When in Rome...

Italy has been a whirlwind of activity. Florence, Pisa, and the Cinque Terra were so fun, but we coudnt wait to get to Rome. that all changed once we stepped out of the train station. Our hostel was located about 100 feet from the train station. we ended up taking the "scenic route" all around the grungy town searching for it. after making a giant loop, and getting directions from a reception guy at a very nice hotel, we found our hostel right back accross the street from where we started from. we explored the area a little bit, thought we were being followed by two creepy guys, got a slice of pizza and returned to our hostel to get bundled up. that night we took the metro to the trevi fountain which was really cool. we tossed our coins in over our shoulders, hopeful to return some day. while at the fountain the vendors there overwhelmed us with their pushy advances. selling camera tripods and noise makers, or asking to take our picture we said no over and over again. one guy got so mad at us he started calling us names and following us around saying "stupid, stupid, you understand me, you stupid." it made our fun visit of the fountain somewhat tainted. weve been really surprised by how pushy some of these sellers and restaurant workers are. they try to get you to buy things and want to get you to come in their restaurant, and then when you say no they get so upset.

after the trevi fountain we walked to where we thought the spanish steps were and came upon a large building that looked over the city. it was really pretty, and we decided to walk down the different levels to see if we could find the spanish steps. once at the bottom we saw a fountain and a courtyard and a plaque that read "spanish steps." i guess we had found them after all...they were just different than we expected. we ate dinner at a little cafe and headed back to our hostel.

in the morning we checked out of mosaic hostel because they were full the next night and moved to eden hostel called a "B&B." the hostel worker buzzed us in the door after we had made our way around the corner through groups of gang-member looking men and homeless people. i told him we had a reservation and had made it online and he smile and nodded and asked if we wanted a room. i said yes, we had made a reservation on the internet. he said, oh yes, we have internet. we quickly learned this would be an interesting night. he led us up a flight of stairs to an elevator that was about 4ft long and 2ft wide. if any of you have seen our backpacks youll know how well that went over. squeezing in, emily and i twisted and turned to get ourselves lodged into the corner while the owner squished in too and shut the door. the elevator stopped with a jolt and we backed out of the small space, unable to fully turn around. our room was behind 2 more locked doors and had a bathroom and kitchen area not too far from it. it was the creepiest place ever! it was not enough that the inside was like a dungeon but we were afraid to walk out the door--it was like being in downtown LA at night.

While in rome we got to see St. Peters basilica which was huge and ornate. the inside was adorned with golden lining, beautiful mosaics and countless pieces of artwork. we went to the top of the cupola which consisted of climbing 520 stairs some no bigger than a foot long in an enclosed spiral staircase. we saw michaelangelos pieta and later went into the museum to see the sistine chapel. the museum was by far the largest museum ive ever seen, and it took forever to get to the sistine chapel. after vatican city we found a cute little cafe/pub that had free wifi, and we ordered some blood orange juice which was delicious. we spent 3 hours there looking up new places to stay for fear we might not make it through the night at our other place, and also looking at some hostels in venice.

we got to see the forum and colosseum that night, and then returned in the morning to see it in the daylight. we thought the ruins were so cool, and were facinated by their building skills from so long ago. all in all we disliked rome when we got there, but liked it more and more as we got to see more of the sites and history. we left yesterday to get to venice a day early and love our hostel here. were staying at a place called "a venice fish" and its in a great location with a fun host. everyone is welcome to free dinner at night and free breakfast in the morning, and weve met some fun travelers from all over. ive fallen in love with venice after only being here a day...its hands down my favorite place weve been so far. we explored the streets today and are going to the opera tonight!

our hostel here has a camera hook up, finally, so we were able to load some pictures on to facebook. if youd like to see them they are in an album titled "europe so far" and have captions telling you where theyre from. enjoy!