I saw almost everything Rome has to offer. Every single day was packed full of things to do and we ended up walking about 10-13 hours each day. Alex was our official tour guide on this trip. He was able to speak enough Italian to get us around the city and because he had been to Rome before, the city was a bit familiar to him. It is safe to say, that without Alex we would have seen nothing. We spent Thursday devoted to seeing the sites of ancient Rome. We went to the Coliseum, Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Arco di Tito, Arco di Costantino, and a boat load of other places.
The Coliseum and I! Old buddies.
Everyone standing around.
We took a guided bus tour, which was extremely nice because it took us to all the locations on our list and we were able to leave the bus and then catch another one later. As we waited in line for bus tickets, a man from a rival tour company came up to our group in an effort to try and persuade us to tour with his company. The man was a bit strange from the start and seemed as if he were a bit drunk. Hanna slightly mumbled under her breath, “I don’t care.” and the man lost his freaking mind. With his eyes protruding from his head, he turns to Hanna and just stares. For about 15 seconds he just stared at her with a look of amazement and abhorrence. Then he slowing stumbled backwards and starts screaming about how, “No one gives a damn about information!”. It was weird. Poor little Hanna.
Alex and Hanna on the bus tour.
After a long day of touring ancient Rome, we made our way back to our hostel. I taught everyone a card game called Spit. I was cursed at in Spanish every time I beat Topher and had cards thrown at me every time I beat Mark. It was good fun.
Kevin, unfortunately, was not having such a great time in Italy. He was feeling under the weather and decided to leave the trip early.
The next morning Alex, Jon, Hanna, Mark, Andrea, and I woke up super early to get to Vatican City. Topher and Brian opted out proclaiming, “It’s just to “popey” for me.”. It was extremely early and I thought about taking a shower, but, when in Rome. Vatican City was my favorite place in Rome. The Sistine Chapel is one of the most astonishing places I’ve ever been. I really dug the whole Vatican museum as well. It was filled with so many beautiful works of art. It was definitely worth the early morning wake up. We were all smiles when we walked out of the museum and past the people still waiting in line. Basilica S. Pietro was very nice and very holy, but there was something about S. Maria in Trastevere that was extraordinary. The sheer size and brilliance of it’s architecture gave me an overwhelming ecclesiastical feeling. It was quite awesome.
Jon in front of S. Maria in Trastevere
Hanna and I making a new friend in the Vatican Museum.
Another friend of mine.
Probably my favorite piece of art in the Vatican Museum.
We met up with the boys at Piazza Navona, where I had a caricature of myself drawn. Upside down the drawing is a spitting image of me. Right side up, not so much. After my caricature, we walked to the Trinita dei Monti and then split up again. Topher went to McDonalds for dinner and, being not so hungry, I decided to join him. Albeit not the most salubrious choice, it was cheap and that is always a plus. McDonalds are very different in Europe. The one in Rome was fashioned like a four star restaurant. It had marble floors and columns. They still served the same muck behind the counter, but the surroundings were more dignified. We met up with the rest of the gang after dinner to walked down Via del Corso, which was lined with retail stores.
My first act of public defacement, a McDonalds in Rome.
I, unfortunately, do not speak a lick of Italian, and I developed a rather strange habit in Rome because of it. When I needed to ask for something in a store or restaurant, I would ask in English. If the person didn’t understand me, I would repeat my question in English with a bad Italian accent, as if that was going to solve my problem. Example:
Me: “Do you know where I could find a good pizza parlor?”
Italian: “Excuse.”
Me: “Do yah ah knowah where der isah goodah pizza ah restaurantah?”
I must have sounded ridiculous.
As we made our way back to the hostel that evening we saw a homeless man taking a number two (that’s pooping) on a street corner. Brian is probably still bitter that he didn’t get a picture with him.
Topher stepped out into the street just as a car came flying around the corner. You know when you want to tell someone to look out, but you just can’t seem to get the words together. You want to say so many things, but you just end up saying the first thing that comes to mind. When Topher stepped out onto the street, instead of telling him to watch out, we all just froze and Brian screamed out, “DEATH!”. Topher got the picture and stepped back onto the sidewalk.
We went to bed Friday night after walking around Rome for about 17 hours. We were exhausted and ready to head back to Konstanz. Little did we know we had a big day ahead of us.
Rome by night.
jlk
