Sprang Break Part 2

Day 4 (11:00 PM):
Our first hour in Rome was an interesting one. We rolled in pretty late, but our hostel was right by the train station, so we figured it would be easy to find. It was not. We were pretty sure we were going to be sleeping in the basement of a Chinese restaurant, but then one of the waitresses shows us a secret buzzer to a graffitied door we had totally passed over, and we go up the sketchy stairs to a guy in a single room who only takes cash upfront. The room itself wasn't that bad, but the whole area had a sort of mafia-like vibe to it, so we decided to walk to the other group's Airbnb about ten minutes down the street. As we walk we hear this eerie shouting getting louder and louder, until we see a man dressed in a trench coat, sunglasses, and hat carrying a briefcase and umbrella periodically screaming "AHHH. AHHHH. AHHHH." He gets to our side of the street right as we're passing and the AHH's suddenly intensify. I was 100% ready to run if he made a move, but he just screamed angrily at us and kept on his way. It was a very odd and slightly terrifying experience.

Day 5:
We got up and walked straight to the Colosseum, where we found a guided tour that included the Roman Forum. The Colosseum was super cool, and our guide was ok, but I didn't really learn anything I couldn't learn from watching Gladiator. Greg, our guide for the Roman Forum, was a lot more informed and entertaining. We saw many, many crumbly stone pillars. Also the place where Julius Caesar's ashes are buried. It just so happened to be the Ides of March when we were there, which was neat. We also saw many, many crumbly statues missing various limbs, stone archways, stone wall bits, stone piles of stone. It was actually really cool and it was also a gorgeous day. After we left the Roman forum we got pizza and saw the Pantheon, which was really big and pretty inside, then got gelato and saw the fountain of the four rivers. Then we walked to a castle by a river, hung out by the water for a bit, then climbed the Spanish steps and went home. We made ourselves dinner to save money and it was delicious.

Day 6:
We started the day with a tour of Vatican City. Our guide was super nice and super Italian. We walked through the museum and saw more statues than I have ever seen in one place in my life, then got to see the Sistine Chapel, where the Pope gets elected and home of the famous ceiling. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it was impressive nonetheless. Then we climbed 512 steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and got a great view of Rome. We also went inside the actual church, which is huge and really crowded, and said a prayer in the prayer area. We also saw the Pieta by Michelangelo. After leaving Vatican City we grabbed lunch and relaxed for a bit. Then we went to Trevi Fountain after it got dark, which was really pretty. We made our own dinner again, and it was also delicious.

Day 7:
We took an early train from Rome to Naples, then took a ferry from Naples to Sorrento. The boat ride was cool because we could see Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii in the distance. After we settled in we walked around Sorrento, which was smaller than the previous cities and is known for its lemons, wood working, and hand painted ceramics. It was St. Patrick's Day, so we went to the English Pub two doors down from where we were staying and had a Guinness with fish and chips. It was a very relaxed day and we ate a lot of gelato.

Day 8:
This was also a very relaxed day. We made ourselves breakfast and then went walking to find a beach and stumbled across a soccer field where we frolicked with some random lady's dog and did various sporting activities. We found a place to walk down caves in the cliffs to a small black sand beach where we hung out for a while, then we went to the grocery store and made ourselves a nice meal.

Day 9:
I actually got to wear shorts on this day!! The weather was so nice. After some morning gelato and our typical breakfast, we hiked up the coast to this secluded cove thing that had a little swimming area, some Roman ruins, and big rocks over the water that you could walk on. It was sunny and breezy and perfect. I wish I had brought my swimsuit. We stayed there for a couple hours, then got cleaned up to go out for dinner on our last night. We went to a place our Airbnb guy recommended, and they gave us a free glass of wine and an appetizer. And then I got more gelato. It was a good way to end the trip.

Day 10:
We got up, took a train to Naples, then flew back to Cologne. It was an amazing week with amazing people and I will miss Italy and gelato for a long time.