Arrivederci Venice!

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Nothing too excting today... just heading to Rome!! Woke up at 5 am, again just to take advantage of the free internet. After typing yet another wonderful blog and uploading some professional grade photographs, I headed down to the train station. The night before, I had checked my ticket and noticed that instead of Venice's island station of St. Lucia, I had set up my departure for the mainland station of Mestre. Oops. I figured that the train probably still left from St. Lucia, and I could probably hop on it from there instead of taking a bus, but I needed to make sure. I was right, my train did leave here first, just 10 minutes before the Mestre departure time. Sweet!

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Walked back to the Hostel and ate a quick breakfast with Fiona. Then we wandered the streets for an hour or so doing some last minute souvenier shopping. After retrieving my luggage, I said goodbye to everyone at The Venice Fish. Left Mimo with a "Would you know my name...". He enthusiastically sang the rest as I walked out the door. What a send off!

Caught my train and spent the next five hours finishing that darn Cosmo and sleeping. Finally got in to Rome at about 5 and hopped on the Metro. Got off at Cavour and followed the directions to my new home. The Roma Inn is definitely a much more legit hostel than the last one, but it already seems to have a different less party hostel vibe. This time I'm only sharing a room with 5 other people , three of whom were sleeping when I arrived. I dropped off my stuff and practically ran out the door. I wanted to see the Colosseum!

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The Colosseum is only one Metro stop away. As soon as I stepped out of the station, my entire view was filled with the massive stadium. It is an incredible sight. I sat down on a wall across from it and just tried to wrap my mind around the idea that what I was staring at has existed for nearly 2,000 years. It was almost surreal. Also, right in front of the Colosseum is a wide street, busy with cars and busses. I always wonder what it would be like to have an incredible peice of history like this be part of your daily routine. Would it ever get old? Would you not even notice it anymore? Hmmm... Anyway, I walked around the perimeter and then wandered across the street towards Palatine Hill and the remains of the Roma Forum. This made me very hungry. I ate my first Italian Panini (mozzerella and salami) with an unbeatable view of a 2,000 year old masterpeice.

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I took the metro back to the Roma Inn and lingered in the common room. This is where I met Trey and Dante, two friends from South Carolina traveling together for the next 3 months. We made plans to walk to the Colosseum later that night to see it all lit up. They assured me it was just a few blocks away. After grabbing a bottle of pricey wine (3 euros) and some cups, we headed on our way. Ten minutes later we were standing in front of the Colosseum. It was even more impressive at night with all the arches lit up and a nearly full moon behind it. The Roman Forum was also lit up making it look like a creepy graveyard of ruins. The three of us tried to figure out exactly what we were looking at. Seemed as though alot of the remains were columns from multiple temples, which is entirely possibly considering the romans had a god for everything from love to the sewer system. I'm very much looking forward to checking these ruins out in the daytime, and learn exactly what this place once was. We wandered all around the area and Trey and Dante turned out to be real amusing company. They've known each other since grade school and bickered like an old married couple. It was adorable. We got back around 1 and went to bed soon after. It was a pretty good first day in Rome.

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Bona Sera!

Jess