Day 72 - Moving AGAIN!

So today I had to get up and move back to the hostel that I checked out of to stay in the center of Rome. I had to do this because I canceled my trip to Athens, and the place I was staying had no spare beds... So anywhoo...

I made that mission and got into my tent and chilled out for a while. I discovered I was in a tent with Amy, a girl from busabout. Se we hung out for most of the day, we went to the grocery store across form the campsite and made some lunch (the cheese section in grocery stores is like SUPER dangerous for me to be in... They sell buckets of mozzarella.... BUCKETS) After that we just hung out and chatted, then we decided to go to the bar later that night.

I ran into Steph and Haylee also, they're staying in the tent across from me :) so they came and joined us at the bar.

It was ok, but full of 16 year olds because I'm pretty sure it was like a sweet 16 or something? Anyway the legal drinking age here is 16... so there were a lot of drunk 16 year olds, not soooo much fun. Amy and I ordered a bucket of sex on the beach. I'm doubting there was even any alcohol in it lol.

We bailed pretty early and just went to bed.

Was an ok day, but kind of boring.

Things that made me happy today; Cheese and meeting up with Haylee and Steph again.

Things that made me sad today; Non-alcoholic buckets of 'alcohol'

Day 71 - Hanging around

So I managed to sleep in this morning, even with the crappy beds here...

I got up and had Milo for breakfast YUM!!! So exciting!

I wasn't really sure what to do with my day because, as up myself as it may sound, I really managed to knock off most of the main attractions here in the first two days. So I just decided to go hang out in Rome.

I caught the bus and then a train into the city, the Colosseum actually (because uh... fuck walking in this heat) and just hung out and got something to drink there.

I decided then that the Colosseum is my FAVOURITE site that I've seen in this trip. Unless I see a better one in Florence (kind of unlikely) It's easily my favourite. It's just so magnificent. So big and so old. Soooo much history.

So, after hanging out there for a while, I decided I wanted to go on a hunt to find a mini Colosseum charm for my bracelet because I love it so much. I'm definitely going to go back there and go inside, it's a must do for me.

I basically just wandered around for ages in Rome. I did find my charm yay :) and I stopped at some point to have lunch, which was Macdonalds hehe... I haven't had it for ages, so kill me. I also wasted about half an hour of my life waiting to go to the toilet there! Little old nonnas are the rudest and most dramatic people in the world I've discovered. Just push in line, no regard of the fact I'd been there already 20 minutes? THEN turn around and, I think (because obviously the language thing) try to complain about how long it's taking! And it's not like I can tell them to get out of my way, they just don't understand? Anyway...

After that I just casually wandered back to the hostel the long way. I stopped along the river to have a bit of a sit and play some solitaire on my phone (how ironic right? lol)

I got back to my hostel and packed my bag up a bit, because I have to change hostels because I canceled the trip to Athens.

I then went out to dinner in the same kind of area where I had lunch the day before. but I had gnocchi (I know it's all I've been easting but its just so good!) I also bought some Italian playing cards which the guys in Cesky taught me to play some games with.

All in all, not the most productive of days, but I still had a good time.

Things that made me happy today; Finding the Colosseum charm, because it means that apart from the one I missed out on in Spain, my charm bracelet is complete :)

Things that made me sad today; Old Italian ladies...

Day 70 - Boooooring

So today was another nothing day.

I got really stressed out about going to Athens because I saw on someone's Facebook that they got stuck there because of strikes and what not. So a GOOD proportion of my day was spent canceling and re-booking accommodation, and making calls (first trying to top up my credit...) to cancel my flight and see how much money I could get back. Turns out about a third... So I was kind of happy about that.

It was a bit of a stressful day, so I didn't do too much after.

I left the hostel and had some lunch down the street, it was this American styled restaurant (because don't get me wrong, I LOVE Italian food, but everything to in moderation right?) So I just had chicken. The BBQ sawsa reminded me of the non-JD sawsa from TGI's... I miss home...

