Advertisement
Published: June 25th 2012
Edit Blog Post
Well this is my final trip outside of Strasbourg that I'll be writing about so here I go.
Rome was absolutely amazing! However, I just want to talk a little about our overnight train ride there... Imagine being stuffed inside a sauna barely as big as your average bathroom with 5 other people for 8 hours and trying to sleep and what you have is probably paradise compared to what this train ride was. I spent the night pressed up against two of my friends and didn't even have the worst end of the deal considering I wasn't on the end being pressed against two strangers. Woke up in the middle of the night to train conductors yelling very loudly in Italian about giving him our tickets. Woke up another time to the train lurching to a halt. Woke up for a third time sweating profusely. Long story short, my sleep was less than pleasant that night. BUT at last we arrived in Rome around 730 AM Thursday morning. It was beautiful and sunny, something we hadn't had for some time in Strasbourg.
Instead of sightseeing, we all decided to take the Metro to a beach. So we checked
in at the hostel, stored all our luggage and asked for directions. It was only about 30 minutes, and we were there. It felt so good to finally just relax instead of doing busy tourist things. We all pretty much got fried that first day despite the amount of sunscreen we had on, but we didn't care. Around 4 we headed back to Rome, got ready, and went out for one of the guy's 21st birthdays. It was a fun night, but I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty tired of wandering around trying to find where the good night life is. Ready to be back at my College Station stomping ground.
That night a few of us were sitting and talking to an American who had been in Rome for a few days, and we were asking what we should do and he told us about how him and his friends took a train and a ferry to the island of Capri, rented a boat and took it around the whole island in a couple of hours. So that night at 9 pm, me, two of my girl friends Ashley and Erin, and two of the guys with us
Wes and Vince decided to do this the next morning. And we really did it. I have to say Capri by far was the best day of my whole Europe trip. The fact that it was so spontaneous and that we went without really sitting down to plan made it even better. We took a morning train to Naples, from there figured out how to take the city bus to the ferry port, got on the ferry and were in Capri by 1pm. The boat rental place was right next to where we got off the ferry and it was only 20 euros per person so we set off. The water and cliffs were absolutely beautiful, I don't think I have ever been to a prettier place. We swam around and climbed up in the cliffs and went through some of the caves. Probably one of the coolest experiences I've ever had. The group I went with was just great too. The boys took over the driving of the boat, while we took pictures and dictated where to go. After that was all over we took the ferry back into Naples, got dinner, hopped on a train and were back
in Rome by 9pm. It was just the perfect day.
Saturday was spent doing all the typical touristy stuff: Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Colosseum. I've always wanted to go to Rome so I can now officially check it off my bucket list. My favorite by far was the Colosseum. I just thought it had the most interesting history and it really is so massive when you're standing inside it. Makes me wonder what people will be touring of ours in 2000 years. The Vatican was beautiful, definitely worth standing in line in the heat wearing pants. I'm glad I didn't pay $75 for the 4 hour tour like the rest of my group did though.
All in all, Rome definitely was the cherry on top of a great 5 weeks. We have finals on Wednesday, and a trip to the Kronenbourg brewery on Thursday, and then its goodbye Europe. I can definitely say that this has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and it was worth every penny I have spent and that my contributing family members have spent. I'm sure I'll write again before I take off, but I just wanted to
thank my aunts Ruth and Debbie and my parents for making this possible! I have definitely lived it to the fullest. Goodbye for now!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.071s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 14; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0457s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Grampa & jackie
non-member comment
viva roma
Really admire your adventurous spontaneity. Your trip to the Isl. Of Capri was wonderful to read. You are now well prepared for the ultimate trip to Austin. :)