So this weekend, the plan is Rome. You know, ancient Rome, full of history, romance, and tourists. Oh, and money hungry businesses out to suck you dry, but that's another story. It's Friday, I'm all packed (after another night of 6 hours sleep), and ready to go. I get Mike to call me a cab for 5PM so I can make my 5:30 train to Bologna (where I transfer). We call the cab early, and I get out of work at 4:45. When does the cab actually show up? 5:10, at which point I have to run to the hotel (I forgot my passport, which apparently I should bring), then hit the train station. I make it with 5 minutes to spare, so things are still good. I can only get a ticket in Mirandola to Bologna, then have to buy the next leg in Bologna proper. I find an automatic ticket machine, find a train to Rome, and try to buy a ticket. First class only, 50 euro. Okay, I can pay that, it's Rome. Put in the old credit card (it's getting quite the workout, let me tell you), and let's get on with it. Next thing I know, I see the message "Printing error" and no ticket comes out. What the hell? The machine ran out of paper I guess, so here I am with a 50 euro charge on my CC and no ticket. I try to find someone to get a refund, but "me no parlo Italiano" which makes things kinda hard. Three attempts and 20 minutes later, I finally get my refund, and a ticket on a later train. That will take 2 hours longer to get there. As in I arrive at midnight. I'm a little ticked now, but hey, it's Rome. Not quite Vegas, but still.
The train ride there is uneventful aside from me being incredibly hungry. We pull in at 11:30, I find a map, try to locate the hotel, and start walking. Little did I realize that I booked a hotel in the worst part of town. Most people won't try anything with me (nice thing about being 6'2" and surly looking), but it's still not all that nice. The hotel, though, is a nice surprise. It's back from the street, and gated, so it's secure and a good place to stay. I recommend it for someone going to Rome if they don't mind walking (the location sucks). By now it's midnight, so off to bed with a 7:30 wake up call...after all, I gotta make the Sistine Chapel, right? Little did I know how painful that decision would be.
Alarm goes off, up I get, shower, and head down to check out the breakfast buffet. No surprise, nothing there I can eat, so a glass of water and off I go. All I know about the Sistine Chapel is that it's part of the Vatican, which is where I go. The only part listed on my map is St. Peter Basilica, and that's where I end up. After about an hour of walking, that is. Past every cop in the city...I swear, you would think Rome was under siege. I also managed to see almost every other sight in Rome on the way...the ruins, the Panthenon, Venezia Square. Upon arriving, I look for a sign, any sign, telling me where the SC is. Could I find one? No. So into the church I go, thinking maybe there will be signs in there. FYI, St. Peter's Cathedral is worth the price of a stay in Rome...just awesome. And I'm not a religous guy, so when I say this, it must be something. I ended up asking two more people, who pointed me somewhere (just to the left, one kilometer, whatever that means), then said to hell with it and checked out the information center. There I got another small map of the Vatican, and was off to find the Chapel. Or more correctly, the hour and a half long line to get into the Chapel. At least I got to meet two awesome Canadians in line, Frank and his sister who's name I regretfully forget. And as promised, "Hey Ottawa, Frank Washington says hi!". They had to be at the port to catch their ship (heading off on a cruise), so they had a quick run through the museum. I don't know if they got to see everything they wanted (they had about 15 minutes, where as I rushed (kinda) and still took 2 hours) or if they made the ship, but I really do hope so. In my opinion, shared by pretty much no one else, the Chapel itself was so-so...I wasn't quite so impressed. But that's just me, go and form your own opinion on how wrong I am.
By the time I'm out of there, it's 12:30, and I need food. Across the street to this restaurant I go...big mistake. I paid 28 euro for a salad, potatoes (microwaved none the less), a coke and 2 water. Ridiculous. If I hadn't have been so hungry, I would have left everything there and walked away, but much more time without food and I wouldn't have been able to walk away. Semi-satisfied by lunch, it's off to explore the tourist traps of Rome. I headed north along the river, and hit up most of the places marked on my map as I headed south, finally ending up at a pyramid of all things (go figure). Good thing about that was I managed to find a monument to the Devil's Brigade right next to said pyramid. Tres cool. Back north to the Colussem, where I find out it's 11.50 (all in euro) to go inside. I'm a cheap bugger, so to hell with it. I start walking away, and realize, I'm only going to be in Rome once, maybe twice, why not spend the money. So I sign up for a guided tour of both the Colussem and the ruins nearby, and hear some neat stories about the time. All in all, well worth it. By now, it's starting to rain, so I grab the metro back to the train station, walk to the hotel, shower, change, and head out to dinner (it's 8PM by now, I've condensed the hell out of the day).
Finding a good restaurant, not so easy...I walked by about 6-7 on my way to the train station (I wanted to pick up my ticket for the next day early, so I would get a seat), and even stopped in at a supermarket to pick up a pop and some chips for breakfast. I get my train ticket for Sunday and head back to find a place. On the way, I find a strip club, my first in Europe. If I hadn't have been so broke, I would have given it a look, but I had about 8 euro to my name by this point, so no. Dinner was okay, more pototoes, some cheese, and a coke. This time a little more reasonable at 16 euro. Back to the hotel and another nights sleep.
Sunday, the day of relaxation. Which for me meant waking up at 8:30 (so late!) and spending only 4 hours walking around rather than the 14 of the previous day. I head back to the Vatican, and walk down the river lazily, checking out the sights. I randomly pick a street in the southern part, end up back at Piazza Venezia and the ruins...a good place to be. Unfortunately, it also happens to be the place that I get eyed up by the strangest guy I've met: he's staring at me, smiling, and fondling himself. Can you say creepy? I sure can. Thankfully you're never alone in Rome, so within seconds I was in a crowd and out of his sight. I spend a half hour touring the ruins, take a few more pics, then head back to the terminal. Oddly enough, I had misread the ticket (I thought I had booked one for 2pm-ish, and really had, but I read it as leaving at 16:07, which was actually the date, July 16th). Thankfully I happened to be eating lunch at the train station, around 2PM, when I figured this out, giving me 1/2 hour to finish eating and make my way to the train. Worked out perfectly. Trip back was uneventful, much faster, and a good time. Back to Mirandola, walk back to town, shower (again), and head out to dinner. Back to the hotel, talk to Jenn, and off to bed. All in all, a good weekend.
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