Hilary In London

Adventures in Roma!

It has been a long week - I think Roma, though amazing, really tired me out for the rest of the week. It was well worth it!
I left at 3am, thanks to my roommate who so nicely offered to drive me to the airport! Stanstead is the hardest airport to get to. I was nervous, but that all changed when I got into line to go through security. I was going to Rome and even if I had forgotten my mark scheme at school, which I was going to do in the airport, I didn't care anymore, I was going to Rome! I arrived in the morning, jumped on the bus to get to the center of town and try to find my hostel. Oh, I should talk about the flight. All normal until we were about to land. Seeing the city from up above - miniture versions of the monuments and buildings - the perfect symmetry of St. Peters and the Vatican, and a model sized colosseum.
It all seemed too easy, I thought the language difference would be harder to nagivate. On the bus, staring out the window, I was in awe of my surroundings. The palm trees, pink buildings, run down buildings and graffiti. In some ways I was reminded of a South American city, the outskirts of Rome are filled with poverty, but then closer to the city this Miami (or what I imagine Miami might be like) feel came over me. The incredible part of Rome is the history. Ruins and intact buildings from thousands and thousands of years ago - making all myth feel real.
I wandered down to the Forum area after dropping my things off at the hostel. It wasn't really until I headed into the Colosseum on a guided tour that the beauty of the building hit. I found out where the word arena came from and who the first referees were. Everything can be linked back to Rome. It really is the beginning of life as we know it. The tour also included the Palatine Hills, which I hardly knew about until. The guide was bubbly, very close to being annoying, but very knowledgable. The knowledgable side won out so she will be remembered fondly. She poured water on the stones to show their true colours, told stories and hypothesized how she felt the history had evolved. After the tour I ended up just wandering for hours. I hit all the spots I wanted too - Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon were the highlights. The Trevi fountain really is beautiful. After only a few hours of sleep I was exhausted by 7pm. I went back to the hostel and climbed into bed, thinking that I should just have a really good sleep and wake up early the next morning. That didn't happen. It was then when Caitlin and Caitlin walked into my life! Two girls from the US, both doing a sememster abroad. They invited me to join them for some drinks and then a visit to the Spanish Steps. We had drinks in the hostel room - playing a very fun travel drinking game (using Caitlin's 'Let's Go Europe' travel guide). We met up with some others from the hostel and went down to the Spanish Steps. There we befriended some locals who were drinking wine from a glass jug (very Italian I thought) and playing guitar and drums. We joined them in singing and dancing and I guess you could say we did as the Romans! I went to bed a lot later than the 7pm that I initially thought.

I did manage to wake up early enough and managed to still make the most of my last day! I went to the Vatican City, deciding that I would see the Pope's address from the library window. I thought there would be more people there and I didn't want to miss it, so I figured that I would go inside after. That turned into the only mistake that I made all weekend - well, maybe not the only mistake - I did try and use the bus system. Did I tell you that rowdy bunches of boys (football fans? Wow, I wrote that without even thinking soccer... Oh dear, they are turning me...) were throwing eggs and kicking the buses? While they were moving, albeit very slowly... So I waited and waited and waited... Felt a little left out cause I didn't have banners or matching t-shirts like most people. Seeing the Pope was less than dramatic, at least for me. It did feel strange - cheering a man in this little window... I guess I just don't understand. I was impressed with the amount of languages that he could speak!

The rest of the day was spent wandering again. I didn't think that I would see everything I wanted, but I guess getting lost has its advantages! I would stumble onto the sites or Piazzas (I went to a lot of them!) that I had read about. I managed to be at the top of one of the Hills, in La Traverse area, for sunset. It was beautiful! I'm glad I did this on my own - boosted my confidence, allowed me to see the things I wanted to in such a short amount of time, and I met some new people! The flight home was one of the worst flights I've ever been on. I thought we were going to crash on the landing. But I made it safe and sound! I was glad to hold a UK passport, for as long as a line it was for the EU, it went really quickly with about 9 custom people. The non EU had 3. It must have taken them forever! It was a wonderful trip, and even though I'm not impressed with my photos, I'll remember it for always!

One last thing - yesterday Dave and I went to see 'Little Shop of Horrors' - what a fantastic performance! It was this tiny theatre off the West End - but the production was just so fun and they did such a good job!

Until next time! Missing you all...

posted by Hilary @ 4:29 PM