Roma!

So we woke up nice and early and went to the bar on the corner where we get our free breakfast through the hostel, and it was full of cappucino and croissants. Afterwards we walked to the train station and bought our Roma pass which has been probably the best investment while on the trip. 25 euros for 3 days. You can hop on any bus or metro, you get into 2 museums for free, and after that the museums are at a discounted price.

We got on a bus to head to the colliseum but ended up jumping off when we saw our first fountain. So we ended up next to this fountain, and cheap cheap CHEAP pizza place so we engrained the spot in our brain for lunch later and decided to walk to the colliseum. Along the way we did a little street shopping, and I tasted a little bit of a melon alcohol or something. We figured we'd buy some pasta as souvenirs, but paying almost 10 American dollars for a bag didn't seem worth it. You could buy 2 huge gelatos at that price.

We ended up at the Fontana de Trevi, and figured we'd make a wish. Not before a woman jumped out of the crowd and put a parakeet on my finger, and told us to take a picture. So Jamila took a picture, and then the lady kept placing the bird in random spots on me. After me she put it on Jamila and Jamila was infuriated at this point because the lady wouldn't stop, and after she took the bird off Jamila she demanded 20 euros. Jamila was even more upset and deleted the pictures in front of the lady and said she wasn't going to pay. The lady said we were stupid Americans which made Jamila even more upset. I was just confused. I'm not the brightest apparently. After we left Jamila said she was trying to pickpocket us. Thankfully we listened to our parents and put our valuables in hard to get at places.

So we continued on our way to the fountain and made our wish, and took our pictures and decided to get out as soon as possible because we were both in shock at the rudeness of the lady.

So we went to the colliseum for the first free museum, and it took Jamila and I a second to figure out why the middle field is full of a maze like structure. We felt stupid after realizing it was where they kept the lions. We learned that in school for goodness sake. Anyways, it was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, and of course we had the street vendors not leaving us alone every step of the way.

After walking around and grabbing a slice of pizza (which by the way did live up to all the preconceptions I had for Italian pizza) for lunch from the place I mentioned earlier we headed back to the hostel to make a pb and j sandwich for dinner. We figured we'd head up to this park/museum area and wander around then have a picnic.

So we hopped on the metro this time and got off at the edge of the park and took some pictures by one of the fountains by the entrance to the park. At this point it was probably fountain number 5 we'd taken a picture by, and we didn't take a picture by every fountain we've run into. If we had, we'd have an entire memory card full of us in front of fountains.

After taking our pictures a man came up and had a bouquet of roses. I held out my hand in the downward postion to say and signal no, and he shoved a rose in my hand and let go causing me to try and catch it before it fell. He tried to give one to Jamila and both of us were insisting we had no money, which at this point was true. We made sure to put everything in the locker at our hostel so we wouldn't be tempted to buy more things. He kept insisting and both of us were insisting we had no money. In the end he grabbed the rose from me, and walked of muttering about how he didn't want our money anyways, and we wouldn't get HIS roses.

We continued to the entrance to the park and headed up steep stairs where we found an amazing look out over Rome. After a few snapshots we sat down under a tree and were drinking water when another man with roses came up to us. By this point both of us were beyond irritated. I tried to be nice and say we had no money and didn't want his rose, but he insisted he just wanted to talk. Jamila started yelling that we weren't going to pay him and he needed to leave. He still didn't get the hint, and he said he was just trying to help us enjoy the park before storming off.

We got harassed a third time, and by this point Jamila and I had had enough, and right out started yelling we had no money before he could even ask.

We nicknamed the park the valley of the busts...because there were busts of heads EVERYWHERE! I felt like I had someone watching me wherever I went.

Jamila's toenail had begun to fall off at this point, and we decided it would be best to get her back to the hostel. We decided a bus would be better than the all to overheated metro so we sat for awhile hoping the bus would get there soon. These two other backpackers walked up and stood by the sign for the bus, and they were completely American. The speech, and mannerisms and all. This cute little old lady started talking to one, and the guy started speaking to her back in Italian, and I think I fell in love for a second. Super attractive, and knew Italian. Yum. Before I got a chance to talk to the guy their bus came, and unfortunately it was for a different one than ours. I wanted SO badly to follow after them, but Jamila was not feeling it, but maybe next time I'll be able to have my girly moment and flirt with someone on this trip. Plus I wanted to talk to them because I felt a little better knowing someone could speak both English and Italian and wasn't trying to sell us something or scam us.

After taking a bus in the completely wrong direction are now back at the hostel. I've still got energy and want to do something, but unfortunately there's no one to go around town with...I guess I'll just go to bed...when it's still bright out...in Rome...cuz that's what I imagined my trip to a foreign country would be like.