Suite Dreams Rome

... br>







One of our favorite experiences of the day was walking through the forum, more specifically Palentine Hill, and sitting down on a shady bench in the middle of the gardens. The convection current coming from the valley below means there is always a nice breeze to keep us pleasantly cool. Additionally there are some very boisterous insects singing their various melodies to accompany the ...

... is not the original. The original was about 5 meters lower and can be seen through a place in the cathedral's floor.
By the time we went outside, the line to get in wrapped all the way around the square. I decided to go to the official Vatican shopping area to get lunch and browse the shops. Bought some Rosary beads and holy water for mom, Rosey and me.
The Vatican was so crowded I opted to take the metro to the HRC for lunch. HRC was ...

... coolest sights I have seen. We also went to the orange tree garden, which has an amazing view of Rome- its the first time I have caught sight of St. Peters since I have been here. Our res grad, David, is pretty cool he's been in Rome for four years know, and knows all the sights and places to go to.

Morning went off pretty well. Last breakfast at Hotel Regina, then the check out (where I didn't have to carry as much as when we got there because I was sending some of my things with the folks), and then we walked down to the train station. We met a nice American couple there with whom my parents spoke while we were waiting for the train. I was approached by this older woman and asked if I was speaking German or English (all in Italian), and we got into it ...

... school Gianlorenzo (he goes by Jack(?)). We went to a bar/pub that played it. It's so much different than in America. They don't have any of the same commercials, obviously, they don't even have as many commercials. For example in America, after a punt or kickoff there would be a series of 4 or 5 commercials while the offense and defense organize their strategies. Here they show the view from the top corner of the stadium for 3 minutes or whatever. There ...

... all learned about where each person was from but it was really hard to describe LA to them because its just so damn big. So I just told them about Hollywood and all the **** they probably wanted to hear. Dinner was good. I didnt get pizza. Thank god. I did have some gnocchi which is a little pasta dumplings made of potatoes. Tomato sauce is poured all over it. After dinner, the damn AU chicks all wanted separate checks. This was a disaster. Our waiter didnt speak ...

... very, very windy, cold place we waited 2 hours at a bus stop on the highway, hoping that a bus would come along in time to get us back in time for our evening boat. The bus did come, for the gorgeously scenic drive back, enlivened somewhat by roadworks caused by an earlier rockslide, worsened by a grader actually causing an enormous boulder to roll down, crash through the barrier and stop on the road, just as we were approaching. Anyway, we did get back to ...

... gelato they sell all over the place there. As many know, I am a very weak man, and really could not stop myself from pigging out. So many different little pie things with chocolate, berries, and various stuff. As you walk down the streets, you notice that there are only 3 things for sale there...pizza, pastries, and those freaky/scary masks (ya know, the ones with the long noses.) Why they sell so many of those I have no idea. Also, to my surprise ...

... to rome, a little boy (3?) was sitting next to me in the train, he asked his mum was my earphones were so i let him listen, so cute. His mum got him to say some things in english too, cute little thing. This hostel we're in now is pretty cool, free dinner and breakie, the dinner waas nice, although the rooms are pretty small. We also just had a thunderstorm, a nice break in the hotness :) okay, there's a line for the internet, so ciao!

... peppers plus some mystery meat for like 2 hours. every once in awhile they all break into their dialects being that both families are from the south---calabrese and albanese. they will go for like 30 min in italian that I can totally understand and then all of the sudden change it up and I feel like they are speaking greek. everyone is commenting on how hot it is but after being in rome I feel like this is a nice breeze.I can totally smell ...