Rome 2- Vatican

For Dinner, the night I had posted the blog Rome 1, we had the best meal of the trip... figures it was the last. The guys name was Mario, he owned the restaurant we were eating at, and absolutely loved us. He originally came up and put his arm around me and shouted, IRELAND? I told him no, we were from America, and he then told us he was born and raised in NY, so when I told him we were from NJ, he smiled from ear to ear. He immediately told us how much he loved Springstein, and that he had be to so many concerts in Europe and America, then says, "Barack may be the president, but he will always be the Boss" That was amazing, and before we could blink, we had appetizers in front of us, to be honest, they were to our liking, but it was the gesture that counted. Then he proceeds to run to the stereo, turn off the traditional Italian music, and put on Springstein, and let everyone know that we were his friends from NJ, and he was listening to Springstein. The gifts did not stop there, we were treated to a bottle of wine, and free dessert because of being from NJ. We also got the most amazing lasagna I had in Rome at this place. Just nice to see how happy people get, and how nice they can be.
The last day here we get to the Vatican, the Museum, and all that good stuff. The lines were extremely short because we got there very early, but when we were leaving it was clear how true it is to get there early. We started in the museum which was cool, but after 100 rooms, and two hours I just wanted it to be over. We got to the Sistine Chapel, and that was as amazing as I thought it would be, we spent about 30-45min in there, but could have been there all day studying the paintings. From there we went to St. Peter's Basilica, which was one of the most impressive buildings I have ever seen, which is a phrase that was repeated numerous times, but I am running out of ways to describe the things I am seeing. We climbed the stairs, which felt like a million of them to the top, up narrow, winding, and slanted staircases, so needless to say, being claustrophobic didn't help. However, the view from up there made it more than worth it, one of those moments you just look and don't talk. We then went from the very top, to the very bottom, to the tombs. I got to see where Pope John Paul II is buried, which was pretty intense, and the shrine to St. Peter was equally as impressive, but less attractive because of the recent death of Pope John Paul II, and I mean recent as being within 300 years.

So, the question is "How did you like Rome?"
My answer would be, it is the most amazing, yet disgusting city I have ever been in. When you are at the monuments, in Ancient Rome, at the Vatican, or on a tour, it is simply amazing. When you are walking around, seeing the graffiti on everything the 20 bums per block, the people selling the same 4 products (umbrellas, sunglasses, tripods, and bags) all day it makes you mad. I got scammed for 10 euro, but it was a cheap lesson that people are lazy scumbags. Every person you talk to on the street is real interested in you for two minutes, then wants money, and will follow you if you say no. The smells were disgusting, and yes, I understand that is what you get in a city, but Philly, NYC, London, and Edinburgh all fail in comparison to this city. So it is a must see city, but please do not expect everything to be as beautiful as what you see in pictures, you will be disappointed.

Rome 1

Haven't updated this is in a while, but the weekend before this was a softball tournament in Galway, so there was not much to explain. It was my first hotel experience outside of the country but other than that it was just a fun time.
We left Limerick on Friday the 12th, stayed the night in a hostel, and had an interesting night in the Dublin pubs. We had to get up semi-early for a flight on a Saturday to Rome. When we landed in Rome we went out to the bars, not pubs here, sat at a fountain and drank in the streets, it was a new experience to say the least. The cops walked by us, and let us go, until they started to sweep the streets at about 3 AM.
The next day we went to the Colosseum, that was a breathtaking experience, we got to walk around it and just take it all in. After that we just walked around and got to see a lot, but it gets really dark really early here, at around 5pm. The weather was the best of what we have had in the entire time in Europe, it was about 70 and bright sun the entire time we were here. We had the most amazing food at every meal, minus the hot dogs, those were good, but they were hot dogs, just on Italian bread. The gelato here is amazing, it is ice cream, but a million times better, in the most exotic flavors available, including Viagra flavor. The wine is as cheap as they say it is, with an average bottle costing E6, or about $8.
We got up early on the next day, to get breakfast, which consists of a roll, and half of a glass of orange juice. When we were done this snack, we headed off to the Roman Forum, and Palantine Hill, which is the heart of Ancient Rome, it is an excavated city, with some impressive structures, there was a stadium, churches, and Caesar Augustus' house. This was about lunch, so we headed back to the hostel, then to attempt to ride scooters around the city, but got jerked around for two hours about that because we are American, and do not have a motorcycle license. So we decided to take a city tour on an open-air double decker bus. We got to drive past the Vatican, and see most of the huge monuments in the city. After the bus, we head back to the hostel.
When we wake up we go to the train station to catch a train to Florence, but it did not work out because one guy wanted E115, or $135, or the city train was E88/$110 which would have taken 4 hours each way, and ruin the day for a lot of money, so we chose to see more of the city. We literally walked everywhere, and had I not forgotten the camera, you would see what I saw, but once my room mate uploads the pictures, they will be on Facebook.
Tomorrow is the Vatican, and then Dublin for two nights, then off to the Dam