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Hello all!
I am back from Rome, where I celebrated my 25th Birthday. Sorry I have not posted sooner, but since I got back (very late) Monday night I have been non-stop busy! We had a really nice time and the weather held out almost for the whole weekend, which was a bonus!
On Friday we flew into Rome, myself from Turin and Bex from London. Before I left for Italy we spent hours planning and co-ordinating our flights so that we could arrive at the same airport at a similar time. Bex's flight was due to land 20 minutes before mine so we agreed to meet by the luggage carousel as I was sure it would only be a small airport.
However when I got there, there was no Bex so I called and text her but no answer. I was waiting for 30 mins, when I thought I should ask if her plane had been delayed. After trying to talk to the extremely unhelpful man who 'worked' at the airport I eventually found out that she was in fact in terminal 3 and I was in terminal 1! By this point we had missed our bus,
but I managed to find Bex, who told me her phone wasn't working hence why I did not hear from her.
Then we went to get the bus from Rome airport to the city centre where we were staying, we waited for the next bus, got on and then were told that we would have to wait for another bus as this one was faulty!! We were very tired and annoyed at this point so we bought another ticket for a different bus company, thinking there would not be another bus for ages, we were sitting on our new bus feeling very smug, when our original bus arrives, loads up and leaves before us! Grrrrr!
The next mission was to find the hotel, which was pretty difficult as we were based in the ghetto. The man who owns the 'B&B' found us wandering the streets and informed us that he was taking us to a different one which was 'nicer.' We walked in both looked at each other and thought, 'if this is the nice one I'd hate to see the other one!' Thank god we had our own bathroom as the B&B was pretty much just a
flat that he rented out rooms in and the other people staying there kept us awake at night talking and showering. That's what 24 Euros a night gets you!!
By the time we had checked in it was so late so we decided to go for a little walk and get some dinner, we got so lost looking for the Collosium, we nearly ended up in Florence. After that we invested in a metro pass so we could jump on and off to save time and our legs. That night we also saw hundreds of cyclists randomly all cycling together around the centre of Rome, we have no idea what that was about as no one we asked knew either!
Saturday morning got off to a much better start, we headed straight to Vatican City only it seemed that everyone else had exactly the same idea and there was a massive que. Some random guys were offering a tour of the Vatican, Basilica and Sistine Chapel where you got to jump the que so we took our chances and coughed up the cash for that. The tour was supposed to only be 2 1/2 hours, but we were
there for 5 hours and by the time we had finished the guy told us we had walked 8km. Mamma Mia!
After that we jumped on the open top bus tour and got on and off at the various sites, including; the Collosium, the Mouth of Truth, the Trevi Fountain, the Roman Forum and the Pantheon. After that epic tour of Rome it was time to refuel with a massive plate of pasta! Day over.
On the Sunday we had to get up stupidly early for our organised coach trip to Pompeii. We had a 3 hour journey each way which was followed by a massive hike up to the top of Mount Vesuvius (yes we made it to the top) and then a 2 hour guided tour of Pompeii. On the trip we meet some nice girls who were over here traveling from New Zealand. The trip also included a massive Margarita pizza, just what was needed after all the exercise. The best bit of Pompeii was going to the Roman brothels, where they still have the stone beds intact. To save problems of communication, they used to paint pictures of all the sexual positions on the
walls, so the customers could simply point to what they wanted. Outside the brothel just to make it clear what it was they carved a giant stone willy as well. Genius!
Monday morning was my birthday, so again we got up early to see the Spanish Steps (classic comedy moment when I had to mime Spanish Steps for the Italian couple who we asked for directions) and then we tracked down my favorite shop in the world, Tiffany & Co. After a typical Italian lunch of Mc Donald's we bid each other farewell and headed home. My journey back to Ivrea took for ever and Bex managed to get back to London before me, even though I was only traveling inside Italy (really don't understand how that works). I ended up getting completely stranded at the train station on the way back and my Italian dad had to come pick me up at 11.15pm. Woops!
This pretty much sums up my trip to Roma, and although I did have a great time I have to say that I prefer Paris! I don't know why, but I though Rome would feel more magical and now I have done it
would not rush to go back again.
This weekend my Dad and Wendy are coming to visit, so now I have to plan where to take them! I just want to rest my poor, broken feet.
Hope you are all well over the pond.
More soon!
Soph
XxX
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