Rome - Days 3 and 4

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I am unfortunately somewhat under the weather right now, so this entry will be somewhat sparse.

I got off to a late start on Thursday morning as I was contemplating how much I could do since I was feeling rather shitty. I identified a few piazzas, such as the Piazza Navona, to see in the morning. It has been really hot in Rome the past couple of days so I limited my picture-taking to about 15 minutes per site. After seeing the piazzas, I walked down towards the Jewish ghetto to another hole-in-the-wall establishment for lunch. It was pretty busy so the server sat me with another young person who was dining solo also. (It is somewhat of a social taboo to have a meal solo in Italy) His name was Aram and it turned out that he's also from Canada. We talked a bit about Italy and Europe in general and it was interesting to listen to him talk about how Italy is falling apart in terms of its economy.

After lunch, I decided to head back to the hostel to chill for a bit and to get out of the heat. A new roomate checked in so we exchanged pleasantries and engaged in some small talk. Her name is Shannon and she's from Australia (big surprise - Europe is full of Aussies). Once the weather cooled down around 4 PM, Shannon and I decided to head to St. Peter's Basillica to walk around the church and to climb the dome. We paid 4 Euros each to climb about 500 stairs (it sounds worse than it really is) and we were rewarded with a spectacular view of Rome. I thought that the view on top of the Palantine was excellent, but the view on top of the Basillica takes the cake. I did take some pictures, but pictures don't really do the scene any justice. You just have to go and see it for yourself. Unfortunately, we were limited to how long we could enjoy the view as the guards kicked everyone off by 6:15.

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On Friday, I got up early (around 8:30) to see the Sistine Chapel. I queued for about an hour and a half (which is actually quite good) to get into the museum, but I had to fight my way through the crowds to get inside the Chapel. The big deal about this room is that new Popes are selected in it and the painted murals (which are scenes Genesis) are Michealangelo's. The room is supposed to be silent, but people still mumble which means that the security guards shout "Silence" and "Shhhhh!" the crowds about every 2 minutes. You're also not supposed to take pictures in the room, but I snapped a couple anyway without the flash. After admiring the murals for about 15 minutes, I made my way out of the museum (I don't have much interest in religious works of art).

After an afternoon nap, I decided to take one last walk around Rome's main drag - Via Del Corso. I wanted to sit on the Spanish Steps in the late afternoon as more Italians come to relax in the late afternoon and into the early evening. About 15 minutes into my people-watching session, a very pretty Italian girl (probably about 19-20) sat on an empty step just below me. Naturally, I checked her out and she seemed to gave a few wayward glances in my direction, though no eye contact was made. However, about 5 minutes later, a shorter Indian or Trinidadian guy (there are a lot of them here) sat right next to me so he could get a closer look at this woman. He was decked out in cheesy reflective aviators, a skin tight Arsenal t-shirt, and grey denim-type pants. He later moved a couple of steps below her to see the view from the front, but he did not make a move. Once he came, I noticed that she did not bother to look up from her phone; a few minutes later, she had a friend come to meet her at the foot of the steps.

This more or less ends my stay in Rome as I will be off on a train to Munich bright and early on Saturday morning. I will end this entry with a few more observations about the city:

- Ray-Ban shades are worn by everyone
- The gypsies aren't as bad as people say. They rock back and forth and maybe cuddle babies, but they're not any worse than beggars in Vancouver.
- Cash reigns supreme here, for obvious reasons
- I seem to have a newly found urge to buy a Vespa scooter
- Most of the roads are cobblestone so it amazes me that Italian women don't break their heels more often

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Comments

[Tiffany]

Munich
hey Darin! I hope you're feeling in better spirits by the time you read this. Once you get to Munich, there's a famous restaurant (I don't remember the name sorry) that's really old architechturally. They serve 1L biersteins so you have to go there and have a few :)