Viagra, Whiskey and Gelato.

**Note: Post date is July 1, 2009**

Imagine waking up in the morning and outside your window stands Italy. I was besides myself. The sun was shining on the water and it just felt like the great nation of Italia. I laid in bed for a few moments in awe of this arrival. I’ve wanted to come here for so long and now that I’m here I can’t believe it. The night before I felt as if I was going to Disney, I was so hyper and so excited for the next morning. Thank goodness I got to sleep though. It was a long day.

We port in Civitavecchia, Italy which is about an hour away from Rome. We spent about a half an hour in Civitavecchia before we were on a train headed to the great Vatican City. And by now I’m sure you know who we means: Erika, Anthony, Kevin, Bo, Rachael, Kate, Becca, and this time Danilo joined us. He didn’t seem quite enthused as we were and are but we being completely accepting were happy to have him aboard. We still don’t know what his thoughts are on joining us but hopefully he had fun. Nonetheless we decided to name ourselves American Backpackers Association (A.B.A.)

A.B.A. had arrived in Rome, after enduring a crowded yet beautiful train ride jam packed with other Semester at Sea students. Our first mission: to find our hotel! Hotel Mariano and yes it was a pretty nice hotel. But its amidst Italy’s own China Town! Gross! But I’m in Italy so there is not a sad bone in my body. Until we tried to squeeze the 8 of us into that one room. Unfortunately that is frowned upon in the Hotel business. We knew this but we are all on a budget and simply were trying to save money. The other four had to find another hotel. After Kate used her bartering skills Kevin, Danilo, Rachel and her found a decent room for 20 Euros each. Cockroaches optional. Luckily their were none.

Back at my hotel, where Me, Erika, Becca and Bo were staying, we were content, but equally upset that the other four had to vacate. After we checked into our hotel, it was time to EAT!!!! Kiera, a friend of Kate and Becca, joined us for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant. We bumped into Eric and Lauren who we spent the night with in Cadiz. They are such a nice couple and we have decided as a group that we need to hang out with them more.

“Is that sardines?,” asked Rachel. We had a lovely time at lunch with Pizzas all around. Except Rachel ordered Pizza Napoli and unbeknownst to her it came with sardines. She was not too happy. Also the language barrier had already caused some issues. We were under the impression that a glass of wine was 1.50, however it was 5.00 euros. A beer was 6.00 and we had ordered quite a few. It was sad situation but one we need to experience. Lesson Learned!  Besides, the food was delicious! I mean I can’t say that Pizza Hut isn’t amazing, but there is something truly special of eating pizza from Italy. It’s just so good!

After salvaging our money fiasco we were headed to our first sight: The Colesseum. I was beyond thrilled as we approached this larger than life structure. Instantly my camera was flashing (don’t worry I limited my picture taking: remember I’m a traveler not a tourist). To see inside this historic landmark was so cool. Kevin, Bo and I set off to explore this massive monument. The girls had decided to take a guided tour, but us three don’t like those. They result in too much talking, too much standing around and they come at an extra cost that no one wants to spend. And besides we had a blast exploring this huge space on our own. It was interesting to imagine that this is the same arena in which 700,000 people fought and died. I didn’t know that the stage was wooden with trap doors and was covered with sand. Today, that stage is no longer there so now you can see the underground tunnels in which the wild animals roamed until they rose from those trap doors. My wish was to go down there but that just wasn’t possible. Another odd request I have is to just be alone in these vast, intense areas such as the Colesseum and the Vatican. To be able to walk the silent halls in solitude would be so intriguing and quite overwhelming at the same time.

Well we weren’t alone there were a lot people also visiting this famous site where the gladiators once stood. I feel extremely privileged to be one of those people there. However, I’m not sure how much longer that place can hold up. It looks like it is slowly disintegrating and hasn’t held up very well from ancient times. (ha ha ha)  But honestly, how do they preserve such a fragile building that once stood so magnificent and strong?

