Successful Gypsying.

First, I would like to tell you that Italy is by far one of the most beautiful countries overall that I've seen. Italy needs to be its own two to three week excursion because there are too many places I want to explore (In fact, it took a lot of willpower not to jump off at every train stop to wander around). On that note, I probably also wanted to jump off at every train stop because Italian trains are some of the dirtiest trains in the Eurail system and I was sincerely scared for bed bugs. And I did get a few, but I've done well not to itch them and they aren't really noticeable.

I barely slept on our overnight to Roma because a family of four tried to sit in what is supposed to be 2 seats, making our 6 person cabin into a very squishy 8 person cabin, and apparently you don't need reservations to take the overnight in Italy as long as you don't want a seat. The halls outside the compartments were filled with people chatting away loudly. Because I had a little old nun attempting sleep beside me, I tried to get everyone to quiet down to no avail: They just laughed and said, "Stupid Americano!" I fell asleep eventually with my iPod on as loud as I could handle.

Once we made it to Roma, we found our hotel, dropped off our bags, and headed for the Vatican. People aren't lying when they say you can't miss the Vatican. The Sistine Chapel was magnificent but completely crowded with guards yelling at you. At least in my eyes, it couldn't compare to the absolute beauty of St.Peter's Basilica in all its glory. After buying my rosary beads in the Vatican, I made sure to get them blessed at the Basilica (especially the ones for my goddaughter and niece). Keep this little tidbit in mind next time you visit Rome: when a waiter asks you if you want take away or sit down, always say take away--they double your charge for sitting down. Sneaky little Romans. Later that night the nine of us went on the Colosseum Pub Crawl, which made me rethink going on a pub crawl ever again. Or perhaps it was the ruckus that the Australians and our group made toward eachother (almost getting into an outright brawl), but I just thought the whole thing was sketchy. Spanish Steps Pub Crawl for sure next time I venture to Rome.

Saturday we went on a tour of the Colosseum and Nero's palace ruins. We had an awesome tour guide for that, who apparently is on some travel show about Rome. I really want to look into that. He kept the tour interesting, and had some really good stories to tell us--I learned that the Roman men never really had hair back then on their bodies because after they spent the day sweating, they rubbed off the sweat with sand and vinegar. Which led into how the Barbarians got their name, which roughly translate into smelly goat people. We ate at a local restaurant and I had amazing spicy pasta before checking out the Spanish Steps at night. Apparently this is also a local hangout, as many people just brought their own booze and hung out on the steps for hours.

We woke up sunday at the frighteningly time of 6:30 in the morning to make it to the train station for the earliest connection to Venice (Venezia), only to find out we needed reservations. After making some, we left at the 10am time to make it there late afternoon. If you are at the train station in Venice, and your friend tells you that he thinks it is only "25 minutes to our hotel", get the water taxi for 10 euro. You'll get lost and you'll walk up and down tons of steps. Needless to say, I got quite the walking tour of Venice and I do have to say that it is a wonderfully captivating city. Luckily our hotel was right next to San Marco, which is one of the most popular plazas, so we were able to walk around and do lots of shopping once we settled in. Shopping is kind of understatement for me: glass quills, wine toppers, hair barrettes, masks, etc. After it started getting dark, we took a gondola tour. The waterways at night are a thing not to be missed, especially with a bottle of Pinot Grigio (the wine comes from Venice). Although there isn't as much to see in Venice as there is in Rome, I wish I had more time to explore. It certainly was prettier and cleaner than Rome.

Although it didn't occur as frequently in Venice as it did in Rome, I felt like I was being constantly bombarded with gypsies trying to sell me trinkets, trying to steal my wallet, and trying to steal my luggage when I was boarding the train. I can't count the number of times I said "No vasta!" Half of Rome's population must be gypsies.

I never had the chance to see the Pantheon or visit the Venetian beaches, and theres so many other places in Italy I'd want to see. Florence, Naples, Sicily, and the list goes on. Hopefully one day I'll get to see all these places in depth, rather than just passing through them in a weekend trip. If anything, I learned a lot about what to do and what not to do when traveling, like the way restaurants work in Italy to whether or not to reserve an in-country train. For now I'm back in Innsbruck, which is freezing and raining, until tomorrow night when I leave for my last weekend excursion. I'll be visiting Cinque Terre on the Mediterrean, which will be so nice to actually see a beach! Coming from a beach town in Florida, all these cities are starting to blend together and I'd like to get some fresh air.