The plane landed, pulled into the gate, and parked in its
spot. We were finally in Italy for the second third of our spring break, Rome.
Right after we exited customs, we were poised with the question, “Now how do we
get to the Airbnb?” We were approached by some man who worked for some
transportation company, and that was our way to go. We followed the sketchy man
out to the garage and he walked us to a van. A really creepy, sketchy van… I
thought I would not be seen by any of my friends or family again. Dr. Wasser
would have to put on his best Liam Neeson impression, and come find us. But,
since I am able to write this, we made it to our Airbnb safely with no
kidnappings. We met the lady those place it was and she took is up to the room.
It was a nice place with plenty of space and it was rather cozy. Then, the
search for Ibk began. We didn’t know where she was, or where she would be, or
what time she would arrive. All we knew was that she was at least on her way if
not there yet. Alwin and I headed back to the train station, in search of Ibk,
but somehow she eluded us and ended up on a café down the street. After our
hour of searching, we found out she was at the café because she got WiFi there.
We met up with her there, and we got dinner. I got a calzone. The calzone was
large. Like really big. Like two times as big as my face big. And it was good,
Really good. My first Italian meal was a calzone, and it did not disappoint.
Lois and Austin eventually met us at the Airbnb, and we closed the night by
grabbing groceries from a local market and getting some sleep.
We woke up the next morning around 8, ready to take the day
by storm and go see cool stuff. But not everyone was ready. “We’ll get ready
quick,” they said. Three hours later, they were finally ready. Thanks for
wasting a quarter of our daylight, but it’s fine. When we finally got out of
the door we headed for the things that people go see in Rome. Whichever ones
those are. We got off the subway and on our way to the Pantheon, we ran into
some friends. Out of the entire city of Rome, we somehow managed to end up and
the same street corner at the same time. However, they were leaving to catch a
flight, and our Roman journey was just beginning. We said our farewells and
headed to the Pantheon. So, the “tour guide” people who stand outside monuments
are the absolute worst. All they do is bug you, saying “I know all of it. Take
my tour. If you don’t take my tour, you’ll gain nothing from this.” So Lois just
shoved him away from us, verbally of course. The Pantheon was neat, and big,
and ancient Romey. Some people wanted lunch, but Austin, Kate, and I wanted to
see cool stuff, so we headed out on our own for a bit. We found our way around,
and saw some cool buildings, but then we found it. Frigidarium. Oh my was it
the best gelato I had ever. They gave two flavors, and then dip it in melted
chocolate, white or dark, and then top it off with a cookie. It was fantastic.
After this wonderful experience, we met back up with everyone else and to the
Colosseum we went. The Colosseum wasn’t that cool. I don’t think it was any
better to see it in person than it was to see pictures of it. However, it is
still one of those things that you have to see.What did happen though, is that
I could “hear” the roaring of the crowd that I would expect from the arena.
Also, it is weird to think that those rocks are around two thousand years old.
And it is still in the same general structure that it has always been. We left
to go get dinner and we met the most friendly and kind old Italian server man
ever. That dinner was awesome. And we got free alcohol at the end, courtesy of
the old man and Italian dinner formalities. After that we wandered Rome at
night and went back to the Airbnb for sleep.
The next day, we went to see some crypts. It wasn’t that
great. It was a really short tour and not really interesting, schade… Then we
went to the Vatican. The Vatican was really neat and cool, and the museum was
awesome. It was rushed though, so less enjoyable. We got to the Sistine Chapel
and it wasn’t as breathtaking as I thought it would be. The other parts of the
museum were better in my opinion, partly because it wasn’t overhyped. After we
finished up there we went to the cool part of the day, the forums. The Roman
Forums were huge and awesome. You could tell ancient civilization was there
just by the atmosphere. However, this part was also cut short because they closed
on us… again, schade. We went to the Trevi fountain and made our wishes then
wandered around Rome some more before calling it for the night.
The next morning I woke up to see the keyhole of Rome. And
so, I went by myself and saw it. This morning we were also leaving to go to
Cinque Terre, so I was pressed for time. I got there, took some pictures, got
scared by some cats, and headed to the bus stop to meet everyone else. At
first, I got on the right train, but I thought it was the wrong one so I hopped
off. Then I found out it was right, so I got on the next one. By this time I
was gonna get there just as the bus arrived. When I got to the station where
the bus arrives, I started running around. I had no clue where to go. One, two,
five, and then ten minutes pasted. The bus was supposed to have left me by this
point, but I kept trying. Luckily for me, the bus was 20 minutes late, and I
somehow found it. Nicky, Kate, and Alwin were all semi-panicking because of how
late I was, but you know, it always seems to work out for me in the end.
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