After the Colesseum the girls had another tour of the Roman Forum. It is equivalent tto a downtown area of Ancient Rome if could picture that. Obviously there wouldn’t have been  clubs or bars but it has the resemblance of a once existing metropolitan area. There they met Alex, their tour guide, who was half-Italian and was pursuing acting. He was extremely nice in providing us restaurants to eat  and places to go at night. He even warned us of against places not to go!  Let’s just say that the girls were swooning of him and his Italian flare. I have to say that the aesthetic of people over here are just better looking! I don’t know why, but god bless their genetic make-up. I’m jealous.

As we were all chatting it up with Alex a storm was a brewing and it didn’t look like a gentle one. The sight of the monster clouds juxtapose with the impressionable Colesseum was actually an exciting view. But who cares about the view? It’s going to RAIN! I had my backpack and did not want it to get wet, let alone my shoes! So I was very adamant of finding covering as this storm lured closer and louder. Well lighting struck, winds blew and we were inside the train station taking cover. Well at least some of us were. Kevin, Danilo, Kate, and Becca decided to make a run for the Pantheon which was our next intended sight. Not long after they ran off, they came back! Soaked, cold and ready for a change of plans. We discussed and decided to keep moving, but this time underground.

The Metro in Rome is very simple. Only two lines, so there isn’t much to get confused with and it is only 1 euro for 75 minutes or 4 euros for an entire day. New York City just recently raised their metro passes to $3.00 for just one single ride. In Rome you can use the ticket as long as you’d like depending on how much time you bought. America has got some learning to do! So we all decided to take this lovely, technologically advanced metro to the famous Spanish Steps. Which at the first sight were not very impressive. The stairs in Philadelphia (ya know the ones in Rocky?) are more exiting than these. However, once you walk up them and look out on the city, the sight is so beautiful and so majestic! I loved it! At the top of the steps stood a church and when we went in you could hear serene a capella voices fill the volume of the church. Both Kate and I are musical majors and we just ate this up. It was so beautiful and will be of great addition to my World Music class. (by the way I forget that I’m taking classes when I’m in these countries.)

Before we even got to the Spanish Steps (It had stopped raining by the way) we had quite an adventure. We stopped in to get some Gelato. Our second stop of the day! Only this time was electrified with the personality of the worker at the Gelateria. As soon as we entered he was offering us a sample of this chocolate ice cream, but only that particular one. At most places we can try as many samples as we choose, but he wanted us to try this one! Everyone did but me. (I don’t like chocolate) After that Danilo suggested taking shots. The worker was excited and immediately suggested Whiskey Double Shots. Well Erika, Danilo, Kate and Rachel were ready for some fun and bit the bullet! I have to say Kate is quite the champ and won that round! DING DING DING! The Gelato was beyond delicious. I love fruity tasting ones so I got strawberry and I can’t express to you how refreshing and tasty it was! I’ve made it a mission to eat as much as possible during my time here. As we were leaving I was curious as to why the worker was only offering that certain type of Gelato and he said it was a joke. The name of the flavor was called Viagra. He then proceeded to tell us of how the Gelato will help our performance in bed. It was such a funny, bizarre, and delicious experience in that 20 minute time span.

Time was flying though and we were hungry. We went back to our hotels and got ready for the evening. It was here when the hotel fiasco struck so that took up even more time. But luckily the place that the other four found allowed us all to hang out in their room. We partied a bit in the room before going out for the night. O What a Night!? There are some unmentionables within the night but I assure you it was a safe and quite an uneventful evening. We didn’t even find a place to go. We simply hopped from pizza joint to pizza joint enjoying a slice at each stop. We also took another walk to the Colesseum to see its evening glow! We all had a great time. Kevin and Becca broke off to see other sights of the city at night and then met back up later as we headed in for the night.

I’m spending the night in Rome. This sentence seems unfathomable. I look out the window at a city with endless history. A history of war, prosper, and divinity. So much more awaits tomorrow. Goodnight Italy.

Today’s Expenses

Currency…………....Euros………….Dollars
Train to Rome:……4.50 ……………6.53
Hotel Mariano……25.00.…………36.25
Lunch…………….....10.00.…………14.50
Colisseum…………..12.00.……….17.40
Subway…………….....2.00.…………2.90
Total Gelato……….6.00.…………8.70
Drinks…………….....8.00.…………11.60

Total………………....67.50.………..97.88


Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Michael-Anthony

P.S. I need more soap.