All roads lead to Rome

(written at 12:00 on 6-17 on train to florence)


Well, we did as the romans do.... we um, saw rome. What a city though! I had been there before, but it was just as fun to get lost again in the ancient city once again. The first day we got there, we made it to our hostel, or campsite as it turned out to be, and just kinda hung out there for the night. In retrospect, we probably wouldn't stay there again just because it was far out from the heart of rome, and it was only supposed to take like 15 or 20 min to get to rome, but with traffic and about a billion people on the metro, it usually took a little longer. But the next day, we got into rome, and started to see the sites. We checked out the vatican first, and saw the awesome st. peter's basilica, and just marveled at the size and awesomeness of the square out front. after that, we went to the pantheon to see that gigantic building - what a site - what really makes me wonder, is how they got that solid piece of poured concrete all the way up on top of that building - absolutely amazing. the preservedness (not a word but you get the idea) of many of the ancient roman buildings and structures was truly amazing. After the pantheon, we checked out the world famous gelato place next door - we had been told by some lady on the water bus in venice that the place next to the pantheon, on the right hand side of the entrance, was the best in the world - we tried it, and by gosh, she was right. If you're ever there, you gotta get it - it's the one with all the newspaper articles plastered on the wall telling you (in italian of course) how good it is. We looked at the map, and saw, "oh hey, the trevi fountain is close to here, let's check it out!" about an hour and a half later, and nearly completely lost, we hopped on a bus to the main train station and decided that we should probably start over from a place we know, and find the fountain later. we were so lost, it was nuts. so after that, we went to the coliseum which was clearly marked on the map, not to mention 30 meters or so from the metro station (impossible to mess this one up) - so we went there, and that was once again, fantastic and breathtaking. After the coliseum, we headed back to the main train station, where stopped for a slice of fine, italian pizza at this place next to it, and rested our feet for a bit. After going to see the spanish steps and being nearly assaulted with fake purses, watches, and dolci and gabana belts on the international steps, we headed back to the campsite and hung out with the guys across the walk from our cabin. One was from australia and one was from california, there with his "girlfriend," although the way they were fighting (we could hear them loud and clear) it didn't sound like they would be together much longer... but maybe they'll surprise us! not that we'll be around to find out. The next day, we decided we were going to wake up "early" and go to the vatican museum to get there early to beat the lines, and make our way into the sistine chapel, and then meander our way back into the rest of the museum. This, all in an effort to beat the crowds. Um, so we got to the museum, and almost got into the line that was only for private tours.... which was about 25 people long. He told us that we had to go into the main line. I swear, the line for the museum was 5 people wide, and went on, around the outside wall of the vatican for around 3/4 of a mile. At the end, we heard people talking about 3 hours wait from that point. We figured that since we're only 21 (today i'm 22!) years old, we have a good number of years to come back and see it. I've seen it once, and it would have been good to see more of it, but, um, it's not worth the 3 hours wait. Oh, of course, there were some tour sharks walking around the line asking people if they wanted to join their private tour for 60 bucks which would include the ticket and jump you right inside the museum in 15 minutes. What a plan! So, if you're willing to spend the money, it's not too bad, but if not, be prepared to get there at say.... 4AM and wait until it opens - it's like waiting in line for concert tickets or to try out for american idol - nuts. So instead we went to check out the trevi fountain, which we had figured out the location of. Very cool - it would have been even neater to see at night, because I have seen pictures of that, but it was pretty nice during the day too. We continued from there to see the roman ruins, which were pretty spectacular - we walked through many an archeological dig site where they were still uncovering more ancient ruins. We went to the top of this big hill, which our previous day's ticket the coliseum had somehow included, and we got some more pictures of the city from atop the hill. Then we went to circus maximus, which is a little bit of a let down, as it's just a big dirt track now, with some old buildings on one side, but still cool to see where they did some chariot races, back in the day. Which was a wednesday, by the way. We went back to the campsite after that, and had decided that we wanted to stay another day there, and just chill for a bit, by the pool, and rest up for the weeks to come. We did that yesterday - just read our books for a while (I've finished two now, and i think simon just finished his 4th), and soaked up the sun. I've got a nice farmer's tan working, but it's getting better because i took my shirt off for a bit by the pool. Now we're heading to florence, which we have planned to stay 2 days at, just like venice. We figure, that if there's more to see, and more to do, we'll just stay another day, no big deal, but we're betting it's goign to be able to be done in a day and an afternoon. After florence, we head to nice, and check out there and the surrounding areas like Cannes and Monte Carlo. Should be a good time!


I hope everyone is enjoying the fantastic weather that you have been having, as we have, and that all is well!


Love and miss all of you,

Matt, on a train from Roma to Firenze (how the hell did they get "Florence" from "Firenze?")