7.2.09 When in Rome...

Day one was eventful in more ways then I ever would have imagined! We arrived at our hotel, Villa Pamphili and had a few hours to unpack and recover from the horrid overnight flight; which I spent watching movies, and trying to sleep. When we realized we only had about 4 hours left on the flight, we decided to take some sleep aids and get to it. Problem was it took about 9 hours for them to wear off. So we fought the grog a little bit that morning and afternoon, but got over it. We got right to things and headed for the Colosseum. I thought I knew the Colosseum, from seeing it in movies, pictures and learning all about it; but I was not prepared. The metro station is right across the street from it, and its ancient grandeur greets you full on as soon as you walk out of the station.

It’s incredible. Not only the sheer size of it, but just how old of a structure it is! We proceeded to take pictures and make our way to the Forum Museum when… it hit. And it came without warning. It started as light rain, so we thought. I was prepared for some rain; a small umbrella, a light rain coat- how naive of me. Apparently its hurricane season here in Rome cause I have only seen rain like that once, in the Philippines, and that was a monsoon. But the storm that hit Rome came in a close second for absurd rainstorms. We lovingly named it hurricane Pavlo.

Those would be the marble sized pieces of hail

Throw in shattering thunder, sheets of rain and marble sized hail, and you get hurricane Pavlo. He was big, sneaky and a punk. All of us were drenched after minutes, so we sought shelter next to some old wall. Bad idea; because it turned so nicely into a waterfall, drenching me even more. Despite the bad timing and inconvenience of the whole thing, we couldn’t help but laugh. When in Rome… I guess you get caught in ridiculous hurricane-like storms. We continued on our way to the museum trudging through sometimes up to a foot of water in the streets. Thank you Chaco’s, you were the best investment I ever made. By the time we got there the rain was dying off and it made for some great skies and pictures.


The Forum Museum was amazing as well. There were great picture ops in the museum, with all the statues of obscure, ...large body parts and cool windows we got carried away; and despite the fact we all looked like drenched swamp donkeys, they came out really nice.

Ali and I drenched after hurricane Pavlo

Due to the rain delay it threw off our plans for the day and got pushed to the next day. So, after the museum a group of us hit up the Hard Rock Café. Why? Cause we can, and did. Even though it had been one day abroad, we appreciated the familiar surroundings. What we didn’t appreciate were the prices. I have to stop comparing the euro to dollars or I wont by anything. But the food was great despite the price. All in all, Rome has been a hit thus far. Our hotel is way better then I expected. There is a gorgeous pool, two elevators (a gem to find in Europe) and rooms comparable to American hotel rooms. They are great. I have a good feeling that this trip will only get better.