I get up around 4, get ready and head out the door after syncing some new tunes to my iphone. I have to catch the night bus this time around because the metro doesn't open until 5am and I have to be at the airport at 5:30 for my flight so there just wasn't enough time. I looked up all the information, which was of course, in spanish. I arrive and the bus is there waiting, I think that i was catching the last bus to the airport actually. We all get on the bus and I meet some other people that are studying here in Barcelona from the US. They all looked my age and the two girls that were sitting beside me on the bus were those "obnoxious" American tourists that everyone here hates. Those "omg, nu huh, and she did what, omg nu huh, I can't wait till all my wake forest friends arrive, it's going to be crazy." (This isn't Miami ladies...You don't recreate the US here, that's not the point.) lol I was thoroughly annoyed while listening to their convo. So we are on the way to the airport and all of a sudden the bus stops in the middle of a turn and there is an ambulance in the lane and I guess he didn't think could get around the vehicle so he just sat there for like 15 minutes like the car was just "magically" going to move even though it was clearly turned off and no one was inside. lol So, we're all sitting on the bus wondering what's going on because we don't want to miss our flights. Someone finally asked and I'm not sure what he said but everyone started getting off the bus so I of course followed. (I've learned on this trip that when in doubt, follow the crowd or the people that look like tourists.) So we get off and those two girls ask me in spanish if I want to share a taxi with them and I replied with "I speak English, I'm also from the US and sure I'd like too. lol The whole way to the airport they told me about their program and such, they are here with 300 other American students so they don't feel like they get to hang out with any real Spanish people. (DUH! why did you come with 300 other Americas!?!) So, long story short I had to pay 10 Euros for a cab ride to the airport, (not in the budget for this trip, so I had to skip breakfast.)
So I finally arrive and this time I was flying out of Barcelona's newest addition to their airport (Terminal 1) which I just want to comment on, probably the nicest airport I've ever been in, granted it is brand spanking new, and I give it a year or two and it will probably be in the world's top 10. Kudos Barcelona. I was flying with Alitalia, obviously Italy's airline. It took me a minute to figure out how to get to the right check in desk but I managed and before I knew it, I was on the plane. It was definitely an older plane, everything looked like it was from the 80's, the plane smelled like 10 bottles of febreeze had been emptied into my seat, and it was very squeaky. Overall it was nice flight without too much panicking on my part and a nice snack and beverage service. KLM has really set the bar high as far as airline service and quality for me within Europe. Once we arrived I was really excited to start my adventure but I was also very tired so I took some Excedrine and made my way to the train. The train was expensive at a whopping 11 Euros for a one way ticket into the city. I located my hostel easily, which was very nice, dropped off my stuff, bought a metro ticket, and headed straight for the Roman Colosseum.
The eternal city has so much to offer from the Vatican city to the Roman Forum, to the Colosseum, and all this combined with great shopping, delectable food, and nice people, it's seriously a tourist paradise. So I initially started at the ancient city. I bought my ticket and began my exploration, It's amazing how much of the ancient city is still standing. The Colosseum itself is just unbelievable. Pictures can never do it justice, just standing in front of it is amazing and indescribable. It's such a rush to see it and think about how many people died here for entertainment. It's something that I think everyone should see once in their life! After the Colosseum I went over to Palatine hill where Julius Caesar's palace was along with the stadium and the Roman Forum. I entered the gate with my pass and was just following the crowd up the hill and then all of a sudden this lady started giving a tour in English so I just joined in!! haha It was pretty cool. I spent about 4 hours total doing all this exploring and then I made my way to the other sites after a bounty bar and a water. I saw the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, the Pantheon, Fontana de Trevi, (the one in Vegas is crap compared to the real thing!), Piazza Navona, The famous Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo, where Augustus placed the Obelisk of Pharaoh Rames II that he brought back from Egypt in AD 10! Pretty impressive. I also did some shopping down Via Del Corso, Rome's well known shopping area. It was a very busy day and I honestly can't imagine doing Rome with anyone else because I felt like I was practically running from monument to monument in order to see everything! So, I didn't want to be out after dark and the sun was about to go down so I headed back to my hostel for the night. I got in and I felt like passing out I was so tired! I pushed through it though with a hot shower and then I went downstairs for the "Pizza Party" that they have every-night at 8:30 in the bar area. It was pretty good pizza, not to bad, it was free ya know and I also met some cool people from Brussels and Australia. I didn't stay long because I was tired.
