DAY 8 March 29, 2008- Rome

Todaywe got up walked to the Maggiore Church and saw the inside. There were services going on in a section and it made the experience so awesome. we felt weird about being in a church while services were going on, people were being so rude, like taking pictures of the people praying... we were really quiet and left as soon as we could. We bought croissants and then ate them at.... the Colliseum!!! It was sooo cool. Like "we are sitting here eating croissants next to the Colliseum!!"
We couldnt believe it. I never thought that i would see that for myself... never. It was sooo cool. We went inside... got in for free again... there were people outside advertising for english tours for like 15 euros.... and we got in for free.... somethings just dont make sense. people love ripping people off. it sucks. the colliseum was so cool. so speechless. Such an archaeological treasure with sooooo much history. I couldnt stop smiling. We then took a wrong turn on the path (like ususal) and ended up at this small church. We then walked to the Vatican... its own country... we wish we could have gotten our passports stamped... its a dictatorship not a democracy... so all the artwork is owned by the pope and not the people... how screwed is that. We then had lunch, sat for a while at St Peters... we were exhausted. i tried to call mom for her bday but she wasnt home... I got to talk to dad for like 30 seconds. We took a tour with Jason the amazing tour guide through the Vatican. Which amy and i agree was a incredable desicion... they say that if you look at everything for one minute it would take 12 years to get through it. Jason, told amazing stories, pointed out cool statues... like the one that looked like bill clinton and the purple stone... only for royalty... and he took us directly to the important stuff...the lacone one.... tons of Michaelangelo and raphael... the tapestries... the amazing wall paintings.. it was soooo cool and of course the Sistine Chapel. I saw the Sistine Chapel. It may be the most holy place i have ever been. it was so incredable. I almost died. It was so impressive... nothing like the disapointment of the mona lisa. this was real and insane. Another place i never thought i would be. We saw St Peters after saying goodbye to Jason... tear. And then we walked back to the trevi fountain to throw the coins in and wish. We of course got more gelato and had pizza and wine for dinner. We saw the sunglasses/purses guys run twice from the cops... these guys are everywhere... so annoying... getting in your face to sell fake designer sunglasses and purses. they are seriously everywhere. We walked back to the hostel.
pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051262&l=61fc0&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051263&l=b3ad4&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051389&l=851f8&id=9804527

DAY 7 March 28, 2008- Rome

the sweet old lady made us breakfast, which was still just buns and jam... and tea. We were up super early to get our train and she agreed to drive us to the station.... but thought we meant airport. so halfway there i stopped her and we did get to the train station on time.... thank god. it was a good save by me... amy was not paying attention at 6 in the morning. We took the train to Rome, got off at the wrong stop (on purpose to be closer to our hostel). and then walked the little bit to the hostel..... the most terrifying one so far, the walls were covered with graffiti saying to turn around and get out as fast as possible, we were not so pleased. Thankfully, we didnt stay there because their bathrooms were broken or something. So they sent us to an arranged other hostel-- Marco's. it was soooo nice. we lucked out big time.. marco was this big man who was super nice and friendly. it was a great place. amy and i then decided to walk into the center of the city, we didnt really know what we were doing, just what we do best- wander. we got pizza and ate it infront of this beautiful church. we then ventured down to the forum... the archaeological center of Rome. we couldnt find our way in for a while, but eventually got in.... for free. again. it was awesome. this was one of my fave places ever. it was just archaeology overload. We wandered in the forum for hours... it was huge. and saw the ancient gardens and palaces of the ceasars and everything... all the old temples for the gods and muses. it was awesome... we were stalking tour guides, to get little tidbits of what everything was, when a dashingly handsome tourguide named Jason, from lousiana (american? come on. we needed a dashing italian... oh well.) he was leading a free tour of the forum and we were bugs to a bright light... he was spinning the best tales. it was fascinating. they have to be fascinating in order to do their job. he had the entire group spell bound. by the end of his tour. i was in love (kidding... alittle.) and he like a million people following him around the forum. he then of course plugged his tours that actually cost money... and me and amy decided we had to see him again... and agreed to go on his vatican tour. We left the forum and walked to the spanish steps... a great spot. We saw the trevi fountain where the penny throwing became a tradition. We saw a bunch of oblisks. the tall pointy monuments from egypt. (like the one in d.c. which is not from egypt tho.) these were actually taken from egypt and then a cross was put on the top to crush the pagan religion... really interesting stuff. the one in the vatican supposedly has a peice of the crucifix in it... we then saw piazza popolo and had goooood pesto pasta. when we were walking back we stopped a bar for a glass of wine and sat outside. a nice touristy couple were sitting at the table next to us. Two more tourists stopped to ask them directions... and they stole the womans purse and ran... well the woman ran after them... we were just shocked by the whole thing as was her husband/boy friend. she actually caught up with them and they got arrested... the waiter thought tho that they were dining and dashing and we had to explain what happened to him.. it was quite shocking to actually witness something like that. it so could have been us... amy's purse was right next to the lady's... and we carried our lives in our purses. it would have been disasterous. anyway, we went back to the hostel and went to sleep... and discovered that i was sunburned. and in an interesting way. my hair is so long that i had it in a pony tail and over on shoulder, which meant that only half of my chest was burned... it looked so odd. it was funny.
Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051256&l=abe8c&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051258&l=55705&id=9804527
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051260&l=b4b45&id=9804527

DAY 6 March 27, 2008- Pisa

We checked out of our hostel (which by the way was in a random apartment building and our room was for four people and me and amy had this lofted part up these impossible spiral stairs.... insane with our backpacks on). We went to the train station to grab our train to Pisa. The info guy was an ass but we got on a train and got there. We arrived in the early afternoon, we took a public bus to our B&B, which was run by this really sweet old lady who did not speak a word of english, her daughter (?) spoke some, but not great. It was an experience. We took the bus to the city center to see the leaning tower of Pisa!! I never in a million years thought that I would see that. insane.. We wandered around a bit, went inside the cathedral there, didnt climb the tower since it cost like 30 euros, which is about 45 dollars. also it kinda freaked both of us out, imagining being up there. and we've been to the top of the Effiel Tower, who needs the pisa one too? We wandered the city, nothing, i repeat nothing to do here. There is a university there tho, and we walked thru a bunch of students in cafes. This was my sick day and i visited the pharmacy and got some throat numbing spray.... from a pharmasist who barely spoke english... i love it! we stopped at a cafe mentioned in our tourbook, used the internet at an internet cafe and then waited for hours for the bus, only to have not as nice a bus driver as the first time, and we got off at a stop too early and had to walk next to this busy road to get to our b and b. it was funny. quite an experience. we slept in a real bed, had a real tv and a real comfy chair. it was the life. Pics: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051255&l=3c458&id=9804527