So after that I just hung out at the hostel, didn't really do much apart from nap in the SHIT beds at the hostels...

Things that made me happy today; A refund of 40 euro from my airfare

Things that made me sad today; Still losing 80..

Day 69 - You know, just hanging out at the Sistine chapel

So today I got up pretty early because I had to change my room in the hostel. (Which weirdly enough is a women's only hostel because it's half of a convent? Lol)

I had booked a Vatican tour, and I'm staying about a 10 minute walk from the Vatican, but the tour starts literally on the other city? AND there was a transport strike today, so no buses or metro for most of the busy part of the day. So I had organised with the guide the night before to meet the OTHER guide closer to where I'm staying. I walked over there, and waited for AGES for the tour to show up, and when the girls from the day before messaged me saying they were there (two girls I met on the day before) they weren't where I was?! So bit of a panick, but I did find them and join the tour.

It ended up being a really good day, the tour was cool, but to be honest, I think it was something I could have walked around and seen without the history side of it. but the guide was good, so never mind.

Bascailly we learnt a lot about St. Peters Cathedral, the Vatican and the Sistine chapel, then we walked through the Sistine chapel.

Wow. It was actually quite breath taking. As most of you know I'm not much of an art person,. but this is actually really quite stunning, and knowing the work and dedication behind it, its even more impressive.



After this I went with the two girls to dinner, (Once again had gnocchi LOL) And chilled, then came back to the hostel and now I'm chilling out writing blogs.

OH! Also on the way back to the hostel, I found FRESH MILK! Yes, normal fresh milk, that I can drink right out of the bottle. I enjoyed a nice glass, then I good glass of Milo. Mmmmm delicious!

Things that made me happy today; Fresh milk and Milo. OH And the Sistine chapel LOL

Things that made me sad today; Same as yesterday, the incredible heat I had to wander around in today :(

Day 68 - My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius

So today I woke up in ROME!!! And first time I had to do was get a bus then two trains, then a taxi to my other hostel more central to the city than the campsite (It's actually in an amazing location) I thought it was going to be a huge pain, and I was a bit stressed about it, but it was actually really easy.

I checked into the hostel, then pretty quickly had to make my way to the walking tour I had booked.

It ended up being a REALLY great tour, the guide told us a lot of history (that I was KIND of aware of because our bus guide Marty was pretty awesome) but still awesome.

We visited the place where Rome was founded, and learned about their crazy beliefs that it was founded by two sons of Mars who were meant to be killed but a she wolf nursed them. (Just small fact, this image of two boys under a wolf 'suckling' is ALL over Rome, literally, I saw it on the side of a garbage bin... weeeeeird)

Then cat palace, which is basically where all the cats in Rome live. Cats are citizens here. They have more right than I do in this city... Mussolini was a crazy son-a-bitch.

We also went to the Parthenon, it's actually quite incredible, they don't know how it was built, and apparently if we attempted to build it today, we would fail miserably. Romans were smart.

We also went to the ruins of the Forum. That place seemed pretty amazing and huge. Would have been amazing.

We also visited a bunch of other sites that probably don't mean much to anyone reading this except the Colosseum. We didn't go in, but I got some amazing photos of it. That place is amazing, and I LOVE the historical stories of it.


After the tour, myself, our busabout guide Marty and a bunch of other girls from busabout went out for dinner. I wasn't too hungry because we had stopped on the walking tour to get some pasta and gelati. (SOOO GOOD!) So i just had a bruschetta (Mario's is way better...)

Then he took us on yet another small guided tour. We went to the Trevi fountain, Making friends with a tour guide is super useful lol.

After that I walked all the way back to my hostel, took me about 40 minutes because one of the roads was blocked. Lol but I made it.

Today was a really awesome day, I learnt SOOO much and I think I've kind of fallen in love with this city.

Things that made me happy today; The total messiness of Rome, ancient ruins next to peoples houses.

