THE ITALIAN JOB -- PART TWO, ROME

(Today marks being gone for 2 months -- November 1)
day one
We got to our Rome hostel called LEGENDS HOSTEL (located conveniently near the metro station) pretty late (around midnight), and decided to get ready for bed so that we could have an early start to the next day. For some reason, the guy at the front desk was obsessed with the fact that we were from Kentucky, and just wouldn't quit talking about his love for KFC..... lol. We were quite popular.

The next morning, we woke up pretty early, and were pleasantly surprised to have a wonderful selection for breakfast! COCOA PEBBLES!!!!! I was so happy to have some cereal instead of a crusty roll... yum! :) I realized that I had left my curling iron in Milan, so the girls and I were going to have to go for the natural look for the rest of the trip, lol. -- After recounting our amazing fried chicken tales to the desk man for the second time (who knew southern poultry was so interesting?), we headed out the door and to the metro station. This time, we were prepared, and weren't about to let any scamming girls help us buy our tickets! Milan had made us smarter, for sure. I got out my monument map and we decided that we'd like to see the Colesseum first, since lines would probably get pretty long as the day went on..... we were right! The lines were already HUGE! We weren't exactly sure what to do, and then were suddenly approached by this Italian man, who said that he was leading an English-speaking tour in 20 minutes. With this tour, we would be able to hear all about the Colesseum (rather than just walking around in it) and also bypass the huge lines! With this tour, we would recieve a free tour of a few other places in Rome.... sounded good to us!

Our tour guide gave us these little phones so that we could hear him better once we got in the Colesseum. -- We found out that the Colesseum was once-upon-a-time located right beside Rome's red light district (eew), which was kind of interesting. I had been to the Colesseum once before, but it had been about 6 years, so I completely forgot everything, and really didn't remember much of what it even looked like. -- Well, it was INCREDIBLE! This place was absolutely huge, and held 55,000 people. For back in the ancient day, this was a huge architectural accomplishment. These Roman guys were so advanced! We also got to see the underground part of the Colesseum. There were tunnels and rooms where the gladiators waited, and also cages where the lions were held! woo! We learned a lot about how the real gladiators were different than those portrayed in most movies. They weren't slaves, but actually highly-respected member of society... kind of like celebrities, who, apparently got paid a TON! Maybe I should be a Gladiator! :) -- But, back in ancient times, women had to sit at the very top of the Colesseum.... because they weren't as important. So, I doubt they'd let me be a gladiator, either.... shame.

After our Colesseum tour, we went into the Ancient Roman Theatre exhibit, that was located on the top floor. We got to have a look at all of the ancient masks worn by actors, costumes, and theatre designs. All of us had been in musicals or plays in high school, so we loved this part! :) Alyssa and I did a funny imitation of some of the "mood" masks (she made a scary face, and the mask I looked like was just confused, lol)! It was a lot of fun!

After we left the Colesseum, we went on a tour (included with our other one) of Palatine Hill and the old Roman road, where the old Roman soldiers used to march. This is also where a lot of the important people lived and partied. lol. We learned (from our New Zealand tour guide), that Romans used to have feasts that lasted all day long. Since it's impossible for a person to eat that much in one day, they built rooms for the purpose of throwing up their first meals so that they could make room for more of the feast (called a Vomitarium)....... now, as clever as that is..... that's just nasty! The views from the top of the hill were also gorgeous. We got to see the Roman Forum, where all of the business was done in ancient times, and also got to hear about the Vestal Virgins lighting the eternal flame of Rome, and about Romulus und Remus. This tour was so cool!

We left the hill and forum. Outside, we walked beside the Arch of Constantine! I'd actually heard a lot about this guy, so seeing that was amazing, too. (Everything in Italy just seems to amaze me!) We walked along the main street in Rome, where we passed several basillicas and statues of Julius Caesar. Then, we came upon a HUGE white building called L'altare della Patria (translated means the Altar of the Nation), and referred to by Romans as "The White Cake" with horse statues on it, and the Italian flag wafting (you like that word, mom) in the breeze. As we crossed in front of the building, something else caught our eye. There were about 6 or 7 guys in pinstriped suits all walking along together. Now, when I think of Italian super models... this is what I imagine. These guys were just pretty Italians! Amber got really really excited, because she is the single one of the group... we told her she could have them all, lol. She and Emily decided to be brave (since we would never see these guys again) and asked if they would take a picture with the four of us! haha. Not a single one of them spoke English, either, lol. Amber was in heaven! -- When we were lining up to take the picture, one of the Roman Colesseum guards jumped in with us and wanted us to pay him for being in the picture, lol. We told him that he should pay US, since we're all so good-looking.

After leaving our model friends, we consulted the map, and saw that the Pantheon was close. We navigated through the streets, and were approached by these two guys (Max and something... we'll call him Josh) from Illinois. BOARDER PEOPLE! :) They walked with us to the Pantheon, where we crammed in a tiny doorway (along with about a million other people). The Pantheon was soooo cool. It was completely dome-shaped inside, and was also the final resting place of the artist Raphael. Very awesome!

After leaving our Illinois buddies, we stopped in another cool restaraunt for dinner. We got a great deal: Lasagna and wine for 6 Euro! :) We checked off another traditional Italian food from the list. Let me just say, this was an incredible plate of lasagna... yum! Coming to Italy means that you are going to eat some of the most amazing food of your life, apparently! To complete the meal, we ate some more gelato..... I'm really going to have to work out when I get home.... but.... it's a cultural experience! :)

When we finished dinner, it was nighttime. We had a few more must-sees on the list for today, so we kept on going! By this time, we'd been on our feet touring since the sun came up! Next stop was the famous Trevi Fountain, which apparently was also a stop on every other person in Rome's list for the day. There were a TON of people all around the fountain, but that actually made it more fun. Everyone was throwing coins in to make a wish in the gigantic and incredibly beautiful fountain that night. We also made wishes!!! (No, I can't tell what it was!) -- Then, after making our wish on the fountain and taking a million pictures, we headed off to see the Spanish Steps. On the way, you'd better believe that we ran into those suit model guys again..... go figure! They just laughed and waved at us! :) ----

The Spanish Steps were SO HUGE. It's a good thing that Coach Cress doesn't live in Italy, because I could definately see her making our high school soccer team run up these things for conditioning, lol. The view from the top was so beautiful, though. Rome at night was one of the most breath-taking sights ever. At the top of the steps, there was an old artist sitting in a chair drawing scenes of Rome by pen. He wasn't messing up at all, and these pictures were so nice! Amber really wanted one, but her favorite picture was the one that the little artist was currently working on. She told him that she would be fine with taking it as-is (it looked perfect to us), but he insisted on us giving him 10 minutes to finish so that the picture would be "perfecto!" To kill some time, we popped in the big church, called Trinita dei Monti, at the top of the Spanish Steps. Again, we walked in on a mass-in-progress. The women of the church and the main bishop sang, without instruments, in perfect harmony. Emily, Amber, Alyssa, and I just sat there and listened to this amazing mass for several minutes. It was so beautiful!

After we left the church, Amber got her finished picture. The little old man had done a marvelous job on the drawing of the Trevi Fountain. -- By this time it was really late at night, so we headed back to the hostel to get a good night's sleep before tackling the rest of Rome the next day.