Molly and Kristen's Roman Adventures..

Tiber River

February 25, 2009

ROME!

I got home from Rome Monday night around 11 pm. It was the coolest place I have ever been in my whole life. EVERYWHERE you looked there was amazing architecture to see. I am obsessed with art, architecture, and sculptures so I feel like this is the place I needed to visit the most. It exceeded each and every one of my expectations and I still am in awe of everything I got to see there.

We left Friday morning and had to catch the bus at 10:45. Molly came over before to eat breakfast and her first crisis (it’s molly, there were plenty..) was that she left her passport at her dorm. After calling a friend and asking him to look for 10 minutes, it turned out it was with her the whole time (shocker!). We took a cab to the bus (which we later realized was only about a 5-10 minute walk away) and arrived at 10:44. We didn’t end up leaving until probably 11 A.M. The bus took us to Malaga, Spain where we then caught our flight to Rome. I of course got patted down and searched in the airport because as always, I definitely fit the criteria for the terrorist profile they have these days…

Inside the Vatican

After being patted down I was then taken aside because my backpack had something suspicious in it. The man apparently thought I was carrying a corkscrew in my backpack and proceeded to unpack the contents of my backpack. The first things he pulled out were a few tampons, so that was really fun. Molly stood to the side laughing at me. She then asked me “what happened” and I told her they thought I had the corkscrew. She replied “OH! I brought a corkscrew”. Turns out our bags were right next to each other’s in the x-ray machine, they mistook my bag for hers, and I got searched because she thought it would be a good idea to bring a corkscrew overseas (also, a quick piece of information, the corkscrew actually belongs to my roommate and I and Molly stole it to bring to Rome. She is a really good person/friend.)

We arrived in Rome around 9. Molly and I had a room and the hotel was SUPER nice. We showered and then went to a hotel recommended restauarant down the street. It was DELICIOUS. I split a huge pizza and pasta with Molly and then some other friends Tara and Kate were with us and we all split some wine. After dinner we walked around for a really long time to find a bar. In Granada, there is a bar on almost every block. Unfourtunately there is only one bar that we could find within about 10 blocks (this makes me very thankful to live in Granada because the single bar was PACKED). The bar was called Trinity College Bar but instead of college-aged people, there were a lot of creepy and weird older people. After partying inside for a while, we decided to venture to the outdoor part of the bar and found some people our age. Molly, when asked her name, responded with “Boomqueesha, but you can call me boom boom. And only my good friends can call me Boom J.”. This joke went on all night and for the rest of the trip mainly because Molly is ridiculous. While walking home there was a sweet light show since this weekend in Rome was their Carnival as well. I took a video so hopefully I can load it on this blog.

Molly and the mummy

Saturday morning we had to wake up really early to go on our bus tour of the city. The breakfast at the hotel was INCREDIBLE. In Granada we only get croissants or a loaf of bread with the option of butter or jam and juice. We got scrambled eggs, grilled mushrooms, sausage, bacon, croissants, toast, coffee, fresh fruit, cereal and so much more at the hotel. It was heaven. Our bus tour took us all over the city and I think my mouth was wide open in awe the entire time. Seeing pictures is nothing in comparison to seeing it in real life. I think I had tears in my eyes at one point when we were walking around the outside of the Coliseum (yes, I am that big of a nerd). I have never seen such beautiful architecture in my whole life. I think what I like the most is the fact that some of it was built B.C. and some in about 50 A.D. To think that these things could be even thought of, let alone constructed and STILL STANDING today with zero technology is amazing. 2000 year old buildings are something I never thought I would see firsthand. It really makes me want to visit the pyramids in Egypt someday. The tour ended at the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basillica. Seeing this was also a huge highlight.

us and our drunken bff after our insane night at the italian clubs..

