Day Due

I guess I would be lying if I said I didn't really have expectations for this trip but my first real day in Rome was precisely exactly what I expected: full of unexpected events and wandering. After not one but two expressos, I set out towards the Pantheon, which was quite a bit of a walk from the apartment but I completely didn't mind despite the fact that it was raining and I forgot my umbrella again. On the streets in the center of Rome, tourists are EVERYWHERE and let's face it, I 100% fit in with them with my mini backpack, my map in one hand, and my travel book in my other hand. I stumbled across the giant building of the Pantheon and found that most of it was in scaffolding. The Pantheon is something I've studied in slides in several of my art history courses but nothing could have prepared me for the emotions that came over me as I walked inside and looked up at the occulus. The center of the floor was roped off because the rain was falling through the building right from the sky, forming puddles on the floor.


I left the Pantheon and tried to find Piazza Navono but realized I went the opposite direction because I found the Trevi Fountain. Che Bella!


After leaving the Trevi Fountain, I backtracked to Piazza Navona. It was also covered in looking like it was under construction
For me in Rome, time disappears and responsibility doesn't exist here. It's freedom.

I also had my first pizza that night! I went to Pizzeriza de Ivo with Maria and Vanessa. Maria, in her fluent sounding Italian ordered us a bottle of the house red. I ordered a "Buffalo Bill" pizza which consisted of Tomato, Mozzarella, Buffalo Mozzarella, Parmesan Cheese, Sauce, and Basil. The crust is thin and although the pizza is slightly large in circumfrince, it's not filling but just the perfect size. The crust is slightly burnt, just enough crunch. I would like to add now that my starting weight for this vacation is 48.5kg according to the scale in the bathroom. A weight gain is in order, let's be serious! I'm looking forward to some Italian junk in the trunk!








Other things I liked this day...

The little girl in the Museum de Trastevere that ran up to this painting, pointed at it, and laughed out loud. I'm sure you can guess the translation.

This band playing in front of the fountain in the piazza outside of Santa Maria in Trastavere.

My new best friend...

This sculpture of what I will look like when I leave Europe...

The way I felt walking down this street...

After dinner we grabbed a drink at the famous "Drunken Ship", which is a bar in Campo di Fiori (the literal translation being "Field of Flowers"). I saw zero flowers but many bars. It's a place swarming with Americans and other English speaking people, essentially your definition of a Spring Break type location. Before my trip I had heard about it from numerous people, young and old, that I had to make a pit stop there. There's a full bar inside with beers on tap but also a type of "drive through" window that you can walk up to and order drinks that you can sit with outside in the square (it's legal to drink openly on the streets in Rome). Inside, there were people doing body shots and they had advertised that a flash equaled a free drink of a "Flaming Orgasm" (yeah...I asked the bartender what was in one of those and HE didn't even know). Let's just say that this place did NOT impress me. In fact, I would say that I was a little repulsed. I felt bad for the drunk looking girls and had a real hard time seeing that there were people who were actually enjoying themselves. The bartenders were all these sleazy looking "frat" guys, one of which was sending these "kissy" faces my direction while I was up at the bar ordering my drink. Ew. The margarita I ended up ordering was too expensive, too strong, and the only enjoyable thing about it was that I got to drink it sitting on the fountain in the piazza. I was never "that" kind of girl and I was not about to start in my after college 22 year old self was certainly not about to start. In no way was I impressed. In this city full of so much beauty in the forms. A girls gone wild vacation is not why I came to Rome, thank you.

It was good conversation of home and families and life that made being in Campo di Fiori (field of drunks). Although it was not from the first guy I talked to who I called out on because I could tell after a few sentences that he was bullshitting me and making up everything that he was telling me about himself. I thought to my friend's roommate who traveled to Ireland and told girls he would meet that he was the boy from Free Willy. I told my parents before I left not to worry because I am a good judge of character. After trying to steal my drink, he told me that he hated small talk and he hated people and that he was going into the Navy so that he could shoot people in the face. I threw up my hand in disgust and told him that the conversation was ending there.

In life, I play the game, "I don't know what I want, but I certainly know what I DON'T want". I did NOT come to Rome to get drunk OR to find love.