Let me start off by saying, 8 days is a long time. I mean, when you really think about how much you can get done in 8 days. And I feel like I've been gone way longer than that! I did realize how easy it is for me to go without communication with the outside world. No internet, no phone (so no texting), I barely had an iPod, I had ONE pair of pants (long story), no towel, and I ran out of gum. Honestly, it was like I was back in Biblical times! Oh, and I ran out of money, but that was all good. 8 days is a long time and it takes longer to explain. So let's just dive right in, shall we?
We didn't miss our train! Erika and I left literally two minutes after I posted on Saturday and we got brunch at On The Hoof which, if I haven't explained it before, is just a little sandwich shop one street over and it's cheap by Oxford standards. Erika was a little bummed because she didn't have enough time to go buy buttons (or as she calls them buh-ens.....ugh) for her jacket. She bought this super cute jacket in Oxford a while back and it wasn't a cheap-o thing but every single button on this coat has fallen off! It's a bit ridiculous. So, she was going to buy some buttons before we left and sew them on on the train or something. And she wanted to buy some flats before we left just so she would have more than one pair of shoes to take. The thing was, we left too late for her to stop and do any of that so she was left with a buttonless coat and only one pair of shoes. We ate our lunch at the train station and we were just sitting there waiting for our train to leave at 12:01. Well, a train pulled up at like 11:45 and we decided it wasn't our train. So we were just sitting there and chatting and then at like, 11:56 we decided it was our train. So we got all our stuff and hopped on and we were right and then we made it to the airport and caught our flight. We flew ryanair which, if you ever have the chance to do that, don't. They are just crazy! And none of us had checked bags we all just brought carry on which, by the way, how impressive is it that I fit EVERYTHING I needed for 8 days in my school back pack? I'd say very impressive. Anyway, they made us fit our bags into this stupid little metal box to make sure they were the right dimensions and we could only have ONE carry on. So I had my little purse thing and my backpack and they made me put it in my bag. Well, of course that made my bag unable to fit in the metal thing so they made me move stuff around. I ended up taking stuff out and hiding it in my shirt while the guy wasn't looking and then once I made it through I put it back in my bag. Stupid airline people! After that it was smooth sailing. We made it to Italy and made it on a bus to the train station and from there it was easy enough to find our hostel. It was in a kind of sketch part of town. I mean, it was safe, but it was dirty and didn't look very friendly and whatever else you think of when you think sketch. And the hostel itself was pretty ghetto. And it ended up costing 20 euros more a night than we were originally told. So that wasn't cool. We checked in and got our stuff all put in our rooms and then got dinner and just hung out.
Then on Sunday, one of the guys in the group, Jack, got up super early because he couldn't sleep and he decided to walk around the city. So by the time the rest of us woke up, he basically knew where everything was and how to get there and when it was open and everything! It was like having our very own tour guide who had no idea what the historical significance of anything was but they were more than happy to lead you to where it was. It did rain for most of the day, so that was kinda sad. And there were all these people out trying to sell umbrellas! It was a smart idea, but none of us were paying for a dang umbrella in Rome. I mean, for real, you don't go to Rome and buy an umbrella off a street-walker. Anyway, we went to the Colosseum and got rained on but it was amazing. All the grass was super green and gorgeous and it was just great. Then, since it was all rainy, we decided to go back to the hostel and just hang out for a while until dinner. Apparently, people in Italy always eat huge lunches out and then have small dinners in with their family so none of the restaurants open until about 7:30. So we waited until then and in that time we met another American guy who was staying in the hostel and we invited him out to dinner with us and it was a lot of fun! Then after dinner, for some reason, everyone decided we needed to go and see the Trevi fountain. So at 8:30, we went down into the metro station which is like the subway system. It's SO sketch. And there is SO much graffiti on the trains it's incredible. I got some really awesome pictures. I'm really working on being better about putting them up! Anyway, we were standing down there, waiting for a train and I said, "Guys, did anyone look at what time this closes so we're not going across town without a way back?" and every BOY said, "it doesn't close. You're thinking of the buses." So I let it go and we went to see the fountain. It was so pretty! But my camera took weird pictures because it was night time and I can't figure out the flash on my camera. Eh. I did throw in my coins though! And we got Gelato. Oh goodness, it is so good! I ate it way too much on this trip. I'm actually kind of sick of Italian food. I had either pizza, spaghetti or lasagna for every meal. If I see any of them again in the next week, I'm just gonna throw up without warning. It's ridiculous. Anyway, we got a little lost on the way to the fountain and then on the way back to the metro and we finally made it back to the entrance to the metro at like 10:30. Well it CLOSED at 9:00. I just looked at all those boys and smiled the 'I told you so' smile. And I said, "Weird. It's closed." And they didn't say anything. Haha. But it turns out our hostel was only about two miles from where we were staying so we just walked back and it was fine.
