Lots on Paris

So I had a few more days in Rome until it was time to head to Paris. I was pretty tired of the huge city and the mobs of tourists by then, so I decided to take it easy and just relax. I thought the best way to do this was to go to different parks and read and just take in the sights. I went to the zoo one day, and it was fun and everything. I didn't spend to much time there, but just sat down and read my book. The next day was more of same, only I sat down in front of the Coliseum, watching the masses of tourist go in and out. At night I would hit up my favorite gelato places and they grew to know me. I had several great meals too, but the gelato was the highlight. My favorite flavor had to be the sage raspberry. It was so good.
On the second to last day in Rome I decided it was time for me to go get my train ticket to Paris. I got there and had no idea where to go for help. I used the automated machine to help me but it just told me to go to the ticket office. The line for the ticket office had to be the longest line so I stood in that line for an hour and a half. Once I got help I found out that all the trains were booked to Paris for the next two days. Of course I was not happy with this but then the lady found a spot on the train the next day. What a relief that was. Afterwards I just wandered around and went to a few churches. The next day I was all packed, and thankfully my hostel allowed me to leave my bags with them for the day until I needed to get on my train. I wandered, and found a great place to sit and read by the Coliseum. Soon enough it was time to go to the train station and head to Paris.
The train ride was long but uneventful. I managed to sleep just about the entire way, which surprised me because I had quite an eclectic group of passengers in my cabin. I somehow lucked out and was assigned to the top bunk which was the best place, since people didn't climb up and down over you. The next morning I woke up just outside of Paris, and when we got to the station I had no idea what to do or wear to go. I had an idea where I was but how to get to the hostel was another question entirely. I walked for a while in the direction I thought I needed to go. Paris was not making a good impression on me that first hour. The city stank of pigeons and urine. In fact, one of the first Parisians I saw was a homeless man weeing in the street. Obviously I was not in the best places of Paris. Also when I broke down to get a taxi no one would take me, even when they were parked and waiting for a passenger. The first cab told me to go to a different cab and when I got to the window of that cab he sped off without anyone in there. I went back to the original cab and forced him to take me. I think they knew I was an American and they didn't like the looks of me.
The hotel that I finally got to was pretty nice for me. I actually had my own room and bathroom.......what luxury! I actually couldn't check in when I first got there so I just sat in this gorgeous garden outside this church nearby and read up on the city. After checking in and getting settled I decided to go explore. I found a great English bookstore and ended up buying a Fodor's travel guide for Paris. I then found my way to the front of Notre-Dame, and sat down to study up on Paris. I couldn't believe how many people were there at Notre-Dame. There seemed to be way more tourists than there were at any of the Roman tourist sites. Also those nasty pigeons were everywhere, and people were feeding them and allowing them to use them as living statues. I really hate those rats with wings. I stayed for a while and then decided to treat myself to a nice dinner. I consulted my Fodor's and found the closet restaurant that sounded good. Of course when I got there I found that they did not open for another hour and a half so I decided to walk to my second choice. I got there to only find that they were closed for the month of August. On to the third choice, where I found that they to were on vacation for the month of August. After the fifth try at finding a restaurant I realized that my first choice was now open so I went back and managed to get a table. The food there was amazing. I had a starter of foi gras, and then suckling pig for the main dish. I felt bad about ordering a baby piglet, but once I tried the first bite, those feelings vanished. It was really good. For dessert I had a gingerbread souffle with currant soup. I thought of my brother in law Jeremy because on our cruise several years ago he couldn't get enough of the fruit soups.
The next day I wandered around. I made it to the Eiffel Tower, but the lines were really long to go up into the tower, so I just kept walking. I then made it to the Arc de Triomphe. I spent some time there, but then headed to the more modern part of the city which was quite a bit further away than I thought. It was neat though, with all the large modern buildings. There was this one huge building that mimic the Arc de Triomphe but was quite a bit bigger. It was the centerpiece of the area. Of course, there was tons of modern sculpture around the square with some really neat fountains. It was neat to explore and see all the crazy things there. My favorite part was the giant thumb sticking out of the ground.
