Using our few words in Italian, and made-up sign language, we finally made it to our hostel, "Diamond B&B". We were welcomed in by one of the two brothers who run the hostel togrther, and were shown around the homey appartment-made-hostel. We were in one of two 8 bed rooms, and were allowed the use of the kitchen (stove, refrigerator, pots and pans, plates, etc.), and either of the two small bathrooms. We made some ramen (aka sick food) and then got to bed relatively early, remembering that we didn't have to do something every evening.
The next morning, we headed out at around 11 toward the Colosseum! Complete unintentionally we ran into a bunch of other beautiful historic artifacts and buildings on the way. Rome's like one big museum, housing hundreds of beautiful old pieces, most of which are protected and carefully restored. Once at the grand Colosseum, we were dissapointed at the realization that we had to pay to get into virtually all the surrounding parks full of ruins. Thanks to Smoothes Becks ;) we were able to pay the 11€ to be able to access the whole place! We walked into and throughout the whole Colosseum admiring the old grandeur. Then we walked around the surrounding parks, scattered with beautiful ruins.
We had planned to meet Tim (yes, the same one from the Cinque Terre, and Florence) at 17h, so at about 16h, we started back towards our hostel to regroup and prepare. On our way, all the while sight seeing, we saw some guy jusy sleeping on the sidewalk. After a few more looks, we realized that it was Tim! Huge city, yet so small.
So, the three of us grabbed a few cheap ingredientes, and then ent back to Kels and my hostel and cooked up a tastyyy dinner -polenta (with melted cheese of course, with tomatoes and beans. To drink (for those who's bodies didn't fight even the thought of alcohol) there was first wine and then hot chocolate with amaretto. We met two people, Hannah and Jake, from Indiana, who were staying at our hostel. The 5 of us hung out there in the kitchen for a few hours, until Tim had to leave at 20h to catch his train to go sleep at the airport before his flight.
A few hours later, Kelsey and I decided to go out and meet up with Pia, and Justin (the kids we met in Venice), and we invited Hannah and Jake to come along. we found our way across the city, and were greeted by Justin and his friends. They took us to a bar, saying it would be the largest concentration of Americans we had seen in a long time - and it surely was. It was a narrow backstreet lined with bars, one of which was especially overflowing. We went in, squeezing through the masses of bodies, and soon realized that this was the bar for American international students. The night went on in quite an exciting fashion (especially for those who were drinking), and was psid for the next day.
Next day was a chill day. Kels hung out in bed, and I walked across Rome and bought our ferry tickets (Livorno, Italy to Barcelona, Spain [with a 20% discount] = 54€ each). I ran a few more errands and then went back tobthe hostel to prepare to move to the next hostel in Rome (same place Hannah and Jake were going). By the famous 16h we were ready and able, so we walked on to the Ivanhoe Hostel.
Upon arriving, we were offered waster/juice, and were treated very kindly! They were playing music loudly, and hanging out as if all were best friends. It was the best feel ever to get when coming into a hostel!
We settled in, went wandering, and then the 4 of us (Hannah, Jake, Kels, and I) went shopping and cooked up a tasty dinner: bruschetta with toasted baguette and olive oil, and pasta with alfredo sauce (aka butter and cream) and turkey for the meat eaters. It cost us each only about 1,50€!
One of the guys working at the hostel, Justin, was one choosing the music, and he was putting on all my favorite songs from Chile! It turns out that he's from la República Dominicana... So, once I told him I knew how to dance some latin dances, we ended up dancing together for a few hours there in the common room. It was completely innocent, and sooooo fun! We were both happy to find someone else in Europe who danced la Bachata (which is from the Dominican Republic). Later, Kelsey had met some Australian guys in the hostel, Dave and his friend, and wan having a great time with them, so I went out with Justin to see the Colosseum at night, all lit up. We all had a good night.
The next day (Friday, December 6th) was our last day in Rome, so, we had to force ourselves out of bed and into the cold (relatively speaking) to see as much as possible. We wove our way across the city toward Vatican City, catching as many sights as possible on the way. Near the Vatican, we scraped together the little change ewe had and bought ourselves some delicious pizza from a small yet hopping, family run pizza place - one of our must-dos when in Italy...and very well worth it! We walked around for the 5 hours of "lock out" (some hostels lock you out to do cleaning and whatever else), and then, shivering, made it back to the hostel. Again, we made dinner together, Justin and I danced some Bachata, and we hung out and played cards with all the people staying at the hostel. We met some Australians, Argentinians, Americans, Canadians, Pakistanis, Italians, etc., all between the ages of 20 and 24. It was a good, chill night.
Saturday the 7th, Kels and I caught an early train to Pisa. We walked all the way across the city to the tower, stopping for kebabs/döner along the way. We spent the day there, admiring the tower and the beautiful cathedral behind it, and enjoying real, Italian gelato! We left Pisa at 8 to get to Livorno on time for our ferry to Barcelona.
Once in Livorno, we were told how to get to the port from the train station. 20 mins later, we reached the port and started the search for our ferry. There were many ferries around on the dock, but no one we asked had any clue about Grimaldi Lines. We ran around the port for about half an hour, worrying that we were going to miss our ferry, before we found someone who told us that our ferry was on the other side of the city, too far to walk. They called us a taxi and then just left. When we got into the taxi, the meter was already at 10€...and by the time he had brought us to the check in and then iver to the loading docks, it was at 30€. ...and here we were thinking thst the ferry would be much cheaper than flying...
Well, we made it onto the ferry, and, relieved, we put down our stuff and set up "camp" on the floor in preparation for our 22 hour journey.
...Barcelona...!
~Iolani
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