Long time no write...
I suppose I should inform my adoring public (consisting of my aunts and parents) about the rest of my trip since Italy...These will come slow, but I will try my best to document the trip fully.
ROMA
So we left on Wednesday night in order to arrive in Rome on Thursday morning. We made sure to have some libations on the train, except I lost track of how much I had and puked all night. Let's just say I will not drink red wine for a while. Don, Sandee, Christina, and I got stuck in a cabin with the two smelliest and grungiest looking people on the planet. Not to mention, the cabin itself was really crappy to sleep in and the seats didn't even recline. All in all, it was the worst train ride ever, or so we thought at the time.
DAY 1
We finally arrived in Rome. It took us a little while to find our hostel (aka Bargain Hotel) which was decent, but not 45 dollars a person decent. We rested up and then decided to take a bus tour of Rome. We went around on a double decker bus, which was pretty awesome and saw the Colosseum and Roman ruins. There were a couple of guys dressed as Roman soldiers that were taking pictures with people, so we fell for it. They were trying to scam us out of 5 euros each, but we said screw that and gave them 50 cents. At the Colosseum, we realized how much the Italians try to scam tourists. I paid 9 euros for an ice cream and a gatorade. The entrance to the colosseum was a bit pricy, but it was fun to go in there. We did have a bit of a problem with the ticket lady since they ran out of tour guide tickets and she gave us an attitude because Marissa and Mike wanted their money back. Either way, the Colosseum was amazing and totally worth it. We slowly meandered our way back to the hostel. We walked around shopping and looking at other sites. For dinner, we wanted to find this one restaurant in Marissa's tour guide, but after an hour of searching we all got pretty upset and finally just sat down in the first place we found. The food was alright, but I have had better Italian food in the USA. It was pricey as well...At the end of the night, we roamed around the Trevi Fountain and took pictures, then tried to find our way back to the hostel without a map!
DAY 2
We woke up relatively early. We were supposed to get to the Vatican at 8am, but we didn't make it until around 10am. We split up as some of us wanted to go in the Sistine Chapel and the other didn't. There was a 2 hour line to get into the Vatican Museums/Chapel. It wasn't too bad, we joked around and entertained ourselves by taking silly pictures and talking about our adventures for the next two days. Once we got to the museums, we didn't realize that there were still two hours of walking left to finally make it into the Sistine Chapel. We walked through a labyrinth of rooms full of frescoes, statues, relics, etc. Every big room we entered into was exciting, as we thought we finally arrived. After TWO hours, we finally got into the Chapel. It was awesome. Not too big, but the paintings are fabulous and it's just so majestic...We were so hungry and tired afterwards that we decided to get food at the nearest restaurant. Unfortunately, it was the most overpriced and disgusting food I have ever eaten in my life. My lunch was 23 euros and the pasta tasted like feet, and the tiramisu like cardboard. We left to walk around the Vatican plaza and see St. Peter's Basilica, which is of course, also gorgeous. On the way there, Marjorie decided that she wanted to buy an imitation purse so I bargained with one of the African guys and she got a relatively good "Gucci" for 20 euros. Then we made our way back toward the hostel and shopped until we had to get our bags and catch our train. Overall, Rome was exciting to visit but frankly, the city is pretty gross, and the people are sooo mean!
ROMA
So we left on Wednesday night in order to arrive in Rome on Thursday morning. We made sure to have some libations on the train, except I lost track of how much I had and puked all night. Let's just say I will not drink red wine for a while. Don, Sandee, Christina, and I got stuck in a cabin with the two smelliest and grungiest looking people on the planet. Not to mention, the cabin itself was really crappy to sleep in and the seats didn't even recline. All in all, it was the worst train ride ever, or so we thought at the time.
DAY 1
We finally arrived in Rome. It took us a little while to find our hostel (aka Bargain Hotel) which was decent, but not 45 dollars a person decent. We rested up and then decided to take a bus tour of Rome. We went around on a double decker bus, which was pretty awesome and saw the Colosseum and Roman ruins. There were a couple of guys dressed as Roman soldiers that were taking pictures with people, so we fell for it. They were trying to scam us out of 5 euros each, but we said screw that and gave them 50 cents. At the Colosseum, we realized how much the Italians try to scam tourists. I paid 9 euros for an ice cream and a gatorade. The entrance to the colosseum was a bit pricy, but it was fun to go in there. We did have a bit of a problem with the ticket lady since they ran out of tour guide tickets and she gave us an attitude because Marissa and Mike wanted their money back. Either way, the Colosseum was amazing and totally worth it. We slowly meandered our way back to the hostel. We walked around shopping and looking at other sites. For dinner, we wanted to find this one restaurant in Marissa's tour guide, but after an hour of searching we all got pretty upset and finally just sat down in the first place we found. The food was alright, but I have had better Italian food in the USA. It was pricey as well...At the end of the night, we roamed around the Trevi Fountain and took pictures, then tried to find our way back to the hostel without a map!
DAY 2
We woke up relatively early. We were supposed to get to the Vatican at 8am, but we didn't make it until around 10am. We split up as some of us wanted to go in the Sistine Chapel and the other didn't. There was a 2 hour line to get into the Vatican Museums/Chapel. It wasn't too bad, we joked around and entertained ourselves by taking silly pictures and talking about our adventures for the next two days. Once we got to the museums, we didn't realize that there were still two hours of walking left to finally make it into the Sistine Chapel. We walked through a labyrinth of rooms full of frescoes, statues, relics, etc. Every big room we entered into was exciting, as we thought we finally arrived. After TWO hours, we finally got into the Chapel. It was awesome. Not too big, but the paintings are fabulous and it's just so majestic...We were so hungry and tired afterwards that we decided to get food at the nearest restaurant. Unfortunately, it was the most overpriced and disgusting food I have ever eaten in my life. My lunch was 23 euros and the pasta tasted like feet, and the tiramisu like cardboard. We left to walk around the Vatican plaza and see St. Peter's Basilica, which is of course, also gorgeous. On the way there, Marjorie decided that she wanted to buy an imitation purse so I bargained with one of the African guys and she got a relatively good "Gucci" for 20 euros. Then we made our way back toward the hostel and shopped until we had to get our bags and catch our train. Overall, Rome was exciting to visit but frankly, the city is pretty gross, and the people are sooo mean!