I hiked my way back down to the historical old section of Paris and found out that on Friday nights the Louve was open late and free, so I went there for a little while. In retrospect this was the best time to go, because it really wasn't so crowded (I didn't think so at the time). I rushed around not really taking my time because I was planning on coming back in the next few days. I saw all the big attractions, like Mona Lisa and everything else, but after two hours I was tired and not wanting to burn myself out on the museums I left. I tried to find a good restaurant in Fodor's but the one I chose was closed for August so I just went to the nearest cafe. It was pretty good and they actually had a really neat idea. My main dish was a lamb shank with a green bean salad all with a mustard cream sauce. However, when the dish came out I got no cream sauces just a big scoop of ice cream. They had frozen the sauce into and ice cream. It was pretty neat and was really good everything.
On Saturday I had planned to go to the Musee Orsay. It was said to be a really nice museum with a great collection. It really did have some amazing pieces that even I remember from my art history class. Monet, Pissaro, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, and on and on. Rooms filled with there masterpieces. It wasn't a huge museum and they packed the people in. After about 2 and a half hours I was tired of being pushed around and jostled by tourists having to get so close to certain paintings they couldn't even make out what they were looking at. Afterwards, I just wandered around, which is one of the best things to do in Paris. It brought me to several pastry shops and everytime I see one I have to see how good their croissants look.
Sunday brought rain, but I just put on my raincoat and went about my tourist business. I decided to really go to Notre-Dame and check it out from the inside. There was a long line to get in, but I waited patiently. I of course had forgotten it was Sunday and that they still had services there but it didn't matter to the tourists. They still were allowed to come and go and snap photographs. It is funny that such a big tourist attraction is still in use for what it was built for and that they have no problem just working around all the tourists. I couldn't go to a church that had strangers walking around shoving their cameras in every nook and cranny. It would be to distracting. However, Notre-Dame is beautiful and it was neat to be there when the organs were being played and the choir singing. Really, it is the only way to experience a cathedral like that. I then just kept wandering around the city. I made it to the Centre Georges Pompidou, which is there modern art museum/performance center. I didn't go to the exhibits though, I was having to watch my money. I had just heard you had to see the building because it was built to appear inside out. You could see all the air ducts and pipes and everything on the outside instead of being contained inside the walls. Really a different type of building you have to see.
Monday brought more rain, but that was fine because I was planning on spending the entire day at the Louve. I got there pretty early, and not 15 minutes after I got in line, everyone showed up. It didn't take long for the line to wrap around the building, and that building is huge. I really lucked out on timing my arrival there. The museum was packed, and I thought for sure there would be certain corners you could find where no one else would be. But man, was I wrong. People were everywhere, and crawling around like ants in an ant farm. That place is huge, with so many different corridors, halls, and huge galleries. The map really didn't help, and at times it confused me even more. Needless to say, I forgot about the map and just wandered around. After quite a long time, I think 8 hours with an hour and a half reading break, I decided to try to find the exit. I followed the signs, up and down and all around, but it still took me 45 minutes to get out of the place. Needless to say I got back to my hotel exhausted.

Tuesday I took it nice and slow, and realized that the slower you moved in the city and the less structure you had to your day, the better the day seemed. I went around wandering to the different parks and found small little stores that were interesting. I went to grab a bite to eat at this one hidden restaurant that Fodor's informed me of. It had obviously changed hands to an Indian family since the book was printed, but the name had not changed. It was a really interesting restaurant tucked away on a dark street. It seemed to not really be restaurant but more of a set of movie for a restaurant. It was decorated so strangely, it seemed to come out of a book. However, the food was really good Indian food and I had the best chai latte I have ever had there. Even better than the one I make.
That night I had gotten a ticket to go to the movie premier of Salt. It was going to be one of those red carpet events and even the star, Angelina Jolie, was supposed to make an appearance. I got there early and already people where everywhere waiting to catch a glimpse of the star. I stood there waiting for some time, but then decided to escape the mayhem and go inside and try to get a good seat. I ended up sitting in the balcony only a several rows up. The theater was amazing and really gorgeous. It almost felt like you were outside because they had plants everywhere and the ceiling was painted to look like the sky and it had those star lights in it. They had the screen showing what was happening outside, and it was really funny when the stars started showing up. There were quite a few screams when the true star showed up. Kinda funny. Angelina came in to the theater, got on stage, said a few words about how hard they worked on the movie and how much she loves Paris, and then she left. It was pretty neat though, and it was really a pretty interesting movie. I was afraid at first it was going to be in French, but I lucked out and all the French people had to read subtitles.
