Ok... So I left us in Florence... well, we took the train to Rome, and after finding the way to our flat we... actually i don't remember exactly when we did things anymore... I suppose I waited too long for all of this writing. Oh well, our flat was in an interesting part of town. It was kind of sketchy to say the least. We were on the 5th (or 6th if your canadian) floor and right in the centre of the staircase was a tiny little elevator. It fit two people comfortably. Needless to say we all got well acquainted with stairs in Rome. Our place was nice and roomy and finally a place with 2 queen sized beads instead of one queen and 3 single beds. (I feel that it should be noted that Mom and Dad were very nice and let us have the queen in Florence) We were really close to the metro and we used it a lot. They said that they kept trying to get more metro lines going but every time they would start digging new tunnels they would find more ruins. Which kind of 'ruined' things (haha!).
One of the first things we did in Rome was go to the Colosseum. While we were looking for the end of the line a guy came up and asked us if we wanted to join their tour. It included the Colosseum and some other ruins (I apologize, i can't remember their names, just that it was the centre of rome back in the day). We took it and the tour turned out to be very good! Both of the guides were very interesting and fun to listen to. The Colosseum is a really cool place and we were sad that we couldn't see it in all of its glory. I don't think Evan will ever forgive the Catholic church for stealing all of the marble from the Colosseum! I learned (and saw) that there were tunnels below where the games would take place and there were trap doors to let live things out (and dead things in...) the floor was covered with sand which is where we get the term 'arena' (because arena means sand).
At the end of our Colosseum tour we were given the option to join another tour the day after. It was of the Vatican, which was one thing we were planning on seeing anyway. We joined the tour and are kind of sad that we did because it was much more boring than our first one. It was a three hour tour and more than half of it was spent outside of the interesting places, looking at pictures and models of the interesting places. I understand that talking is forbidden in the Sistine Chapel but that is only one place! We skipped come cool rooms because we 'didn't have time' (duh!). Anyway, the Vatican was really cool and the Sistine Chapel was way different than I though it would be. It's just a huge rectangular room. I though it would be more like the churches and cathedrals I have seen. Michelangelo's Paintings of the creation on the ceiling are fantastic! Saint Peter's Basilica is supposedly the largest christian church in the world. It is amazing! You know all that missing Marble from the Colosseum? Its there! There are beautiful sculptures everywhere, lots of memorial tomes, and even the remains of a dead pope under some glass so you can see him. (Kinda creepy if you ask me...). When all is said and done, the tour had its good points but I think we would have preferred to see the vatican on our own time. Maybe its good we didn't see everything, because it gives us a reason to come back!
Other places that we went to in Rome are the Spanish Steps (and the really expensive designer shops in front of the steps), Trevi Fountain (and nearby we bought a water-colour from an artist of the Colosseum), the Pantheon, Plaza Navona, and i probably missed a couple of places but those are the important ones.
One day in Rome, Dad rented us a car, and us 'kids' drove it down to Pompei. We spent the day exploring the ancient city. It was fascinating being able to see how the volcano destroyed everything, yet preserved it much better then if it hadn't happened. You could easily imagine people walking down the streets, eating at the little cafeterias and sitting at the out-door theatres. They found people shaped holes in the volcanic rock where people curled up and died. I wonder if the people were blissfully ignorant of what was happening until the last few moments, or if they knew that they were doomed and also knew they couldn't do anything...
... Anyway... on to less depressing matters. We returned to Rome late-ish that night and Mom, Dad and Dave left really early the nest morning. Evan and I didn't leave until that night so we left our bags at the train station and did some more exploring. We know that we would like to go Back to Rome some day because it is such a huge city with a rich culture and history. I don't think it is possible to see all there is to see!
On our way back home to Sanxenxo we stopped at Barcelona and Spent a couple of nights at the sketchiest hostel I have ever been in. To be fair it is the first hostel I have ever stayed in, at least it was cheep and we had our own room. I can, however, say that the bed was the worst I have ever slept in (or didn't sleep in) and Evan says there were cockroaches in the bathroom in the morning. We really enjoyed Barcelona, but were disappointed to discover that we arrived on '3 Kings Day' which meant that everything was closed. We explored though and have decided that the public transportation in Barcelona kicks butt. We managed to catch a water fountain light and music show which was very impressive.
By the time Evan and I made it home to Galicia, we really missed the friendly people and familiar language. I never thought I would say that I missed Spanish, but Italian was like starting from scratch all over again. We are so grateful that we had the opportunity to go to Italy and we are already looking forward to a return trip... (in the far distant future)
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