...Do as the Tourists Do :)
Seriously, you can't help it! There are too many things to see and do; you don't have time to act like you fit in. It is physically impossible to look at the Colosseum for the first time and not act stupid with delight! You will soon see all the awful photos we shamelessly snapped impersonating gladiators and goddesses(Jenni did this one, not me... I promise).
We flew into Rome from Barcelona, then took a train to the Termini Station. My first thought of Rome was that the city seemed a lot more cut-throat than the other cities we had been to so far. There were more people around trying to aggressively sell junk than any other place on our tour. I learned a lot from Rome, and from the whole tour really. One thing is that it seems that the bigger the attractions a city has, the greater the history, the more fame surrounding the city, the more aggressive the street peddlers (Rome is the epitome of history and famous places). I realize that it's a pretty obvious thing to learn, but I hadn't really thought about it before. Thankfully, it didn't take us long to adjust to the vendors and they didn't take anything away from our experience.
We got off the train and walked to our hotel room... thank you again, my trusty old compass :) It was only a few blocks away, but come on, give me some credit anyway.
After we got settled in, we hit the town to get acclimated to the neighborhood and see what was nearby.
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| Just roaming through Rome |
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| See! I said it in another blog post... cobblestone streets make you happy :) |
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| souvenir shops! |
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| Handsome Guy!!! |
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| The smallest car I have ever seen :) |
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| This thing would be perfect in Hanoi! I want one! |
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| Our Hotel |
Bed and Breakfast
Actually, we stayed in an awesome little bed and breakfast. As one of our coworkers said, "Well you may have had backpacks, but I wouldn't call what you did, backpacking." True! It wasn't the Intercontinental, but it was great for us :) We had a nice little breakfast every morning, the employees were incredibly helpful and it didn't break the bank. If you want a recommendation for a place in Rome, ask me, and I'll look up the name for you.
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| We had the smallest elevator! |
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Our view from our room... it's good enough. We didn't spend
a whole lot of time there, because we had too much to see. |
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| We found a fancy Italian restaurant nearby... It wasn't as good as Paris, though :-/ |
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And of course, I found some Italian diet coke :)
It's my thing, what can I say? |
The Impostor
Rome also confirmed for me that I look Italian. Jenni looked around at all the big noses several times and told me, "Okay, I see it. You really do look Italian." People kept coming up to me and speaking to me in Italian, but I had no idea what they were saying. Then, they would look confused and try to speak to me in English. The best example of this was from a little girl in the subway. Her family had a little con going where the mom would sit with the infants, begging, while the two older girls (about 8 years old) would go "help" people buy metro tickets. They just pushed the buttons on the machines and asked for money. I got up to the machine and she immediately pushed the Italian button before I could do anything. Then she rambled on in Italian and I kept trying to ignore her and figure out how to change the machine back to English. I couldn't do both at the same time, because the kid wouldn't stop talking. She finally realized that I didn't understand a word she was saying and then she looked at me with disgust and groaned, "EEENNNGLISH?!!" I said yes, she shook her head and changed the machine back.
Jenni started teasing me about getting told off by an 8 year old kid. It was pretty funny, but I didn't want to keep disappointing the locals (not that I was embarrassed or anything). I quickly figured out the problem and found the perfect solution. The problem was that they thought I was Italian (really Italian, not like when Americans, like me, say they are Italian), so I knew how to fix that. I immediately went to a street peddler and bought one of my trademark tourist hats. Most cities with heavy tourism sell cheap straw hats with bands around them. The hats are always the same, but the bands are always specific to the city or country you are in. So I bought a cheap, white, straw hat with a green, white and red band around it. The hat screamed, "I am a tourist!! I don't speak Italian!!" and nobody spoke another Italian word to me for the rest of the trip, unless they couldn't speak English :)
We could figure out a lot of the Italian when we had to, because a good amount of it sounds very similar, if not identical, to Spanish. So we got by as long as people didn't talk too fast or as long as we could read it.
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| Check out that hat ;) |
Moving on to the Cool Stuff
The first stop: Jenni found a fountain on the map... big surprise :) It was the Trevi Fountain. Luckily, I wanted to go see the Pantheon which was right down the street from the Trevi Fountain. They were both breathtakingly amazing structures! It was obvious that the Trevi Fountain was made much more recently than the Pantheon, but both of them had their own charm that you couldn't avoid.
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| Trevi Fountain |
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| moving through the crowd |
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| Wow! |
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All kinds of people were in the crowd. There was one guy
selling Roman short swords.... I was so close to buying one... or maybe two! |
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| We were tired, but it was worth it :) |
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This is my "stop taking pictures of me" face :)
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| Adorable :P |
The surroundings of the Pantheon weren't at all what I expected. I figured it would be in the middle of field or on a hill or something, but no. It's in the middle of a neighborhood, completely tucked away. You wouldn't be able to see the ancient temple from a distance because it's surrounded by buildings. The Pantheon itself, though, is beautiful. The stone is very dark and corroded all the way around it. We were able to explore all around it! I made a point to actually touch as many landmarks as I could, including this one.
