Weekend in Rome

We had our free weekend in Rome these past couple of days. It was a lot of fun, and I think we are getting to know the city a lot better. Our plan was to go out in the city Friday night. We found a few pubs that we wanted to try but they were on the other side of town. I had been told that the Metro only runs until 11:30 pm so at 11:25 we ran to catch what we thought was the last train for the night. Of course we were wrong, and learned later the metro runs until 1:30 on weekends. We walked for a long time, not exactly knowing where we were going. Eventually we were able to meet with some other SMC people that were on a different trip, and we made our way to the Abbey Theatre Irish pub. Now, i think its strange that Irish pubs are so big in Rome, because well...were in Rome. However, now i know why people go there. They are HELLA fun. Its not exactly like your in Ireland, but you are most definitely not in an italian bar.

After a fun night there we planned on taking cab home because the Metro wasnt running and it was a far walk. While we started off as a large group somehow walking from one place to the other we got separated and ended up taking different cabs home. The cab ride was a lot cheaper than we expected, and this was probably due to the crazy cab driver. Ive never seen anyone run so many consecutive red lights. I did not complain though, since we got back near our place quickly. We hung out for a little longer at the cafe and ended up walking in to our hotel verrrry late....or more early, in the morning..

Saturday I was too tired to do a lot of touring, but Ricky and I planned on meeting up with Devon, who is studying here for the semester. So later that night, Ricky, Me, and two other people in our class Mike and Lindsey went to the Abbey Theatre and waited for Devon, who we couldnt get a hold of. Eventually after we ate and hung out for a bit devon showed up and started showing us the area. We hit a couple more american bars and Irish pubs, but didnt stay long at all because the place was so crowded, you couldnt even move, or order a drink. We decided just to go back to the abbey theatre where we chilled until they closed. what was funny about the night was the amount of americans we were running into.

Today, we started off early and went to the Vatican again to see the Pope address the crowd at noon. At first St Peter's square seemed to have a lot of people, but it wasnt fully packed. But by 1145 the crowd was enormous and lively. There was a church group playing African drums, dancing and singing. People waved their country's flag and held banners up. The pope was cheered on when he addressed the crowd, and spoke for about 10 minutes. Its funny to think how many people come out to see him for such a short amount of time.

Afterwards we decided to tour the Colliseum. It was a crazy feeling to be inside for once and you really do try to imagine what it would have been like to see the building at its prime. Upon leaving the colliseum, there was an incident because we realized that Ricky was nowhere to be found. our first plan was to walk around the colliseum in opposite directions and then eventually we would run into him. Did not work out. So for the next hour we searched in the vicinity of the colliseum for ricky and he was no where to be found. We eventually gave up on him and toured the forum. The forum was awesome, because walking around in there is really like walking around ancient Rome. My camera battery died though so i didnt get as many pictures as i wish i did. If youre ever in Rome though i recommend you go in the forum though. It is the only remaining part of ancient Rome. Its mind blowing to think about how old the pillars and the ruins are. Look at the pictures i have and you'll get a feel for it hopefully.

Were about to get really busy here this week. I'm having a lot of fun here and I'm learning a lot. This really is a life changing experience. I am missing some things from America though. Hope everyone back home is doing good and i will see you all in a couple weeks. Keep checking back for more updates and pictures












colliseum floor, excavated.