Dear Miriam, P1

Miriam,


Thanks to you, and your numerous amount of hours, our trip to Rome was wonderful. Luckily, because without you, our time in Rome would have been as horrible as our first 24 hours.


Our last seconds in Venice were pretty interesting. Since we had been flying Easy Jet’s cheap flights, no-one has a seat assigned. People really just get to the plane and run! So Corey and I were lucky to make it to the 2nd row of the flight! But right before we left we overheard the flight attendant telling the family in the first row that their kid was too young to sit in an emergency exit. They were a little scared they wouldn't find seats together, so Corey and I offered to switch.


The flight from Venice to Rome was a quick one, but since I'm petrified of flying, the front row made it feel like forever. We got to be the first off the plane, which meant first on the shuttle to the terminal, but last off the shuttle! I'm glad we decided on taking a flight instead of the train, because the train was much more expensive. But if I ever make it back to Italy, which I really hope I do, I'm using a train all around! The country was just beautiful.


We got to the airport a little late, but your directions were easy to follow! We made it on the train, and after we got off at the stop, we realized that once again, nobody had checked our ticket. Another place we could have not paid! We spent 2 Euros on a bus ticket once in Rome, and again, no-one checked it! Thankfully, because at first we got on going the wrong direction!


We over heard some Americans so we stopped to ask which way to go, and got off and turned around. We made it to our first place and this is where it became annoying.


We were supposed to meet the guy who we were staying with at 11:30, it was midnight now, and we could not find him. Corey and I were screaming his name, I'm sitting in the corner crying, and we even wasted way too much money trying to call him. The first number was wrong, and the 2nd didn't work.


We were miserable and now it is 2 a.m. We realize we'll have to find a hotel for the night and figure things out in the morning. My ankle is still killing me, and our backs are in serious pain over the bags we have been carrying all over the city. At this point my sandals break and I'm barefoot.


We must have walked into three hotels before we finally found one around 4 in the morning (though because day-light savings, it’s technically 3). I find some Internet, and e-mail the guy asking where he was!


We couldn't believe the amount of money and time we had spent, especially because our original plan was to wake up early on Sunday and stay in line for free Vatican day. But that didn't happen.


So after we check into an over-expensive hotel, that we're only planning to stay in till morning, I grab my ipod and run to find wireless. I'm searching every street for some slight way to e-mail this guy. Finally, at the corner of some building, I reached a signal. I was able to e-mail you in panic, and e-mail the man we were supposed to meet.


Sunday morning, instead of waking up at 6 to get in line for the Vatican, we woke at 9 (an hour before we had to check out), and I paid way too much money to use the hotel's Internet. But still no e-mail.


Finally, not knowing what to do, we booked a hostel. Annoyed.


Of course, with five minutes left of our Internet time, we receive that e-mail.


Long story short, and after getting lost trying to find our new hostel, we gave in and called our guy. Annoyed that he didn't make more of an effort finding us, we needed a place to stay. And you had already mapped out such a great plan for us, so we went and finally found him.


I can't believe it, but he acted like it was our fault!! I wish I could have recorded the situation, it was RIDICULOUS!


But regardless, we were determined to make our time in Rome great! You had spent so much time planning these days for us, that we had to figure out how to save them!


So it is now 4 pm on Sunday, and our day felt completely ruined. We knew at this point we couldn't get our entire Sunday itinerary in, so we did some switches.


Tuesday originally was our day of water, but we figured we could fix it up and that fountains would look nice in the day or night. So we followed your left and rights, and had the most wonderful afternoon.


Seriously, if anyone is ever looking for trip ideas for Rome, you must help them! Save those e-mails, even better, send them to a travel guide publisher. Done.


Our first stop was Piazza Novana. But before we even made it there, I stopped to take some pictures of that sculpture with the flyers on it, and lucky for me, my camera filter broke. (Hence the e-mail you got asking where I could find a camera store and a sandal shop - from the previous night. )


But seriously, Piazza Novana! Amazing. I loved how there were so many people there! It was the most crowded area we saw. I loved how the artists were everywhere, and almost didn't mind the annoying men selling crap.


The fountain in the middle, which you seemed the most excited about, was unfortunately getting work done. It was completely covered up, thankfully they must know people come to see it and had a couple of transparent holes for us to peak through.


I wish I could have seen it in all of its glory, but the other two were great! I knew the rest of the fountains were going to be wonderful. At first I don't think Corey and I realized how the fountain theme would work, but it only got better.


We decided to sit and enjoy this area, and that is when we saw that church in the center. Wow, I see why it wasn't on the list, because we didn't say we wanted anything specific, but that was the most beautiful place I have ever seen.


Corey and I sat in their for a good hour. We later decided it was better than the Sistine Chapel. It was actually a little sad, as we were walking in, an old lady slipped and fell. I think I saw her praying in the corner after she made it in.


We knew it was getting dark so we wanted to finish the rest of the fountains. We tried following the steps you gave us, but we got a little lost. I hate to say it but we never saw any of those tiny drinking fountains. (Actually, we saw the one of the wine barrel).


We made it to the Pantheon and I can't tell if I liked or hated the men wearing swords standing in front for photo opps. But inside it was awesome. I got yelled at for sitting on the floor taking pictures, but oh well.




I loved the area around the Pantheon, I sat on the edge for a while, but Corey was sure I was going to fall, so I left.




We found the elephant, but that was about it. We gave up around the Fountain of Treve, it was just too crowded. Now the men who were selling random toys, were with Polaroid cameras. It was such a scene. We even thought we made it to the Spanish Steps, but were told later on that we didn't. We eventually settled on a grocery story, cheap pasta, and heading home for the night.


