Our train ride down to Rome was comfortable and pleasant. Abe and Natalie were on their way to Florence, so we had company for the first half. After they departed for Florence the scenery of rolling Tuscany hills and sunflowers kept us company. It was gorgeous and sunny looking. You can’t help but feel happy when gazing at the sunflowers that rival Kobe Bryant in size.
Recall from an earlier post when I was banned from pushing the green button on trains, the one that opens both the connecting cars and the bathroom. Well, I had to go to the bathroom and hesitantly pushed the green button. I have been scarred from the previous button experience but really needed to use the bathroom so I crossed my fingers, pushed the button, and hoped the bathroom was empty. Of course, it was not. I once again managed to open the door on a passenger. With a “mi dispiace” I quickly shut the door. As she exited the bathroom I faced the window and turned my full attention to the passing fields (at least I pretended to). I am currently zero for two with the green button pushing and there is not much more time in Italy to increase my statistics.
We arrived in Rome and headed directly to the hotel Taber had found while searching several hotel websites. We were told we would not find a sign on the exterior, so given the address we headed out to find it. We found it with no problem, buzzed the doorbell and were let up. It was a fantastic find. Five rooms all equipped with air conditioner (a must for Taber), wireless internet, a very nice bathroom, and a big comfortable bed. The owner/manager treated us more like a family member than a hotel guest. As we were heading out to explore Rome he took one look at my purse and said “that is every pick pockets heaven. You are going to be the biggest target in Rome” We rearranged the items in my purse so if I was pick pocketed, I would not miss anything except for the purse and my many lip glosses inside.
Our first stop was the coliseum where we joined a tour group. Not only did it allow us to skip the line, but it also gave us interesting information regarding the history of the coliseum. Plus, our Australian tour guide looked like he secretly wanted to be a modern day Roman Gladiator which added to the Roman feel. In the middle of the tour guides introduction I glanced to my left and who do I see mingled in the group…the girl I walked in on in the train bathroom. Either Rome is very small or my luck with train bathrooms is starting to follow me. I tried to hide behind either Taber or the guy in our group that looked like the identical twin of Kate from “John & Kate Plus 8”. He had the exact same hair cut and looked like he borrowed some of her clothes. I asked Taber to take a picture, but he was too focused on the massiveness of the coliseum. We toured the forum with the same group but a different tour guide, who kept us laughing the whole time. A few of our favorite facts from the tour…
1.500,000 people died in the coliseum
2. Gladiators fought again all animals including giraffes, porcupines, and elephants.
3. The toga color announced their social status
4. Gyms were put in front of stores. The Roman men would work out in front of the stores where the woman shopped. The women wanted to be seen by the men and would shop more and the men wanted to impress the women would work out harder.
4.The original toilet brush was invented by the Romans when they did not have toilet paper. Which is where the phrase “the wrong end of the stick” comes from...you don't want to brush with the wrong end of the stick:(
The coliseum and forum were not as crowded as we had anticipated. We never felt like we were competing to look at something, or had to wait to take a picture until people were not huddles around. There was only one point we felt cramped… On four occasions we were bumped into be two woman walking with a broken umbrella attempting, but failing, to keep the sun off of them. It was as if we were the gladiators and their umbrella was the wild animal trying to battle us. Besides that, we got extremely lucky with the lack of tourists.
We made our way to the Trevi fountain, which dominates the small square it sits in, and threw our coins. Having been told throwing the coins guarantees a return trip to Rome and grants a wish, we hoped for both. I wished for a giant plate of food to magically appear in front of me. Although I don’t know Taber’ s wish, I assume it was similar to mine. Our wish came true twenty minutes later. We were sitting in a quiet alley with two giant plates of food. We must have had good tosses because along with our granted wish an accordion player played soft music throughout our meal.
Next stop- Spanish Steps. I enjoyed the steps a lot because you are given the green light to people watch and stare. Usually I try to stare and am interrupted by Taber saying “Krissie” in a “you are staring at the people next to us” tone. Here, I could stare as hard and long as my heart desired! As we were watching people a man with a giant German Sheppard wearing a bright orange muzzle joined the crowd. He began to shout out a mishmosh of English. His message did not make sense and we came to the conclusion he combined all the English words he new into one long, shouting, run-on sentence. Wherever he learned his English they relied heavily on profanity. To add to the scene, while he was sputtering off nonsense his dog was trying to get intimate with his leg. The dogs actions did not phase the man at all and he continued on his rant. All eyes on the Spanish steps were on this man, especially ours. The dog was within 12 inches of Taber and I. He got too close to Taber for his comfort and tried to bite him. Thank goodness for the neon orange muzzle, it saved Taber’s face.
After our eyes glazed over from people watching we headed towards the direction of the hotel. Thirsty from walking around all day we ducked into a restaurant to sit down and chug some water before calling it night. Our plan was altered when the restaurant brought out peanuts, chips with salsa, and fries. With sodium running through our veins we arrived back at the hotel and hit the sack.
No comments:
Post a Comment