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Published: July 31st 2006
So I arrived in Rome hot and sweaty, had a quick shower and headed into town to meet up with Glen and Janee (his friend from Portugal). We headed down to the Circo Massimo which in ancient Roman times was used as a chariot racing track. Nowadays its just a green park type area where outdoors events are usually held. Three big screens were set up to watch the football final between Italy and France. So we headed down there and immediately I was overwhelmed by how many people there were. The place was chocas full of people wearing Italian gerseys, and carrying their flags. Carrying our supplies of alchohol, we found a grassy spot and sat to watch the game. It was just amazing, and the atmosphere was so contagious, we couldn't help but cheer along with the Italians. At half time I bought an Italian flag and then I got really into it - jumping up and waving my flag, singing out the Italian theme tune. When the game was over everybody went absolutely mental. That's the only word I can use to describe it, people were screaming, cheering, crying, it was crazy. I just waved my flag in
my drunken state. With the game over we spent the rest of the night (until 5:30am actually) wondering the streets of Rome and joining in the festivities. Finished our giant bottle of vodka, spent 5 Euros each on hot dogs that tasted like microwaved cardboard, took photos of the crazy italians, and just generally took it all in. It was just really strange to see a huge city like Rome completely empty of cars, and just full to the brim of people celebrating. They were dancing in the fountains, climbing statues, it was great! So as the sun started to rise I got onto the train and headed back to my hostel. Luckily no one was in my dorm so I quietly slipped in and hit the sack.
Next day with heavy hangovers we began the tourist stuff. Went to the Colosseum, which was actually pretty cool. We took a guided tour and he was pretty interesting telling me things about the Colosseum that I didn't know. Like for instance did you know, that in the movie Gladiator, there are 456 mistakes. They dont teach you that in History do they kids! But also that they used to flood
the arena and put on mock sea battles, with ships and everything! Explored the Roman Forum, which was where the upper class Romans used to live in ancient times. Unfortunately all that remains is random columns and rocks, but its still pretty cool to imagine what it would be like. At the end of the day we found out the Italian football players were returning to Rome for a massive street parade, so we headed back to Circo Massimo and this time there was so many people it was ridiculous! The paper reported the next day that 2 million people had come to Circo Massimo to see the players, that is crazy!
Spent a day lazying around the pool which was exactly what we needed. That's one of the things I loved about this hostel, there was a great swimming pool, bar, restaurant, and a supermarket across the road. So we bought some vodka and sneekily drank it by the pool. Met a really cool couple from Sydney, Alex and Jacqui so spent the night drinking and eating with them. Needless to say, a very big hangover was being prepared for the next day!
I dont know why
I always seem to do this, but once again I was hungover as we went to explore the Vatican City. Its funny, coz the Vatican City is actually its own country, so I expected a big wall and guards protecting everyting. There were a few guards (the swiss guards, highly trained to protect the Vatican wear the stupidest uniforms in the world!) and a wall blocking off part of it, but apart from that it was fairly open. I also thought that St Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel were in the same building. In fact the Sistine Chapel is actually part of the Vatican Museums, which also holds rare artifacts from all the ages, and the Vaticans secret treasures. The Sistine chapel was simply amazing, the detail and work that went into the frescoes was amazing. You cant take photos because the flash ruins the frescoes and although they make an announcement every 3 minutes advising you of this, theres always a few disrespectful people who do it. One in particular was this stupid American who I overheard in her whiny voice say "It's so stupid, they allow you to bring your cameras in but you cant use them,
its just so stupid" and continued clicking away with the flash! I was ready to punch her out and stomp on her camera, but Glen subtley led me away from her. I think he could see the fire in my eyes. Grrrrr I hate whining ignorant people! Didn't get to see the Pope, but didn't really care.
That night Tami (friend from Melbourne, and now from London) arrived in Rome and I was so excited to see her. She had such dramas getting to the hostel, taxi driver threw her out of the taxi and made her catch a bus, so when she got there she needed a drink. What could I do but oblige?
What a better way to wake up then go for a swim and ly by the pool. Although at times I felt a little guilty spending time by the pool, but it was just too hot to go into the city. Rome is so big and there is just too much to see, so we just agreed to see what we can, and not run around the city like stupid tourists. Leave that for the stupid tourists. So we chose a few main
sights and decided to see them. The Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and Pantheon. They were all very beautiful, except for the Spanish Steps, that was a big average. Just a bunch of steps really, but I guess the name told me that so what more did i expect. Went and sat by the Fontana del Quattro Fiumi, which was mentioned in the Dan Brown book "Angels and Demons", so that was cool. Had a craving for gelati so stopped by a store to get some. Tami went first and ordered two scoops in a cup, came to 3.50. Thats okay we thought. Glen went next and ordered two scoops in a cone. Once the ice cream man was finished arranging the ice cream, it looked like a work of art, with extra bits of cone stuck into the top, it was more beautiful then the Spanish Steps! So Glen took it over to pay, and was asked for 13.90! Thats right 13.90 for as fricken ice cream, our accomodation cost just a little more then that per night! Needless to say he didn't pay it and gave it back to the grumpy old cow behind the counter. She just mooed
at us as we ran out the store.
Had a freaky experience with killer nuns, but apparently I was the only one that saw the nuns so I must be going insane. But I swear on my life that I saw two nuns in grey uniforms, leaning against a wall praying. When I pointed it out to the others they couldn't see them, and next thing you know, they were gone and there were two grey umbrellas proped up against the wall. I swear it was nuns, because I saw one of them walking to the wall before I pointed it out to the others. They think I'm crazy, but I'm sure you've all seen those movies where one person in the group sees something creepy and no one else in the group believes them, they just think he's paranoid, until next thing you know they all get hacked up by killer nuns with chainsaws! Sitting here writing about it creeps me out and I have to look over my shoulder to make sure there is no nun sitting behind me....
Running away from killer nuns sure works up an appetite, and after the gelati debacle, we were
not game enough to order any more food in the city. So we headed back to the hostel restaurant and decided to splurge on our last night and go for the all you can eat buffet! The food was great, loads of really typical italian dishes, and im not talking pizza and pasta, im talking stuff that my nonna makes! I promised myself I was going to try a bit of everything, and although we all reached the target of three plates each, I felt so sick afterwards. Oh well, 12 Euros well spent!
So Rome was coming to an end, and although me and Tami were sad to say goodbye to Glen we knew we'd see him again in Melbourne. Our next leg of the journey was our busabout tour, 3 days along the Amalfi Coast. We woke up way too early (hungover of course), checked out, got onto the bus, and then were off. As we drove out of Rome I took one final glance at the city, just to make sure no killer nuns were following us on mopeds...
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silvana
non-member comment
you wog boy
Looking at your photos reminds me when I was in Rome, exactly 8 years ago in the same place. It looks like you had an absolute ball. Cant wait to see you soon. Love Ya.