Gregorio Vii Rooms Rome

... records of the burials lost. It was common during the centuries, as it is today, to unearth spectacular intact Greek and Roman artifacts, like the Laocoon sculpture, commissioned and transported to Rome from Rhodes in the 1st century BC, but lost for centuries under Nero’s Golden House. Its discovery in 1506 became a sensation involving Pope Julius II ("Il Papa Terrible" for his bad temperament), Michaelangelo, Raphael ...

... off J

In the 3 days we’ve been here we have bonded like nobody’s business! We all feel so close like we’ve known each other for years! Like we’re old best friends from long ago. We laugh and tell stories and gawk at the sights together and it’s so nice to just be able to coast right into a friendship. Nobody was shy or cliquey from the beginning. Sure you felt comfortable with a few certain people but others would join in ...

... a second trip to a pizza place we had discovered the night before. Great pizza and great dessert! Yesterday we got to show my parents the ropes of European train travel. We had an easy trip up to Florence on a comfy Eurostar train - Rome to Florence nonstop! We spend three days here and we'll update you on that time in the next post. After Florence it's back to Spain for some time in Barcelona/Sitges as planned. A little running around, but in the end it's all worth it. Until then... C

... a tour of the inside. We paid a few extra Euros to jump to the head of the ticket line and get a quick tour of the coliseum. It was an amazing site. It was breathtaking to imagine what it was like back then and actually stand inside the building that I've learned so much about and heard about since I was young. The Coliseum was incredibly massive and majestic. But, we only had a few hours so we kept going because we wanted to see as much as ...

... that we didn't have anything to see and in any case we flew straight up through cloud and didn't see a thing until we came down in to Singapore by which time it was just lights in any case. Directions to the transfer desk were a bit garbled so we ended up walking right across Changi to check-in for the British Airways flight at transfer D (or C?) only to find we could have done it back on the side we'd come into the GIANT Changi duty ...

... into groups of about 50 with one tour guide. Then we just marched past the 6 block line and went into the museum. We each got our own head set to listen to the tourguide..he talked in a microphone and explained everything as we went. It was really nice to have someone tell you the information that you would have never ever gotten had you just walked through. He knew all the dates, popes and the significance of everything. In the musuem we saw lots of old ...

... f-word" without thinking just as a nun walked by... and he got horribly embarrassed, saying that he was going to hell now for sure. Funny as hell, if you ask me. This castle is actually in Rome, not Vatican City... but it used to belong to the Vatican. They ...

... a new journey, a new chapter in the adventures in Europe. My roommates and I catch an early train to Milan the hop-over to Amsterdam for a few days. From there we break off and I end up in Budapest with Jon and Robby from Berkeley. Through the Balkans we go, cutting through Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia at least. London to meet my brother Ari for a few days, then to see Scotland and the Loch ness monster. Final stop Germany ...

... big ones and really small ones, everywhere. You can drink out of the small ones, but not the big ones like the Trevi Fountain. We often filled our water bottles up at the little fountains. The water was really crisp and clear. The big fountains were just beautiful. The Trevi fountain was amazing. We got there in the day and it was a little crowded so we came back at night and it was so pretty all lit up. The water looked so nice and I just can't imagine how they ...

... worth checking out for a night. I didn't realize it, but after Rome, I really needed a rest! I got into Ancona around 6:30, had to walk a good 20 minutes from the train station to the center of town. I had to stop and ask for directions three times, all three people speaking anywhere from zero to barely little English. Throughout the walk, I had to ask myself what Bamba was thinking. The place was pretty, sure, but not as attractive as Florence or Siena. I wasn't remotely ...