Rome

Rome was quite the adventurous city for me.  I'd only budgeted one full day there, with an evening and a morning book ending it.  I figured it would be plenty of time.  I was kind of wrong.  There is so SO MUCH to do there!  I arrived by Frecciargento train and made the short walk to my hostel, the Mosaic.  After checking out my dorm room and securing my backpack to my bed with a lock and cable (no lockers in the room), I headed out to explore.  

First stop, lunch at a sidewalk cafe.  Spinach and provolone on olive bread and an acqua frizzante (carbonated water).  I then headed to the Coliseum, and it is just AMAZING in person.  I didn't go inside of it because of time constraints, but it was still completely breathtaking.  The oddest thing about Rome, to me, was that you'd see a somewhat modern building, and the some ruins just hanging out next to it.  No big deal!  After the Coliseum, I strolled around and saw a TON of stuff, including the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Victoriana, etc.  All of it just amazing.  The sun was incredibly bright and I was wearing down pretty quickly, so I called it an early night.

The next morning I slept in and thought, maybe I'll try the Vatican can after all.  I'd heard horror stories about the queues for it,and I hadn't served a ticket ahead of time, so I was a bit worried about these situation. It ended up being a total nonissue.   Either I'm the luckiest girl or people just weren't feeling especially holy, but I didn't encounter a single line the whole time.  I just walked into everywhere that I wanted to go.  It was a bit crowded, but there were no queues!  The Sistine Chapel is AMAZING.  There have been a few things on this trip that have left me speechless.  The duomo in Milan is one.  The view of Florence is another.  The Sistine Chapel?  Wow!  It's quite big and has multiple rooms, but the famous painted ceilings in them are just spectacular.  I snuck some pictures.

More walking in the hot sun.  I'd heard about this drink called a Granita di coffee con panna from a coffee shop adjacent to the Pantheon, the Tazza del Oro.  It was basically a layer of whipped cream, a layer of espresso slushy, and another layer of whipped cream.  It was soooooooo good!  More walking in the hot sun.  After a while, I reached down to scratch the back of my leg and it felt funny so I looked down and promptly freaked out.  I had this crazy rash thing going on on both of my legs.  I got myself to a farmacia ASAP and was promptly seen by a doctor and diagnosed with a long word that basically means "sun allergy".  Polymorphic light eruptions or something like that.  I was give a prescription for a cream, bought the cream for €7, and went back to the hostel.  Universal healthcare system, I love you!!!!!!  I decided to stay inside in the air conditioning, so after lots of chatting with my roommates, I went to bed early.

Right now I'm at the airport awaiting my flight to Paris.  I'm flying a super discount carrier called easyJet.   This airline charges very little for the actual ticket, but then an arm and a leg for just about everything else.  You get just one carry on bag.  Not a purse and a bag, but ONE BAG.  And you have to prove that it fits in the little wire cage thing.  Ive already sent home one package to Texas with 1/3 of my  clothes and all souvenirs bought up until now.  To save space in my bag, I'm wearing all my biggest stuff.  Jeans, hoodie, and rain jacket.  In the zippered pockets of my rain jacket I've managed to fit my entire underwear supply, two pairs of shoes, my wallet, camera, electricity converter, and iPad cable and charger.  I've made it past the check in counter, but I have to clear the gate, where I can see the agents eyeing me and my giant pile of stuff that I've shed while I wait.  Fingers crossed that I can get onto the plane with all of this stuff. I might need to mail another package home from Paris.

easyJet makes me feel like that too, little buddy.