Finishing the Italian Adventure

Daily Update: Went out to the movies last night with my friends Griffin and Olivia. The movie theater a couple of towns over was having student night which meant 4 euro tickets. Even by American standards thats cheap. This is the second time I have gone to the movies in Ireland and I've noticed that they have very nice movie theaters. Both theaters had areas for you to sit and hang out with friends, ample seating and were immaculately clean. We saw 27 Dresses, which was cute, recommend it to anyone looking for a nice chick flick. 

Unfortunately we've reached the end of our Italian adventure. This will be the last entry about Italy *tear*. Never fear, my sister Caroline arrives on Friday, so I'm SURE hilarity will ensue, most likely at her expense. Look forward to reading about that next week!

Thursday

We've been bombed. That's the only possible explanation for the hostel shaking boom that just woke me up at 1 am. Nick, Steve and I jump up screaming expletives. Liz continues to sleep. Another crashing boom. Across town my friend Pinky is convinced the Vatican is being nuked. The room is pitch dark, the booms continue every thirty seconds or so. Liz is sound asleep. After a minute of silence I hear Niagra Falls outside my window. I lie back down...wow. Now THAT was a thunderstorm. 

Our friend Sarah was going to be touring churches in our neighborhood that morning with her class. She invited us to join her and we eagerly agreed. An excellent decision as we were led to some fascinating hidden gems right in our area that we never would have thought to visit. We also stopped for a coffee break and I discovered Italian hot chocolate. Now I despise hot chocolate...but this was gooooood. 

Sarah had to get back to her school for another class, so Liz and I decided to go inside the Colosseum. For days we had explored the exterior, but it was time to take the plunge and go inside. After standing in line for about 45 minutes we reached the front. I tried to get a student discount but they would only give that to EU citizens. Note, when I open a national monument to myself, only American citizens get student discounts. I then gave the ticket teller a 20 for an 11 euro ticket. He asked me for another euro so that he could give me a clean 10 back. Everyone wanted to do this in Italy. They HATED making change unless they could give it to you in bills. I did not have a euro on me so I said "sorry, I don't have a euro". The man starred at me and said "Everyone says that, you're lying". I hate the Colosseum. After getting change we walked in. It was raining and I was bitter so my first thought was "eh". After the sun came out and my mood brightened with it, I could fully appreciate the Colosseum. It is quite awesome. 

We went over to Sarah's after that to make dinner and hang out. We stopped at the supermarket and picked up a Roma soccer easter egg. In Europe they have these giant chocolate eggs around Easter. These eggs usually have toys of some kind in them. We were extremely excited to get a Roma one. After cooking dinner we cracked it open to discover it came with a paper model of the team. Too cool. Pinky and Julia joined us and we had a nice evening catching up and watching America's Next Top Model. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel. I havn't seen (or heard) hostel guy around lately...I hope he's alright. 

Friday

It was a beautiful day when we woke up. Absolutely gorgeous. "Let's go to the beach!" we cried! So we gathered the troops, packed a picnic lunch and set off on the subway....which took us to another subway...which took us to a tram....which took us to the beach! By the time we reached the beach the sky was a murky gray. The wind was whipping everywhere and it was beginning to rain. We were dead set on reaching the beach, however, and we were going to have a picnic if it killed us. We hunkered down on the beach as the sand covered our food and whipped into our faces. Failure. 

After declaring the picnic over we ran back to the tram. Once safely back in the city we grabbed some gelato before heading back to our friends apartments. Another delicious meal was cooked and we reflected on our time in Italy. 

Liz and I returned to the hostel and found Nick and Steve packing up, they would be leaving tomorrow as well. After talking for awhile Nick dropped this bomb on us "hey, did you hear? Hostel guy was taken to the hospital the other night! Didn't you hear him running up and down the halls cursing, appendicitis or something like that". He's ok, to our knowledge. Sounds like it was quite a scene though...my inner horrible person is sorry I missed it. My outer (and inner) good person asks everyone to hold him in the light for a quick recovery. 

Saturday

Time to pack up and leave Sandy's. Hostel guy has been replaced by a member of his multi-cultural posse. I never explained, HG was Polish, ran the place with his sister (I think), and had this multi-cultural posse of people who did random jobs around the place, I'm assuming in exchange for free room. I think it adds to the character of the place.

Anyway, the new guy checked us out and told us we could keep our bags in our lockers until it was time for us to leave. Liz and I went to walk around a little bit before our train left for the airport, but it was raining, hard. I'm pretty sure it always rains in Europe, thats what this whole abroad experience has taught me. After becoming fully soaked we decided maybe we should go back to the hostel and head out. Great...this will be a fun trip home.

The trip home went off almost without a hitch. Liz bought too much stuff in Italy and had to check her bag because it was overweight. She told me to go ahead through security and "hold up the plane" if she was late. As the boarding time got closer and closer I began to worry. I'm clearly capable of hold up a plane....but how to do it without losing my flying privileges forever? I was already on thin ice thanks to Dublin Airport security incident. Luckily she made it. I still havn't mastered the art of flying Ryanair and ended up being the last person on the plane. Which meant I got the last available seat, which actually wasn't bad at all. I sat in the aisle seat of the front row, which was definitely an experience. I've never sat that close to the front before....lots of leg room! If I knew Italian I would also be able to have gotten all of the flight attendant gossip, but alas, I don't. 

As the bus back to UCD drove through Dublin I was happy to be back, but I couldn't help but pine for Italy. An amazing two weeks I won't soon forget.

It looks photoshopped.....but its real
The sun is deceiving you...it was sooo not there the whole time
It was impressive
These guys were EVERYWHERE
ROMA ROMA ROMA!
My loves 
The Beach
That bag was being held on by the wind
Good times were had by all in Italy!