On Wednesday, I decided to go to Versailles. They had a metro train that went out there so I made my way to the closest station. On the way to the station I noticed tons of large white vans in this one area and people running all around. I took no notice, but then when I was suddenly in the middle of a crowd of people straight from the 1930's my interest peaked. It appeared that I had wandered into a movie set area, and all the extras were making there way to the set. I later found that they were filming Martin Scorsese's newest film “The Invention of Hugo Cabaret”. It is a big movie, that has Jude Law in it and Ben Kingsley, and it is actually Scorsese's first film in 3D. When I finally made it to the next metro station it was closed, and so was the next station. I ended up walking for an hour till I made it to the station that was open that would take me there. It was a long trip out there, but it was quite nice to sit down. Once I got there, there were more tourists there than any of the other places I had visited. It was mayhem. I immediately got in line to get my ticket, because I knew it was going to take a while. It was fun to people watch there because there were so many different people. There was one crazy looking lady with her kids that kept attracting my attention. She was wear animal print, had short bright purple hair, what looked to be a hot pink bird wing stuck in her hair, and then a matching pink boa tossed over her shoulder. I forgot to mention that she had the hue of fully ripe orange due to all the self tanner she used. She was one hot mess! All throughout the palace and also in the gardens I kept running into her. I tried to snap a picture of her without her knowledge, but they came out good enough to do her justice. It was very entertaining.
The palace though was really enthralling. Massive, and way over the top. It was hard to imagine a royal family, along with all the other counts and dukes and so forth, living in such a place. After touring the palace, I went to the gardens, which were just as amazing. The gardens were massive and they were immaculately cared for. I wandered around and after about a mile I made it to the country palaces. These were used just by the royal family when they wanted to escape, but they were still opulent and large. The gardens here were just as amazing, but what was insane was that Marie Antoinette had several architects build her a countryside village for her to enjoy. It include a picturesque watermill, farm, gardens, barn, and so on. It seemed to have jumped out of the pages of a fairytale. All the animals were there, including swans and rabbits, and the buildings were complete with the thatched roofs. It was something to see.
As the day was getting later I decided to head back to the city. I got on the metro with no problems and made it back. It was getting dark so I decided it would be a prime time to watch them light up the Eiffel Tower. I really hadn't spent much time in the city at night when all the monuments and buildings were lit up. It really is a different place at night.
On Thursday, which was supposed to be my last full day, I ran around trying to do the last few tourist things I really wanted to do. The biggest thing I had to do was the underground crypts. I had heard they were really neat and could not be missed. I got to the entrance and the line to get in was so long. I ended up waiting an hour and forty-five minutes before I got inside to buy my ticket. However, it was worth the wait and the crypts were amazing. They seemed to go on and on forever, and the bones of all the people were stacked everywhere. After entering room and room full of bones and skulls I could not imagine the number of people buried under there. It was really something to think about and after a while I began to think I was never going to get out, and that was why there were so many skeletons down there. It seemed quite easy to get lost down there. I made it out though, and I am sure that no one really get lost. I then just wandered around and tried to make the most of my last night in Paris.
On Friday, I was anxious about leaving, so I packed up and went downstairs to see if the hotel could keep my bags till I had to leave. They had no problems with that so I went to grab my last croissant and read in on of the parks. My plane didn't leave till 9 that night but I wanted to make sure I got there with plenty of time. I ended up getting my bags at 2 and getting on the metro to the airport at 3. It look a full hour to get to the airport, but even then I was there to early to check in. Of course, with all my bags I had quite a bit of trouble on the metro and the the gate that lets you out of the metro station smashed one of bags and went not let go. It took me several minutes to make it release my bag, and all that time people were staring and laughing at me, while the line behind me grew in size with impatient people. I just tried to laugh it off. Once outside the area where I was going to check I settled into a seat and started reading on of my books. I was deeply engrossed in my book when out of the corner of my eye I saw a white rabbit hopping around freely. It went under a cart and so I wasn't even sure if I had seen it correctly. I stared for a while, and then it came out again. There was not mistaking that there was a random white rabbit hopping around the airport. I was looking around for some sort of answer, and I thought maybe it was a publicity stunt for Alice in Wonderland, however, no one else seemed to care or even see the rabbit. I thought maybe I was going insane. But then after some time, it hopped away and later I saw it in a crate of some rich Chinese lady. It was one of the strangest things I have seen.
