Italy at last!

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Wow! I'm in Rome! It's been a looong day though. I'm so exhausted. I barely slept on the plane for some reason, despite being still so tired from not sleeping for the last few days. When we finally got to Munich, we walked past first class and next time... that's the ticket. I didn't get much sleep at the airport in Munich either though, mainly because of a high school group that was shouting all over the empty terminal. You would think that they'd be tired too, but they kept imbibing in the free Lufthansa coffee so there was no chance of me getting some shut-eye before takeoff to Rome.

But that didn't matter because upon arrival Rome, I was so excited to finally get to my destination that nothing could faze me. On the whole train ride to downtown Rome from the airport, I just stared outside and looked at Roman life. It was very Fellini-esque, at least in the amount of things to watch on the trek to the Roman center.

Immediately upon arrival to Termini, we got to our hostel, put our bags in and went to find an American Express. So... we walked all the way to the Spanish steps, taking all the way in the crazy Italian traffic and the beautiful buildings and just the hordes of people walking around. It was fairly nice outside too, which I always prefer. Walking down the narrow streets was an experience although I was starting to get tired despite myself. So we found our way to the Spanish Steps and zigzaged our way down the bottom through all the tourists and tourist traps and found our bank and then our way back to the hostel.

We intially decided to nap for only an hour at the hostel, but for some reason our alarm clock didn't work and we woke up two hours later than planned... after the sunset. The original plan was to watch our first Roman sunset from Gianicolo, but alas! we slept right through it...

Roman nights: the real visit begins

So instead we decided to introduce ourself to the city with a night walk from the Colosseum to the Trevi Fountain. It was spectacular. The Colosseum was awe-inspiring from the second we got off the metro and almost run over by a few cars zipping past on via dei Fori Imperiali. I knew what it would look like from countless pictures, but standing it front of it was surreal. Taking pictures of it was surreal. Touching it was surreal. Knowing that the building right in front of me was nearly as old as Christianity was surreal. Basically, everything was surreal. We took our fair share of pictures and moved on down via dei Fori Imperiali. We were struck by all the culture around us, but to be honest between still being tired and not knowing what we were looking at made it a bit complicated to fully appreciate the grandeur of it all. But still, all the flood lights bathing the old ruins was a constant reminder that I'm not home anymore. The US is not like this, at all.

We meandered around random Roman streets until we found our way to Fontana di Trevi. There weren't as many tourists as I thought there would be sitting along the steps surrounding the fountain... which was nice, but that by no mean meant that there wasn't anybody there. I will say that I don't mind the scores of people as much as I mind the constant soliciting of random street vendors trying to push roses, trinkets, and camera accessories on you. What a nuisance!

Overall, the fountain was beautiful. Although I'd love to get there alone, a bit of zen and patience helped me enjoy it more. But I think that's going to be something that I'll have to get used to here. Especially tomorrow, when we hit the ancient ruins in daylight hours. Rome is pretty much like I expected it to be, but there are some differences. There is a lot of English here, or at least more so than I thought there would be. A lot of signs here are in both languages. I guess it's still like parts of the US, and Canada, but for some reasons I didn't expect it at all. There are also a lot of shops and stores that you would find in New York or Chicago. I don't know why this surprises me at all either, especially around the more touristy areas, but it does nonetheless. I had this picture of Rome being nothing but grandeur and impressive ruins, full of history and picturesque alleys. It still is (especially the alleys--how wonderfully beautiful they are!), but also has the ordinary snack bars and street vendors selling Roma-everything. Maybe this is a good thing, that I was still thrown off a bit. Actually I think the thing that threw me off the most was the traffic. I knew it would be insane, I knew to watch out for it... those things didn't bother me. Not even the mini little itsy tiny smart cars threw me for a loop. What did was just the fact that people were driving next to the Colosseum. I mean, man, I thought driving on the Dan Ryan (or rather sitting on the Dan Ryan) and being able to see the Sears Tower was cool. I don't know anything, and that keeps me on my feet.

I'm tired and this internet cafe isn't letting me put up a pictures so I'm going to sign off for now. Sorry for the generic entry... hopefully the next few weeks will be better. 😊 Ciao!

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Comments

[capsfan2002]

Congrats!
Glad to see you made it to Rome and are enjoying yourself! Look forward to reading more about your adventures. As far as internet cafes, I didn't find many which would allow photos to be uploaded. Only spot was in Venice. I'm sure there are some in Rome, though, but when I was there the internet at the hotel worked for my laptop so I uploaded from it. Hope you find a spot because I'd love to see your photos.

[Omega]

Great Pics!
These are very nice pictures! I hope that you find ways to keep uploading them.