Pisa and Rome

Buongiorno. I think that's how you spell that. I am so exhausted right now but Italy is amazing! We flew to Pisa late the night of our final exam (Thurs) and met Sam at the airport. Our hostel was a 10 minute cab ride, and we shared a room with 2 guys from Germany and a girl from Australia. It was very cheap but I had a pretty crappy night's sleep since it was really hot and we had the window open so it became very noisy outside around 6am. We all woke up and got ready around 10 so we could check out by 11. The only thing on our agenda was to see the leaning tower of Pisa, so we went to buy our train ticket to Rome and headed that direction. The tower was really cool to see. We took lots of pictures, as always, and did a little souvenir shopping along the side streets. Our train didn't leave until 3:45, and at this point it was only 1 or so, so we went to get our luggage from the hostel and go somewhere to eat. Everything Italian was mostly closed at that point, like things are during Spanish siesta, but we found a really good kebob place to eat at. I had a chicken sandwich that was kind of like a chicken gyro with yogurt sauce and it was tasty. Then we found a minimart and bought some wine for the 4-hour train ride to Rome. We opted for the slow train, which takes 4 hours instead of the fast 1-hour because it saves you about 30 euros. Plus, it's not like it's a drag to take a train through the Italian countryside. The train car was air conditioned and had nice seats, so I have no complaints. After arriving in Rome, we met up with Erin who had arrived in Rome a few hours before, and checked her and Becca into the hostel. Sam and I went to the apartment we are staying at and took showers and hung around. We didn't feel much like going out because the day of traveling kind of took the energy out of us. The next morning (today) we woke up around 10 and showered and got ready, then waited for Will to arrive from England. He showed up around 1, and we went to the metro to go to the Colosseum. We purchased a ticket that allowed entry to the Roman Forum, the Palatine hill, and the Colosseum. It was crazy hot outside, but I've heard it's been over 100 in Texas almost every day this month...not quite THAT bad. After walking around and seeing the ruins and the Colosseum, I was dying because we hadn't eaten anything and it was around 4. We then took another bus to the Pantheon and ate pizza at a small restaurant next to it. The waiter was very taken with Becca and kissed her hand when we left. When he gave us the bill he also brought a bottle of Italian "sexy wine" for us and said it was free. It was pretty good, strawberry flavored wine, normally 15 euro so I guess we got lucky. Or it was because he liked Becca. Anyway, now I'm just at the apartment resting, the girls are at the hostel, and Sam, Will, and Fabio (the son of Sam's family friends) are at the market buying things to make pasta carbonara for dinner. Not a bad little vacation at all. I hope everything is great at home! Good times here and many more to come.

LKP