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Rome
Day 1
We sure do know how to travel.Pretty much anything that can go wrong does go wrong.We were waiting at the airport when we realized our flight wasn't showing up on the board that it was time to check-in.When we brought it to the attention of the airport staff they informed us that we were in the wrong terminal.The right terminal is not in walking distance and we had to take a taxi.When we got there check-in was smooth and we were shortly bused to the tarmac to board our plane.
When we arrived we were again left in the terminal wondering where our bag was.It was the same bag.We also had to wait 10 minutes just to talk to someone.Ahh Europe.Once we talked to someone we were left feeling less than reassured.After waiting for our bus and the metro ride we made it to the train station to purchase our tickets for train to Munich.We figured that if we didn't have our bags by then we wouldn't get our bags ever.When we first got out of the metro station we were immediately struck by the differences between Eastern and Western Europe.The streets were much cleaner, the buildings weren't falling apart, and there was a general easiness to it.From the metro we made our way to our hostel arriving at 3:00pm.Unfortunately for us they were closed from 2:00 to 4:00, so we had to wait another hour just to drop our bags off.Once the owner showed up she was very nice and the accommodation was very nice.We were also given bottles of water and a map, both of which proved helpful.
We decided to try and make the best of the day even though most of it was gone.We first went to the Trevi Fountain, which was a magnificent work of Romanesque Art.On our way to the Trevi fountain we went to one of the better Gelato places according to our sources. When in Rome well?you know.It is a statue of Neptune.From there we went to the Pantheon, which is the most well preserved ancient building in Rome.After the Pantheon we walked to this picture on the map. This was the ??? that was a beautifully decorated and grand building.After seeing this we walked over to the Piazza Novana, which is a pedestrian strip of shops and restaurants set around a obelisk and two fountains.This was a good place for a drink and to people watch. Afterwards we went back to the hostel but decided to pick up some food and eat it at the hostel.Well what is easy to make and tastes good?That's right Bulgarian salad.We ate this on the top of the hostel which is 6 floors tall and over looks part of Rome.You can actually see the top of the Coliseum from there.We were also greeted with Sangria on the house, which made the hostel even more appealing. We met some nice British Bloakes and chatted up some Canadian birds although they weren't really getting on with us.We stayed on the roof for the rest of the night until the sangria ran out and called it a night.
Day 2
In the morning we tried calling the numbers given to us by the lady at the airport, but the person that answered said we had the wrong airline.So we tried the other numbers on the list, but with no success.So we headed off to the Vatican City with the same clothes on as the day before.It was only 8:30 but it was already very hot.The line to get in was gigantic.It took us about two hours just to get in, and with our jeans on it felt like four.We did manage to buy some shorts on the side of the street for 5 Euros, which was nice, but we had nowhere to put them on.Once we got in we promptly went to the bathroom and changed clothes.Because it was the last Sunday of the month the museum had free entry.It took us about two hours to get through the whole thing that included one room after another with artwork stretching from the Roman Period until the renaissance.Of course the last room was the Sistine Chapel, which for me was a little overrated.Well first off we couldn't take pictures and second we had just been through 20 rooms that had painted ceilings and I couldn't tell the difference between Michelangelo and some other painter.One thing that did strike me as odd is that they had all this Roman Art in the Vatican.I would assume that pagan gods would be looked down upon, but maybe they have decided to embrace the past.After doing the half of the museum we went down stairs for a bite to eat.I assumed they would stick it to us being that we are stuck in this building, but the prices were not too bad.If anyone is wondering what the beer of the Vatican is, well its Tuborg.Yes cold beer is served in the cafeteria.After lunch we tried to go to the other side of the museum but they were already closing.Apparently the museum closes around 2:30.
After the Vatican Museum we headed the wrong way and actually ended up walking around a country.We finally made it to St. Peters Basillica.The courtyard is amazing and adorned with many roman columns encircling the courtyard.We have seen many churches and a few mosques, but nothing compares to this.This thing was unbelievable.It probably wasn't as tall as the Hagia Sofia in Istanbul, but it was a lot more ornate and much larger.It had countless stone figures on the walls and the ceilings were very intricately designed.We also visited the tombs of the popes, which had a few popes over the years, probably the most famous now is Pope John Paul II.There were well wishers in front of his tomb praying that we had to pass in front of, which was kind of strange.
From there we decided to try and see this castle we had missed the day before because it was closing.Not knowing any history about it besides it looking cool, we decided to skip it and go see some other things.We walked to some other sights that were nice but not overly impressive; pretty much everything in the city is impressive so you kind of get used to it.We spent some time on the Spanish Steps, which were a bunch of steps leading to a church, maybe the church was Spanish I am not sure how it got its name.When we left we picked up some nifty t-shirts for 5 Euro because we guessed we would never see our clothes again.Afterwards, we decided that we should have an authentic Italian dinner.Most places offer combo meals.The meals come with your choice of beverage so we figured since we were in Rome we might as well have some wine with our authentic Italian Dinner.They served our Wine in a carafe, which was good enough for 2 ½ glasses between both of us.For dinner Dale had spaghetti for starters and chicken with potatoes for his main.I had lasagna for starters with beefsteak and a salad.After we were full, for the first time in a while we headed back to the hostel for another round of Sangria.Upon arrival we received the bad news that our backpack had not arrived.We went back to the roof.This time the English speakers, 4 Americans, 4 Brits, and 2 newfies, decided to play card games.It was bad news for one Brit who decided to drink Vodka instead of Sangria.Around midnight the group went to view the buildings.Rome is supposed to be just as beautiful during the night and although we wanted to go we wanted to get up early and go to the airport to try and talk to someone since our numbers weren't working.
Day 3
When we got up we and went to the office to check out I noticed a note sitting on the desk with my name on it.When I inquired about it I found that the airport had our bags.They would not deliver them to the hostel however, and we had to go pick them up ourselves, which is no fun. So after we went to the airport and came back it was around 12:00 and we had to see the Coliseum and Palatine Hill in 8 hours.We were able to do this fairly easily actually.We were solicited to take a guided tour outside for 10 Euros which kind of made since it was going to save us about an hour of waiting in a line.After we left toured the coliseum for around 2 hours we grabbed a bite to eat and met another tour for Palatine Hill.This includes the emperor's palace and the forum.This tour was "free" and included in the price of the coliseum tour.I say "free" because the guy works for tips.There were about 150 people in this party and I think he made a fair wage. He gave us about a 2 hour tour with all kinds of facts and info I remembered for about 2 minutes.We finished up with the tours and our own exploring, including the unimpressive Circus Maximus, around 6:00.We hung out at the hostel for a bit, grabbed some dinner, went back to the hostel, hung out for a bit and then left for the train around 9:00.In all honesty we were hanging out at the hostel because we were hoping they would brig up the Sangria again JThey didn't, so we left for the train station.When we got there we didn't see our train on the list.There was a Monaco, but no Munich.When inquiring we found out that the train was going to Monaco first. We thought this was strange because it was so far out of the way.When the train actually showed up and it was carrying a load of cars and was 15 minutes late we knew something was wrong.The train left an hour late due to technical difficulties.
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