When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore: Days 16 - 19

Roma! So this installment will pertain to the four days I spent in Roma, one of the most amazing places I have ever been! I, er, am currently in Paris, getting ready to go back to the states tomorrow. I should be able to finish the last 10 or so days of my trip pretty quickly. I apologize for the lack of blogs. I pretty much just lost hope after being 5 days behind.
Also, recently I realized that I lost all of the post cards I had written, so, Elaine, I will have to beer you something else sometime. I do, however, have all the stamps I needed from Italy.

Day 16 -

So in leaving Lucca, I pulled a Becca and lost my sunglasses... silly me. At least it wasn't something really important. Don't worry mom, it wasn't the prescription pair, I didn't bring those just for this reason - I must be more responsible than I look! I also, for the first time on this trip tried to book a hostel in advance, but was unable to due to the 24 hours in advance rule that is so popular. I knew that I was going to Rome next, so that was good, but unfortunately the trains out of Lucca run pretty infrequently, so I was just in the sweltering station for about an hour. The train was not much of an escape, but it was worth getting to Rome.

Once I got there I encountered my first problems in finding a place to stay (the plot thickens) and had to go to three different hostels before finding a bed. Luckily they were all pretty close to each other and there seem to be about a million of them. They only had a bed available for one night, but they told me to go down the next morning to see what might be available... you will have to continue reading to find out how the story goes and no peaking!

I was really happy with the hostel that I ended up in, they had free pizza every night, a pretty relaxed bar, and a really nice staff. I am now thinking that I may want to work in a hostel for a summer or something... or potentially open one of my own, "las tres hermanas."

Strangely enough, that night when I went down for pizza, I heard someone call my name and I actually ended up running into some Californians - Santa Rosites, to be more specific - that I had met in Firenze. What a small world! So we chatted and had a good time over a few beers and some pizza. We met some guys from England and Australia and ended up heading out to a fountain and hanging out for a while. It was a beautiful first thing to see. I think that fountains just look better when they are lit up at night.

Day 17 -

As you may have noticed, my first evening in Roma was not very productive, but Day 17 is not at all the same! I got up early and because I was only able to book one night I had to pack up my stuff and wait around to see if there was another bed open. Surely enough there was. Each day that I was in Rome I had to change rooms. It was kind of annoying, but also pretty funny. So once I knew I had a place to lay my head, I headed to the Palatine.

The walk from the hostel was about an hour and wasn't that impressive. My first impressions of Roma were not the greatest. It is a big city and somewhat dirty in places. Going from the romantic places in Tuscany to full-on city was a bit of a shock, but it was ll worth it. The Palatine is basically the ruins of ancient Rome, next to the Colosseum. It is so impressive and very difficult to desrcibe. I had decided that Rome was the place to get audio tours, so I forked out the extra euro-bucks and walked around learning all about the different ruins and what they were used for and all that cool stuff. I am really happy to have done that. I have never been all that into the history of that time period, but to see it is really to believe it. All this year I have been amazed by the history in France, but I am just now discovering the more eastern history.

After hitting up the Palatine, I slowly walked over to the Colosseum... very slowly due to the heat... and was able to skip the line because I had bought the joint ticket at the Palatine. I have relatively good luck standing in lines here... or actually not standing in line. I have been surprised, but I guess June is still kind of considered to be the low season and even early July can be pretty slow. Anyway, the Colosseum was about 100 times bigger than I had ever imagined. Truly breathtaking. I got the audio guide there as well and it was freaking awesome! Hearing all the facts and cool trivial bits that I have mostly forgotten was really amazing! And even though I wa melting the whole time, I am really glad that I went to Rome. It is an inspiring place.

After the Coloseum, I headed to the Piazza venezia where there is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The whole section of the piazza is made of white marble and it is really pretty. Marble, marble, marble... On the side of the hill there are some stairs that were designed by Michaelangelo that lead up to a beautiful vista point for the Palatine.

