saturday morning we woke up REAL early (i'm talking before 7 am) to get in line at the vatican museum. we weren't effing around...we were gonna get in. so we were in line by probably 7:45 and then we waited. to pass the time, we played dumb games like bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish (which is surprisingly fun) and big booty. we got loud and really into it, and people started staring...awk.
once we finally got in, we did some more waiting to buy tickets, then we finally got in to get ourselves a shot (and then two or three more shots) of culture. okay, i'm gonna be honest and really ignorant here: i don't get a lot of art. that painting looks just like that one i saw 20 minutes ago, and this sculpture is almost literally a replica of the one i saw in that other museum. yeah, yeah, i know i could "learn" or some crap like that, but this art history stuff just isn't the kind of stuff i dig (i prefer dirt...ha...dig..get it?). yes, the paintings are magnificent and many of the sculptures are flawless. i can appreciate that. what i mostly think about when i look at art is how long the artist worked on that...his whole entire life goal was carving that ab so that it looked JUST like a real ab. that takes a sort of dedication that i haven't had since...gosh, never.
anyway, i had a fun time looking at the pretty pictures, but then i was ready to get to the big boy--the sistine chapel. it was awesome, because they had signs for tourists like me, pointing right to the sistine chapel. but here's the thing: IT WAS MILES AWAY. there would be a sign pointing to the chapel with an arrow...and then you had to walk for like another hour. we walked into like three other hallways that SHOULD have been the sistine, but weren't. we kept going, "janettttt are we there yet?" ahhhh and then finally, we turned a corner, and there she was. i could tell not because of the paintings, but because of the throngs of people and yelling guards. apparently, you're not allowed to take pictures in there, but everyone does anyway. in a desperate attempt to stop everyone, the guards shouted, "NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!" obviously, that didn't work (helloooo i need proof that i was here and thus am cultured), so at one point, one of the guards got on the top of the steps and screams, "BE QUIET! NO PHOTOS PLEASE!!!!!" everyone kind of shut up and put their cameras away...for like a minute. don't worry, i totally got a picture. i know, i'm a badass.
we met up outside the exit, but lost mike along the way. then we left cuz we were freaking starving (sorry mike!...but in our defense, he had other things he had to go see and do that weren't on our itinerary). for some reason, i was feeling particularly adventurous on saturday, so i went out on a limb and tried (get this) ANCHOVIES on my pasta. a little bizarre, but i actually liked it. it was a salty, pretty strong taste, but not bad. oh, know what sucks in italy? you have to pay for the water. but the food is cheaper than in paris, so i guess it works out.
back to frigidarium for more gelato. still feeling like taking a chance on my food, i got a fig/nut and rum gelato. it was my least favorite combo, but two...interesting...flavors nonetheless. after enjoying frozen heaven we dashed down to the forum, which was one of the things i was most looking forward to in rome. the sun was shining down just right so it gave the whole place this shimmering glow, and made for beautiful pictures
after staring at roman ruins for a good while, we meandered through the forum area a big and went into some museum, which i forget the name of now (maddy? mal? you remember?). tired from a full day, we went back to the hostel for a quality nap.
oh, god, i forgot to tell you guys about our other roommates. one time, when we came home, this one girl was asleep. that wouldn't have been weird, except for the fact that it was only 11:30 pm. we were sick of fumbling through our suitcases with the lights off, so we flicked the switch on. besides, it was four to one, so we could probably take her. she made these pissy, exaggerated sighing noises and dramatically covered her face with her blanket. oh, whatever, you paid for the 8 person room, cheapo. this is what you get. she was pretty cold to us the whole time, always looking slightly pissed when we came in and never asking how our trip was. we found out later that she was french. figures.
but on saturday, two really nice french guys came in to our room, and we had a good time chatting with them. see, not everybody fits the stereotype. i like hostels for meeting people. even if i do have to change in a wet bathroom and i can't read before bed...so what?
okay, back to the story. after some naps on the quality hostel alessandro downtown beds, we went out to dinner by piazza nuovo. we splurged on a bottle of white wine with this dinner :-P (btw, it's still weird to me that i can order drinks. i'm not mature enough for that). i had...uhm..oh, no, i forgot what i ate! NO WAIT i remember. gnocchi...ohhh, how could i forget! that was squishy and weird, but delicieux all the same. it's italian food...it can't be bad. like pizza and ice cream, there are no bad flavors. oh, it's because those are italian things...
nevermind my brain spew. we walked over by st peter's to see the place at night (gorgeous) and then we walked back down to see the trevi, because "they" said it was even more phenomenal at night. well, the elusive and ever-reliable "they" were right again.
we bought our souvenirs and took the metro home...er, to hostel alessandro downtown (really, it was a good hostel. i recommend it). after a great conversation with james (what do you think about california? "cool" what do you think about bush? "toilet paper"), we crawled under the sheets and fell into a deep roman sleep :-)
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random, but awesome. let me know how it works out.
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