Rome: Days 69-71

Friday morning, the day of my trip to Rome, I woke up at 6:30 in order to go for my run and eat breakfast with more than enough time to get to the airport on time.  I was out of my flat by 8:15, which was a good thing because the tube was amazingly packed during rush hour on a Friday.  After reaching Liverpool Street station, I took the Stansted Express to the airport and then boarded my flight to Rome. I landed at Ciampino airport, which was a polar opposite to Zurich a week prior.  Ciampino is the smaller of Rome's two airports, and is very small and urban looking.  I then took a bus to the city center, and my hotel was a short walk from the drop off point.  By the time I checked in, it was almost 6:30, and I decided to spend the evening by walking around in the lovely 55 degree-weather.  I walked all the way down to the Trevi Fountain, which took about 30 minutes, and poked my head around there for awhile before walking back and having dinner at a pizzeria right across from my hotel at 9:30.  After that, I went to bed exhausted.
I woke up at 9 on Saturday and went across the street again to have breakfast before walking downtown in what was a beautiful day: 65 degrees and sunny.  I walked all the way down to the Colosseum and signed up there for a combo tour of the amphitheater and the nearby Ancient Roman Forum, which cost me 28 euros but lasted until 5.  After my tours were completed, I walked all the way back to my hotel, rested for a bit, and then turned right back around to meet some of my Trinity friends for dinner at 8.  We went to a hole-in-the-wall but very famous pizzeria across the Tiber River for dinner, with more fresh pizza and one of the most interesting (but delicious) desserts I have ever had: a Nutella and ricotta cheese calzone.  We went for a drink afterwords before I went back to the hotel via the metro and went to bed around 12:30.
Sleeping in until 10 on Saturday, I had breakfast at 11 and then hit my final tourist stop of the trip: the Parthenon.  After walking all the way to this ancient temple and then back, it was time to get on my bus to the airport.  Unfortunately, my plane was almost a full hour late, so I was stuck in the airport for awhile before taking off for London.  After landing, getting my passport stamped for the final time, and taking the train, I went home and did some grocery shopping before writing this blog and going to bed.