Day 6 - Rome, Italy

---

Wednesday August 23rd, 2006
Day 6
Rome, Italy

We started the day a bit late today; we were all feeling a bit sorry for ourselves after the pub crawl. The only thing that I could stomach was a roll that the Kiwi's had got that I put some of my vegemite on. Eventually I made my way with Grant (Troy stayed in bed) around some of the streets, checking out some of the street markets. Not very impressive but we did come across a little stall selling fake Louis Vuitton bags. Grant managed to bargain the guy down to only €6 for a purse for me. Bargain. We went back to the hostel to collect Troy for some sightseeing; here we also found another guy Caleb (from America) who came with us as well. First stop: The Trevi Fountain.
The Trevi Fountain stands 25.9metres high and 19.8metres wide. It stands in the junction of three roads and marks the terminal point of the Aqua Virgo, one of the ancient aqueducts that supplies water to Rome. After throwing in our coins we made our way over the a nearby Gelati Shop to try and cool down, it was about 40°C.
After our delicious gelati we headed to find The Pantheon.
The Pantheon was built between 27BC-25BC under the Roman Empire and is Greek meaning "Temple of all the Gods'. It was originally built as a temple to the seven deities of the seven planets in the state of religion of Ancient Rome but has been a Christian church since the 7th century. Buried there are two kings of Italy: Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, as well as Umburto's queen, Margharita. The Pantheon is still used as a church, particularly on important Catholic days of obligation, and for weddings.
After this we moved on to the Piazza Nevona. There was a lot of people here, painting and having lunch. We bought some pastries for lunch and then made our way for some more sightseeing. On the way we came across some ruins (what a surprise in Rome). These ruins are home to cats that were apparently brought to Rome to help out with a rat problem they had. After the rats were gone the Romans didn't want to dispose of the cats because of their help. Instead, they placed them in these ruins where they are fed and cared for daily.
We also found a street fountain. It's here for the locals to drink out of; we were a bit hesitant at first but apparently it's the coldest and cleanest water in the city.
After a bit of a rest we moved on to The National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.
It was built between 1885 and 1911 to celebrate the winning of Italian Unity in 1870 and to commemorate the first king of united Italy, Victor Emmanuel II (d. 1878). The monument is 135metres long by 130metres deep and is 70metres tall. Half way up are the 'Alter of the Fatherland' and 'The Tomb of the unknown soldier'. This is guarded (the one at the Arlington Cemetery in Washington DC) and they guy are instructed to shoot anyone who enters the top stairs that they are standing on. There is another guy a few steps below that warns you first. That's nice of them.
After getting told off for having our feet in the fountain we moved on and briefly saw the Ruins/ Forum and then moved on to the Colosseum. All around Rome are beggars. They dress in clothing so you can't see their face and have cups in front of them. They look like old women. Troy was saying that one of his mates decided to grab the cup and take off with it, only to discover that it was a fit young male under all of that material, not an old women. Dodgy.
We decided we'd go into the colosseum another day and moved on to find somewhere for dinner. Nearly 2 hours later we found ourselves lost and hungry. We found a little restaurant and ordered some pasta, only to see the guy pull it out of a freezer and heat it up!! We couldn't believe it; it tasted okay though.
we managed to get a map off a women and finally made our way back to the hostel where we watched some TV in the common room. Here I met Natsumi from Japan and Julia from Brooklyn, NY.

---