I am OBSSESSED with Angels and Demons so it was so awesome to see lots of the places mentioned throughout that book. At around 1 or 2 the tour got over and Molly and I headed to lunch. We went to another hotel recommended place that ended up being really far away. We ordered some food and then the house white wine for 9 Euros-it was 1 liter. This 1 liter of wine was the biggest thing I have ever seen. Molly and I swear that it was refilling itself each time we poured because we both ended up having about 5 glasses out of it. We had no intentions of drinking much at all(it was 3:30 in the afternoon) but things got crazy quickly. An older man sitting next to us told us that for how much we ate we were drinking too much. He said, in a mix of Spanish and Italian “poco y poco” which means if we eat a small amount, we should drink a small amount. Our waiter loved us and ended up giving us his name to add him as our friend on facebook. We left the restaurant and time had slipped away. The last admittance into the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel ended at 4 pm and we realized we were not going to make it in time. I began to basically dead sprint around the walls of the Vatican to ensure we would get there in time. Since we had been drinking and accidentally had gotten more drunk than intended, this run was HARD. It was uphill and it was hotter than hell outside. We made it at 3:59, just in the nick of time (most things with molly tend to happen this way). Luckily we heard later that people had to wait in line for 45 minutes, so being almost late (DAD) actually saved us time (what do you have to say about that, dad?)

The museum was awesome and there was so much to see. There were sculptures everywhere and paintings everywhere as well. I saw a ton of paintings I had learned about in high school, including “The School of Athens” by Raphael. I was just randomly snapping pics of the walls in the Vatican and I suddenly realized that it was the incredibly famous painting I had learned about. It’s a frescoe, which means it is painted directly on the wall of the building, ensuring that it is the original. CRAZY.

We finally got to the Sistine Chapel (Molly was super pumped as well to see “mikey” (Michelangelo) as she referred to him as) and it was the greatest thing I have ever seen. No pictures are allowed but Molly and I were stealthy and got a few. To see those famous paintings first hand was something that words cannot even explain.

We left the Sistine Chapel around 6 and got Gelato. We got this ice cream every day we were there since it is the best in the world and there was no way I was going to pass that up. We usually got multiple flavors and I always got cups and molly always got crazy cones. My favorite was strawberry and chocolate, one scoop of each. It was to die for.

Arc de Triumph

Saturday night we went to this really good pizza and pasta place and got some wine and the waiters LOVED us, more than usual. They ended up giving us a bottle on the house and asking us to wait until close (2 am) and then go to the bar/club with them. We decided to and quickly things spiraled out of control. There were 2 waiters, probably about 25 ish years old and it was Molly and I. Molly had left her phone in the cab on the way to the bus station and lost it and I forgot to bring mine out that night so we knew we couldn’t get separated even for a minute. The 2 waiters apparently thought we were their girlfriends and were trying to hold our hands and lead us through this club. The club was 25 Euro to enter, so about 30 ish dollars and we didn’t have to pay since we were with them. We went up into VIP and realized drinks were 20 Euro a piece. Yes. ONE MIXED DRINK WITH ONE SHOT IN IT WAS ABOUT 23 DOLLARS. Rome was realllllly expensive. Molly and I got split up while she checked her coat and we both quickly realized we needed to meet up and ditch our “boyfriends”. We snuck away and when Molly tried to get her coat they said she needed the ticket. I had to fake sick to get us both away from these guys (who were really nice, not creepy, I think just uninformed of how American girls act/like to be treated) and we hopped into a cab. The cab starting fee was 6 euros, ridiculous. It took us to a different bar district and this is where the story gets truly out of control.

