Our Rome hostel is called Funny Palace and it had pretty good reviews on Hostel Bookers. Side note: Hostel Bookers http://www.hostelbookers.com is the site that J-Sak and I used to book all of our hostels throughout our journey. Excellent. We never had a problem, ever, with our reservations. You can reserve online and you simply pay 10% of your total charge to hold your booking. That 10% is then deducted when you square up upon arrival at your hostel. I mention this website because, before I went backpacking, I didn't really know about it and it turned out to be great. Also, after your stay, you can go onto Hostel Bookers and rate the hostel in various capacities such as location, atmosphere, cleanliness, etc. Ratings are the best way to know if a hostel is good or not. People don't lie...believe me. They are very vocal on their likes and dislikes....
So, we get to Funny Palace, where the check-in/reception is located in a laundromat and we were openly greeted by a couple of young guys. We were promptly given a map of Rome, directions and transportation routes to the major sites, advice on the nightlife and restaurant areas AND a bottle of red vino! No wonder they get good reviews on Hostel Bookers! Though the hostel itself was a little run down, the atmosphere and the accommodating vibe, I think, is why this hostel was great. We always felt more than welcome.
Our first night in Rome was low key. I had the worst stomach ache coming off the 5 hour train ride...you know how it is, eating all this gelato, cheeses and breads, it's easy to get plugged up when you're not used to eating like that...then sit on a hot, cramped train. Not good. This happened to me several times on our trip, including the last leg of our flight home, from Toronto to Edmonton (this is why I like aisle seats on long plane rides...easy access to all amenities)! Why am I sharing this with you guys? I don't know.
Anyways, first thing on our list was to do was laundry. Really, there are only so many times you can sink-wash socks and undies! Also, that night it poured rain in Rome, so we decided to just go for dinner and rest up for the next day. At dinner the first night, we met a middle-aged couple from New Jersey; they were hilarious! They were touring around Italy for three weeks. Both were impressed by our travels thus far and reminisced about their travels when they were "our age"...back in 1975...when there were no computers or cell phones...you know, really "roughing it" compared to how we were traveling. With her Rick Steves' guide book in tow, Mrs. New Jersey advised us to be early, early, early for our day at the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum, or else we would be waiting in a 4 hour line up...according to Rick Steves and her personal experience.
The next morning we did just as we planned, though we could've easily slept in. We were up and on our way early so that we could be at the entrance of the Colosseum when it opened. It is so interesting to see this huge, ancient monument right in the middle of a bustling city. Main thoroughfares, shopping centres and transit stations surround the ancient ruins. I'm just not used to seeing things like this. An interesting factoid: Rome only has a couple of metro lines because every time the city tries to dig new tunnels for new lines, they run into more ancient ruins. The city is littered with undiscovered ruins! So, the 4 hour line up we were warned about was non-existent. We basically walked right into the Colosseum. Great for us! We decided to pay a little extra money to join a 45 minute English tour, which was well worth it. The Colosseum was built in 72 AD, took 8 years to complete and could house 50 000 spectators. It's main purpose was for viewing gladiatorial battles for entertainment...battles between men and wild animals. The Colosseum was active in this manner for about four hundred years! Today, only a skeletal structure remains as most of the Colosseum was pillaged for it's stone and marble to build other structures around Rome such as the Vatican and the Pantheon. Jeni and I spent about 3 hours exploring the Colosseum and the surrounding ruins (Palatine Hill and Roman Forum). The Palatine Hill is the centre most of the Seven Hills of Rome which looks down upon a rectangular plaza consisting of ancient ruins that made up the city centre of Rome almost 2000 years ago; known as the Roman Forum. Though most of these ruins have crumbled and are still being excavated, it is certainly possible to see how could have been the centre of a great city.
J-Sak and I made our way to the Spanish Steps (walking the whole way), to join a free afternoon walking tour after our exploration of the Colosseum. We needed a break, as we were starving and had been on our feet for nearly 5 hours at this point. We grabbed sandwiches and decided to plunk ourselves down on the Spanish Steps for about an hour. Of course, what do I sit in? Pigeon sh!t. Smeared it all over my pants. ARRRRGGGGG!! J-Sak laughed at my anger. My luck with this sh!t (literally) was pretty poor. A couple of days prior, in Cinque Terre, Jeni and I were the ONLY people walking down this long pedestrian tunnel and there was a nice, steamy, soft pile of dog crap that you could see coming from a mile away...and I just step right in it. In my white shoes. Smush. Laughable now. Not then. After Jeni, such a nice friend, helped me clean up the pigeon poo on my ass, she mentioned that I had now stepped in sh!t...then sat in sh!t...so the most logical next step would be to eat.........
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| In Cinque Terre...a steamy pile-o... |
I will fast forward through the afternoon/evening of our day. Not only did we do an afternoon walking tour, we did an evening one as well. This equates to a hell of a lot of walking! We put a significant dent in Rome in our first day, and we knew we had to if we were gonna see it all in 2.5 days! On our evening tour we saw the Trevi Fountain lit up at night...amazing, really. It is a must-see when in Rome, I think...and go at night. Less people and more beautiful. We also met a fellow Canadian named Laura on our evening tour. Originally from Saskatchewan, she has not lived in Canada for about 10 years. She has been teaching at international schools all over the world; her last job was in Singapore for 5 years and she recently moved to Jordan. Laura had come to Rome for a week vacation as her school had a fall break. She was one of the most interesting and enjoyable people I had met on our trip so far and the three of us went for a great dinner after the tour. I was able to pick her brain about what it is like to work overseas and travel about alone. She had some great advice and insight, and I found her experiences very refreshing! I have often thought about teaching English somewhere in Asia. I would like to keep up my Mandarin skills, and I know I've lost some of it. Also, I would love to travel around for an extended period of time...but I know I need to make money while doing so. So, Laura sort of re-lit that fire for me as we chatted the night away...over some great pizza, pasta, seafood and wine!
First day of Rome was great! We didn't arrive back at our hostel until midnight and we had left at 8:30am...frick. Tomorrow: Vatican. What was Jeni's Facebook status? "The Pope had better clean up his home cuz we're coming over for a visit!"
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