ROME!

So I'm back from my Rome trip and pretty exhausted, but it was a great time. I got there on Saturday night and managed to find the Hostel I was staying in for a bit, then realized it was just a door in a building with no sign, just a number on the wall marking the address. As a precursor to the next part of this story...when I left Ireland, the last ATM I had tried to get cash out of had denied my card and said that I needed to contact my bank, which was a problem considering it was Easter Weekend. I went to Rome with only 30 euros in my wallet, assuming I could use my credit card most of the time there. However, when I get to the hostel, the guy tells me that they only accept cash, and it's a lot more than I have. I go into mini-panic mode, wondering what I would do in Rome without a place to stay for 3 nights. I ask the guy where the nearest ATM is and luckily it worked...apparently the ATM in Ireland was just in the business of scaring people to death. So I pay for the hostel and the guy shows me my room, which is a tiny room about the size of a college dorm room...but with 6 beds. I have never stayed in a hostel before, so this was going to be quite the experience. After dropping my stuff off, I wandered down the road to the Trevi Fountain, which was pretty awesome, but really crowded. Apparently it is one of the top sights to see during the night time due to the lighting. It was at the Trevi Fountain that I got my first glimpse of Rome street vendors...something that I'll elaborate on later. After looking at the fountain, I went off looking for this "great" Italian food and found a small pizza place near the fountain. I had been warned that the food near the attractions was generally not as good, but I figured about a block away was a safe distance...I was wrong. The pizza was not good. However, I then went looking for some "great" Italian ice cream and somehow I found one of the places that this guide book I have recommends as some of the best ice cream in Rome...and it definitely did not disappoint. Awesome ice cream. When I got back to the hostel, a couple of people were in the room and by the end of the night, the room was filled up.

The next morning, Easter Sunday, I decided to skip the Pope's speech as I wanted to avoid the insanity that I was sure would be near the Vatican. I went to the Capitolina first, the Capitol building, which was pretty amazing. From there I took a walk down by the Roman Forum towards the Colosseum, which was the primary thing I wanted to see in all of Rome. On the way to the Colosseum, I saw about a hundred street vendors, selling sunglasses, belts, little dancing paper things, etc. Not only were there street vendors, but there was also people painted all gold, posing as statues and other strange things like that...very odd. Anyways, when I got to the Colosseum, I immediately saw that if I wanted to get inside, I would have to wait in a line for probably over an hour. Luckily, right away a woman asked me if I spoke English and then offered me to join a tour group where I would have to pay extra, but I could skip a lot of the line and would have a tour guide, so I went for that. It ended up being a really good decision, as I got in really quickly and the tour guide was very good. After the Colosseum, I wandered down the street to a giant church called San Giovanni in Laterno, which I must say wasn't that much less amazing than St. Peter's. The work that went into these churches is baffeling. Other hightlights of the day were starting to see that the Smart car is a favorite of the Romans and I got a few glimpses of why by seeing their parking techniques. I also saw my first Ferrari of the trip...and then my second and third. At the end of the day, I wandered to the north of the city to a giant courtyard that was spectacular. Here is where I saw the Ferrari Enzo, but also some of the best views of Rome that I saw the entire trip. That night I finally found some really good pizza, so I was excited about that and decided to reward myself with more Italian ice cream...which tended to begin the trend of having pizza and ice cream for nearly every meal.

More to come soon...