Rome, Italy
All I really need to say about Rome is that it was AWESOME...Right when we landed in Rome from our flight from Barcelona, we met 2 Canadiens and ended up chatting while waiting for our bags. It turned out that they hadn't yet made reservations anywhere, so before we knew it, all 5 of us had gotten together and started the hike to the hostel we girls had booked. Turns out it was a LOT longer walk than we had thought, but after a long time walking along narrow roads filled with careening cars and trying not to get killed, we finally had our first sight of "Camping Roma." Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the place, but I can assure you that our first impression was one more of shock than delight when we realized it really WAS more of a campground than your typical hostel. As Steve said, "Those tents look about right for 2 or 3 people..." Oh lordy...*lol* As it turned out, we were actually in the "bungalos," which were glorified little trailers on wheels with a bunkbed, single bed, and miniature bathroom, but which at least kept out the rain and there was no way some guy with a knife could defeat the purpose of our padlock!
So yeah, we got checked in at about 13:30 and of course that was the nicest day we ended up having in Rome. At any rate, we all were tired and sweaty and just wanted to relax, so we all headed up to the pool on the other side of the site. Mind you, it wasn't a BAD pool - quite nice in fact. It was more the fact that they are in the middle of setting up this whole campground so there was a foot of open space between the ground and the pool that one had to jump... unfortunately for Manda's badly bruised foot, she jumped more out than up. :( Eventually we made it in though, and after a bit of swimming, we just enjoyed our time in the sun.
That evening we decided to take the bus into town to the Vatican before supper. Turns out it closed at 15:30, but we still had a great time eating gilato (which is an AMAZING Italien icecream/yogurt sort of thing) and walking around the town. That was followed up by Italien pasta and wine (could life get any better?!) before heading back to the campsite. We put down a couple more bottles of wine there as well while playing cards and talking and laughing about anything and everything. Here's a couple pics from that...
Steve giving Greta a piggy back ride cuz her feet hurt and it was hard to walk up the hill in her skirt!
Here's Manda, Greta and Duck...
... and here was Steve and I.
Rosy cheeks from the sun and wine ended up ruling the day! lol...
The next day (Wednesday) we spent the entire time walking around the city and seeing the sights. Here is where my pictures kinda suck, because Steve took 150 on his digital camera for us, but I don't have the CD yet and I was mainly using my regular camera cuz my digital card was about full. He sent me a couple pics though, so here goes...
This is a random pic from when we were at the Trevi Fountain - absolutely GORGEOUS huge fountain, but there were TONS of tourists around so Steve had jumped up on top of a garbage can to get a good photo... here's the rest of us down below just chilling...
Steve and I chillin on the rocks - I think Duck took this pic...
The Trevi Fountain... Manda was the genious who insisted that we stop here, and wow, what a place to see... it was beyond gorgeous!!!! Everyone of course made a wish and threw their coin into the pool as well!!
After hitting up the Ferrari shop (with cologne that is to die for!!!) and a ton of other historical sites, it was off to the Colosseum...WOW... doesn't get much cooler than that!! Me, Steve, Manda, Greta, and Duck... It was straight out of the pages of my architecture books... absolutely amazing...
Duck getting "stabbed" by one of the guards.. He was actually completely clueless that this was taking place!! lol.. jumped about a mile high when it touched him just after the pic was taken!!!
They had different displays of great athletic feats in the Colosseum... here was a pic of Jesse Owens kicking butt in the Olympics with Hitler there!! Whoo-hoo!! Too bad Manda was winning, huh? :)
Thursday was kind of a lazy day... slept in a bit before finding an internet cafe, eating some lunch, and just walking around town for awhile with Duck and Steve. It was rainy off and on all day, which is definitely NOT the best weather to have while in Rome!! Even so, we braved the elements to try and find some good eats, and after walking in a DOWNPOUR and getting hit up by every random urchin on the street to buy an umbrella ("10 euros miss, 10 euros" while we curse that we left 3 umbrellas in the bungalows) we finally found a little place. Unfortunately we missed the last metro home, but we had an awesome taxi driver that pretended he was in the Indy 500...it was an interesting ride back home. :)
Friday the guys took off and Greta, Manda, and I got down to some SERIOUS sightseeing and shopping!! First we hit up the Vatican City... did NOT realize how immense the place was until after buying our ticket to get in and realizing they weren't kidding when they say it's a city!!! Did YOU know that the Sistene Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica is all part of that??? We sure didn't. Here's a couple pics from Michelangelo's famous Sistene Chapel's ceiling...
And here's a picture of the steps we went down to leave the building...
After that, it was just too nice out to sit inside, so we wandered the streets and did a bit of haggling... 18 purses (Gucci, Louis Vitton, Prada, etc. knockoffs) and 2 pairs of sunglasses later, we finally headed home!!
That evening, Greta, Manda, and I just chilled at Camping Roma, playing pool and hanging out with some of the other campers. Met a couple of army people who were stationed in Italy right now who had just returned from Iraq, so that was pretty cool!! Had a good time talking with them...
Saturday was my final day there, and I absolutely had to see Michelangelo's Pičta, so we got up early and headed for St. Peter's Basilica. This place...was beyond anything I can explain. Anyone and everyone should go to Rome some day, just to see this place. You walk into this gigantic cathedral and think, WOW, I am at the center of Christianity right now...it is truly amazing. Here is Greta and Manda outside...
And once inside, you see Michelangelo's Pičta in St. Peter's Basilica... Wow, wow, wow... it's the Madonna and Jesus
Immediatly following that, I headed back to pick up my stuff and fly back to Paris to meet up with Karen Jans (who, for those of you who don't know her, is from Clarkfield and also goes to Concordia). AWESOME to meet up with her in Paris for the day, and a great way to end my vacation!!
PAGE CREATED: 11 mai 2004