Italia

So this was an interesting country...

Day 1: Roma!!!
On the first day I slept in until 8:00 and then me and my friends (and every other S@Ser) grabbed our passports from the faculty lounge and headed to the train station. The platform (Binari in Italian) was PACKED because of all of us but we (me, Bridget, Courtney, Lexi, Jill, Tiffany, Georgina, and Taryn) got seats on the train. When we finally got to Rome we walked to our hotel, a Best Western. It took FOREVER! We had to keep asking people where it was and no one spoke more than 2 or 3 words in English and its really hard to give directions in foreign languages so our typical conversation went like this…
Us- (shrugging) Best Western Globus (show then piece of paper with name and address)
Them- (look confused and then figure it out) *random Italian rambling* (points in general direction)
Us- Due minuto? (make fingers look like they’re walking)
Them- *more Italian rambling with lots of fierce pointing*
And then we would finally just walk in the direction they were telling us.

So when we finally got to our hotel it wasn’t time to check in yet so we left our bags in their storage and went to find some food. We went across the street to a gelato/panini place and we all ordered our food by pointing at random sandwiches. I got one with turkey and cheese on really good bread! The people who worked there were adorable and were really excited because they knew a couple English words (aka… they could tell us the prices in English). Then we went to find a place with vegetarian food for Tiffany and Jill and we found a place that had pizza and the Italian equivalent of grilled cheese. They do their pizza really cool. Its really thin (and fairly greasy) but they fold it in half and put it in the panini press so its like a pizza sandwich.

After that we went and checked into the hotel and got a metro map. We then bought our metro cards (I felt like I was back in Chicago!!) and we decided to go to the Colosseum first. We got off the metro and walked out and it was RIGHT across the street, which was crazy! So we walked for a little while before a guy recruited us to go on his tour of the Colusseum and the Roman Forum for only 5 euros over admission price because we were such a big group. While we were waiting for the tour to start some guy selling necklaces walked up and put one on Bridget’s neck and was trying to make a sale when the police came and chased him  away because he wasn’t supposed to be selling stuff there. But he didn’t get the necklace back before he ran away and we couldn’t find him later when we got out of the Colosseum so Bridget got a free necklace. I didn’t really listen to the tour guide much but I did hear some cool stuff about where the kept the lions and why the fighter-guys were called gladiators.

I LOVED the Colusseum though! It was really cool and I remembered seeing pictures of it in history classes but I never thought that I’d ever see the actual thing! So then we walked around the upper levels by ourselves for about an hour until it was time for the Roman forums tour. Then Jill, Courtney, and Tiffany left to go find a place to stay since we couldn’t fit more than 5 people in our hotel room and the rest of us (me, bridget, lexi, taryn, and georgina) went on the next tour.

At the beginning of it was getting really hot out so we all found a fountain and were refilling our water and were all slightly crabby from being so hot but by the time we had walked to the big area where they had sporting events the sky had turned black over the Colosseum and we could see the lightning coming (I got some really cool pictures). We got a little farther into the tour before it started downpouring. None of us had an umbrella or anything so we stood under a tree for a while and then Taryn said that she wanted to see the circus where they used to have chariot races so we walked around in the pouring rain for a little while and never found it. When we were completely soaked we decided it might be a good idea to head back to the hotel so we walked back in the rain to the metro. When we got out at our stop (Policlinico) it was barely drizzling any more…

So we all took showers and got ready and headed out to a Canada day bar crawl at the Spanish steps. I had a good time and it was crazy because there were about 250 people there and the vast majority of us were S@S.

Day 2:
We (me, bridget, georgina, taryn, and lexi) started the day by waking up early for the free breakfast at the hotel and then heading out for the Vatican. We waited in line outside for a while. The big square/circle area out front was really cool. I was talking to someone when we got back to the ship and they said that it was supposed to resemble a keyhole for some reason. So we finally got inside and went to the basement to see the graves of the dead popes. It was pretty interesting but a little creepy at the same time because there were a bunch of statues of dead people all over…

So then we went to St. Peter’s Basilica and looked around for a while. It was HUGE and beautiful. It was really cool too because the way the windows were put in made it so that there were beams of light like spotlights. We took a bunch of pictures and then Lexi wanted to go to the gift shop so we went there. Unfortunately the credit card machine there was broken so the nun’s running the counter had to call the credit card companies to charge people and they kept dialing the wrong numbers and typing in the wrong things… So the rest of us had to wait while they tried to figure out Lexi’s card and they ended up accidentally charging her 136 euros instead of 30.60 euros. So once she got that all sorted out we decided to climb up to the Cupola. The first stairs lead up to the circular area in the ceiling of St. Peter’s and we were so high up that all the people looked really tiny. Then as we were heading out we saw a sign that said Cupola and had an arrow pointing to more stairs so we climbed all the way up them and they were really small and twisty and reminded me of climbing down to the catacombs in Paris except that they were going in the other direction. After a lot of climbing we FINALLY made it to the top and it was so cool! You could see all of Rome and it was all a similar color scheme (orangeish/redish colors) so it was hard to tell where one building ended and another began.