Finally 2 hours before my flight I was able to check it. The line was long and by the time I got up there I only had 20 minutes before they finished checking people in. They checked my passport and then suddenly asked for my visa. I wasn't sure what they were talking about and so I told them. They called several people over and they all were talking in French so of course I had no idea what they were talking about. It began to not look good and I began to realize that I was not going to get on my flight. They eventually told me I could not go to Australia until I had a visa from the Australian embassy. I had no idea I was supposed to, and they told me I had to wait to go there and fill out a form for the visa. Of course it was Friday and they were closed and wouldn't be open till Monday. The people were really helpful and told me what I had to do. I was mostly worried about having to buy another flight, but they were nice enough to change it to Tuesday without any fees. The Lord really blessed me. By then though, it was 8:30pm and I had no idea where to go. I had no hotel, and I really didn't want to go back into Paris with all my bags. I got on my computer and tried to find a closer hostel, but then I just ended up calling my old hotel. They had no problem putting me back up and so I started my trip back to my hotel. It seemed to take forever, and when I got there I was so weary. It had not been a fun day.
On Saturday, I researched about the visa and found that I could get it online. It took me a total of 15 minutes to get it. I wish I would have know that the other night because then I could have gotten it online and still boarded my plane. Oh well though, just a few more nights in Paris. I spent the whole day at the Luxembourg Gardens reading. It was a gorgeous day, and I was content with my good book and a warm baguette in the other hand. I had a good lunch at my favorite restaurant and then I went back to the park to read. Today, or Sunday, I did the same thing. So far that is my favorite thing to do in Paris. Just sit in the park reading, eating baguettes and people watching.
By the way, congratulations to my sister Janine and my brother in law Drew. They just had there first baby today. Welcome to the world baby Ari. I can't wait to meet you. Love from Paris

Roaming in Rome

Saturday morning I was in a hurry because I had gotten a ticket to go on the tour of the crypts beneath St. Peter's Basilica. These were not the tombs of the last popes but of the burials that were there before the Basilica. I was quite excited about this because it was so last minute and I was told you usually have to book months in advance. They only allow about 200 people down there a day, and I was one of the lucky few. Anyway, my tour started at 9:15, but I had to leave my room at 7:30 just to have plenty of time to get there and also time to get through security. It took me a good hour and 15 minutes to get to the Vatican, and then I had to go through security and check my bag. I was afraid I wasn't going to make the tour, but thank the Lord the lines were not long. I hustled my way to the place I was supposed to be, but before I got there I was apprehended by the Swiss Guards. I actually was not allowed to enter the area I was supposed be at until 10 minutes before the time. I therefore had to wait outside the gates, and then I realized the few other people waiting there with the same ticket I had. I went to approach the friendliest most American looking bunch, and started to ask if they were on the Sacvi Tour, when suddenly I found a hand in my face. Before I could complete what I was saying the lady had put her hand up and told me harshly, “No, we do not want anything”. She then realized what I was saying and tried to laugh it off, saying she thought I was a local trying to sell her something. After this encounter with her, I realized that this was the short, round, annoying lady that manages to be on every tour. She was the one always asking questions, making jokes, laughing at everything, and just putting a slight damper on everything. I of course, somehow managed to have this lady next to my side the entire tour. I really could not get away from here. If I was in the front there she was, and if I fell back to get away, soon she was by my side. She even went as far as questioning why I was there and whether I should be. She preceded to tell me about her wonderful daughter who was going to be the world's best archaeologist. It was because of this daughter that they deserved the right to be on the tour, so what was mine? I just told “cause I could.” She could tell by then I was just slightly annoyed with her.
