Roma

Ciao Bella!

It has been a few days since I posted but I have been hoping to toss all of Romes adventures into one post. And since we have to wait for our laundry to be done it seems like an okay time to do it!

We spent our first day touring Rome on a walking extravaganza. We are too cheap to pay for the Metro (which is only 1€ hahaha), but we also wanted to see the city. Nearly everything was within sauntering distance so we made pretty good time. We made our way to the Spanish Steps first, then the Trevi fountain - which you all should know was oversized and so gorgeous. We made a wish and tossed in our coin - which I learned afterward that if you only toss one coin it means for a quick return to Rome. More travelling! From there we made our way to the Pantheon which was also a sure site to see. The dome was absolutely perfect and lucky us the sun was shining for decent photos! From there climbed up the steps of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument, which gave us a great view of Rome and the Colesseum! We also obtained a sunburn and horrendus tan lines. Great!

Exhausted we hit up the grocery store and stocked up on things (wishing they were as cheap as in Greece) and made our way back to the hostel. M&J Hostel is by far the best hostel that we have stayed in so far on the trip, allowing us for decent sleeps in pretty great beds. Our roomates have been pretty great so far, only 6 of us altogether this time. We met a couple who have been travelling in Africa for three months and are travelling Europe for a month until they head back to England, and a few others but we havent taken much time to get to know them really. The people change so often that it is hard to keep track or maintain some sort of friendship.

We spent Tuesday at the Coloseum - not wanting to wait in the huge lineup, we paid a few dollars extra and took a guided tour throughout it and the Palatine Hill. The ruins there still give a pretty good idea of the castle that used to lie there, and let me tell you, a six foot throne doesnt sound like such a bad idea! Haha. So unnecessary! Tuesday also happened to be Ladies Night! Lucky us! We decided that we may as well attend a pub crawl while we are here, seeing as we get free drinks and dinner AND a nice pink tshirt, so stylish, it seemed worth the deal we got. We went to four different pubs and met quite a few people. We met a couple of girls from Canada who are teaching just outside of London, and gave me some contact info so that I might be able to get a job as a TA (if I cant find any other) with their reccomendation. We hung around with them and some hilarious kids from DC who we are hanging out with later tonight as we attend the Queen Tribute band at an Irish Pub! All in all, the pubcrawl was much a success, myself taking more advantage of the free beer than Jenna (she is a tank, and I am not) so it ended it plenty of singing and dancing. PLENTY of singing.

We were a bit of a sore and tired mess yesterday after the pub crawl, Jenna not as much as I was but we still managed to get out none the less. We had been planning to go to the Vatican because it had been suggested to go later in the afternoon to avoid the lineups, but by the time we got there and saw Saint Peters we decided to tour it for free ourselves and we would go to the Vatican this afternoon. St Peters was quite the site, 3/4 of it being done by Michaelangelo and the other 1/4 by a man whose name I cant quite put my finger on. From there we went back to the hostel where we complained about sore bodies and being tired and went to bed around 8.

This morning we woke up early and made our way to the Vatican! Again, not wanting to stay in line we paid a bit extra for the guided tour which was really fantastic. The tour guide was a woman from Edmonton who majors in Art History and gave us our moneys worth for sure. The highlight of the tour was the Sistine Chapel, where I stood around with my jaw open for twenty minutes. It is simply fantastic and in such good condition. You arent allowed to speak or take photos but I did manage to snap one without them taking my camera away! We also saw the rooms by Raphael which were also a jaw dropper. These men had some serious talent. Michaelangelo spent four years working in the Sistine Chapel all on his own! The tour guide also let us know that he didnt shower and would wear the same pair of shoes without taking them off until they simply fell off of his feet. A homely but genius man for sure.

OH, I should also mention that we got another number this afternoon from the man signing us up for the tour of the Vatican, and that Jenna who swindled a knife from a restaurant accidently left it in her backpack and got into the Vatican with it because the guards were hitting on her. The officials here are worse for hitting on us than the actual people. Its almost scary.

Anyway, before this times out and I lose the entire blog, I would like you all to know that I miss you a lot! I will try and update this a bit more often but its so hard when it costs us money! I also tried uploading photos the other evening but the computer kept freezing when I tried to use my flicker. Therefore, there are TWO photos on my facebook - one of the trevi fountain and the other of me atop the Acropolis!

Much love!
Tre