Italy - Rome Part 1

After our misfortune in Florence, Bobo and I headed to Rome. We decided to slow things down a bit and spend the next four or five days in the capital; we were tired of the constant travelling. The moment we exited the train we were hounded by men in suits asking us if we needed a hotel. One man in a nice suit gave us a map of Rome and told us where various hostels were (Probably the only ones he had a stake in).. Once we picked one to check out, he insisted on taking us there personally. I was a bit apprehensive about following a tall guy with a home-made name tag on his designer suit, black leather gloves, a funny walk, and constantly sipping on a styrofoam cup of steaming hot coffee while having a side conversation on his expensive looking cell phone.. Images of the Godfather flashed through my head. Anyways, we followed him for a bit, then after a few minutes Bobo and I told him that we really appreciated his efforts, but that we could find the rest of the way on our own. He pointed us down an alley then left.. We were about to enter the hostel that he pointed out when all of a sudden we saw two Canadian backpacker guys looking for their hostel.. They told us their friends were there waiting for them.. So we joined them figuring it was a safe bet, since fellow Canadians were already there. I dont know why I'm giving so many details.. it's not really important.. I don't remember what the point of this was.. oh well.. here are some pics of the first day or two..

Here's one of Bobo's hostel window pics..





I noticed that the toilets on some of the Italian trains flushed stuff right down to the rail tracks.. pretty coool huh?! The stuff u see in the toilet is actually the pebbles on the tracks as we zoom across (It's not poop!). I was hiding in this bathroom when the ticket lady came down our aisle to check our tickets.. I had a ticket, but I just wanted to see if I could get away with hiding in the toilet; as they sometimes do in the movies.. Well.. it actually worked! It's not too difficult to ride the trains for free.. u just have to be alert and get off on a stop right before they check your ticket.. then hop on the next train and do the same until u get to your destination. Sometimes one can ride for an hour and a half before they check tickets.. and sometimes we didnt even get checked at all.



Pinocchio (not sure how to spell it) dolls were hanging around quite a few shops in this alley.



Nearby was this Bird Man.. he made bird-like music.. looked like a bird.. and behaved like a bird.. His music wasn't too bad... At one point he started kicking a bell at people, and they'd kick it back.. I kicked it back once.. it was cool!:)



Here we are at Trevy Fountain.. they say if u toss a coin in here it means you will definately return to Rome one day. I needed all my change :) This fountain was jam packed with tourists.. I blame Audrey Hepburn.



Throughout Rome one will find these types of guys.. I think they make a living out of posing for pictures with tourists.



Designer handbags (all fakes) are commonly sold on side streets in Italy.





Here we are at the Parthanon..



inside..







Lots of artists everywhere.. Bobo chatted with a number of them.. unfortunately none of were giving away free art.



There are a number of these statue-like people in Rome. This guy waves if you drop a coin in his can..



This mime really freaked me out..



Hanging with Caesar.. not sure which one..



Rome is full of old, new, weird and ancient all mixed together..



This is the Memorial or Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. One has to be there to appreciate the size of this thing.. it is ginormous!



No one is allowed to sit on the first flight of stairs.. Bobo forgot this and sat down for the picture.. As soon as I snapped the picture a military guy blew his whistle and motioned Bobo to get up. Every few minutes we heard the whistle as other forgetful tourists made the same mistake.



Changing of the guard..







the upper level..





One of Bobo's pics



and another..



We had a great view from the top.



Do you see the Colloseum in the background?





I just like the clouds in this picture..



Well.. I'll cut it here.. gotta save some pics for the next post..and i'm getting lazy.