Anyway, they tour was amazing, and I really got a could picture of how the area of St. Peter's was before it was constructed. Our guide told us about why they believed St. Peter was buried there and all about the findings during the excavation. It was really something. One of the funniest moments was when we went to the first level below St. Peter's and these kids above us could see us through the grates in the floor. They got really excited and started asking us if we saw dead people down there. We ended the tour in the crypt of the popes. Afterwards I walked around and found myself in a line. I had no idea what it was for but just went with the flow. It turned out to be the line to go up into the basilica. I paid my fee and started climbing. We got to go up on the inside of the dome and look down into St. Peters. Then we went outside and climbed to the cupola. The staircases were tiny and very steep. At one point this Spanish couple in front of me came to complete stop and they started arguing. It appeared that she was afraid of heights and that she refused to go any further. Of course he was yelling at her to keep going and that there was no going back. And really there wasn't. She broke down into tears, and that got him even more upset. It was slightly humorous, because she was this tiny girl, and this huge fat guy was pouring down sweat from climbing yelling at her. I made it to the top of the cupola with no more incidents, and the views from there were amazing. Definitely one of the highlights, however it was rather packed up there. Once back down on the ground floor I went inside the basilica and toured around. It was amazing, but I was really into the people watching there. There was so many different people and they all acted differently since some of them were just tourists while others had made a pilgrimage to there.
I then went on to the Vatican Museum after a while in the basilica. The museum was enormous, and it was hard to take it all in. After the first hour and a half, I found myself not really taking it all in, and just glancing around. I tried to slow myself down and really look, but your mind just gets so overloaded, and there really is to much to take it. I also did quite a bit of people watching there, and I always watching the faces of people first entering a room. The first thing they did, was to always look up to the ceiling to see if it was the Sistene Chapel. Quite a few of them would look quickly and move on to the next room searching for Michelangelo's masterpiece. When I reached that room, it was obvious where you were. The room is amazing, and packed with people- all looking straight up. The ceiling is quite impressive, and the more you look, the more impressive it becomes. I finally found a seat and just sat down to take it all in.
After the museum, I was starving, so I walked around trying to find one of the restaurants that was recommended by my book. Of course all three of the ones I tried was closed, so I ended just finding one that looked alright, and that was open. I had an amazing dish of pasta stuffed with cheese and pears, covered in a cream sauce along with a carrot cream sauce. I had really lucked out on the restaurant choice. Afterwards I finally found the little gelato place I had been trying to find. They had several strange flavors, and I had to try them all. I ended up having cheese and cherry, fig with almond and cheese, and lavender peach. I know they sound really strange, but they were delicious with only slight hints of the different flavors. I decided to call it a day, because I was so tired and went back to my hostel.
The next day I was going to try to do some more museums. I was going to go to the Musei Capitoline, and on the way there I stopped at the Monument of the Unknown Italian Soldier. It is a massive monument and it houses the museum dedicated to Italian military. I spent a little time there and then went on the the Musei Capitoline. The museum was really great, and I got so confused with the layout. They have an underground tunnel that connects the two buildings, and I got mixed up thinking I was in one, when I was really in the other. I spent a good deal of time just wandering around trying to figure out where exactly I was. After the museum I tried to make my way to the church with the Statue of Truth. However, when I got there the line to get in wrapped around the building and there was no way I was going to wait in line to stick my hand into some statues mouth. Maybe next time. I decided to go grap something to eat on the other side of the Tiber river, in the more Bohemian neighborhood of Trastevere. I found the place that supposedly has the best Napoli style pizza in Rome, and it was good. The pizza there has a paper thin crust that reminded me a communion wafer. I then just wandered around looking around and ended up going in a huge loop. I finally got to one of the churches I really wanted to go to and I was really happy I did. The church was amazing, and the entire back of the church was made of mosaics showing the life of Mary. They were magnificent.
