The One About Rome...

My mind is made up. If I weren't Samoan, I'd want to be Italian. Five days in Rome will do that to you.

Favorite Sites: Coliseum and Sistine Chapel

Sure, both are well known attractions but they were so impressionable and wondrous. While walking through the arches of the Coliseum, I could really imagine a boisterous crowd cheering for their favorite warriors and/or secretly hoping their fate was sealed by a large saber tooth tiger... haha. The Sistine Chapel silenced my heart. Well-known biblical characters came alive at every inch of the chapel. I spent 20 minutes poring over every image beautifully detailed in dreamy colors.

Favorite Restaurant: Trattoria al Varesino

Tucked away in a very small basement off of via Marghera and Veranese was my favorite restaurant. Completely run by patriarch Fernando and his family, Varesino produced the best spaghetti carbonara I've ever eaten. But I was more in love with their homemade ravioli, beef steak and tiramisu (hold on to your seat!) from my second trip (yes, I ate dinner there twice...)  And the environment was homely. Fernando and his family knew most of the customers by their first names. To borrow from Olive Garden: When you're here, you're family... And I felt like it.

Favorite Moment: Emaline Fonoti

This trip cemented one thing for me: I am my mother's son. I completely forgot how similar we are. I basically went to Rome with myself (in ~30 years). My ability to quickly develop relationships with others, bargain shop and survive in any environment were innately passed down from my mom. As travel companions, I never once worried if we were separated or randomly took the wrong bus/train. We somehow always caught up with each other and adapted seamlessly (well... for the most part! haha) to any circumstance. We didn't even need to talk most times as we wordlessly followed each other throughout Rome. 

New 7 Wonders Of The World Updated

Taj Mahal (Agra, India) 

Chichen Itza (Yucatan, Mexico)

Christ the Redeemer (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) 

Petra (Ma'an Governorate, Jordan) 

Great Wall of China (Beijing, China) - NEXT

Colloseum (Rome, Italy) 

Macchu Picchu (Cusco region, Peru)