We stuck with Monday's places of interest since we figured we hadn't screwed up that day. We woke up early, excited to get breakfast at that great market you were talking about. I really wanted to get some fruit and stuff for a lunch later. But of course, we couldn't find it. We also spent way too much time walking up and down the street waiting for a store to open to buy new sandals.


Why do stores not open till 10? It makes no sense.. Really? What is their reasoning on that?


We decided to give up on finding Campo de'Fiori and ventured to the Ghetto. We thought it'd be hard to find and assumed we'd get lost. But we shockingly made it! The Synagogue and the area were beautiful, but because it was the first day of Passover, the entrance was closed.


We thought about asking to go in anyway, because we did see people entering, but decided not to push our luck. 


Then we walked over to Capitol Hill. But that wasn't before seeing the amazing ruins of the Theater of Marcellus, which was amazing, especially knowing there were apartments on top! I can't believe you used to know people who lived there... AMAZING. 


At this point we stopped and grabbed a bag of chips and continued to the Capitoline. The piazza on top was amazing, we saw the most amazing Asian tourists doing a photo-op, and even saw a Save Gilad poster. I found it really interesting how all the statues you talked about were actually copies, with the original inside. And the wolf with the two babies? I thought that it would be much bigger, since it is supposed to be the basics of Rome all together. But there were still tons of tourists snapping photographs.

Then we saw the Forums. And they looked awesome. But we couldn't figure out how to get inside. We took a break and just watched down below as the flocks of people looked like dolls in this miniature land. 


Around an hour later, now a little after noon, we walked over to the Colosseum. Again, thousands of people, all being distracted by men trying to sell things. Scarfs, miniature monuments, glasses, everything. 


The line was over 2 hours, and we were starving. There were a bunch of "promoters" out and about trying to sell you their tour. Basically, if we paid around 10 Euro more, we get to skip the line and get a tour. So we decided to go get lunch and then think about it. 


Luckily we didn't waste the money, because by 2 o'clock when we were done with lunch, the line was super short. Corey actually went to go buy a drink because we assumed the line would be long and easy to spot me. We were wrong, and I was almost at the ticket counter, at this point swarmed by chaos, when he finally got there. 


I loved inside. Who needed a tour when there were signs everywhere giving great information! My favorite was how the Colosseum was used for lots of things, including reenactments of ancient fables,where the actors were actually killed to show accuracy.  Could you picture Brad Pitt actually dying for his work these days? 


One thing I hated was the construction workers present.  Rome is supposed to be this great ancient city, filled with actual ruins from years ago. But from the look I had it seemed that most of it was being restored. I'm not saying I want it all to crumble, but how can it be ancient if it is being constantly worked on in 2010?  So I had a little issue with that.

We were now exhausted and as much as we wanted to enjoy it, we had to get out of the Colosseum. The good news is we finally found the entrance to the Forum. And our ticket from the Colosseum worked there!  This place was awesome, once you were inside it was literally just bits and pieces of the ancient city. If I lived in Rome, I'd visit it weekly. 


I hate to say it but my new sandals, which turned out to be a bust, were starting to make my feet bleed and we had been up since 9 roaming the streets. I'm sure we could have spent all day there, but we were grouchy, and starting to hate the fact we didn't have a book with us explaining everything. 


About an hour in, when everything started looking the same, and I found myself taking pictures of the grass just as an excuse to sit, we decided to call it a day. 


We walked to a super market behind the Colosseum, got a bag of fake-cheetos and two apples and sat down. That's when we saw heaven. Well, we assumed. It was a 3-D museum, bringing you the best of Rome! We were to tired then, but we figured we'd come back on Wednesday when we had more time. The best part about the 3-D is my over excited-ness actually convinced an American family to go in and see what it was about, I guess there kids worked off my energy?!
As we were walking away the mom came running up to us asking if it really was AMAZING before the spent the money going in.


But now, freaking out we wouldn't have enough time, and already being so close, we kept on trekking.   San Clemente has a group of kids outside, with of course, a man trying to sell them fake glasses. There was also homeless sitting on the steps begging as you walked inside 


This church was breathtaking. I would make sure anyone who goes to Rome sees it. I would need to see both this and the one in Piazza Novana to decide which is best, but WOW. And what a great place to take a break.  We never made it down to the Museum because one, we were broke, and two we wanted to see more. 


When we left San Clemente, we finally saw the old gladiator training area you were talking about. I loved how it was just placed next to a restaurant with outdoor seats. And even better how there were garbage cans inside! Must be still used? I read a little research on the description, and found it really cool how it used to connect to the Colosseum underground!


We got a little bit lost here, and ended up using our map to find the next place. We even stopped in a couple stores to figure it out. It's around 6PM now and we are literally dragging ourselves. But there was a lot to see!


I was determined to make it Michelangelo's Moses before the day ended. That was until I saw the steep steps needed to reach it. By the time I got to the top I felt dead (yes, over exaggerating, but still) We sat on the benches outside and watched a group of American tourists. They were clearly Jewish as they joked about seeing all these churches and taking pictures in front of every one like they do at their temples. 


San Pietro in Vincoli was awesome. I loved seeing the Moses statue, though I thought it was a little tucked away. The ceiling in this church was also really detailed. How did they paint like that? Long brushes or stools ? Either way, I'm amazed.


We would have taken a bus home, but we couldn't figure out where we were, or which to take, so we walked. We passed the forums again, and the Capitol Hill, and basically just walked back the way you took us.  Yes, we realize there were probably easier and quicker routes, but we were too tired to care. We had to wake up early on Tuesday to venture to that Vatican....