Venice and Rome

After our wonderful overnight cruise/ferry where we got to watch Italy beat England in the quarterfinal match of the EuroCup, we landed in the beautiful city of Ancona (it wasn’t really that beautiful at all) and jumped on the first train out of there to Venice, the city of pigeons and tourists. I am convinced that no one actually lives in Venice after visiting, and it is all American, German and Canadian tourists. Anyways so we showed up to the city with nowhere to stay, so first step was taking care of that. How do we do that you ask? Simple wander aimlessly in one direction until you reach an internet café, and then book a hostel (our overnight ferry unfortunately didn’t have internet to our dismay). So once that was taken care of, and our stuff had been properly dropped down carelessly we headed out to see one of the most famous cities in the world, and take in the Venetian Culture. The first stop (because it was close) was the famous Rialto Bridge before we headed towards the Piazza San Marco (Saint Mark’s Square) to take in more tourists, and more importantly more pigeons and street vendors. Oh, I suppose there was some famous old stuff and churches too, and the canal or whatever… If you’re curious how to navigate the alleys and canals and confusing-ness of Venice, it’s a very simple science. You just walk in a general direction for a while, and if its something famous you’ll start to see signs for it. Anyways after we had walked and wandered enough for one day we went back to the hostel to freshen up for a little bit before hitting the town… Except that its not a party town at all, so what we really did was grabbed some dinner, and this orange drink we had seen everyone drinking all day (apparently its some famous venetian drink called spritz, we didn’t like ours but maybe that’s just the place that we ordered it from) anyways we then got some Italian gelato as we took in a Venetian band playing everyones favorite classical Italian songs on Saint Marc's Square.

The next day was the twenty sixth of June in the year of our lord two thousand and twelve, the day we sacked Roma, or arrived, same thing. So to back track we woke up in Venice with train tickets that left at 12:36, so we woke up at our hostel after sleeping till 10 and walked back over the bridge, got some water and breakfast heading to the train station. Luckily we booked ahead so we were on the fast train, which brought us into Rome at 3:30 and it reached speeds of 180 km/hr. By far the fastest, nicest, most well air conditioned train we have been on yet. Once we reached Rome, we used our trademarked navigation skills to make our way to our hostel (yeah it involved wandering, and more time than it needed, but not too much. Seriously what did people do before iPhones). Standard procedure now, we got our stuff dropped off and we were told it was only a 15 minute walk to the Coliseum, so obviously we wanted to do that. We were both impressed, just in very different ways. From there we were starting to get hungry, since we hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast way back in Venice and the time was starting to push 8 something PM (or 20 something PM if you’re on military time) and we really wanted to take in some of the famous fine Italian cuisine (yes, we went out for pizza and ice cream, duh). Before turning in for a long summers nap (seriously it’s really hot, not as hot as you guys have it (+1 point to us (for those of you keeping score), but we don’t get air conditioning most places (+1 to you guys)). More accurately, we got back to the hostel and Grant went to sleep while I stayed up till 3 catching up on Game of Thrones (totally worth it, but makes me less likely to read the 2nd book after completing the first one that me, and everyone else we’ve met is reading (seriously).

The next day we woke up after dreaming of the ancient Romans, gladiators, and Caesars, so we headed off to see the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. So upon arrival we signed up for a guided tour of the three sites that lasted from 11:30 till roughly 4:00 PM. After there we made our way towards some other famous sites, such as the Trevi Fountain, where we tossed one coin in for a return to Rome and 3 in for true love… Supposedly. It collects €3000 a day, so maybe they were just smart in Italy when they made that up. We took our chances with the coins anyways though. From there we headed towards the giant plaza, that isn’t that old, but has something to do with the president, and hit up the pantheon after that. A truly full day in Rome wouldn’t be complete without a stop at a small Italian Restaurant/bar, where Grant was able to enjoy some Pasta, Michael enjoyed some lasagna, and we took in yet another soccer game (ugh - Michael's opinion only)… Anyways after dinner and soccer we headed back to the hostel for the night.

The next day (yesterday 6/28/2012 or if you’re anywhere but in America 28/06/2012) was dedicated (the first half of the day anyways) to the smallest country in the world. Michael woke up early for his tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel which started at 9:30 so I was out the door by 8:45 to make it there on time. Grant slept in and we agreed to meet by one of the fountains in St. Peter’s Square. Fun fact of the day, did you know the entire coliseum could fit inside of St. Peter’s Basilica? The Catholics wanted to build a new and bigger symbol of Rome that trumped the coliseum, so they built the basilica right over St. Peters tomb. Anyways, the Sistine Chapel lives up to the legend, although it is very different than what I anticipated, and it is almost hard to appreciate how holy and sacred of a place it is because it is so crowded and there are guards shushing (shhhhhhhhhh) the whole time you’re in there. Anyways if you don’t know, that is the famous ceiling Michelangelo painted and it is where the pope is elected. So we met up at the fountain at 1:00 PM and were about to go see the basilica, but since one of us (Grant) wore a cut off shirt, they weren’t allowed in by the Swiss Guard or the Vatican Police, or something. Anyways, after we met up for the second time, we headed back to the hostel to recuperate and grab a quick bite to eat before seeing a few more sites, grabbing some food, and finding a place to watch the game. We heard that the public viewing wasn’t a big deal though, so we didn’t bother to check where it was. On the way though we saw a few guys waving Italian flags so we decided to follow them (that sounds creepy…) After stalking them for the better part of a mile we found ourselves in a square not too far from the Spanish Steps in the biggest viewing party I’ve ever seen (my estimate is easily over 10,000 people) Good news! Italy won and is headed to the championship game of the EuroCup! (sorry Fabian) Immediately after they won the town went crazy. Instant parades taking place, flares (yes, like road flares) being lit all over the place, air horns, flag waving, and constant car honking everywhere. Apparently it’s a thing to get in your car and drive around and honk your horn after you win the game. We’ll post videos when we have better internet and full access to a computer (at home). Anyways the parades brought us to midnight, where it was once again time to turn in for bed.

We are Headed to the Amalfi Coast tomorrow, with plans to visit Pompeii, maybe Capri, hopefully a vineyard, and definitely a beach. Today also marks the 6 week point in our trip, and we’ll be back in the good ‘ol US of A in 5 days,(right after the Twins/Royals series fuels a rivalry in us) so I wouldn’t hold hold your breath for another post until we're back.