I've wasted a hell of a lot of money at Uni pretending to learn things, I also discovered that Italian men are drawn to me for some reason. With a group of mates that would be fine and would lead to some funny stories no doubt, however when on holiday with your mum it has quite the opposite effect. A particularly keen waiter at one point thought it wasn't inapropriate to hold my hand and kiss the back of my neck (bare in mind it was boiling and I was what can only be described as a sweaty beast..God knows what he was thinking, but I bet he instantly regretted it) At least for now I can suppress any fears of becoming a spinster, and be safe in the knowledge that one day I can just elope to Rome and find a lovely, if somewhat creepy, Italian husband. Score. 
