Sunday, August 10, 2008

Rome

The train ride in from Munich was long, but relaxing. I almost finished The Kite Runner before going to sleep (Ivy, I might owe you a new copy after this trip. It is holding up for now but definitely taking a beating). We got into the Rome station a little after 9:00am. Finding the hostel would have been straight forward if its sign was more than basically a post it note on the window. No joke.

The guy running the place is awesome though. He gave us a map and basically helped us plan our three day stay. He also gave us a stack of coupons for local bars and restaurants along with a welcome bottle of wine. We arrived too early to check in so we took a walk to find breakfast. They really don't eat breakfast food in Rome, so I had pizza with a side of chicken nuggets and an orange Fanta. Random but good. After that we took a walk to the Spanish steps which were a great sight. There is an awesome view of the entire city from the top. This city is so old. It's completely different than anything we have seen so far. Obviously Rome is older than many European cities, but it helps that it wasn't all blown the shi* during WWII and then re-built(cough*Munich*cough). By then it was time to check into the hostel. Not a moment too soon because I was DIRTY. I am always dirtiest they day I arrive in a new city because I just spent the last day and half in the same clothes. Needless to say, I am not getting used to it.

I am definitely pleased with the room. It is very clean. We have four beds in our room, but have to share one bathroom and shower with another four bed room. Hopefully that won't be an issue. I have taken two showers today without a problem. I'm still dirty.

After showering and whatnot, we headed out to get on an open-roof bus tour. Got gelatto on the way. SO good. We found a similar deal to London which was one price for 24 hours. We're able to get on and off the bus at any stop, which are pretty much all the major sights. We took the bus around the entire route to get a good overview of the city. We got off near the Colosseum and walked to it. On the way we saw a bunch of ruins which are really cool, among other sights that I couldn't name in a million years. We walked around the Colosseum but didn't go in yet.

Oh, it is HOT here. 90s. No humidity though, but I am still constantly sweating. Sweat lines can clearly be seen from my backback straps when I take it off. It's pretty sexy. We haven't really attepted to figure out the local bus system, so we have been walking everywhere (besides the little time we were on the bus tour). I think today we have walked more than the combined time in any other city.

After the Colosseum we walked back to the hostel because Mark's camera battery died. Took a short nap while that charged. Woke up and showered again. While trying to figure out where to get dinner we corked the bottle of welcome wine and drank straight from it. It was pretty good for a free bottle of wine. Yeah, because I know about wine. We found a cool place to eat around the hostel. Got antipasto, and a three course dinner with salad, lasagna, and baked chicken. Also had two coke lights and a half liter of red wine. Everything was really good. After tasting the wine I realized the stuff we had at the hostel was crap. haha.

We stopped back at some more ruins and the Colosseum for a night view. Eveything in Rome looks awesome at night. After that we walked down to this riverfront deal with a ton of restaurants and bars lining both sides. It was cool be we didn't stay that long. It was getting late and it has been a long first day in Rome. Now we are back at the hostel blogging before bed. Tomorrow is a big day including Vatican City, and actually going inside the Colosseum.

Ok, time for bed. I will post again after we check out the Vatican and Colosseum tomorrow. We might check out the Pantheon as well if there is time, other wise we will do that day three.

Ciao,
Kevin

p.s. A shoutout to Maggie and KG for all the blog comments. Thank you!

3 comments:

Karen said...

So Mark's blogging too? Didn't know that, it'd be interesting to view his point of view of the same events... if he feels comfortable, could you send me a link of his too, or post his url on your blog?

BTW: Didn't notice that it was posting me as KG until you said something...did you know it was me?

Laurie said...

Umm yeah Rome will live up to the hype for sure. However, it might not be as cool since I'm not there, but that's to be expected. P.S. I have not heard about a street Peroni yet. There are some places close to the Pantheon where you can get a large one for 1 Euro! :-)

Unknown said...

Again with the shower comments... and a lot of them ;)
You're welcome!