We are not on the map.

So, it's about time that I update my blog, huh? Sorry I am not as prompt as my other St. Norbert pals on this blog thing!

I took my first trip this past weekend to Rome! It was quite an adventure. Looking back on it now, it's probably the most comical trip I have ever taken, but at certain parts when I was there, I found nothing funny about it.
So, my two roommates, Amy and Faith, and I left early Friday morning from the Florence train station for Rome. Our train ride was about 4 hours long. (We looked for the cheapest ticket so we got the longest trip!) When we got to Rome, we got off the train and looked for the closest ticket booth so we could by our tickets back before the weekend started. As we were looking around though we realized something pretty important: we had gotten off at the wrong train station! There are two different Rome stations and we were supposed to get off at the second one! WHOOPS! So, we bought metro tickets and took the subway to the other train station. Once we were there we set out to find bus # 70 that would take us to Piazzale Clodio where our hostel was located. Well, that was not that easy. It was pouring rain and freezing out on Friday and we were running around out in the rain trying to find a bus stop marked # 70. After asking about 10 different people and running around for an hour, we finally found the bus. Thank goodness! We boarded the bus and it took us to Piazzale Clodio. Now we just had to find our hostel! That took a little bit, but soon we found it and got all checked in. Then, we called our friend Billy from St. Norbert who is studying abroad in Rome and started on the journey of finding his apartment. That took awhile - it seemed like he was leading us on a scavenger hunt. ("Ok, call me when you get here. " "Ok, now go here and call me" "Ok, glad you are here, now find this place and call me") Ridiculous. BUT we found it and, completely drenched, went inside to warm up. We had dinner and sat around and hung out for awhile. They boys wanted to go out, but Amy, Faith, and I were unbelievably tired from our escapades so we decided to find a train that would take us back to Piazzale Clodio. This was quarter to 10 at night.
We found a bus that said it was going to our Piazza. So we hoped on, thankful for not having to wait in the cold anymore. Within 45 minutes we started getting worried that we were never going to make it back, not to mention that our driver drove like the bus driver from Harry Potter's night bus! The next thing that happens made us relate to Jenn so much. The bus driver parks the bus at a bus stop that is most definitely not Piazzale Clodio and we are the only people left!! I went and asked the bus driver if this bus goes to Piazzale Clodio but he spoke no English and I speak no Italian - we were a match made in heaven, if you asked me! He was pretty impatient, but at 11:30 at night, I kept on asking. Finally, he understood what I was getting at and told me in hand gestures and broken italian/english that this bus was going to go there! THANK GOD! BUT for the next 20 minutes we sat and waited for the bus driver to finish his cigarette and chat with his pal and then we left. Needless to say, when we got back to the hostel we fell right asleep.
My first impressions of Rome that day were terrible. I was so damn thankful for having chose Florence to study in. Rome (where our hostel was and in the non-touristy parts of the city) was terribly dirty and it was a lot bigger than we expected. Not small and walkable like Florence. During our transportation adventures of that day, Amy, Faith, and I's conversation revolved around how great Florence was and a million ways to pay back Billy for not giving us good directions! haha. Fun.
BUT - the next day was amazing!! We woke up early and left the hostel by 9:30 to start a day full of sight seeing. We first went to St. Peter's Basilica which was gorgeous! We saw the Vatican and the many different shops and sights around there, but did not pay for entrance to the Vatican (4o euro!) because Amy and I have a school trip there at the end of November with that included. After that, we went to the Colloseum and got greeted by some "Gladiators" who were invasive and perverted but made us laugh! We paid 9 euro to get a ticket to the Colloseum, the Roman Forum, and the ruins across the street which was well worth the money. We went to the ruins first which were gorgeous! We spent two hours there because of how beautiful it was! Then we headed over to the Colloseum, which was...the Colloseum. Haha. It's exactly what you picture it to be on the inside and because we didn't have a tour, it was a bit disappointing. BUT the next time I'm there for the class trip I know I will apprecaite it more because I will be learning more about it during the tour instead of just staring at rock. After that, we headed to the Trevi fountain, took a few pictures, tossed a few coins, and then got some well deserved gelato! It was delicious. We went out for our first REAL italian meal that night and then headed back to the hostel for a nap before meeting up with Billy again. We got to Billy's place around 9:30 played some games, hung out, and then headed out in search of a dance club at midnight. The one Billy and his roommates had in mind was not exactly what we wanted. So we left and hung out on the for awhile and left at 2am. The next morning we woke up early and got to the train station by 8. We were back in Florence by 1:30.
Overall, it was an eventful weekend. Rome isn't as terrible as we thought it was - I actually loved it more than anything on Saturday, but I am still glad I am in Florence because of how small it is.
By the end of the weekend, we had mastered every form of transportation possible, with every kind of problem along the way to account for our experience. It was a great weekend though! :)
This week and the next will be very hectic with all of my homework (classes are harder than I expected them to be...sad - very sad), but everything is going so very well.
I still am homesick here and there, and there are times when I just want to be back in DePere at my house and St. Norbert with the people I love, but my roommates are amazing and so is this city! It's a great experience and I am so happy I chose to take advantage of it. (Still, though, visitors are welcome HINT HINT FAMILY!) Ok. I'm done. This has gone on too long. Haha.
Ciao bellas!