Rome in a Day 4/4/08

At 5:30am I got up, got dressed, checked out of my hotel, and headed towards the metro station. I caught a final glimpse of the Acropolis as I descended under the streets of Athens. The metro was a lot more crowded than I anticipated it would be at 5:30 am. It was full of people trying to get to work, and set up shop before the tourists awoke to spend their vacation dollars. I had to switch rails 4 times to get to the airport, but I finally made it 2 hours in advance.

The line at the check it booth seemed particularly long but once in, moved quickly. People had a very "move-in-get-out" mentality about them. Something experienced travelers grow to appreciate in an airport. I got through security and found my way to my gate, and looking at my watch, I still had a full hour before my plane was even ready to board. I sat and answered an email or two while I waited. The time to board came and went, and people around me looked angry and shouted things in Italian at the attendants, so I assumed the flight was delayed. I waited another 45 minutes before finally boarding my plane to Rome.

As soon as I found my seat, I received an email from Deb Riccio, a friend of Kara Root's, saying she was sorry I wouldn't be able to stay with them in Naples, but they had a room for me if I changed my mind. I hadn't actually realized I had had a contact in Naples. I remember something before I left of Kara saying she had someone I should stay with, but I couldn't remember ever receiving any confirmation of that. But whatever the case, I was thrilled that someone had a room for me in Naples, so I immediately emailed her back saying I would love to still stay with her if the offer was still open. She said it was, and we talked about how I could get from Rome to Naples. We came up with the idea, that I could spend the day in Rome, and then take a train later in the afternoon to Naples. On Sunday, they were going up to Florence, so they could drop me back off in Rome for one more day till Monday when I meet the Galloways in Florence. That was the plan, now I had to pull it off.
I landed in the very familiar Fiumacino Airport in Rome where I had slept on the floor less than 2 weeks before. I went as fast as I could over to the airport train station to take me to Rome's central train station, where I found a luggage room to store my backpack for the day. I checked the departures to Naples and saw a train leaving at 8:35 and another at 9. So I'd shoot for the earlier one, but if not I still had a backup. With all that settled I got myself a map of the city from the tourist information desk, and headed out. I marked on the map, all the places I wanted to see in Rome, and then as fast as I could I'd try to hit each one sequentially. The first thing I absolutely had to see was the Colosseum. I walked from the train station, passing the St. Mary Maggiore and looking at that for a second on my way, until I spied it through the buildings in the distance. It's absolutely massive. I took a bunch of pictures of it, and looked for the entrance. As I neared the front of it, a lady signing people Up for a tour stopped me. I realized I'd probably be better off seeing something like this with a guide to tell me what I was looking at, and it was only ten euros more than the cost of normal admission, so I signed up for the tour. I'm really glad I did, because I got to learn about a whole lot of the history of the Colosseum as it was right there in front of me, and in the Colosseum, you'd miss a lot just walking through it on your own. It's so amazing, because the thing is thousands of years old, but it still feels like walking through Angel's stadium back home. All the gates are numbered, there are refreshment counters, and places for vendors, and bathrooms. Walking out of the gate to find your seat, you could just imagine having some food and a drink ready to sit down and watch the games.

Luckily most the stuff I wanted to see is all around that area pretty close to the Colosseum. I walked around and saw the old Roman City, the Palatino the Pantheon a lot of the old churches. I wandered up and saw Vatican City and the Basilica. I couldn't figure out where the Sistine Chapel was, and Deb later told me it's in Vatican City and I must have just missed it, so I'll go see it on Sunday. Later in the afternoon, before my train to Naples, I ate dinner and drank Italian wine at a nice little cafe just across from the Pantheon. After dinner I hauled it back to the train station, picked up my stuff, and was right on time to catch the 8:35 to Naples. On the train a cute Italian girl across from me helped me get off at the right stop.

I met Deb and Mark Riccio their at the train station, and they took me into their home, and had me set up in their guest room. They're absolutely amazing people. Mark's a marine stationed here, and he and the family have lived in Naples for about a year. I'm amazingly grateful things worked out the way they did. I got to meet this wonderful family, I get to stay in their beautiful home in Naples, and I had an unforgettable day in Rome.


Alright it's a third of the way through the journey, and this is my 9th country, and so far I've gotta tell you, the best looking girls I've seen come out of Italy and Israel. That's not even what I expected. I mean, I know some good looking Italian girls back home, but most of them are mixed blood. I didn't expect that was the norm in this country. And Israel! My Gosh, I had no idea that would rank so high on the list. Jewish girls, I'm tellin ya. I just hung out in the Jewish Quarter sometimes watching all the beautiful Jewish women. The muslims have some gorgeous women too, but its hard to tell most of the time because their faces are all covered up. However, I still have many more places to see, Including Sweden and Norway. I hear a lot of good things about Norwegian chicks. And that's my shallow guy moment, tune in at the end to hear the final results.
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