I then made my way back to my new favorite gelato place from the other day, and I tried raspberry sage. This was the best flavor I had tried. I continued to just walk around looking around, and ended up on the shopping street with all the designer labels. It was insane to look at all the people going in and out of the stores. At the LV shop they had a line to go in because there was a bouncer at the door with a velvet rope. You had to be let in by him to actually get inside the store. Absolutely craziness! I then went to the different piazzas, like the Pantheon and Colosseum to people watch. At Trevi Fountain the funniest thing happened. I was on the ballisters overlooking the left side of the fountain. There were people all around and I was just watching the people at the base of the fountain going through the ritual of throwing the coins over their shoulder. This group of old people come up to the left side of me and they were obviously Americans. Really loud and not caring what is going on around them. They were going to perform the ritual of the coin throwing from the ballisters and hopefully make the coins into the fountain. The men went first and had no problems. Then the first of the ladies was supposed to go. She of course had so many questions about what she was supposed to do, and the men were very sharp with her and slightly annoyed. She finally told them she made her first wish and that she was ready. The men impatiently told her to just throw the coin then. She chucked it over her shoulder and instead of throwing it up she threw it down, straight into the side of this guy's head below us. The old men with the lady started laughing and told her to go again. This whole process was repeated 5 times with different ladies, and they all hit different people right upside the head hard. It was hilarious because the victims had no idea where the coins were being chucked from, and they would look around rubbing their head. I was bursting out with laugher and of course several victims spotted me thinking I was the culprit. I quickly pointed out the ladies next to me that were taking up aim again. I hung around a little longer and then went to the Colosseum to watch the sunset. After the sunset at the Colosseum I tried to go back to my place a different route, which took me two hours out of my way. I ended up in the section of the city due to me getting turned around, but luckily I realized it and backtracked. I was a little worried at one point, but it all worked out and I got back safely, and not to late.

Roma!

Well I can't believe that it has been three months since I left the States. And it was finally time for me to say goodbye to Vela Luka and all the amazing people I met there. I know in the past posts that I have sounded like I didn't like it there, but that was the stress talking and really the last month was fun and very educational. Well, my last day was officially August 2nd and I was going to leave on the 3rd. I could have taken the early morning ferry to Split on the 3rd but decided not to since Bobby wanted me to help on that morning and also because I didn't want to spent a full day lugging my three bags around a city. I was going to take the 1:30 ferry and get there 4 hours before my ferry to Ancona left. By about 11:30 that morning I still had not packed fully and I was running around like mad. I made the ferry though, along with my three bags, which must have weighed what I think 40kgs would weigh (I would say 70 lbs). It was not fun lugging them around and I was not looking forward to navigating Rome with them to find my hostel.
The ferry to Split was uneventful, but I was paranoid about my bags, and I would start to nod off and then jolt awake thinking someone was going to be rifling through my stuff. By the time I reached Rome though, I was over this thought and leaving my bags in random places whenever. In Split I immediately went to buy my ticket to Ancona, and managed to do this with some difficulty. I still hadn't managed much Croatian and was mostly using my hands and simple words to communicate. The teller was agitated but she got me the right ticket. I then sat down and waited for the time to board.
After some time, we were able to board even thought we still had two hours until launch time. The ferry was huge and tons of people where going on it. Customs was no problem and they only slightly paused at my photo, laughed and then said “bambino” or something to that degree. The picture was only 6 years ago, but I do not look the same. Anyway, I showed them my ticket on board and it turns out that I only had a deck ticket. This meant that I could either sit in the bar and spent money or go outside. Now this ferry went all night and there was no way I was going to sleep out on the deck. It was looking a little stormy so I waited on the very top deck until everyone disappeared into the bowels of the ship. I then quickly took my belongings and snuck into one of the seating rooms. I found a back row of chairs unoccupied, and quickly settled in to look like I belonged there. I watched TV on my laptop and then tried to get some rest. I finally realized the most comfortable position was on the floor in front of the seats. Not the best place to sleep but at least I managed to fall asleep. I woke up at about 5 in the morning and it was another 2 hours until we reached Ancona. It was raining of course, but it stopped as soon as we got off. I went through customs, and no problems, just another lady murmuring “bambino”, I then had to make my way to the train station, which according to my map was within walking distance. Of course it was a bit longer and by the time I made it there my shoulders were about to fall off due to the weight of my bags. The next train to Rome was in 5 minutes, and they would not let me on it, but I didn't care because I was in not rush. The next train was in three hours or 11 in the morning, meaning I would still get there with plenty of daylight to find my hostel and way around. I spent my time watching the trains come and go, while snacking on some croissants. The train finally came and I quickly found the perfect seat, with the best window view. As luck would have it though, we had assigned seats and it turned out that my seat was the only one in the car that didn't have a window at all. I refused to move, and luckily no one tried to make me. Everytime we came into a new town and people got on, I pretended to be sleeping just to make people think twice about making me evacuate their seat. The Italian countryside was beautiful, and enjoyed riding through all the little towns. We even went through the town of Spoleto, which made me think back fondly on Charleston. It was smaller than I thought, and you can see why Charleston's festival is bigger than theirs now.
