another terrible train experience. When will we learn our lesson? This time I hope. But basically we got approached by a creepy older gentleman who would not leave us alone. Then another one showed up, left, showed up again this time with pizza and beer. First time one of my traveling pals wouldn't go because she didn't want to be rude. The second time I nabbed her junk so she had to come with me. I will tell you in person if you want, but I have had little and very terrible sleep as I got in this morning at 8am and didn't sleep all night. But we managed to find the most awesome park area full of chillin' college aged kids. Thank goodness. And Emanuel, Ricardo, Dominico and the fourth one (sorry Buddy, I don't remember your name!). They talked to us from 2-4 in the morning and showed us the towns Duomo (well, the outside of it at least). They were very nice and we appreciated their company after the Creeper incident at the Train Station. Bleck.
Oh, just so voi (we you in intalian= you all) knows, this was during the 5 hour layover from Venice to La Spezia. Venice was awesome. We just wandered the streets and shopped. It was amazing. I spent more money that I would have liked to have in a month on a normal basis.... but this is Italy and damn it I deserve to splurge sometimes too! (although I was still stingy.... old habits die hard.) I got a rockin' bathing suit out of the trip too.
All you girls are getting awesome souvenirs by the way. But better love them or I will shank you. It's a promise. But seriously, I put a lot of thought into them and I hope you enjoy them!
Friday, July 04, 2008
Monday, June 30, 2008
Rome- Finally
yeah, I know. It's taken me a while because the ride back was awful.... But enough of that! I want to talk about Rome!
Ah Rome.... what fun I had. The train ride there was neat, as everyone else in my group had first class tickets(I got the last one) but I didn't get kicked out when I was sitting with them. Cool Beans. Although we did initially get on the wrong train, we switched in Pisa and were set right again. But since we didn't leave as early as we should have there was no time once we got to Rome and made it to our hotel (which was a hike well worth it- We got to stay at the Sheraton in Rome on an employee discount. Hurray Nancy with her brother who works for them! So Now I only owe 37 euro($58.37 ) for two nights in a kick-ass hotel. Beat that! I would have paid around the same for a hostel.... ewww. And we got 1/2 off food and drink form the hotel bar and restaurant. Boo-ya!) So we stayed and had dinner at the hotel after drinks at the bar and then went to bed to wake up early and hop on the first shuttle into town.
Which is what we did! We arrived blocks from the Colosseum but hiked our asses to Vatican City first (fearing long lines in the mid-day sun). But there were no lines to be had and off we went into St. Peters Basilica happy as clams. Then we lost Teena. She's a grown up, knows how to get back to the hotel and has a key so we wandered on assuming she was ahead of us. We spent an hour and a half in there at least, and we weren't just being slow pokes(like in the next part of our day). Once we exited Nancy, Meredith and I waited outside in hopes of spotting Teena while Mike and Bonnie traversed the inside again to see if she was waiting somewhere for us. No Teena. :( So we headed off for the Vatican Museum. (Oh, Ps: the best part about Italy is that most places you want to visit are religious places, where you have to be 'modestly dressed;' meaning pants/skirts below the knees and no bare shoulders.) Around room 3 or so we bumped into Teena. Hurray! She had been missing for like 3+ hrs at this point. We had devised a meeting plan in case we got separated again and we pressed on, losing Teena in record time, again. (Yet the rest of us managed to stay together, hmmm) But 3.5hrs later we exited that Museum. FYI: We had mere sips of a latte on our way out as we almost missed our shuttle and had only crumbs of a croissant. So my blood sugar was low and I knew it. I was cranky, hungry, tired and in much pain from my knees and feet but unwilling to take an IB prophen with out food. So although beautiful, I was glad to leave and get a meal.
After said meal we headed off to the Colosseum and spent a good hour inside. We had a photo shoot, it was amazing. After that, Teena and Mike decided to stay with some pals of ours from La Spezia who were staying at a nearby hotel to accompany them on a pub crawl. The rest of us set off at Bonnie speed (Somewhere between Mach 3 and 4) and hit up the outsides of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill(both already closed) the facade of the military museum, some random ruins, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain before grabbing some pizza and gelato and rushing back to the last shuttle at 11:30 at night. On the way I managed to spill some of my cioccolate gelato onto my white skirt, which I am still trying to get out. Eh. Thats what bleach it for, right?
