When in Rome...

Rome was a short and quick visit. We arrived early Sunday afternoon, and decided to do the same as in Venice…walk around til we found a cheap place to stay. Thank goodness we did that. We stumbled across a family operated, multi-faceted business. Lets just say…you know its crazy when all operations are conducted out of a Laundromat. LOL!!! Yup…they are the proud owners of a Laundromat/internet service/hostel service/ baggage storage business. It was great! We were able to get a hostel for 20 euro a night…which was completely within our budget. But what was even better was that it included free internet, breakfast AND dinner!!! Not to mention an awfully friendly staff. It was awesome!!! The rooms and bathrooms were a lot “cleaner” than Archie’s, and the dinner was awesome! Definitely a great find.

After we checked in and dropped off our bags, we decided to head out and see the sights. First stop…the Coloseum. That was really one of the two things I really wanted to see. That along with the Vatican. But anyhoo….it was as grand as I had imagined it would be. Its amazing how people totally try to get you to take the guided tour option. Which is true…without it you’re really just looking at a pile of old rocks. LOL. But there were a lot of boards with information regarding EVERYTHING, so I felt like I learned a lot on my own. Quite fulfilling. Our pass at the coloseum was also good for the Roman Forum, which is an area ancient ruins that you could walk around in. It was HUGE! So by the end of the day I was done with Roman history. LOL. Luckily our hostel was conveniently located a few blocks away from the main train station, so finding our home was a breeze.

That evening we were spoiled with the most amazing pasta!!! Ahhh…just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I don’t know what it is…but any pasta in Italy tastes so much better. Thicker, tastier…and scrumptious!!! Ok..enough of that cause I’m getting hungry.

The Vatican was on the schedule for the next day. We figured we should give ourselves a whole day for that place and it’s a darned good thing we did! We were there for nearly 5 hours!!!! That was enough for me. After walking through the different basilicas, chapels, and churches, I couldn’t help but get freaked out by everything. It seemed so dark and uncomfortable. Hmh…something to think about. LOL. The Sistine Chapel was totally awesome. However, that euphoric feeling was rudely interrupted by the blatant disrespect other tourists had for this sacred place. I mean, there was a guy right at the entrance telling everyone to put their cameras away, and to not take pictures, and to be reverent. But noooooooooobody listened! Right when you walk in all you see is FLASH, FLASH, FLASH!!!! And all you hear is CACKLE, CACKLE, CACKLE!!!! I was so offended. So it was hard for me to fully enjoy the experience. Sad.

Later that evening, we took a stroll to see the Fontana de Trevi! That was gorgeous! I so badly wanted to jump in the water…but I controlled myself. Good thing cause I probably would’ve gotten arrested. LOL. We found the best gelato in town! Their mango and strawberry was probably the best I’ve ever tasted in my life. The mango tasted like I was eating the ripest mango from the tree. It was awesome. All in all…Rome was great…but best seen in a short period. Just like in Venice, once you’ve seen one thing, you’ve seen them all. But definitely an experience I will never forget.