The train arrived in Rome, in a huge train terminal. I was a bit intimidated about finding my way around, but I quickly pulled my shoulders back, and marched out of the train acting like I knew exactly where I was heading. That was my plan this whole trip, never allow anyone to think that you don't know where you are or that you aren't sure you are supposed to be there. So far it has worked wonders. Within 10 minutes I found the address my hostel was supposed to be at, but there was no sign, and the names on the apartment numbers were nothing that I thought could be the hostel. There was another hostel by a different name and I tried it but there was no answer. I tried to ask this one resident of the apartments but they quickly dismissed me. I was starting to get a little worried because I was certain that I was in the right place, but nothing was working the way the internet said it would work in to check in. I thankfully had printed out all the information beforehand, and I quickly made my way to a pay phone and called up the number. It turned out that I was in the right place and everything, but they used the hostel owner's name and not the hostel's name for the call button. I was quickly sorted out and I was shown my room. It was an apartment with four bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen and a small eating area. I had one of the rooms, three Italian girls had another, a small Spanish family had another, and some guy was in the other room. Hardly anyone is ever in, because it is Rome, and there is so much better things to do than stay in your room.
I settled in and then went out to explore. The first thing I hit up was the Coliseum, which was amazing. I spent some time walking around there taking pictures and then walked all around the perimeter of the Roman Forum. I then just walked around with no purpose, ended up crossing the river and then making it all the way to St. Peter's square. I then walked back into the heart of Rome, saw the Pantheon along with the Trevi Fountain. I then decided to try and get a decent meal and went to the closet place that looked good. The food where I ate was great but the service was lacking. My waiter was not to happy with just one person taking up one of his tables. Also, halfway through my meal, I realized that the strange smell I kept getting wafts of was not of the city streets, but the dirty diaper beneath my table. Oh well, I got it sorted out, and then went on to enjoy my food. I had a white sauce lasagna, with porcini mushrooms and black truffles. It was amazing. I then walked around a bit more and then realized I had 7 nights to explore everything in Rome. I didn't have to do it all in one night.
The next day went out with the idea of going to some museums. On my way I decided to stop in on this one church. It was massive and ornately decorated. I moved to the front of the church and then I realized how crowded it was. It was then I realized that they were having some sort of ritual (for lack of better word) which was a pretty big deal. With all the crowds and cameras (there were several TV station cameras set up) I thought the Pope was about to walk in. He didn't though, but some guy dressed like he was the pope's apprentice walked by and everyone was looking at him for direction. After a little while I decided to head out and get out of the way.
Back to the museums......So I decided to start with the one further away from the city which was the Modern Art Museum. They listed that they had Degas, Monet, and Van Gogh there, so I was thinking modern, in Rome, was a bit older than my interpretation of modern. Turns out I was wrong, and they only had one painting of each of the artists I wanted to see. The rest was modern art, which in some ways I can appreciate but after a while......you know. I did get to see the signed urinal I learned about in my college sculpture class though. That museum was a long walk out of the center of Rome, and as I made my way back I got lost in Rome's version of Central Park. I finally made my way out, got my bearings together, and then headed for the next tourist spot I wanted see.
