Rome

Day 8

Or they call it Roma…

New experiences began as soon as we stepped off the plane and onto the first bus: personal space does not exist at all, if I didn’t know any better I would have felt violated.  After being on a plane for two days and the then the bus the best thing ever was getting to our hostel (an old convent) and taking a cold shower before we headed out to see the sights.

You will never believe how easy it was to use the public transportation in Rome, especially with the three day metro pass.  I recommend getting one.

We began by seeing the Spanish Steps and I have to say, I was underwhelmed.  I thought they would be bigger or something.  Granted it was hot and there were a lot of people around, but I was not wowed.  

I was far more interested by the fountain at the bottom of the steps where people were refilling their water bottles.  Did they want to get digestional problems?  Then I saw two policemen standing by and watching and thought that if it was unsafe they would stop everyone, so we tried it too. It was the coldest, freshest water I think I have ever had.  We later discovered that they came from original aqueducts of the city from Roman times and still are used today.  They made staying hydrated in the Italian heat much easier.

Now one of the great wonders and beauties of Rome is the fact that around every corner is a building with hundreds and thousands of year old architecture.  

We accidentally found the Pantheon and many beautiful churches.  

They are interwoven into the city just as anything else because that is how the city began.  You never see what we would consider a new and modern building, but that is what gives it the old world charm. 

However, it also made it terribly difficult to find anything.  Nothing sticks out above all the others so if you miss the correct corner to turn you can miss the whole thing.  We moved on to the Trevi Fountain, or tried to.  But once we did find it, it was incredible--and busy!  So many people packed into a very small space, but boy was it worth it all the way.  My mind kept hearing Frank Sinatra singing "Three Coins in a Fountain which one will the fountain bless," and seeing the old time actors running around and empty square.  I wish I could have done the same.

On our way home we stopped to eat, realizing that a lot of places weren't open yet as Europeans eat later dinners than we usually do, and got the best food.  Sitting down was also very nice.

Once back at our hostel we crashed.  We took a second shower of the day and slept, wrote in our journals, and emailed our families.  

What a fabulous day, but how exhausting.