The airport was easy, the flight was not. Security is always a pain but the only thing I had not read that I had to take care of in line was making sure all of my liquids (< 4oz only!) were in one bag to show them. Once on the flight, I had hoped to get as much sleep as possible as my trip was split between Boston to London, and then London to Rome, and I figured with jet lag it would be a tiring Saturday. Between the free in flight drink 30 minutes in, and the dinner shortly after that I picked at, I really didn’t sleep more than 3 hours on that flight, and an hour and a half on the flight to Rome.

Once at the airport (FCO), I needed to get into the city, roughly 45 minutes away. The best option is often the buses, so I opted for the cheapest one (€4/$5.50).. kind of a mistake, as the cheapest was the busiest, but luckily I was able to get onto the first bus out of there. Between walking from the plane, waiting for a bus, and finally getting into the city, it was about 3:45 when it dropped me off at Termini, the main bus/train stop in the city.

I figure I’ll mention a bit about public transportation now. In Rome there are three main options for getting around, which all use the same pass; Metro train, tram, and bus. Here is a copy of the map I used during my trip that I found on someone else’s blog. You can see the red and blue dashed lines that begin on the right off the map – they are the two (A/B) metro lines in the city. From those stops and others, there are many bus routes, which are listed on each sign where they stop, or on a big map near the Termini. You generally need to know the route you want ahead of time since not every bus stop has every bus that drives down that road. Otherwise, you can always head to the termini and go from there, but its a pain if you’re trying to go somewhere that is far away from it. The last option is the tram, which I saw a few of, and used to travel down Trastevere on Monday and Tuesday.

So standing at Termini, having no map, no hostel, and knowing zero Italian, I started walking. Luckily I ended up picking a street with an internet cafe, and after a half hour on www.hostelworld.com I had an address for The Mosaic hostel a few blocks away. Unfortunately, I was too rushed (didn’t want to run out of minutes on the internet!) to jot down a picture of the map, so I just started walking.. the wrong way. I eventually figured out what general area I was looking for, but still could not find the street. I walked into a hotel and attempted to grab one of their maps, and the guy at the front counter stopped me and said the maps were only for guests. I looked at him, said “Seriously?” and fanned the stack of ~250 cheap paper maps with ads on them (meaning they pay little to nothing for them), and then said “Can I at least look at it, or is that not allowed?” sarcastically. He looked at me, sighed, and said “Just take it”. After thanking him and walking out, I said down on the sidewalk with the map and finally found out where to go.

Arriving at the hostel, after getting cash from the ATM, I checked in for €25 and a €2 city wide hotel tax. My room was clean, beds were well made, and I was able to shower, so I was happy. The people working there were also super nice and gave me a suggestion on where to eat. I walked over and grabbed a 1/4 chicken with potatoes, since I wasn’t positive what a lot was (and whether with my food allergies I could eat them) I figured it was a safe bet for a first meal. The food was good, but nothing incredible, and the price was not exactly great. I also learned there that most places in Rome will bring out bread to your table, but then charge you only if you eat it. Its usually 2 euro but its something to be aware of. Water is also generally from a bottle across the city and you need to specifically ask for tap.

After dinner, I decided I wanted to check out the night life in Rome (surprise!) and asked the younger guy working the counter where to go. He suggested to head to the fountain which was a bit of a walk but definitely possible. I started walking, and somehow got lost, unable to find anything other than restaurants labeled “BAR” outside with people sitting casually having a drink or two. So, knowing how to say “Do you know English?” (Parli inglese?), I started stopping people on the sidewalks that were young and probably knew, and then asked them where the fun clubs/bars/nightlife was. A few attempts at suggestions later with no success, I ran into three Roman girls who offered to show me where to go because it was on their way. There English was actually really good, but they were still nervous to speak it since it wasn’t “perfect”. Apparently they were mostly from outside the city and just there to study, and at the end of the walk when I was about to say thanks and bye, they spoke Italian for a moment and turned and asked if I’d rather just spend the rest of the night hanging out with them even if they were not going to get drunk and crazy. I answered definitely, and we all headed to what a lot of people call the “Birthday Cake Building” because of its shape (see pictures!), to meet up with some more of their friends.

Turns out I got super lucky, and Saturday was actually Rome’s birthday, so they were going to a celebration nearby. We went over and they were just starting a really fun light show on one of the older buildings (The Forum, I believe, or one of them), and playing clips of movies that Rome has had a part in. During the entire thing they were playing really intense and patriotic music, and with the tens of thousands of people all crowded down there, it was actually kind of moving to watch and experience. At the end, they decided it wasn’t enough and shot off ten minutes of fireworks which was comparable to some town’s fourth of July celebrations, just a bit shorter.

They said they had to go home soon, but wanted to hang out longer, so they decided to walk to a bar on their way home and hang out there. We never actually went inside but we sat out near the Colosseum (beautiful at night, by the way) and all just talked for a while. They told me how to get back to my Hostel and after saying goodbye and hugging one of them the other started laughing really hard and explained that Italy does the cheek kisses, not hugs. Oh well, figured something like that would happen being a stupido americano.

The metro was actually really simple, and it got me home pretty fast. I was excited to go to bed, but jumped on a computer really quickly and ended up making another new friend there and staying up for 2 more hours just talking. Its crazy how open and interesting people that are traveling can be.

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