I flew with Ryan Air from Memmingen to Ciampino, took a bus to Anagnina metro station, then took the metro to the Termini station in Rome. Luckily my hostel was really close to Termini, the main train station, so it was really easy to get to different parts of the city. The metro system in Rome pales in comparison with the U-bahn and S-bahn system in Munich, but they have a pretty extensive bus system as well. One HUGE difference I noticed immediately between Munich and Rome is the number of beggers and poor people in general. You very rarely see anyone who looks anything less than affluent walking around the city of Munich. In Rome, there are gypsies everywhere as well as men selling gimmicky touristy items illegally- they crowd the piazzas and streets nearest the major tourist attractions. On the bus ride from Ciampino airport to the Anagnina metro stop, we passed a huge gypsy camp with little kids running around in nothing but rags as their parents sat outside of shacks and trailers in the blazing sun. The warm temperature was another difference, but a welcome one :)
I found my hostel without any trouble and was excited to see that there were two guys in my room when I got there. I assumed I would spend most of my time in Rome by myself, which I was totally fine with, but these guys ended up being awesome, so we did a lot of sightseeing together. They are both in the British Army and currently live in Germany near Cologne, and they were in Rome to run in the Rome Marathon on Sunday. I won't bore you with details of all of the things that we saw, you just HAVE to go to Rome if you haven't been there already, and if you're not sure what to do or see, just ask me, because I'm obsessed with Rome. Shocking, I know. I survived my first pantheon sighting (barely), and I also barely survived my encounter with Bernini's Apollo and Daphne sculpture in the Borghese Gallery, which is one of my favorite sculptures. I did a short presentation on this sculpture my junior year in college, so to see it in real life was incredible. This picture does not do it justice, but here it is:
Obviously seeing both the inside and outside of the Colosseum was incredible, as well as the entire Roman Forum. There aren't really words to describe how vast the collections in the Vatican Museums are, and St. Peter's is even more gargantuan than you would expect. One of my favorite things that I did not expect to do was climb up to the dome of St. Peter's where you can look down into the transept. You can then climb up much further and walk around the top of the dome and look out onto the city. The view from the dome onto St. Peter's square is awesome. Another awesome view was looking down onto the Italian and Austrian alps from the plane window.
The one British guy that I met, who is definitely someone I will keep in touch with, has some of the best stories I've ever heard. He is 23 as well. He was once dared to get the name of his favorite soccer team in Liverpool, Everton, tattooed across his forehead. The scar is from getting that tattoo removed. He also once drove a moped from the street into a hotel he was staying at and directly into the indoor pool. Apparently there is also a youtube video involving fireworks and him that has a million views. He was quite a character, but a really nice guy.
When I got home, Mimi and Stef had just gotten back from Mallorca. We shared stories and Mimi opened some birthday presents (a toy parking garage and a big toy cement truck, obviously). She turned 4 on Tuesday! I always miss Mimi and Stef and Matthias when I'm away- it really feels like my second home here. Here is Mimi playing with her parking garage...
Today in my language course we had a big international breakfast, and we represented 20 different countries all in one room. It was pretty neat. Everyone brought a breakfast food that is specific to his/her home country, and everything was delicious.
Grazie for reading.
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