But then Bonnie and I had a fight about where the shuttle stopped. She said that if it wasn't where she said it was she was crazy. Guess what? She is. I was right and it was another block down. I win. Never question my sense of direction and placement in a geographical area. D:
But I want to go back to Rome some say. And I will. :)
Ah Rome.... what fun I had. The train ride there was neat, as everyone else in my group had first class tickets(I got the last one) but I didn't get kicked out when I was sitting with them. Cool Beans. Although we did initially get on the wrong train, we switched in Pisa and were set right again. But since we didn't leave as early as we should have there was no time once we got to Rome and made it to our hotel (which was a hike well worth it- We got to stay at the Sheraton in Rome on an employee discount. Hurray Nancy with her brother who works for them! So Now I only owe 37 euro($58.37 ) for two nights in a kick-ass hotel. Beat that! I would have paid around the same for a hostel.... ewww. And we got 1/2 off food and drink form the hotel bar and restaurant. Boo-ya!) So we stayed and had dinner at the hotel after drinks at the bar and then went to bed to wake up early and hop on the first shuttle into town.
Which is what we did! We arrived blocks from the Colosseum but hiked our asses to Vatican City first (fearing long lines in the mid-day sun). But there were no lines to be had and off we went into St. Peters Basilica happy as clams. Then we lost Teena. She's a grown up, knows how to get back to the hotel and has a key so we wandered on assuming she was ahead of us. We spent an hour and a half in there at least, and we weren't just being slow pokes(like in the next part of our day). Once we exited Nancy, Meredith and I waited outside in hopes of spotting Teena while Mike and Bonnie traversed the inside again to see if she was waiting somewhere for us. No Teena. :( So we headed off for the Vatican Museum. (Oh, Ps: the best part about Italy is that most places you want to visit are religious places, where you have to be 'modestly dressed;' meaning pants/skirts below the knees and no bare shoulders.) Around room 3 or so we bumped into Teena. Hurray! She had been missing for like 3+ hrs at this point. We had devised a meeting plan in case we got separated again and we pressed on, losing Teena in record time, again. (Yet the rest of us managed to stay together, hmmm) But 3.5hrs later we exited that Museum. FYI: We had mere sips of a latte on our way out as we almost missed our shuttle and had only crumbs of a croissant. So my blood sugar was low and I knew it. I was cranky, hungry, tired and in much pain from my knees and feet but unwilling to take an IB prophen with out food. So although beautiful, I was glad to leave and get a meal.
After said meal we headed off to the Colosseum and spent a good hour inside. We had a photo shoot, it was amazing. After that, Teena and Mike decided to stay with some pals of ours from La Spezia who were staying at a nearby hotel to accompany them on a pub crawl. The rest of us set off at Bonnie speed (Somewhere between Mach 3 and 4) and hit up the outsides of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill(both already closed) the facade of the military museum, some random ruins, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain before grabbing some pizza and gelato and rushing back to the last shuttle at 11:30 at night. On the way I managed to spill some of my cioccolate gelato onto my white skirt, which I am still trying to get out. Eh. Thats what bleach it for, right?
But then Bonnie and I had a fight about where the shuttle stopped. She said that if it wasn't where she said it was she was crazy. Guess what? She is. I was right and it was another block down. I win. Never question my sense of direction and placement in a geographical area. D:
But I want to go back to Rome some say. And I will. :)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Train Hell
Resulting in no Pompeii for me and Meredith. What kind of suck did I endure yesterday? The worst kind. Meredith and I got suck in the South Central LA of Italy.... which we call Naples. Which is worse, because they speak Italian and not English (or Spanish). And we didn't have anything to do on top of it all. So we spend probably 100 euro or so to take a train to and from no where..... bleck.
But Rome was amazing. I'll talk about that when I am settled from yesterdays hell. I hate trains.
But Rome was amazing. I'll talk about that when I am settled from yesterdays hell. I hate trains.
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