rome and the final countdown
the last few days have been pretty low key in Rome. we have been walking the town a lot and seeing a lot of sites; nothing really to note but just seeing and walking the city is a great thing.
the night before last we hung out in the hostel and read a bit and then i struck up a conversation with the Australian couple that was traveling the world for 9 months. apparently, it's some sort of right of passage for all Australians to do when the finish high school or college.
the couple was really nice and we all talked for about 6 hours. they told us about their home country and all what is has to offer and just by talking to them, it seems that Australia has their shit together. they tried to get us to move there; it was pretty amusing. they also had us try the only Australian delicacy that they could thing of; Vegemite. it was gross and very salty but they love it. so excited that we tried it and couldn't stop laughing at the faces we were making.
so, we had them try one of our gross raw/vegan energy bars we brought but haven't ate yet to the bars being so god damn nasty. they made the same faces we made when we tried the Vegemite. it was very amusing. actually, the guy, Simone, liked it and was kind of intrigued by the taste. he ate the whole thing trying to pick out each ingredient. we were laughing the whole time. it was a great time spent exchanging stories of where we went and who we've met and the towns and sites we liked the best. of course, theirs was a little more interesting since they have already been traveling for 5 months. they were really nice people and I'm glad we got to have a very nice conversation with them.
after that, it was around 2am so we headed to bed and got ready for the checkout the next morning. we got up around 8 and didn't shower since we were going to another hostel with out own private shower. bad idea.
we got the the hostel around 1030am and we checked up but we weren't allowed to go in the rooms till 3pm since they had to clean them. so the official check in was actually 3pm. smelly, sweating and tired, we head around town trying to kill time. we take the metro to the Spanish steps again and walking around the shopping district and window shop at all the top named stores in Italy. we take the metro around for a while and eat some food. we sit at a cafe and kill and much time as possible.
finally, 3pm arrived. we got to our room on the 2nd floor and uploaded the luggage from out back and laid down for a bit. Nichole crashed out for a while and i took a very much needed shower. i read for a couple of hours and then actually crashed out myself. i awoke around 630pm and Nichole was getting ready. we headed out on the town and walk around for a hour or so and find an African restaurant with some awesome vegetarian food. we go in and have a cheap and filling dinner.
we head back to the hostel to end the night. i stay up pretty late and dive into the Haruki Murakami book Kafka On The Shore. it is a fantastic book by the way.
today we slept in a bit and then took the metro to Vatican city. we wrote some postcards and bought a few times for friends and family back home. we then headed back around town and ended up back at the hostel since a lot of places are closed in the afternoon.
tonight will be pretty low key. we have to purchase all of our souvenirs tonight since everything is closed on Sunday. we are going to a big flea market though that should take up most of the day.
we leave early Monday morning to fly back home. we have to take a train to the airport and then i believe our flight leaves around 10am. we don't actually get into Seattle until 840ish pm on Monday. (with the hope that non of our flights are late)
so, this is probably the last Italian entry for the trip.
see you back home.
the night before last we hung out in the hostel and read a bit and then i struck up a conversation with the Australian couple that was traveling the world for 9 months. apparently, it's some sort of right of passage for all Australians to do when the finish high school or college.
the couple was really nice and we all talked for about 6 hours. they told us about their home country and all what is has to offer and just by talking to them, it seems that Australia has their shit together. they tried to get us to move there; it was pretty amusing. they also had us try the only Australian delicacy that they could thing of; Vegemite. it was gross and very salty but they love it. so excited that we tried it and couldn't stop laughing at the faces we were making.
so, we had them try one of our gross raw/vegan energy bars we brought but haven't ate yet to the bars being so god damn nasty. they made the same faces we made when we tried the Vegemite. it was very amusing. actually, the guy, Simone, liked it and was kind of intrigued by the taste. he ate the whole thing trying to pick out each ingredient. we were laughing the whole time. it was a great time spent exchanging stories of where we went and who we've met and the towns and sites we liked the best. of course, theirs was a little more interesting since they have already been traveling for 5 months. they were really nice people and I'm glad we got to have a very nice conversation with them.
after that, it was around 2am so we headed to bed and got ready for the checkout the next morning. we got up around 8 and didn't shower since we were going to another hostel with out own private shower. bad idea.
we got the the hostel around 1030am and we checked up but we weren't allowed to go in the rooms till 3pm since they had to clean them. so the official check in was actually 3pm. smelly, sweating and tired, we head around town trying to kill time. we take the metro to the Spanish steps again and walking around the shopping district and window shop at all the top named stores in Italy. we take the metro around for a while and eat some food. we sit at a cafe and kill and much time as possible.
finally, 3pm arrived. we got to our room on the 2nd floor and uploaded the luggage from out back and laid down for a bit. Nichole crashed out for a while and i took a very much needed shower. i read for a couple of hours and then actually crashed out myself. i awoke around 630pm and Nichole was getting ready. we headed out on the town and walk around for a hour or so and find an African restaurant with some awesome vegetarian food. we go in and have a cheap and filling dinner.
we head back to the hostel to end the night. i stay up pretty late and dive into the Haruki Murakami book Kafka On The Shore. it is a fantastic book by the way.
today we slept in a bit and then took the metro to Vatican city. we wrote some postcards and bought a few times for friends and family back home. we then headed back around town and ended up back at the hostel since a lot of places are closed in the afternoon.
tonight will be pretty low key. we have to purchase all of our souvenirs tonight since everything is closed on Sunday. we are going to a big flea market though that should take up most of the day.
we leave early Monday morning to fly back home. we have to take a train to the airport and then i believe our flight leaves around 10am. we don't actually get into Seattle until 840ish pm on Monday. (with the hope that non of our flights are late)
so, this is probably the last Italian entry for the trip.
see you back home.