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Published: June 19th 2007
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Rome
The great city! There was so much to see in a small area. The weird thing is how all of these sites are surrounded closely by modern buildings. I had always pictured them being in the middle of grassy fields or something. I'm trying to catch up on the blog now that I have access to cheap internet, but I'm not going to try and figure out the dates of when I was where... you can look at the itinerary.
In Rome I stayed in a cabin at Camping Village Roma. I was in a room with a couple of the Aussies I had met on the way to Venice. The campground was just sweet. There was a pool, bar, restaurant, and cheap supermarket across the street. That more than made up for having to sleep in a sketchy bed that came out the wall, had about 2 feet of space between it and the ceiling, and which required removing the safety rail just to get into it.
The first day I saw Vatican City with Sarah, a girl from New Zealand I met on the bus. We decided to take a tour, because it allowed us to skip the ridiculously long line and also probably get more out of it. In the end, the tour was kind of a bust, because our guide had a thick Italian accent that made it hard to understand him. Tip: if you wait
St. Peter's Basilica
This place was beyond words. Every square inch of the building is decorated in paintings or carvings or sculptures. in the non-tour line, they let you in at 10:00 and the line goes really fast then. But it was ok, the sights inside the museums and St. Peter's Basilica soon made me forget that we'd spent too much. The highlights were definitely the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Well, you can see from the pictures they're quite impressive.
That night a group of us from the bus bought some cheap Heineken from across the street and hung out at the tables outside our cabin. It was a blast, and one of the girls bought me some Grappolino (smelly but tasty grape stuff) because I had switched rooms with her before. As a result the next day was a slower start, but I forced myself to see the rest of what Rome has to offer. I made it to the Collosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. The great thing about Rome is that everything's within walking distance, so I was able to do all that in one day. The best attraction I thought was the Forum. I got goosebumps thinking about how I was standing at what was the centre of the civilized world so
Camping Village Roma
Pic quality isn't great, but this is the bar on the campsite. I'll get a pic of some of the people I hung out with in one of the next entries. many years ago.
In the evening, I walked down the Via del Corsico, which is a ritzy street where the rich shop. I went into a department store selling the likes of Gucchi, DG, Diesel, among others. $120.00 for a t-shirt anyone? That night was more laid back... we went to the bar and played some pool.
I wish I could have spent some more time in Rome to check out some of the other areas in the city. There was a huge free museum at the top of the Forum that looked interesting too. You could easily spend a week there and not come close to seeing everything, but in the days I was there I got a taste of the big stuff. Onward to Florence!
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Jessica H
non-member comment
Ha you can definitely tell that I'm supposed to be studying for midterms this week since I've mostly spent my time reading and commenting on your blogs. A couple of thoughts regarding this one: first, I enjoy the "authentic Roman cigarette" that the Authentic Roman guard is smoking. second, I agree with you that the Spaninsh steps are underwhelming, but in their defence, they offer the best view of Rome at sunset, because the sun sets right opposite them, right behind the dome of St. Peter. I think the sunsets are what they're actually famous for, with tourists anyway.