Rome: Roads Well Traveled

We highly recommend you watch the new season of Jersey Shore for a thoughtful commentary on the role of diction and imported goods that has influenced the development of local food specialties in the Tuscan region.  Kidding. BUT you should watch it if you have too many brain cells and you can afford to lose a few for a glimpse of the tantalizing pizzeria we dined at. Like the classy backpackers we are we ordered our pizzas to go and sat on the curb to devour an entire pizza each. Janelle ordered the Pauly D’s Pizza with spicy salami and Heather stuck to the original margherita pizza. Alexandra’s choice did not disappoint the taste buds. With full mouths and pizza sauce all over our face and hands, we still managed to draw attention from talkative Italian boys who were quite surprised when they realized Ally understood their Italian. We knew there was a reason to keep her around!

After dinner we put on our faces and dancing shoes (finally we got to use the heels we packed!), and had a moment of bliss with the girls’ hair straightener. We shared some drinking games (Tourettes, Dutch Die, and Electricity) and “enjoyed” our boxes of 1.10 Euro wine (we only settle for the best boxed wine). We made our way to an outdoor club Ally had raved about only to find it was merely a park. Closed for the season? Did they not know we were coming?!

Figure 183

Rather than making our own party we went to an establishment known as SPACE. Canadian bars had not prepared us for the potent men and drinks the bar served. We let Stacey do her thing at karaoke and we managed to get into the VIP section and away from the flocks of Italians. Survival of the fittest at its finest.

The next morning we made the most of the hotel’s breakfast (aka stuffed our backpack with as many non-perishable items as we could) before boarding the train. As the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words (Figure 183)

Roman Forum (top) Colosseum (bottom)

Our hostel in Rome was fortunately only 152 steps from the train station so we dropped our packs and wasted no time before sight seeing. Holy tourist town. We checked out the Colosseum and almost got suckered in to a tour, or waiting in line. Heather’s impatience and detective skills proved to be of great use as we decided to find a faster way to buy our tickets. We bought them at the Roman Forum where there was a wait of -1.3 seconds and laughed maliciously at the mindless schools of tourists that wasted 3+ hours more than we did.

Rome: 0. Blonde Canadians: 1.

After admitting that we didn’t have our tourist legs on for the day (we probably left them in Space) we went in search of gelato and then stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain. No wonder that gelato was awful – it was a stone’s throw away from the fountain, and had ice cream cones for garbage cans. We didn’t think there could be such thing but there definitely can.  Rome 1. Canadian Blondes: 1.

We got an ego boost from the whistles we received while walking the streets, so didn’t have to eat our feelings. However we did anyway with a snack at the hostel before our nap. Re-energized we ventured off to the Spanish steps to take in a few more sights of the city before calling it a night.

Spanish Steps

Dear Rome,

You are impressive and much older and wiser than ourselves. We will see you in the morning.

Love, Heather and Janelle

Spanish Steps

With a good night’s sleep under our belts we ate breakfast at the hostel (chocolate crispy cereal was offered once again!) and then braved the crowds and sun in the Colosseum. We couldn’t help be think of how exciting it would be to be at one of the gladiator matches and have decided the next movie we watch will have to be Gladiator. We maxed out the volume and recordings on our audio guide before we called it quits and moved on to something just as ancient. The Roman Forum was impressive and thankfully not as packed as the Colosseum. The age of the ruins is profound and the impact they have is simply untouchable.

Trevi Fountain

We also visited the Pantheon and had lunch in Piazza Navona overlooking the stunning fountains, artists and pigeons. We went in search of a breeze and settled for the river lined with open air markets and more imposing buildings. Good thing we are always carrying our camera because you never know when a Kodak-moment will hit you. We put our maps away and decided we would just explore for a bit. “Do you want to walk towards that big building thing?” “Sure, why not?” And that’s how we arrived at the Vatican City. We apologize if we offended anyone and assure you we are adequately educated individuals. We decided that it was too late in the day to stand in the lines and will return tomorrow bright and early. We might even attend mass at 8:30 tomorrow morning!

Pantheon

St. Peter's at the end

Our evening thus far has consisted of wine of the 7.90euro selection rather than the 1.00euro, and will soon be made whole by a visit to La Carbonara a restaurant recommendation made to us by Caitlin and Heidi (our Canadian friends from Paris). Perhaps a stop to a local bar will cap off the relaxed evening. Talk to you soon, our hungry stomachs are calling! PIctures to come soon, the internet is slower than our patience can handle.