Rome, day one!

First of all, big. Not at all like Venice at all, which reassures me that it was in fact one of my favorite places. I thought maybe I would love all of Europe, but I don't think I love rome. It's a big city, with a lot more of the harsh noise and attitude that comes with a big city. It's like the mean older brother of gentle little sister Venice.

We went by train, which was a new experience for me, but i actually really liked it. I might try to go somewhere via train while at home, we'll see.

We found our hotel, which is a lot nicer and has free wifi. Most importantly, there are more common areas for us to hang out, so I'm hoping our group gets a little tighter (were sitting here now, playing cards and chatting). We even have tv, and we can watch American cartoons in Italian. Maybe it'll help us pick something up? It at least will help us out with the weather.

We found a little sandwich shop, and I wasnt hungry enough to make myself deal with the busy Italian speaking waitress. I'm more likely to make myself uncomfortable by not eating than by ordering things in a foreign language. Luke actually dragged me back across the street and ordered one for me, which made me feel bad about not being independent, so probably the last time that will happen. I ended up with a raw bacon and cheese wrap, slightly warmed. It wasnt bad.

We walked around for a "brief" walking tour that eventually turned into about 10 miles during 4 hours. Pretty killer, but it was like getting the Buffett of Rome. We saw the forum, big monuments (one is known as the cake topper of Rome. According to dr. Vincent, everyone hates it). We went up capitaline hill, and saw more ruins. We wandered over to the Vatican, and spent some time looking around. All of it was very brief, but all together it took forever. At one point Ted called us all together to say something about a building, and then exclaims that "a bird shat on me!" it defused a lot of tension that everyone had built up, and we all had some giggle fits.

Bri, Olivia, Megan and I went with Luke to find food, since we had run out of fumes to be running on. The further south you get in italy, the less they love americans, and it was pretty obvious t the restaurant. We were so hungry we didn't care a whole lot, but it is uncomfortable to have so many glares for no reason. We were quiet and polite, and spoke in Italian to order. We left a nice tip. But still, clearly not so excited about our business. I got an omelette with cheese, which was way different then if I had ordered it in America, but still amazing and exactly what I needed.

We came back and just hung out, used some wifi, and spent some time talking about the next few days with more of the group. I found out one of the girls who I knew from a class before lives in new castle, and her dad actually works at the upmc hospital in Franklin. It was exciting to find someone who not only knew bw home, but could talk about Pennsylvania's hills. Tomorrow we start early for everything though, so I am off to bed!