Rome, Italy

12/10/2011 Day 14 - When in Rome..
Up at 7 and checked out by 8:30, I had another delicious cappuccino across the street at the Jolly Caffe, and arrived at the train station in time to catch a transfer train to Firenze Rifredi where my booked train to Rome was leaving from. It was late, of course.

Arrived at Roma termini station at about 1:30pm, and I pulled the directions to my hostel out of my bag. Took Line A from Termini to Flaminio, switched to the above ground "Urban Train" Line F to Prima Porta, then took the shuttle to Tiber. I had booked the cheapest room I could get, which was - brace yourself - a 20-person shared dorm. I know, right? But when I checked in, I found that the 20 were separated into 3 or 4 separate rooms, and they weren't full, so I had room 3 all to myself. I looked at my watch - 4:30pm. I could have grabbed my shoulder bag and rushed off to see what I could of Rome in the few remaining hours of the day. BUT...here's the thing. The day before in Florence I had begun to feel congested, accompanied with frequent sneezing. Since then I had drunk 3 bottles of water, busted out a tablet of Airborne and dissolved it into my water and drunk it, bought a new pack of tissues, thrown out my chapstick, chugged a glass of water and Emergen-C (vitamin C pack), and changed my toothbrush. I could not be sick this weekend. I was still feeling a little under the weather that afternoon, and the only thing I hadn't done was get a lot of rest, so that's what I did. I napped for 3 hours, woke up hungry, wandered over to the camp restaurant/bar, and ordered a spinach, bacon and mozzarella pizza and a glass of their red wine. Best pizza I've ever eaten, hands down (and I polished it off all by myself), and that one glass of cheap house wine was better than any wine in Thailand. Used the free internet station for a little bit to get an update on the floods in Thailand, then went to bed.

13/10/2011 Day 15 - Rome in a Day!
Okay, not really. But I think I did a pretty good job getting around with my maps, and I saw all the "important" stuff...except the Sistine Chapel...you know, had to leave something for next time. ;)
I got a bit of a late start, or later than I wanted to. Got up at 7:20, ate breakfast in the camp restaurant at 8:30 while going over my maps highlighting what I wanted to see. I started by crossing off all the museums as I did not intend to spend all day in Rome wandering around inside silly museums instead of enjoying all the outdoor spectaculars that the city has to offer. It was sunny outside, but in consideration of the "holiness" of certain places I'd be visiting, I wore a long sleeve shirt with my jeans. Didn't pack an umbrella, and when I got into town around 10, the sky was a worrisome gray. Since it was too late to go back for anything, I just pushed on to stop #1 - Vatican City.

The line for the Basilica wrapped all the way around the square,

but moved steadily, and I only waited about 25 minutes to get inside. It was gorgeous, as I had expected. Quite different from the Grand Palace in Bangkok, but with the same attention to detail.






There was one room where no pictures were allowed, as it was designated solely for prayer. I went inside and took this opportunity to thank God for my job, my health(no sickness that day!), and this trip; to ask Him to put his hands on the flooding situation in my beloved Thailand; to ask Him to watch over my family and friends all over the world; and last but not least, I asked "effing Jesus" to please smite the foul-mouthed teenager who'd walked behind me out in the hall a few minutes before. :D
After the inside, I queued up to climb to the top of the Copula. Five euros got me to the top of the 521 steps, no elevator. Some of the narrow staircases, especially the spiral ones, were so tight I wondered how anyone much bigger than I am fit through them comfortably.



The view was incredible, even with the clouds you could see what seemed like all of Rome, in all directions.



Next was the Terme di Caracalla...but...I couldn't find it. Okay, I didn't really look, but I went near where I thought it was and didn't see it, so I moved on. Entered the Palantino, where I saw the bulk of the Roman ruins, including the Roman Forum.








My ticket included the Colosseum, so I was at least able to skip the line there. :)






The last place to see was Plazzo Santa Maria Maggiore. I got a salami and mozzarella on foccacia at the train station, and sat in the plaza and people-watched for an hour and a half.


Returned back to camp at 7:45pm, and spent another interesting evening in the ristorante, talking with Mario (the Italian bus driver) and Danny (the Romanian bartender) over a pitcher of Sangria.

Fun Facts:
-Dirtiest Metro ever. I didn't want to touch ANYTHING.

-No such thing as sissy dogs here..most of the men here seemed proud to be walking tiny little fluffballs on leashes.
-I(R) take better pictures of myself than others(L) take of me (on average).





















-As much as I love Italian food, when I'm traveling I often have a sporadic eating routine, sometimes skipping breakfast or lunch, and grabbing food on the run.
-I definitely plan to return to Italy; maybe not Florence, but Venice and Rome, yes