Roma

As promised, we woke up early. Around 630 this time. We got ready and left at about 7:30. We got to Santa Maria Novella and I tried to get the reservations for the train that we wanted. Our first choice was full, but we ended up on an earlier train, which worked out.

Other than the fact that they changed platforms on me for this train and that I stressed and had us board the train two cars too early so it wouldn't leave without us, the train ride and such was more or less unproblematic. No one actually checked the tickets, I saw sunflowers, and then fell asleep.

We got into Rome a little after ten and met up with Umma, Oppa, James, and Halmony. They walked with us back to the hotel and we went up to the room. Everyone sorted out what laundry we had to wash, while Oppa and I filled out UC Hastings paperwork. It was very hectic.

At around noon, we made our way out to look for a laundromat. Once we found one and set up our laundry, we went off in search of lunch and the post office. We did the post office first. I thought the lines in the US were long, but it took us about an hour and a half to get through everything. It was a pretty intense wait.

After everything got settled and we left the post office praying that the stuff would arrive on time, we left the post office and had some very legit kebabs for lunch. We went back to the laundromat after this to get the laundry and then back to the hotel so we could check into the other room. They have Mickey Mouse sheets in the other room, by the way. Andrew is not appreciative of this, which is truly a pity.

After a short rest, we went out for the sightseeing portion of the trip. We walked out to the Metro Station and took the train out to the Spanish Steps. It was very, very crowded in that area and we left as soon as possible. Oppa led this tour, and he got us lost quite frequently. It all worked out though.

Stop number two was to the Trevi Fountains, where I participated in the traditional coin toss (and thus got rid of more of my Croatian coins). It seemed like this one was more crowded than I had ever seen it before.

After getting lost for a while, we made our way to the Pantheon, hwere we marveled at its coolness and then went to the place I had been looking forward to, Piazza Navona. Unfortunately, they were restoring the statue, though, so that kind of took away from a lot of it. I got a watercolor painting of Rome for Chris and then we got our gelato.

Had I not had gelato twice at Perche No the day before, this gelato probably would have tasted a lot better. I got Fragola/Pesca again. The strawberries were okay, but the peace part was way too creamy. Anyway, we sat around and enjoyed our gelato, watched the police chase down some black market vendors, a phenomenon that seems to interest Gianni and Andrew a lot) and decided to start making our trek back to the hotel. Because it was a long walk, we sent Oppa, James and Halmony to the hotel ahead in a taxi while the rest of us walked. I managed to get us there problem-free :).

Well kind of problem free. We got to hotel as fast as we could, but we were still late to our dinner reservations with Nonny and Nonno. We eventually did make it to the restaurant and had a very delicious meal. I had this tuna onion pizza that was extremely good. I was happy, other than the fact that I am suddenly dying again from what I imagine are allergy problems. If not, it's a cold. Regardless of what it is, its extremely annoying bccause it really just appeared out of nowhere to punch me in the face with sickness.

After eating, we went back to the hotel, where I got reunited with my computer and have spent many hours here updating the blog. Additionally, I sent the honors program an electronic copy of my thesis (which is why i had this brought to me in the first place) and did some toher stuff. Thats about it for right now. I had a pretty long day so I think it's about time to call it a night. I will say that I am very excited about the cruise and hope to be posting again soon. I will be writing stuff for each day on the cruise, though.