We made the long walk all the way back down and headed back to the hotel because I forgot my debit card (foreshadowing maybe?) and we ended up taking naps before heading out again to a Roman Forum bar crawl.

Day 3:
Since this was our last day in Rome we decided to fit in as much as possible. We went to Trevi fountain first and I threw in a coin. The funny thing about the coin is that on day 2 before we went out I bought a pop and I had given my money to my friend to hold because she had her wallet with her and I didn’t and she told me that she would probably lose the 20 cent coin that I gave her but the rest of it would be fine and miraculously, even with all the dancing we did, my 20 cent coin made it back to the hotel that night so I threw it in the fountain. After that we got gelato and walked to Piazza Navona. On the way we walked by the Pantheon (or was it the Parthenon… I don’t know I can’t tell them apart. Whichever one is a really old church). And we walked around there briefly and took some pictures. On the way out I went to take a picture of these 2 guys sleeping against one of the pillars out front and one of the guys woke up and gave me a really weird look…

So then we finally made it to Piazza Navona  and we walked around for a little while. After that it was getting kind of late so we headed back to the hotel to get food from the little sandwich shop again and get our bags and headed to the train station. It took us a while to figure out how to buy the tickets and find the platform. We got back to the boat (and didn’t get dock time! Yay) and sat around until it was time to head out.

Day 4:
When we woke up we were already in Naples so we got ready real fast and went to head to Capri but when we got to the ferry station it was 29 euros just for the boat ride there and back (and since its really touristy its very expensive) so we decided to go to Pompeii/Vesuvius instead. It took FOREVER to find the train station. We had to ask for directions about 20 times and no one spoke English so it was like being in Rome again except that Naples is a lot sketchier. We (me, Bridget, Taryn, and Georgina) finally made it to the train and all fell asleep on the way there. When we got off we got gelato and went to Pompeii. Unfortunately it was 11 euros and Taryn had forgotten her credit card so we decided to go to Vesuvius instead. So we got bus tickets that would take us most of the way up the volcano. Since the bus didn’t leave for a while we got giant calzones for lunch and waited around. The bus ride up was beautiful and nice and air conditioned (it is really REALLY hot in Italy) when we finally got to where the bus stopped we had the nasty surprise that we had to buy tickets to climb the rest of the way so we got our tickets and headed up. I looked ridiculous because I was still wearing my swim suit, dress, and flip flops that I was going to wear to Capri and carrying a big old bag with a towel in it… But I climbed all the way up and we got beautiful views of the bay and looked in the crater, which was pretty cool. So then my friends tried to trade me for some Pringles and Lemoncello (jokingly! ☺) and we headed back down to the bus. When we got back we had dinner on the ship and went out with the rest of the S@Sers to celebrate the 4th.

Day 5:
This day sucked. I wasn’t feeling well and Naples is sketchy so I was going to stay on the ship all day and try to get some free internet but I had some last minute shopping to do so my friend Jill and I headed out. We got to the first store and I found a dress that I liked a lot and went to try it on. When I went to check to see if I had enough money to buy it my money belt was gone. We hurried back to the ship so I could check and see if I had accidentally left it in my cabin (which I hadn’t). Thankfully I have the best mom in the world and she called the bank for me right away to get my debit card turned off and figured out how to get a new debit card to me (hopefully by Greece). Then the whole ship took a picture out on the decks and when we took off I went to see Dr. Milt (who we sometimes call Dr. Tallywacker because of a very funny speech he gave at a preport lecture) and he told me that I caught a virus that’s been going around the boat and I should take ibuprofen and rest a lot.

Overall I felt like Italy was like Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde (yeah that’s probably spelled wrong but you know what I mean). I loved Rome and it was beautiful and I had a great time but then Naples was dirty and sketchy and all the girls here could be dressed like nuns and still get whistled at in the street on top of being sick and getting pick pocketed. I’m excited to get to Croatia and lay low for a little while.

Until then I’m taking as many naps as possible. S@S is really tricky because you only have 4 or 5 days in every country so you have to make the most of it and then you have 1 or 2 days of class in between countries so you have to get all your work done really fast and wake up early for class. I haven’t been this sleep deprived since high school.

Tomorrow I get to croatia and since I only have 100 Kuna ($20) I am being as cheap as possible. I do have a couple S@S trips (a city orientation, some island trip, and Montenegro) but other than that i'm going to have to get creative.