Welcome to the Jungle

Ok, up at 2am then walked to the bus stop and got to the airport by 4:40am. Checked in and went straight for a phone. Spent all but a few minutes of our wait time calling people, still have time left on the phone card. The plane ride was about two hours, we got breakfast and an English newspaper. Landed in Rome and the first thought we had was it was kinda rundown and older, close to LAX. Then we were walking and looking to see if they stamped our passports when I heard a noise and turned my head in time to see Cook flying through the air (litteraly nothing was touching the ground, she looked like superman in a turtle costume) and then all the sudden there was a smack and she was on the floor and up before I could even process what had happened. Everyone in the airport had, of course, seen her flight, and her second landing in Rome. She was fine, save the obviouse embarassment, missed a short table in her haste to find a stamp they didn't even give us. I, however, was desparately wishing I'd had a camera, guess I could ask the airport for their surveillance footage. Then we got on the way overcrowded train to the city, standing room only, and Rome was definately not what we had pictured. Dirty with graffitti everywhere (where the tittle comes from) and not that great. We got to the station and it was like, oh this is it. The station itself was nice but the whole place is covered in graffitti and we saw a used syringe and poo from people and animals and lots of urine and spit, so actually it reminded us of India. A lot. We walked all over looking for somewhere to stay, the hotels are really cute inside but the buildings are coated in graffitti and all the otherstuff I mentioned and they still want 100euros a night. There is even a Radisson in this neighborhood! Finally found a place and went straight for the colluseum. Well first the lady lectured us in Italian on what to see, when to see it, how to carry our bags and a myriad of other topics, oh my gosh she is so cute! Then walked to the colusseum where we found something unimaginable, a line (queue). Not just any line but a massive line that rivaled Disney, so we settled in and waited. Got in and the statues and stuff were really neat, didn't really know what to expect inside, besides the thronging hordes. It was wild, you can see all the stuff underneath it where the floors rotted away. Then walked to the Tomb of the Unkown Soldier, passing the Imperial Fora on the way, amoungst others. We also passed three guys urinating where they had a colossuem view, they didn't mind all the folks walking by I guess. It was nasty, puddles everywhere. The Tomb was just massive, really beautiful and ornate but mostly massive. From there to Trevi fountain, we stopped for pizza, one with zucchini and one with potato, good but the thinnest crust we have ever had and no sauce! When we hit Trevi fountain we realized we didn't know what thronging masses were, wow was thet place packed. Threw in our coins and watched people using magnets to steal them. Then wandered around to churches and ruins and all sorts of things for a couple hours. Finally made our way back to the colossuem for an imperial purple Roman sunset. Got gellato from the train station, it was sooo good. We were exhausted from getting up at two so we crashed early at the hotel. Rome is alright when you are at a site, but other than the sites it is not a great city at all.

26th- Today we got up and took the bus to the Vatican, it was like sardines in the bus. Looked like third class rail travel in India. This old man started rubbing up againgst me, or trying to, his gut was so big I don't know how he was getting anything from it. Then he was trying to rub my hip or something and I kept pushing his hand away. I was digging my fist into his gut as hard as I could (bus was too crowded for me to hit him and he was old, I probably would have gotten in trouble, not him) but to no avail. Cook was teasing me and telling me I should just let him enjoy himself and that I was making people happy around the world. Well she got her commupance when a minute or so after he got off....the bus, a guy began to do the same to her, and he was slender enough for her to tell how happy she made him. Ahhhhh....Rome. Then we got to the Vatican and it made yesterdays crowds seem laughable, the line was maybe a thousand people long and there were thousands more milling about. Everytime you turned your head somebody would cut in front of you in line, at the Vatican! We got in and headed straight for the cupola, took the lft and saw the inside of the dome, it was amazing. The mosaics and murals, watched part of mass from above and listened to the choir, then started the 320 stairs to the top. The stairs were not all that bad, we loved how the walls curves at times. The view from the top was unbelievable. Headed back down to the inside of the basilica, saw some babies being baptized. We had been blessed by Celina already. The inside was amazing, the different tombs or monuments to the Pontiffs were insanely beautiful, though some were way cooler than others. The entire interior is gorgeous. We watched the priests exit after giving mass and the choir take their bows. Also watched mass in several of the chapels and just wandered around soaking it all in. Sistine Chapel was closed so we headed back to Termini station. Then took another bus looking for the carnivale parade. Never found it, though we saw lots of neat stuff from the bus, not least of all the adorable children in costume everywhere. Then back to the station, figured out our travel pland and sat down to talk to you all. Ciao Bellas!      

Why does everybody rave about it?