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| Anyone home? |
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| Let me in, please! |
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It's pretty crazy to get to see and touch something that I've only seen in history books. I don't remember
what I learned about this place (oops), but I will say that it looks like it has been attacked before. Maybe it's just erosion, but it looks like hundreds of arrows, or something, punctured the face of this temple. |
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| Big love for Roma :) |
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| Random Italian Coke :) |
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| Mary was on a building next to the Pantheon |
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| It started to get dark so we began our walk back to the metro station. |
Another Lesson
I also learned a few other things... I already knew that the country is called Italia by most other countries, not Italy. Even in Vietnam, if you say Italy to someone that isn't American, people have to decode what you are saying. But I didn't know that, in English, we also changed the names of the cities. For example: Rome is really Roma and Venice is really Venezia. Who knows what else is different? I really found it interesting that most people in Rome don't call it Rome, and almost all the souvenirs say Roma, too.
Are You Not Entertained?!!
Of all the landmarks and historic places we were going to see on this trip, I was most the excited about the Sistine Chapel and the Colosseum. We took the metro to the Colosseo (that's what they call it). As soon as you walk up the stairs of the metro station, you turn left and there it is... the Colosseo!!!! I was thrilled! I was drunk with excitement! Jubilance pumped through my veins, and we couldn't get to the front gate fast enough.
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| Look at it!!! Just look!!! Are you serious?!!! |
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| We made it to the entrance line :) |
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| I think she's excited too ;) |
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I'm trying to keep it cool. I just have my hand on part of the Colosseum, no big deal...
OH MY GOD, I'M FREAKIN' OUT!!! |
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| You can see the ancient battlefield in the distance. |
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| And as soon as we get through the line, BAM, it starts raining cats and dogs :( |
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We had our really nice camera that we just bought
specifically for this trip, so we decided to wait for the rain to
die down. Luckily their was plenty to see inside the walkways around
the arena. |
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| Patience my child.... your time will come :) |
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| People are huddled up watching the rain |
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The stairwells were awesome. They looked like something
out of the Munsters or maybe Count Dracula's castle.
The stairs were obviously renovated for tourism, but the walls are what really give it character. |
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| I wish I could tell you about this piece, but I forgot. |
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| The rain is down to a sprinkle, but we love our camera too much to chance it yet. |
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Howard, you will understand these next
few pictures :) |
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| They were loose rocks, I didn't break anything. |
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| Aw yeah! |
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| The rain continues to taunt me :-/ |
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| That's it, I'm growing out my beard like this! |
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AHHH HAHAHAH! The rain subsides and
WE ARE IN!!! But I'm totally calm about it.
No biggie ;) |
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OH...
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MY....
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GOD!!!
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I'm standing in the seating area of the Colosseum. Someone
pinch me! |
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| It's truly awe-inspiring |
You know that song "Happy" by Pharrell Williams?
It was inspired by my trip to the Colosseo...
true story ;)
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| Taking time to look in between taking pictures |
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That's where gladiators fought to the death.
How many movies and other stories
are based (even if loosely) on the
events that took place here? |
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| Colosseum Selfie :) |
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This guy kept bombing our photo, so I retaliated
accordingly... |
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| Target in site... |
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| Target terminated via squished head! |
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| I saw this gladiator as I walked by.. she looks dangerous |
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| Here is a magnificent statue of a Roman god |
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| Then I saw this goddess ;) |
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| So elegant :) |
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| Getting a drink |
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| How cute :) |
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| Opps! Sorry I got a little carried away |
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| It's go time! |
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| On second thought, I'd rather not fight to the death :) |
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| Outside the arena |
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| Gladiators for hire |
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| :) |
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| My Empire! |
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| How dare thee sass me, boy! Off with your head!!! |
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And you! Bring me grapes!!!
Ha! I'm such a dork :) |
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| Shameless... Absolutely Shameless :) |
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| Very Michael Jackson! |
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| Just waking around the neighborhood ;) |
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What's wrong? Is there something behind me?
:) |
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| Goodbye, Colosseum. We will meet again some day. |
"Never in my life did I think I would ever see the Colosseum." That's what I told Jenni at the end of the day. I loved being there. I loved that I was in Italy. I loved being in the same country from where my ancestors came. I loved seeing Jenni there. If I had a bucket list, man, I'd be doing really well right now :)
The world seems so much smaller now. Don't get me wrong, it's immense and I know that. But I no longer see it as endless. We've seen so many things and so many places, but really there is a finite amount "stuff" on this planet. It really is possible to see a good chunk of it :)
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But if you do see a good chuck of it, you might look like this
some days :) I was exhausted! The cold tile was just what I needed.
No matter how tired we got, it was worth it. Oh yes, it was worth it! |
Next stop is the city on the water.... Venice (Venezia), Italy.