Saturday I got up around 8, got ready, and headed downstairs to get some breakfast. The hostel also had free breakfast, it was just cereal, some breads with butter and jam, juice, and coffee. Again, it was free so I indulged. After this I took the metro to the Vatican City. I decided to start with the museums first since I've read that the lines can get pretty long as the day progresses. The Vatican houses one of the best art collections in the world so I was pretty excited to explore it. They had some great pieces and at the end of the museums was the Sistine Chapel, Michealangelo's masterpiece. It was gorgeous. There were so many people bumping into me but I didn't even notice because I was too busy staring at the ceiling. It is truly a masterpiece. You aren't supposed to take any pictures but I definitely snapped a few! After the chapel I left the museums and headed for Basilica di San Pietro or St. Peter's Cathedral. Just standing in the square was really cool, all I could think about were the movies The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons. After I took some photos I went into the church, which was amazing! I took so many pictures and then I went next door to see the tombs of all the popes, that was pretty boring and it was a little creepy. To those of you who are Catholic, I hope I don't offend you but: When I woke up I thought, I'm going the Vatican City today and for some reason I thought, "It's going to be a very spiritual day today." Because when I find myself visiting so many different Cathedrals and Churches I usually walk inside and immediately get a good feeling of just being in church ya know. Well it wasn't like that with the Vatican at all, in fact, I left the Vatican feeling a bit angry. Surprised? I know right? I respect everyone's beliefs and all the different religions in the world, I'm not saying that what I believe is the right thing to believe because everyone does feel differently BUT, there are just some things about the Catholic religion that I absolutely do not agree with, and I can honestly say this based on my personal experience at Notre Dame, not from just some idea that I have formed in my head of what "I think" the Catholic religion is about. The Vatican City is beautiful don't get me wrong but it made me think even less of the Catholic religion because sometimes I feel like it's all about wealth and power. Just my personal thoughts. But anyways, after that was over I was pretty tired and my camera battery was almost dead so I took a walk across the Fiume Tevere, the river, and proceed to do some more sightseeing. I went to Capitoline Hill and saw the Musei Capitolini. They also had some great art, I got to see Bellini's "Portrait of a Young Man" and Caravaggio's "St. John the Baptist" and "Gypsy Fortune Teller." I spent most of the evening here and then I headed by to my hostel.
Sunday after I woke up, got ready, packed my bags, and checked out of the hostel I decided that since I only had about 4 hours left that I would try to go and see the Galleria Borghese. Well, after I had taken the metro all the way there tickets were sold out until Monday at 5 p.m.!! I was pretty upset because I really wanted to see the staute of David but instead I got a postcard at the gift shop. I only had 20 Euro on me and the guy at the cash register couldn't make change and so he just said, take it! So I got a free postcard so then I wasn't as put out about not getting to see the museum. lol So, I took a walk around the nice park that the museum was built in, did some shopping and then took a brisk job across the city of Rome in order to make sure that I was going to make it to the airport in time! lol (It was more like a sprint!) I made it to the airport just fine, got checked in, went through security and was on the plane shortly after. The flight wasn't bad, it was a little bumpy and I was wide awake so I was a little more panicky on this flight that the last one. At this point in my day I was definitely a little frustrated with people and things in general. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone stands in the middle of the pathway, I find this to be so annoying and it happens a lot, I ran a guy over with my suitcase on accident but really it was his own damn fault because he was standing in the middle of the walkway. How can you be so stupid ya know? lol So, I finally made it back to Barcelona and once again, it felt good to be home. I had a little trouble at the train station with my ticket on the way back, the machine ate my 4 month pass and it was really busy so I had a hard time finding someone to help me. I spent about 20 or 30 minutes at the train station trying to get everything sorted out. The language thing was an issue and I spent most of this time trying to communicate what had happened. UGH, I was very frustrated at this point and I nearly had a break down but, it resolved itself and I was on my way. I stopped at the bakery on the way home to grab a chocolate croissant and suddenly everything was better! :D
I had so much fun in Rome and I saw so many great things but I was ready to sleep in my own bed and use my own shower and eat my own food. lol This is what I like about weekend travel, it's nice to go somewhere for the weekend and then it's nice to come home feeling refreshed. Overall my trip was great, I was pleased with Aitalia and my Hostel. If I could pick one thing to change it would have been the knowledge of the staff at the hostel on how to do different things in the area. They didn't seem to be very good at giving directions or tour information, but other than that, it was great. I met some really cool people my age and one of the girls that I met had been traveling for 2 months and we talked for hours about all sorts of different places and things to do. I told her about my upcoming trip to Amsterdam and she gave me this really cool map/pocket guide booklet. I thought that was really nice of her! Some people always talk about how terrible hostels are and stuff but honestly you just have to find the good ones. I love hostels because the people staying at them are almost always students or young people who are traveling just like you so it's really nice to meet people and also they are just as clean as hotels, and it's nice not to have to sit in a hotel room by myself in the evenings. It's nice to have a social environment.
My Let's Go Europe travel book has seriously become my best friend on this trip. I've taken pretty much all of their recommendations and they've all turned out really great so far. I think that I would like to be a travel writer. I enjoy writing leisurely and I love to travel. This job would be perfect for me!! If anyone is thinking about a trip to Europe, definitely pick up a good travel book with great recommendations like mine. It really does make all the difference!
Alright, that's all about my trip to Rome, I'm off to Amsterdam this weekend and I will update you on Monday and Tuesday's events tomorrow! I've done some good brainstorming this weekend and my next post should be pretty insightful so stay tuned. Thanks for reading!
CHOW!
2 comments:
You're so cool. So proud of you
Haha isn't it ciao?
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