Days 1-2

(Day 1-2 because I was up for 30 hours due to the plane ride/time difference, so this covers Saturday and Sunday)



Ciao!


So, People want me to blog about my trip to Italy, so here I am lying in my hotel room typing away in the dark.

Flying over here actually took shorter than we thought. It was supposed to take 9 hours but it only took 8 hours and 10 minutes. We flew with the Italian airline Alitalia. Alitalia’s planes still had ashtrays and double pronged headphone jacks. The flight attendants were surly and the food was, well, airplane food.

Although there were these drawbacks, the ride wasn’t too bad. I spent the first few hours watching Gilmore Girls (I like Gilmore Girls, so sue me!) until my laptop battery died, then I listened to music and read Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas) and got more than half way through it. Enough about my banal activities, let’s talk about Rome.


My first view of Rome was not very flattering. We got out of the airport to see a few billboards, lots of taxis and the reek of cigarette smoke mixed with exhaust fumes. Then again, what city can really be judged based on the view from its airport?


We got on a leather-interior coach, bleary eyed and drowsy and drove the 40 minutes to the hotel. 
We got to our hotel (relatively young for Rome; about 70 years old) and gathered in the lobby. The hotel was built during the fascist rule and therefore contained numerous maps of ancient Rome and marble busts of all the emperors lining the lobby. We put our entire luggage in a side room because our rooms weren’t ready yet. The principal began to lecture us on safety, keeping together and watching out for your stuff. While she was doing this a couple was sitting behind her reading a newspaper. As she wound down her lecture, the couple quietly left. A few minutes later we discovered that the principal’s bag was stolen. The irony of that whole situation amuses me somewhat. 


Immediately after this we walked to the nearest subway station and took the 10 minute walk through the Roman tube to find our train to take us to Spagna station and the famed Spanish steps. After lot’s of picture taking and fountain drinking we moved on the pantheon which was unfortunately closed for mass. Finally we ended our tour at the famed trevi fountain where we all wished with a coin. Cheesy, maybe, but fun. 


From there we were set free to roam Rome.  A group of us wandered for about 2 hours, along the way stopping at a small bistro and getting an amazing grilled salami Panini with espresso. 


Back at the hotel everyone was jet-lagged and fell right into bed. I knew I should stay up until bed time so I could get a full night’s sleep, so I watched some more Gilmore Girls and read some more in my hotel room. We met at 7:15 for dinner in the hotel which consisted of three courses: penne with pesto, grilled chicken and some light cake.


After dinner I convinced a few people to come check out an internet café with me, so we went and paid for a half-hour each. It wasn’t a pleasant atmosphere, cramped and hot, but it served its purpose. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and I did a little bit of research for my mythical presentation, due Thursday before falling into bed.