tons of new friends

We go into the bar and try to get a drink for both of us. We say 2 drinks, they say 30 Euro, so Molly responds “umm, can we not?” and we decide to just go dance. Within a minute 2 Italians boys about our age come to dance by us. ITALIANS ARE CRAZY. Within 30 seconds of dancing with these boys they were trying to kiss us and were being nuts. Since we knew none of the language we were just trying to be polite and say no no, no way, no thanks, whatever we could think of. SUDDENLY, I turn to look at Molly and I turn back around towards the boy who was dancing with me and his PANTS ARE DOWN. I freaked out (obviously. This is the creepiest thing that has ever happened, ever) and grabbed Molly and told her we had to leave immediately. We ran outside and I still cannot believe that happened. We hailed down a cab and an American guy (he visibly super drunk) saw us and asked where we were going and we told him back to our hotel. He said he was coming because he “had to get away from these people”. We could not have agreed more with that statement. He was HILARIOUS and the cab ride was really fun with him. Unfortunately he lived about a 30 Euro cab ride away from where we were going and he only had 5 euro so we donated as much as we could to his cause. We ended up getting out of the cab early and walking because it was at 15 Euro within a 3 minute cab ride. The night was so ridiculous and Molly and I went back to the hotel and to sleep.

a puppet and his puppet master..and then a man LIP SYNCHING out of a turned off microphone..and molly. because yes, we were sitting directly next to him and it looked like Molly was part of his show..

Sunday we woke up and went shopping and just took it easy. We went to the Trevi Fountain at night and it was really pretty. You are supposed to throw a penny into the fountain and make a wish and it’s supposed to be good luck so we all did that and then molly and I took our standard jumping picture. For dinner this night we also got an awesome meal. For 10 Euro you got 2 courses and I chose a 4 cheese pasta and then grilled chicken and eggplant. The portions were huge and on top of that we split a pizza as an appetizer with the other 2 girls we were with. This was probably my favorite meal. After our traumatizing experience going out in Rome we decided to stay in Sunday night.

Monday morning we had to check out by 10 am but we had until 2:45 to keep exploring. Molly and I probably walked 5 or more miles this day and my feet are STILL sore. We walked to the ruins where Cesar was killed and all the other ruins as well. We also saw the Coliseum and Arc de Triumph again. I really wish we would have had time to go inside the Coliseum but it didn’t work out. We also saw the Trevi Fountain during the day and the Spanish Steps. We went shopping this day as well. All the most famous designers are located around the Spanish Steps. We saw Valentino, Armani, Fendi, and a lot more! I bought a sweet blue ITALIA zip up sweatshirt with white stripes on the bottom and the part around the wrist, it is really soft and I’m pumped up about it. I decided to be the uber tourist and where it in the Rome airport as we were leaving. We bussed to the airport and then once in Malaga we bussed home.

DELICIOUS cake one night

I missed Leah, my roommate, SO MUCH! I was so excited to see her and be “home” after Rome. I love Granada more and more with each place I go visit. All the places are great, but I just love everything about this place. It was also nice to finally know the language again and have a CHANCE at communicating with people.

That was a REALLY long description, so hopefully I didn’t leave much out!

Last night was a girl in our dorm’s 19 birthday and the 4 Americans who live in my dorm (including myself and Leah) got convinced to go to MaeWest for her birthday. None of us were planning on going out (Tuesdays we usually take off) but it was fun to go out with about 15 people from our residencia who were all Spanish! I woke up late for class this morning but managed to get there about 5 minutes late which is actually sort of early in the Spanish world. I was supposed to volunteer today but I got so lost that I couldn’t. I was speed walking around the complete opposite way of the place (about 30 minutes from my residencia) for about an hour before I gave up and realized I was lost beyond repair. I went to the gym and Leah discovered a sauna in our gym that is really foggy and has chamomile and mint shooting from the ceiling. It is the MOST relaxing thing in the entire world after a workout and before a shower. I will probably make this an every time thing.

statue in Vatican

Tomorrow is my last day of school for the week (a 3 day week of school this week was AWESOME) and then Saturday morning I am heading to Cadiz for the second week of Carnival. We are taking a double decker bus and there are about 75 people on it. I need to find a costume! Next weekend I go to BARCELONA to see my besties from Minnesota and I cannot wait for that either. Life is good.