So, our last night in Venice turned out to be a huge success!
Dani and I ended up going out on a double date, or so you could say : )
We paused after dinner to take some pictures in Piazza San Marco for one another, and two adorable guys passing volunteered to take one of the two of us together. They asked where we were from and where we suggested them going to get some dinner. They, of course, like millions of the other travelers we’ve run into, are from So Cal. Their names: Sam & Arman, both handsome Armenian men from good old Southern California, so you know they had good style and those flirtatious attitudes! Haha So we pointed them in the direction of some food and Dani and I ended up walking around Venice for about an hour. We decided to turn around and walk back in the other direction to see what we could stumble into and low and behold we come across Sam & Arman, coming from the opposite direction we had pointed them in! It was quite comical; I’d have to say!
The four of us ended up walking around together and eventually we found the boys a nice restaurant to eat at and they invited us along with them. They entertained us with a bottle of Champaign while they ate their dinner. The conversation was nice and refreshing, and after finishing up at the restaurant, which I have to say was outside in this gorgeous little courtyard, candle lit with flowers and everything (haha), we started off again to find some gelato, which we also did not have to pay for! These guys were great, seriously! They were sweet, funny, and were becoming quite the little worldly travelers themselves. They had actually just spent the previous two months living and working in Greece just for the hell of it (making bank working at a bar/nightclub). But hey, it worked for them and of course they had a blast doing it- they’re normal guys! It was really fun and, yeah okay, a little romantic, but really not possible with perfect strangers, roaming the streets of Venice. I guess it’s safe to say it was just the atmosphere. The funny thing is, between these two and my Italian Stallion Luca, from Lido, I was having more luck with guys in Venice than I had in Paris for an entire month! **Please note, this is not to say I was looking for anything, because to be totally honest, guys are so the farthest thing from my mind, especially on this trip (So fear not mother, I won’t be “falling in love to never come home” within the next week!)!
After gelato, we strolled the streets of Venice, which unlike Rome and Paris, shut down super early! We wandered around and around until we found a bar bumping heavy music, Snoop Dogg nonetheless, and we stopped in for a drink before ending our cute little romantic evening. As many of you know, I’ve got about four close girl friends and then the majority of the rest of my friends consist of guys, so if anything, hanging out with Arman and Sam was refreshing to be around guys (there were none to hang with in Paris or from our program). I started really missing my California boys from back home and that Nor Cal understanding that is our culture, and of course started getting excited to get back to Seattle and to my wonderful friends in the PN-dub.
So, by the time we got in it was about 1:45am. We had to be up by like 3:30 am to get our stuff down to the water bus that left at 4:20am. Basically, what happened was I set the clock on our cell phone for one hour ahead by accident and I ended up getting about a good 40 minutes of sleep before having to get up and get going. Dani on the other hand, passed out well before I turned in. We got our stuff down to the floor just below our hotel and realized about the time and sat on the floor for about 40 more minutes and then took off to the waterbus. It was still super dark at this time, so after hopping on the water bus to get to the bus station where we’d take our shuttle to the airport, we got to watch a Venetian sunrise (SIGH). Yes, please do it with me! Ready, “SIGH.” Hehe
Getting on the flight to Rome was so much easier than getting on in Paris. Unlike Paris, Italy actually has customer service, THANK YOU JESUS! There were no problems with the weight of our bags this time, so that was absolutely a heaven-sent! The flight was only about 45 minutes and the next thing we knew we were on a bus and then a metro and at our hostel! We got to take one of those crazy old elevators with the manual doors to the second floor (really the third floor) to get to Pensione Ottaviano. We checked in, dropped off our stuff and were on our way to enjoy our first day in Rome!
We took a bus straight to this HUGE open market on the edge of the “T*,” the river that runs through the West side of Rome, in the Trestevare district. That was so much fun! I felt like a little girl again, when our family used to go to the giant flea markets and I used share the giant pickles with my mom : ) haha Everything was so cheap in comparison to Paris! I mean it even only cost us 2 EUR to get from the airport to our hostel! In Paris, it would have been much more! After walking only a portion of the market in the blazing sun, we decided we’d had enough and hopped on another bus over to the Colloseo, or the Colloseum! That was soooooo legit! I mean purely “Gladiator” status! It made me want to go watch the movie! Haha I even had a mixed moment when I felt like screaming “THIS IS SPARTA,” but then realized I’d be completely out of context and would probably look like an “American Idiot.” Thus, I refrained. The Colloseum was a cool experience, however trying to imagine what it used to look like in its prime was pretty tough, as it used to be adorned with gorgeous stucco patters on its columns, as well as decorations and such. But, even harder to imagine was what the “gladiators” or slaves and prisoners felt just before they were thrust into the field only to know their fate, which would lead to death. I definitely got a knot in my tummy thinking about it… ICK!
After the Colloseo, we wandered over to the Platino and Foro Roman ruins, where training used to go on and other military junk We got to go into the house of Augosto, but had to wait for a long time as they only let about ten people in at a time for safety reasons, in case it were to collapse because it’s so old. We grabbed lunch from one of the traveling carts. They even sold partially frozen water, and thank goodness because staying hydrated in Rome was quite the mission. The weather was much hotter than in Paris, and still not as hot as what I have to look forward to in Vegas. Let’s just say that since shorts were so taboo in Paris, I didn’t pack any and by the time I reached Rome, I TOTALLY regretted it!
So Sunday, we covered most of the major ruins in the center
of Rome, and were super beat, but because it was Sunday, I wanted to make sure
that I made it to a church, if not for mass, just to sit and pray for a while.
Where we ended up happened to be “Basilica Di San Pietro in Vincoli,” or Saint
Peter in Chains. This was amazing. From the painting on the ceiling to the main
alter that lead below to the little crypt that held the chains Saint Peter was
held captive in before his execution… this place was a perfect place to be
right after having visited the ruins.
Next, we ended up in the location by which both Peter and Paul, the apostles,
were held captive before their executions. The “dungeon” (or what I’ll call it)
was very small. It was about a little smaller than the size of the key on a
basketball court. The post where Peter was chained to was still there, but
since an alter with an upside down cross, representing his upside down
crucifixtion, has been placed in there. I can’t imagine being there during that
time, in such a small space with bodies all around me. So intense. I definitely
was feeling uneasy being under there knowing what I know.
Dani and I decided to turn in early because we were both beat from no sleep the night before and decided it would be best to get up and get and early start the next day. We had dinner and shared a pizza. It was so cheap for the amount of food we got! Gosh, Rome was great for getting the most bang out of your buck! Haha
Anywho, that was mostly it for Day One in Rome!
Recent Comments