Where are the Romans...

Let me preface this by saying sorry for poor punctuation. Italians don't have the same keyboard; therefore, I can't type quite as well as I normally would. That being said...

So I don't know much about European history, outside from 6th grade social studies, so the meanings of a lot of the sites in Europe are going to be lost on me. However, I can definitely appreciate the ancient beauty that is sitting in front of me now.

I arrived in Rome after a long night stuck in the airport, found my hostel, and then took off running. This city is full of art and architecture. I walked a full circle on my first day catching all of the sites, eating some panini, basking in the sun...you've got to love this humidity (picture Michigan in the height of summer, plus the stifling traffic of the city, minus a lake nearby)! The Colloseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Vatican City, all gorgeous, but I have to say.... where the eff did all of these people come from?!? I thought San Francisco was bad when it came to tourists, but man oh man, they have taken over this city. There are no Romans here! Everyone on the street has the same map and apparently the same destination in mind. My first thought when I got to Trevi Fountain was, "Sea World," I was waiting for Shamoo to shoot up out of the waters. All of this aside, I can't complain as I am one of them now.













My hostel here is nice, although there is a noisy, blue piece of plastic under the sheets due to a lesson that they must have learned a while ago. Who knew I needed bugspray in the city as I woke up with mosquito bites (not bedbug bites, thank you) this morning. I have yet to eat any pasta and I'm avoiding gelato for now as I know it will become addicting before the week is out.

Today I hit the Vatican as well as Ville Borghese, the Roman version of GG Park(minus drum circles and hippies). After going to the local market, I took a rest from the afternoon heat since I'd sweat through my first change of clothes, mmmm. :) I then decided to go out and get lost in Rome. I got completely turned around and ended up having to walk an incredible ways in my flip flops..only to get within a few blocks of my hostel to find the street blocked off with some huge protest that is going on...I feel home again. Tonight a glass or two of wine is in order and then it will be an early night as I've got a ticket to Florence in the morning to see what Tuscany has to offer.