Pensione Ottaviano Hostel Rome

... it on the street. The line up for the Colosseum was CRAZY!! I couldn´t imagine going there during high season. Luckily we had a tip in our book to go buy your tickets at the Palatine, so we did and there was NO LINE UP!! We decided to walk around the Palatine and the Forum first seeing as how we were there. Its basically old ruins of and old city. There are tons of random half and partial walls everywhere, pillars and buildings ...

... is an Italian mall. It was not too exciting since I am not much of a shopper but there were a grocery store (yes, in the mall). We had a blast picking out different kind of cheese and cured meat for the flight.<br><br>BUT the best thing was we found a gelato store. They had about 30 flavors! I ended up with 3 scoops of gelato (melon, pistachio, and ...

... to cheap wine I'm pleased to report that beer is really cheap here, and I think I've barely entered a store where they don't sell it. They were even selling beer at the little food stall in the middle of the park! I spent ages looking on the internet to try and find accommodation in our price range which seemed nice and had the possibility of self catering. Our place is lovely, it's nice and quiet has a lovely ...

... water like Rome. The Trevi Fountain is a fantastic work of art that is much more than a mere sculpture. This triumphant example of Baroque art with its soft ...

... of fresh melon in alfalfa sprouts... at this point I knew I was here for the view of the food, not the food itself, then a red wine risotto served this way: A puddle of pink rice in the center, delicate bits of corn chips on one side, a piece of fish that was either steamed and cooled, or pickled, or perhaps cooked in lemon juice, I couldn't actually tell; one piece of fried green leaf (was it sage?) topped by a chewy strip of fish scales. Altogether a work of art, but the ...

I took a night train from my layover in Milan to Rome. After a quick scramble to find my hostel, I dropped off my stuff and set off for the day. I found Rome to be an overwhelming city at first. The Colleseum and some of the ancient ruins were right by my hostel so I saw those first, and then spent the rest of my first day just getting lost and seeing a few select sights. Observation: Denmark is to bicycles as Rome is to scooters ...

... very moving. So as we were moving for position to sit until noon, whom should we see but Galen! He and the rest of the E.U. program were doing their tour of the Vatican today as well. Allison and I hopped on and saw St. Peter's Basilica--a very impressive and beautiful church with the Pieta, and only one small piece of stained glass--with them, and then had lunch with them. Lunch was delicious and ...

... even te blijven. Hierop geeft de barman ons een lokale specialiteit (niemand drinkt hier bier): een glaasje rum gevolgd door een glaasje perensap. Heel erg lekker maar het slaat in als een bom. Volgende ochtend vroeg op om naar Riva Traiano, vlakbij Civitavechia, te varen. Het begint goed: zonnetje, strak blauwe lucht en lekker warm. Esther: "Dit wordt zo'n lekker dagje!" Dat soort opmerkingen moet je dus niet maken! Eenmaal op open zee is de wind aangewakkerd en staan er golven van 2 ...