When in Rome, Part 1

I spent five nights in Rome this summer--two more than last year, three couchsurfing, one on the floor of a hotel, and the last in a hotel room and bed of my very own, making this year's adventure in Rome a much more diverse experience than the last.

Kathleen called me my first morning in Rome to let me know that my camera, which I formerly thought lost, had been in the apartment of two of the girls studying on the Perugia program all month, and the man checking the apartment after their departure brought it to Kathleen. Now I have my 8 gig memory card back, and I don't have to be so selective about taking pictures.

I called Riccardo and met up with the Perugia group during their tour. I hung out with them a bit, but then I split, found a supermarket next to the Pantheon, and bought myself Nutella and cookies to serve as my brunch. One thing about Nutella in Italy: it comes in these small glasses that everyone in Italy uses as beverage glasses after they're empty, and I decided, while dipping cookies into Nutella in front of the Pantheon, that a full set of Nutella glasses would be just the Italian souvenir that I could really use to spruce up my future apartment, and I committed myself to eating four jars of Nutella in Rome.

I found my way back to my couchsurfing hosts's apartment from the metro, which by all rights should have been closed down, around 12:30 AM, having walked between his apartment and the metro only once before, with him. It was a miracle and I was very proud of myself, although I did take a wrong turn and only via some trick of Italian streets stumbled back on the right way.

I did a bit more touring--a lot of things I've seen before--but enjoyed the company of the Perugia kids, and went on a late-night tour with Riccardo, Barrett, Megan, and Ashley, where we drank beers in front of the Vatican and took obscene pictures, and then we listened to an Italian band cover Aerosmith's "Eat the Rich" on the River Tiber. I doubt the singer actually spoke English, because he seemed to be singing a bit of gibberish here and there. We strolled through Piazza Navona, had drinks at the Campo dei Fiori, and had a chat in front of the Pantheon (much more impressive by night), in which Riccardo made me ponder more seriously than before moving to Italy. When they learned I was probably going to sleep in the train station that night (perfectly safe, parents, don't worry), Megan and Barrett snuck me into their hotel room. I got free breakfast the next morning, too.

I saw the Capuchin Crypt with a few of the Perugia guys the day after their official tour ended. Unlike the catacombs in Palermo, where the bodies were intact, the crypt was literally decorated with various assortments of bones. In one room, there were arched recesses constructed of skulls. In other rooms, chandeliers of human bones hung above the walkways. Those crazy Capuchins.

That night, my couchsurfing host picked me up on a scooter and gave me a small tour of Rome by scooter by night. It was moderately terrifying, but also very fun. I was KIND of disappointed not to ride around the Colosseum, but I never look a gift horse in the mouth, and we rode around plenty. The next morning, we separated relatively early, and I met Kathleen with some relief outside of our hotel for that night. We walked all over that damn city that day--down past the Vittoriano, across the river, through the Trastevere neighborhood, through a big park with some stunning views of the city sprawled below, down to the Vatican, and then we came back to the hotel to get ready for our last dinner in Italy.
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