Monday was my birthday!! It was great! We slept in and then went to a little pizzeria and I had the BEST sausage pizza I've ever had in my life. Seriously, it was the bomb. After lunch, we went to the Roman Forum and walked around there for about 4 hours. It was so amazing and beautiful and there were all these ruins from something or other and gardens and beautiful trees! Oh, it was just perfect. Then we walked around the city and saw almost everything else there was to see in Rome. We walked by the Pantheon for about 5 minutes and some cool plazas and some buildings and...man. I'm really feeling bad that I have no idea what it was we saw! But I took a lot of pictures so maybe I'll find out. I can google it or something. Then for dinner, we went back to the same place and I had the same pizza and then we went to get gelato and it was good. I kept all my gleato spoons. Now, when I look at then, I feel sick.
Tuesday we met up with some other girls from our group in Oxford and went to the beach! We went to Sperlonga which is about two hours from Rome and it was so pretty! And we just hung out there for a while and I collected some shells on the beach! Then we had a little scare where we ALMOST missed our bus back to the train station but we didn't and we made it back to Rome safely. While we were waiting for the bus, I really had to pee! So I ran to this little shop and went inside to ask about a bathroom. Well, one of the guys on the trip had told me that 'bathroom' in Italian, was 'bagno' pronounced the same as in Spanish. I don't think that was true because I walked up to this guy and said that and he didn't know what I was saying. So I had to do a little bathroom dance and he kinda laughed and said 'bathroom!' and pointed to another shop across the street. So I ran over there and walked in and it was kind of crowded and this guy walked up to me and said something in Italian and, again, I said "bagno!" and no one in that shop seemed to know what I was saying! So I just said 'bathroom' and they still didn't know, so I did another little bathroom dance and they all kinda laughed and pointed at the back of the shop. So I found a bathroom! Then when I was walking out, they were all still laughing. So that was great.
Wednesday was the Vatican. We decided to get there super early so we didn't have to wait in the line because it was supposed to be raining. It was awesome! The church was huge! And gorgeous! And then we walked through the museum and saw all the famous paintings and the Sistine Chapel. It was gigantic! I mean, HUGE!! And perfect. It's just crazy to think that one person did all that. I don't know how long it took but it looked like one wall painted a solid color could have taken months. It was breathtaking. I think the only other thing we did that day was eat. Gross. I really don't remember. We went back to the Trevi fountain one day...maybe it was...no...I think that was Tuesday. Um...I really don't know.
Thursday we went and tried to see the Medici Villa and I think we did but we never did find a sign that specifically said it was. So who really knows? Then we walked around Rome some more and saw some more plazas that we hadn't seen before I think, and then the time came for us to go back and get our stuff and catch a train to the airport and then we got to Venice! That was really uneventful. Then, we found our hostel in Venice and it was more like a hotel and we slept the next day until we woke up. Which was like, noon.
So Friday we just walked around. We found all these little shops and walked over all these bridges and down to the docks by this plaza and we just sat there for a while next to the water, watching the docked boats rocking around on the waves and all the people walking by and it was beautiful outside. It was just perfect. Saturday was really the same, we just sat at a couple different cafes and talked and then the girls broke off to go shopping and the guys did...something. I have no idea. But we met up for dinner and then went to the airport and left. It was sad, but I was ready.
We landed at about 11:40 and our bus from the airport was supposed to leave at 12:45 so we rushed into the passport line and there was only ONE guy checking passports. It took forever!! Finally we got through and ran to the bus and got on and the bus driver was a jerk! One of our guys was literally shaking because he hadn't eaten in so long and he stopped and got food and the bus driver made him throw it away before he even had one bite. Then, it was like he had no idea what temperature it was on that bus! We were freezing! Then, for some reason he turned on the AIR CONDITIONER! It was miserable. Then, he turned it off and that was a little better but I was shivering so bad. When we got off the bus, it was 5 degrees outside and we were warmer than we'd been on the bus! It was so ridiculous. We walked home and I got into my room at 4:00 in the morning.
In our first hostel, towels weren't provided and I'd been drying off with the shirt I'd worn that day. The second hostel did provide towels but the shower was tiny. So when I got home, I took a shower! I started to unpack my bag and it was like I was punched in the face. My clothes smelt so bad!! Mainly because, one night, we were hanging out on the roof of our hostel and the chairs up there were wet so my pants got wet and then the heater in our room wouldn't come on so they didn't dry all the way before I had to pack them and by the time I was able to let them air out again, I wasn't willing to take them out of the bag because they smelled so bad! Gross. On Sunday, my iTouch died, on Tuesday, my phone died, and we didn't have free wifi anywhere we went so I had no idea how much money was in my bank so I didn't want to take any out! I'm pretty sure Erika is an angel because I told her about it and she said she could spot me until I figured things out. That really only meant the last two days and then the minute I woke up yesterday I went to the ATM and got money to pay her back. The second thing I did was laundry.
So there you have it! That was my trip to Italy. It was great at time and terrible at time. We were all so ready to get back to our own beds and back to people who just spoke English first and not broke bits of it. I'm ready to just be here for a while. I've got three papers due this week and one due next week the day before we leave for Ireland...so that should be fun to catch up on! That's actually what I should have been doing the whole time I was writing this up, but who says a little procrastination isn't the best way to get things done? That's probably a dangerous way to think of things...oh well!
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