When in Rome, be a stereotypical tourist.

My friend Julianna and I went to Rome over the last weekend, and needless to say--it was amazing. We managed to beat the stereotypical tourist experience by not getting any of our stuff stolen or being thoroughly molested by Italian men, and to top it off we got to see almost all of the major sites.

Friday we got in late, and made it out to our hostel/camp area around 9:30. We stayed at a place called Country Club Castelfusano, which was in the Rome postal code, but out in the country. It was a fantastic campsite, we rented our own personal bungalow (complete with hot water, which I don't even get in Malaga most of the time) and with transportation from the site to the closest Metro station. The only downside was the hourlong Metro ride into Roma Termini, but it was definitely worth it for the price and the fantastic accommodations. We ended up eating at the camp's restaurant for the first night because we couldn't make it into Rome and back before the shuttle stopped running. Food at the camp wasn't great, but we were starving by the time we got there. We also managed a liter of homemade wine at the restaurant, which was a challenge.

Saturday morning we got up reasonably early to head out to Pompei. The train ride is two hours each way, just to Naples, and then another hour from Naples to Pompei, but we enjoyed it. We got there just before 4, and left at almost 7. Pompei is HUGE, way more than we expected. In the almost three hours we were there, we didn't manage to cover the whole thing...We got to a good solid half, and then were really tired and out of time, so we ran back to the station to catch a train back. On the way back, we met some Navy guys who were stationed in Naples and headed to Rome and hung out with them waiting for the train and on the way back. They were really nice, and it was great to hear some English instead of straight Italian (which, by the way, is not like Spanish).

Sunday we got up early and headed out to our tour, which covered Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. The tour turned out to be a fantastic idea, because 1) it was hard to find things in Rome, even with a detailed map, and the two of us putting our heads together and 2) because we cut all the 2 hour+ long lines with the tour guide. The sights were incredible, it's hard to fathom living in a city with that much culture and history. That, and the fact that all of these buildings and giant structures had stood the test of time combined to make the tour even more impressive. My favorite place, by far, was Trevi Fountain. It was just breathtaking. Julianna and I threw in a coin each to make sure we came back to Rome soon (according to the legend), but we threw it in forwards, instead of over our shoulder! We found out when we got back to the lodge that we'd done it wrong, which was a real disappointment. On the way back to the camp, we also grabbed food at a little place by Termini station, which was great (if a little overpriced). I've never in my life had a calzone so good, though, so it was entirely worth it. After all the fun and the walking tour, we went back and slept it off in preparation for...

Monday, when we went out to Vatican City. Sadly, though, we had to wait for the main office to open at the camp, so we ended up in the city later than intended. We ended up checking out the crazy-long lines (2+ hours, again), wrapping around side streets farther than the eye could see, and decided to snap a couple of pictures of St. Peter's and head out. We'd missed the Spanish Steps on Sunday, so we made a pit stop by them, walked down the street with all the amazing stores on it (Gucci, Prada, etc.) and wandered through Rome BACK to the Trevi Fountain to try our hand at over-the-shoulder coin tossing. We threw in the coins correctly this time, and then wandered side streets staring at the map like tourists until we got back to Termini again. From there we went looking for a pizza place and found a DIVINE little hole-in-the-wall right by the station with 3 Euro calzones as big as your face. We each ended up eating two, they were so good. Oh, and getting free water from one of the spigots around town. Rome has water brought down from the mountain streams to the city to use in their public fountains, so the water tastes amazing--and it's free! We headed back to the camp early to grab our stuff and go up to the airport so we wouldn't miss our flight, and that was it.

I've already made up my mind that I'll be going back. I don't know when, or how, but it will absolutely happen. I still haven't seen Florence, I didn't make it inside St. Peter's or to see the inside of the Sistine Chapel, or even the inside of the Pantheon (they were holding services when we went, it's a church now). There's so much history and beauty in Rome that it's worth spending more than a few days there, next time I'll be more prepared. Until then, I'll just hang out on the Malaguenian beach and wait.

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