I was excited about this next one, because I had heard of it a while ago, but then forgot about it. Luckily one of the tourist sites I had looked at a week ago mentioned it and so I quickly added it to my plans. It was the crypt of the monks. I don't know the real name, but the crypt was filled with the bones of the monks and the walls were decorated with there bones. It was a bit different, and a bit morbid, but I enjoyed it. It turned out to be not as big of a deal as I thought it would be but it was definitely worth seeing. They even had some mummified monks that were still in their robes just standing around....which was a bit creepy.

I then headed to this gelato place that I had read had the best gelato. Turns out the book was right and it was amazing. The first two flavors I had were fig and then honey. I had them together and it was good. After spending some time at Trevi fountain, I went back for some more and had ginger with cinnamon. That is so far my favorite flavor. I kept exploring and then wound up back at the hostel. After a short break I went out to grab dinner at a small place I had read about. The service was so much better than the last place, but the food was not as good. I had just regular lasagna, and I guess I should have ordered better. I then went to try a different gelato place, which was know for it truffle ice cream. It was a scoop of their dark chocolate ice cream, rolled in chocolate chips, then frozen hard and served with whipped cream. Inside there was a cherry. It was really nice, but I thought the previous ice cream shop had them beat. I went back to the hostel and decided to try and get a good nights sleep for the next day.
The next morning I tried to get an early start. I got out of the room by 9 and went to the corner cafe for my pastry and cappuccino. Afterwards I decided to hit the Roman Forum and Coliseum. I spent about 6 hours at both these sites and went over every inch of them. I made sure not to miss anything, and I throughly enjoyed it all. In the gardens of the Roman Forum, I found a pear tree that had fruit and I of quickly had a free snack, making sure no one was around to yell at me. It was the typical tourist thing and nothing much to report about these two sites. They truly are amazing, and it blows my mind to think how old they are, and yet they are still in goo enough condition for me to walk under, over, and all around them. Also to think about all the history they have seen. It was simply mind boggling.
The rest of the day I decided I had to go shopping. I was on a mission to find pants since the next day I was to got to the Vatican and you can't enter without all of your legs being covered. It was quite fun to shop around, and I found a great shop with neat clothes that was closing down. They had all these really nice European designers at 80 percent off and I found a great pair of pants but of course they were to big. I then found this other store that was having a good sale. They had several pairs I liked, but they were only 20 percent off. They had a pair of red jeans/ pants I liked at 50 percent off, but I wasn't so sure about the red. I ended up just getting them since they were so much cheaper, and also because they were quite comfortable. Also I could be like my Mom in the fact that when she snuck into the Vatican she was in a bright orange dress. It would be hard to lose me in these red pants just like my mom in her orange dress. I forgot to mention that at this other store that was banging out Euro dance music, this one salesgirl was trying to help me choose, but she was having a hard time, since she was mostly dancing around me holding some jeans in my face. That was quite interesting. I didn't spent much time there. The shopping streets I was on was a lot of fun to walk around on. You see so many different people, from everywhere.
It is fun just to stop and look at all of the people around you. Of course they had shops for everything, and I had to stop in on some of the sunglass stores. They had some great sunnies and I had a hard time putting them back on the shelf. Haha.....if only. I then went for a late lunch/early dinner. I went to this one place that was cheap and it turned out to be pretty good. I had pizza (which pales in comparison to Pizza Alfa) along with this amazing bread and olive oil. Afterwards, I was about to ask for the check when this large, round Italian guys comes over with a huge slice of watermelon. He just put his hand on my head, ruffled my hair, and placed the melon in front of me. I wasn't sure what to do. It turned out he was the owner of the place, and he really enjoys American college students. He was super nice to me and chatted with me. He also gave me a glass, not a shot, of really good lemoncello. I left there only 7 euros poorer and my stomach was bloated. I was going to call it a day, but on my way back I noticed a wine bar with free wifi, so I stopped in and had a glass of wine, just so I could use the internet. Internet in Rome is really hard to come by and I have been having a hard time finding it. So I know these posts are long, but it is only because I can't post everyday. So I apologize now.

By the way......Congratulations are in order for my sister and brother-in-law! They added their third boy to their family on August 6th. Luke Samek......I can't wait to meet you!