When in Rome!

I suppose to start my reading break adventures properly, I must start with London. After our night at the youth hostel, we went to the Globe theatre as our last planned trip with the group. That was Thurday. In my mind, Thursday was 'tube' day. I know the tube is handy for travelling long distances, but there comes a point when efficiency just doesn't measure up. I felt like a sewer rat, peeping my head above the ground to catch a glimpse of St. Paul's Cathedral, then Buckingham, then Westminster... then slinking back into the dark abyss of the London metro system, which contrary to popular belief, is not as simple as people make it out to be. Moving on. That's exactly what we did. After crashing on Buckinham's steps from sheer exhaustion with Laura, Jodi, and Sharon, and sharing my musings that James, being a young and aspiring scientist, should attempt to liquify himself and then evaporate so he could then become a cloud, and maybe visit me on the steps of Buckingham. If any of you are moaning because you think that's lame, just picture 4 girls lying on their backs under the stars at the queen's palace, laughing their heads off with every passing cloud. Ya-- London was good.
After our two, possibly most glorious, hours spent at McDonalds at the Termina, where we got a free mcflurry because we stayed so long, we said our goodbyes to Sharon and Jodi, then caught our bus to Louton airport. The bus driver was a funny man, but an hour late in getting us there. Not that we were in a hurry or anything, having 5 hours to kill before our flight left. SO, I found us the most remote corner, set up my pashmina as a tent and Laura and I had our first snuggle. I felt homeless. It was great.
When we could finally board, we were a bit worried about the plane. It looked like blue and yellow plastic wind up toy. But I just got on, fell asleep, woke up to see the Alps, and two hours later we were in Rome!
We found our hostel no problem.. but finding the place wasn't the problem. I don't know if any other place can properly describe "sketch", being in some sort of ghetto.. but I will save those details till I'm home, so nobody needs to worry.
Today was fabulous! We checked out, stocked up on free breakfast, and started the day by trying to find our new hostel, "ciau bella". That was an adventure. After discovering 157, our hostel number, was a local mini mart, we got a little worried. Luckily Laura spotted the hostel two doors down. Phew. We checked in, and started the day off by hopping onto the tour bus and getting off at the Colosseums. The details of this experience can wait, mostly because I feel my lousy words are inadequate. The fact that those stones have been standing since before Christ just blows my mind.
Next was the Vatican, home of 147 dead popes, including St. Peter. We arrived just after the pope gave his speech at 12, which was unfortunate. We thought today everything was free, only to discover that deal ended at noon. Again, unfortunate. We also missed the Sistene Chapel. Woops-- but tomorrow is another day.
We did quite a hike along the Tiber River, where we encountered hundreds of cheap knock off sunglasses and name brand hand bags. Lame. Then we met the 'wailing lady' who was not quite right in the head, and would wail consistently at 5 second intervals. The best part was when she started chasing a tourist, sporadically smacking her on the head as she ran. Of course the lady was spazzing out, and from close range, you can see why that would be a bit entertaining. Moving on.
After walking for a very long time at this point, Laura started to droop, and I realized two very important things. If she is dehydrated, or unable to releive herself, she simply cannot go on. But, find her a bathroom, where one can refill a water bottle and drink as much as you like, and she's instantly alive again. She's like some sort of daisy. So, with renewed vigour we attempted about a thousand stairs to get to the Villa Borghesa, for one incredible view of the city. There was also a little carnival going on at the top of this hill, something like kid heaven. I had envious feelings.

Making our way back to the main street we were stopped by an Italion father and his guitar playing son. Clearly this was a case of "oh- you are northamerican, you can help my son become famous". We were amused, so we spoke to them for awhile, until we realized this probobly wasn't his son, and he was trying to get us to go out for dinner with him. Weird. We ran away.

Back at Ciau Bella we met Alicia, another traveller, and the three of us had dinner then sat on the Spanish Steps, where we were serenaded by 4 very talented musicians. They sang "more than words" which warmed my heart, and soon they had a whole crowd singing along, which started with us three girls. We were also sitting by one hilarious group of Indonesians, who spoke perfect English, and were studying in the Netherlands. Don't be suprised if you see some very funny pictures of us and our friends from Italy pop up on facebook. That might just have been my highlight of the night. Speaking of night, it is passed 11, which means the hostel has entered "quiet hour" which nobody seems to care about here anyways.
The man who runs this place speaks spanish, and he thinks I do too, which is hilarious, but I'm giving it my best shot. Why not??
When in Rome..!!