Things that made me sad today; The heat I had to walk around in :S

Day 67 - Best day ever

Today was a bus day and it was pretty lame... not very much happened apart from......


MILO!!!

Yes, I found Milo and I'm very happy about it. When we stopped at one of the drop off points, the guide told us there was a place that sold international foods, and mentioned the Vegemite, and Tim tams, whatever... but when he said Milo, I literally did a giant gasp!! Now just to find fresh milk....

Other than that, we had a few sing alongs with the guide on the bus, then we rolled into the campsite I'm temporarily staying at, and I jumped online quickly, had some dinner (gnocchi again, it's just so damn amazing here) and then I went to bed. Pretty simple day.

Things that made me happy today; Finding Milo!!!

That is all I have to report.

Day 65 & 66 - Venice!

Day 65 -

So today was a REALLY silly day, after the Toga party last night, I missed the shuttle bus, and I didn't get to go into Venice :S but I had been told its kind of a one day thing, so I wasn't too worried.

I bascailly did some washing, sat around and chatted to Paul and hung around the pool for a little while. I had dinner that night with two girls I met on busabout, Haylee and Stephanie.

Pretty dull day actually, not much to say here at all.

Day 66 -

So today I woke up and DID make it to the shuttle bus. I got on with Haylee aqnd Stephanie and we went right into Venice.

Thew city is beautiful, but you can't pretend to ever know where you are. You have to just get lost... I'll talk about that a bit more later on.

One of the first things we did there was get gelato lol. Then pizza. The pizza is actually really good!

I managed to do all of my souviner shopping within the first 20 minutes of being there, which was useful.

Then we got a gondola ride! It was actually a bit cheaper than everyone was telling me to expect. He took us around all the canals, and told us a bit about the history. He didn't sing though, even after we begged him. I was a bit disappoint lol.

After this we took a water bus to Murano island, where all the famous glass is manufactured. We watched a small demonstration where they made a glass turtle, it was pretty cool, but I was hoping to see glass blowing, but we didn't. Nevermind though.

We wandered around for a little while, but I got a REALLY bad headache, probably;ly because it was the first hot heat I've experienced in quite a while. So I had to sit down and wait for a pharmacist to open (damn siesta) So I had to chill olut for a while, and the two girls wandered around while I pretty much slept on a park bench.

Anyway, I wanted to see a bit more of Venice, so we arranged to meet on the bridge at 6pm, and I left Murano a bit earlier.

It ended up taking me nearly an hour and a half to get back, so I knew I was going to miss the 6pm meeting spot, but I knew the girls most definitely would. So i tried to mission back to the shuttle bus.

I got a fair way, and I stopped and had dinner, gnocci with ragu, was pretty good, but I expected the ragu to be meat and it was just mince? But still really tasty. After dinner, then I got lost.... Its a bit painful to talk about this, because you have to book the shuttle bus, and the whole time I was freaking out that I was going to miss it and have to pay a stupid amount of money to get back to the camping grounds... I was asking people for the train station (which from the shuttle bus I had to take a few stops to get to the city center) and they were all leading me different ways, but to the train station, which when I got there I discovered it was the wrong place ( all along I should have been asking for the 'people mover') So i freaked out a little when my phone went flat, and found a pay phone and called my hostel. They eventually told me I was meant to be looking for the people mover, and told me where to go.

I finally found it, and was soooo relieved, they also told me (because I already missed my booked one) that they had an extra spot on the next shuttle bus.

Sop I made my way there and waited for a little while. Haylee and Staphanie eventually found me at the shuttle bus, I was messaging Stephanie the whole way telling her how lost I was but she had no credit to reply. Apparently they were pretty worried lol. :S Sorry girls.

Anyway, apart from the end there, it was a pretty cool day. Had quite a bit of fun, and Venice is beautiful.

Things that made me happy today; The beauty and uniqueness of Venice.

Things that made me sad today; Well that;s obvious, getting so super lost and stressed.