Pizza is better in Italy

The weather was beautiful in Rome. The shining sun encouraged me to get out of my top-level bunk bed each morning. Although the bed squeaked and was a bit shaky getting up onto, I slept surprisingly well in Victoria Hostel. It was located two stops (about 5 blocks) from Termini Station, which is the central train station in Rome. A 50-something year old woman ran Victoria. It only had two rooms; one with six beds and the other (where I slept) had eight beds. It only cost about 18 euros each night for the bed, but the facilities were hardly accommodating. There was no air conditioning, so sheets were not needed during the warm nights.

The worse part of the hostel was actually the lady who ran it. We will call her the Nazi. Well, the Nazi would kick everyone out between 10am and 3pm, claiming that she used that time to clean. But, there were only 14 beds and the bathrooms had the same soap scum in the showers everyday so I doubt that she did much cleaning during that time. There were two bathrooms, one of which she locked at 11pm. And she allowed people to use the kitchen to cook, but then had a padlock on the refrigerator. The Nazi even made Elaine, a girl that I got to know in our hostel, sleep a night in the Nazi’s own bedroom because she overbooked. Needless to say, I tried not to spend much time at the hostel.

I stayed down the street from the Coliseum. It is an amazing structure that will be around longer than most structures built today. After taking a picture with a man dressed up as a gladiator, Laura and I went inside. The inside is just as remarkable as the outside. It hosted several statues and other pieces of art that helped tell the history of ancient Rome. I also spent some time inside St. Peter’s Basilica. Entry inside of the church was free but it cost a few euros to see the museum. Each was impressive. The fountains outside of St. Peter’s were beautiful, too. Michelangelo’s Pieta stole the show, though. The sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Jesus in her lap after the crucifixion. Michelangelo completed the work when he was just 24 years old.

On one of the hottest days in Rome, Laura and I took an open-top bus tour. It was convenient because you could take pictures from the roof of the bus and you could hop off and on at points of attraction. We also visited the Repubblica, Piazza Barberini, Via Veneto, Tritone, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Navona, Piazza Augusto Imperatore, Ponte Sant’Angelo, Chiesa Nuova, Botteghe Oscure, Circo Massimo and Santa Maria Maggiore. Although we did not get off at very many sites, the day was exhausting.

After early evening naps, Laura and I mustered up the energy to go to Pub Crawls. We went on one each night we were in Rome. When we missed the Colosseum Pub Crawl on the first night, we just joined the Forum Pub Crawl. On the third night we tried the Spanish Step Pub Crawl but was disappointed because we would end up seeing the same group of people. Still, hopping from bar to bar where we were served free drinks and/or shots and got a free t-shirt to commemorate the event was not a bad deal for 20 euros.

After three and a half weeks of traveling around western Europe, I was looking forward to head to Amsterdam I could sleep in the same bed for more than three nights in a row.