On the opposite side of the piazza lies the Basillica San Marco which was really cool. There was a mosaic in the apse that was really neat and I got to put to use my recent Christian Art History class!. The whole church seemed to be decorated in marble. It was crazy! There was also a crypt that was pretty cool, I saw a staircase that noone was going down and figured I'd give it a try. I am happy I did because it was one of the coolest (in two ways) part of the church... so small and marble-y and dark. It was a bit scary... yeah, I know I am a wimp.
After that I got some gelato (yes, the gelato stories are back Philippe) and managed to spill it all over myself... I get it in cups to avoid thism but is has been so hot that the melt has become one of my biggest adversaries. I strolled back to the hostel and met the guys in my new room. They were funny Canadians and we all headed down for the free pizza and hung out a bit.

Day 18 -
So I dedicated this as my lazy walk around and see the free stuff day and it turned out quite well. I got some picnic supplies and headed to the Trevi fountain (and found the most amazing street full of hot guys in uniform along the way). I don't know what I was thinking, but as I descended upon the fountain I was shocked by the number of people there. I guess it is a huge attraction. I found a bit of shade to eat under and met some cool people and even threw in my wishing coin.
Some guys that I met suggested I check out the Pantheon, which was on my list of things to do and it was awesome. It is the best preserved building from ancient rome and is absolutely breath-taking. At the top of the dome, there is nothing, so the light comes through and really gives meaining to the word illuminate.
I was really craving gelato on the way home, so I found some and sat at the piazza Navarro where I did a bit of souvenir shopping... and bargaining!
I then headed back to the hostel - getting a bit lost along the way, of course - for my usual siesta time and was planning to hook back up with Kara (from the Bologna train station) and hang out for a while.
The funny thing about Rome is the kind of people you meet in the hostel. There are many different types of travellers, people who do whirlwind trips and see "all of Europe" in 3 weeks, people who spend months and years travelling the world, and everyone in between. In towns likw Rome I found a lot more whirlwind travellers than anywhere else. It gives an entirely different experience and it was fun.
Speaking of people, I feel it is about time I put in my bit about travelling Europe as an American. The responses are so different; some people have their ideas of the States and its people and stick to them and others are open to new experiences, but everyone has at least one "stupid American" story. I love to hear about these, but I also get offended at times. I am very happy to have grown up where and how I did and I think some people just have an idea and stick to it. I can't remember if I told this story, but when I was in Nice, I had a conversation about world affairs with a guy and after he told me that I was the "only intelligent American girl he had ever met," which I guess is a compliment, but I took it very poorly. He was not the only person to make a comment like that and I don't know what, but I feel that I need to do something to raise awareness of intelligent Americans. Ok, that turned into a rant, so I will stop before I put my foot in my mouth (or potentially put it further in my mouth).

Day 19 -
So the next day I got up early to go to the Vatican museums and Saint Peter's Basilica. I assumed there would be a huge line for both, but once again Rome caught me off guard.
I started at the Basilica and it was probably the biggest church I have ever been in. Truly amazing. Michaelangelo's ability to represent the human figure is awesome.
At the Vatican museums I got the audio guide and spent about 6 hours there. Many parts of the museum were totally empty and it was an extremely tranquil place and it doesn't hurt that just about every one of the security guys was cute... Of my time in Italy, Rome was the most "attractive." I went to every room on my tour except one (it was closed) and felt very accomplished after. The exception to the tranquility was of course, the Sistine Chapel, which was amazing. I think I was able to better appreciate it with the audio guide. It explained each of the panels and the history and the styles and everything you could want to know about a place. And it was packed, I could barely walk around. I finished by sitting in the courtyard and eating a snack. The place was practically empty.
On the way home, I stumbled upon some sort of changing of the guard, which was a nice little break in the walk. It was pretty cool. The music that was played by the band was very different, not very military.

So that was my last full day in Roma. It was a really nice way to finish things. My next post will be about Salerno and its surroundings. Looking forward to seeing and hearing from you!