And so it begins! We started out as the first kids off the ship. We knew that we’d get off early, so we were super prepared. We walked out into the Italian air and had our first glimpses of Civitavecchia (said Chiv-a-ta-veck-i-a). We made it to the train station by pure chance, bought our round trip tickets and we were off. We made the train at the last second (though it was there the whole time we just didn’t know it was that one). The train ride was ok! It only lasted an hour and a half and we slept the majority of the time. We made it to Rome, the capital city of Italy! We walked right into the Roma Termini station. The station is the equivalent to Grand Central station. It’s huge! It takes five minutes just to find the area where the metros are, not just to get out. We hopped right on a metro and headed to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum. It’s funny, because the metro stop for the Coliseum is called Colloseo, so it’s not too hard to figure out. We thought we were all prepared with our little map and everything. Figures. The subways are a little scary in Rome, not gonna lie. I liked Barthelona (lisped) much better, though we did some crazy turbaned guy in a Spain metro that freaked us the freak out, but that’s besides the point. Anyway. We made it to the Colloseo exit. We walked up the stairs out to the street and BANG! There it is, right smack in front of us: The Coliseum. Right there. Shock of the day. Haha. I really wasn’t expecting that. We walked down the road and followed the signs to the Roman Forum. We had gotten a travelers tip from our Italy for Dummy’s book, so we knew to buy our tickets for everything at the Roman Forum, where the line was five minutes long. When you buy a ticket, you buy it for everything: The Colisum, The Forum, and Palatine Hill. Lots of people go straight to the Coliseum, but the line is anywhere from an hour to two. We were SO glad we bought our tickets at the Forum!
So in we went. The Forum is amazing. Here’s some background just in case you haven’t studied it. The Forum is basically a city block of ruins. There are temples, and building and the remains of the Roman Forum that was in effect two thousand years ago. You are basically walking down their main square. We walked throughout the whole thing, looking at the remains of the temples and the different buildings. We went inside the “Curia”, which was the Senate building that the Romans used. We took lots of pictures in front of the Temple of some emperor and the Vestal Virgins’ Temple, which had unique architecture for its time. It was cool because I took a quick course right before, so I was like a mini tour guide for James. I thought the class was stupid when I took it, but I was so glad! I love love LOVE the Forum. The sights are amazing, and there is a garden at the top that you can walk through and then look out over the whole square. It’s nuts to think that James and I walked through the same streets that the Roman Emperors did, that Julius Caesar did, and all the other’s who created architectural marvels years before other cultures had moved beyond grass huts.
After the Forum, we walked over to the Coliseum. I liked it. The building was grand and it was interesting to think of what it would have been like back when they held gladiatorial matches. We walked through it and went as high as we could. We took THE picture that everyone else has who’s been there and enjoyed it in general. We didn’t spend as much time here, but it’s not as large. Afterwards we walked around to find some sustenance. We were STARVING. We’d had breakfast on the ship, but it wasn’t…good. We found this awesome pizza joint where we ate SUPER cheap. Afterwards, we walked around the Coliseum to the Palatine Hill. This is a hill that is connected to the Roman Forum. It overlooks it and you can climb up to the top where there are ruins and see the entire city. We were able to see the Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica! It was an incredible view of Rome!
Afterwards, we did some walking around. We found a shopping street: Via del Corso, which is an entire BLOCK of stores. Greatest thing of all! I found shoes! Two pairs, some Nikes and another pair of Okisatka Tigers that are white and purple. Love them!!! We’ve been looking for shoes since Spain, so it was definitely a relief to find some good ones! James was super cute about it. He helped me pick some out (but not in a gay way, in a “Jack was getting frustrated because they didn’t have sizes in the ones that I wanted and he needed to mollify me type way”, lol). Super cute. After the shoes, which I wore out of the store, we walked till we found the Fountain di Trevi! This was incredible! It’s a gigantic structure with huge marble busts and different sculptures throughout this huge fountain! It was absolutely breathtaking. We found it after turning around the corner and it absolutely shocked us. That’s the thing about Rome, you turn a street corner and BOOM, there’s something else that’s nuts. Oh look, another huge memorial out of marble. Oh look, a huge obelisk in the center of some random square. There ‘s another one. Dang. Lol. It’s like that everywhere!
That night we ate at a little hole in the wall restaurant called La Botte, or something like that. We had some lasagna and watched part of a world cup game. It was absolutely delightful. SO good. On our way to the train station, we found a little bakery where I bought an Italian crepe too. Strawberries and strawberry sauce. It was pretty good, but the ones in China were better. Gotta admit.
We hit the train coming home and had a little experience. The train went the wrong direction for about twenty minutes. Haha. Not joking. Everyone on the train was freaking out. Our Italy preport lecturer said that transportation in Italy was a little sketchy, and he was totally right.
When we got home, we relaxed for a bit. It wasn’t super late, but it wasn’t early. We turned on the tv while we were unwinding and Aladin was on! So we had to watch that one and then off to bed! Thank goodness. Rome is awesome!
No comments:
Post a Comment