Madrid/Rome/Venice

Sorry I haven't been able to update much... it is ridiculously hard to try to get internet access here... I'm already regretting not bringing my MacBook.

My two days in Madrid while waiting for the trip to start were really fun! When Jennifer and Alex were there, we walked around for a while, went to the park to relax, and went to a bullfight. The bullfights aren't what I expected at all... when they stabbed the bull, it was really shocking. Pictures to come for those of you with sadistic tendencies.

The next day, I had a day to myself, so I returned to the Reina Sofia, where Picasso and Dali's works are, and checked out some of the more recent art. That took about two hours, and then I went to a nearby Thai restaurant for lunch. After a quick siesta, I went around the city in search of a theatre that had Harry Potter in English---easier said than done. When I finally found one, the movie was already 15 minutes in...luckily, I had already watched the first 15 minutes on my computer (illegally, of course). I went back to the hostel and went to bed early--after all, I had a really early flight!

Then, I wake up in my hostel at 7:25... an hour and a half after I planned to leave. I grabbed all of my stuff, checked out, and had to take a €30 taxi ride to the airport. I got there in plenty of time, and the lack of rushing around the Metro was worth the cost. The RyanAir flight wasn't as scary as I had heard it would be, and I arrived in Rome, no problem.

I got to my hostel, and of course, Ashley was at the bar with new friends already. Gustavo, a graduate student from Brazil, suggested we go to the Vatican to check it out. Ashley, Amy (another Ohio State student), Gustavo and I navigated the Metro system and got to the Vatican Museum with enough time to see everything (although we didn't think we'd be able to! The Sistine Chapel is what we really wanted to see-- it was a lot smaller than we thought it would be...but we didn't get out of there without taking some illegal pictures!

After the Vatican, we went to St. Peter's Basilica... probably the coolest church I've been to in Europe. When we walked in, the sun was shining through the dome windows and it was breathtaking. We went back to the hostel, and got ready for dinner and our hostel's pub crawl. At this point, I had already had 2 Italian meals--pizza by the slice (which was amazing and cheap), and gnocchi with meat sauce (which was pricier and tasted a little like Chef Boyardee). Our theory is... either some restaurants are really cheap and don't use good ingredients, or Chef Boyardee really IS good food. Who knows.

Our pub crawl included a night tour of the city, where we got to see the Spanish Steps (connecting the Spanish embassy to the French embassy) and the Trevi Fountain. After that, it was time for an HOUR of open bar. Bad idea. It included gin and tonics. Worse idea. Gustavo and I tried to "get our money's worth." WORST IDEA. And...dot dot dot.

The next morning, we went to the Coliseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forums. The Coliseum was HUGE (but not as big as Ohio Stadium!), and the Roman Forums were really dusty and HOT. Italy is about as hot as Spain, but it's more humid (and when there IS air conditioning, it isn't as cold). I'm really ready to go to Switzerland tomorrow.

After the Roman Forums, we went to explore the area of town called Travestere, which ended up feeling like a little Italian town. We had a great dinner, and explored around for a while and found a large church, which we checked out. I don't remember what it was called, but for being a random church, it was definitely impressive.On the way home, we also went to see the Mouth of Truth, which is in the movie Roman Holiday (I haven't seen it, but I bet DD has!). It was behind a gate, but I still got a few pictures. Legend says that if you are lying, or have something to hide, when you put your hand in the mouth, it will bite your hand off.

The next morning, we kind of had a day of random Roman fun. We went to the Campo d'Fiori, which had a large outdoor market. After sampling tons of liquor, jams, and balsamic vinagrette, we all bought something to take home... and then went to sample more stuff that we had no intention of buying. When you're backpacking, you have to improvise. We then went to see the Pantheon, which is an architectural marvel... the dome is as wide as it is tall. Pictures to follow, of course.

The next stop on our long walk home was the Trevi Fountain--in daylight. We all made sure to throw in a coin, which ensures a return visit back to the city. We then visited a crypt... which kind of looked like a Trading Spaces room decorated with bones of monks. We're talking about 1,000 bodies. The creepiest room was the last one, which included a tomb with the inscription "What you are, we once were, and what we are, you will be." Creepy! Only one picture to follow, which will be a scan of a postcard... because the cryptkeeper was super-strict.

After the crypt... we needed to recalibrate our American sensibilities, so a stop to an Italian McDonald's was in order... with fried Brie! I love Brie, so I found this side dish to be awesome. Our journey in Rome continued with a return to Travestere to have dinner with some other travelers we met in our hostel--Gustavo, a Brazilian, Rick, from the Netherlands (who also told us he could give a tour of Amsterdam), Chris, from London, and Daniel (from San Diego). We had a great meal with lots of wine, and ended up eating almost two cups of Parmesean Cheese (why does that look like it's spelled wrong?). We also ended up at a Roman Film Festival, which was pretty cool... we watched about 15 minutes of an Italian movie. On the walk home, we grabbed pictures of the Coliseum at night, and then we returned to the hostel.

In the morning, Simoné, Ashley and I caught a train to Naples to visit the Pompeii excavation. I hadn't realized that Pompeii is a legit CITY...so you have to walk around ancient streets looking for cool stuff in every house... kind of like a 79 AD scavenger hunt. It was REALLY hot, but Ashley was EATING THIS STUFF UP, so we stayed for a while. We got to see some cool mosaics, and the famous preserved bodies. We had planned to walk around Naples for a while, but Naples is probably the UGLIEST/DIRTIEST city I've ever seen... so we changed our train reservations for the earlier train, and got back to Rome. We then sat in the hostel bar and took it easy for the night.

We started out August with a little trip to Venice, where we are now. Yesterday, we checked out St. Mark's Basilica, and walked around the streets of Venice (aka crossing bridges every two streets). We then had dinner on the side of the Grand Canal, and watched ferries and gondolas drive by.

This morning, we checked out the Palace, where we got to see one of the largest rooms in Europe (again, I took illegal pictures), and a Venetian dungeon. Pretty cool. Again, we walked around for a while, and now I'm at the hostel! I'm getting carpal tunnel from the blog post I think, so I'm going to go.

One more night of thinking things here look exactly like The Venetian in Las Vegas, although it's the other way around... and then off to Switzerland, where hopefully it won't be as hot! CIAO!