Rome or bust
After the final concert, I went home, changed and packed a big purse, and went out to our favorite "bar on the wall," and promptly got a little drunk. Come on, how could I not? The program was over, everyone was saying goodbye, and to me, drunk is only two small glasses of wine. It was a real bittersweet evening.
At 2:30am, Matt and I left the bar, went back to his place to get his things, and then headed to the train station in anticipation of catching the 5:40am train to Rome. Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever heard? Rome on no sleep after a concert and a few drinks? It was honestly one of the best adventures I've ever and probably will ever have. I caught 2 hours of sleep at Matt's house, but that poor boy, went on 0 hours.
We ended up on the 6:10am train, and got to Rome around 10:00am because of a slower transfer in Florence. We got on the Eurostar, which is the fastest train, at the Florence trainstation, but were late so we couldn't purchase our tickets in advance. Often on the local trains they don't always check your tickets so you can get away without paying, but on the Eurostar they pretty much always check, so we were just planning on paying an extra 5 euro fee and pay on the train.....but fate had a different plan for us. Somehow we got away with it and saved the 40 euro and hung out in the caffeteria car. Already the day was off to a good start!
We did Rome in a day, and it was easy, cheap, and totally possible. In fact, we saw all the major landmarks (without going inside any of them or doing any tours), completely on foot, without a map!!!! - in just 8 hours! Incredible. We saw some Roman ruins, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Vatican City, the Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain, of course, all the while just experiencing the architecture and flavor of Rome. It wasn't that crowded, and there were NO gypsies ANYWHERE trying to pickpocket me or distract me with their babues. I felt safe walking around, and Matt knows the city very well. We make an excellent traveling team, or rather, he just knows his way, and we both like to see as much as we possibly can and don't complain, even though we were hallucinating by the end of the day because we were so tired. Every few hours we'd stop to fill up on espresso. At one point we took a bus in a completely weird direction, and we even took the Roman metro, which pretty much looked just like DC's.
On the Eurostar home, we passed out, and the conductor didn't wake us up to check tickets, so we basically went to Rome for FREE. Saved 80 + euro. Holllllleeeeeeeerrrrrrrr. We got home around 10:30pm, filthy and smelly like garbage. I am currently sunburnt within an inch of my life but I love it, because I'm so happy I pushed myself and saw Rome.
At 2:30am, Matt and I left the bar, went back to his place to get his things, and then headed to the train station in anticipation of catching the 5:40am train to Rome. Isn't that just the funniest thing you've ever heard? Rome on no sleep after a concert and a few drinks? It was honestly one of the best adventures I've ever and probably will ever have. I caught 2 hours of sleep at Matt's house, but that poor boy, went on 0 hours.
We ended up on the 6:10am train, and got to Rome around 10:00am because of a slower transfer in Florence. We got on the Eurostar, which is the fastest train, at the Florence trainstation, but were late so we couldn't purchase our tickets in advance. Often on the local trains they don't always check your tickets so you can get away without paying, but on the Eurostar they pretty much always check, so we were just planning on paying an extra 5 euro fee and pay on the train.....but fate had a different plan for us. Somehow we got away with it and saved the 40 euro and hung out in the caffeteria car. Already the day was off to a good start!
We did Rome in a day, and it was easy, cheap, and totally possible. In fact, we saw all the major landmarks (without going inside any of them or doing any tours), completely on foot, without a map!!!! - in just 8 hours! Incredible. We saw some Roman ruins, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, Vatican City, the Spanish Steps, and the Trevi Fountain, of course, all the while just experiencing the architecture and flavor of Rome. It wasn't that crowded, and there were NO gypsies ANYWHERE trying to pickpocket me or distract me with their babues. I felt safe walking around, and Matt knows the city very well. We make an excellent traveling team, or rather, he just knows his way, and we both like to see as much as we possibly can and don't complain, even though we were hallucinating by the end of the day because we were so tired. Every few hours we'd stop to fill up on espresso. At one point we took a bus in a completely weird direction, and we even took the Roman metro, which pretty much looked just like DC's.
On the Eurostar home, we passed out, and the conductor didn't wake us up to check tickets, so we basically went to Rome for FREE. Saved 80 + euro. Holllllleeeeeeeerrrrrrrr. We got home around 10:30pm, filthy and smelly like garbage. I am currently sunburnt within an inch of my life but I love it, because I'm so happy I pushed myself and saw Rome.
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