Day 11-14 Pisa for a minute then ROME!

When in Rome… walk enough to get blisters, do a pub crawl, meet as many people as possible, sweat like you are in a wild fire, drink $5 bottles of good wine, eat only pasta and pizza, oh and gelato too.

Day 1

Pisa
We got on our way early, the bug bites in Florence had motivated the boys to be up and moving by 8AM, maybe that or it was the insanely strong espresso we have been drinking. We had planned to hop on the 10:30AM train to Pisa, but luck was on our side and the 10:00AM was a few minutes behind so we were able to hop on.

We had heard Pisa wouldn’t take long, and we proved it. We caught a cab from the station to the leaning tower, held him at the site with the meter running, took our pics and still made it back before the next train had pulled into the station for Rome.

Camera kills boredom


The most typical tourist photo we have


Rome
We got into Rome around 4PM and quickly discovered what Roman rush hour is all about, our hotel wasn’t walking distance but we probably would have made it in the same amount of time. The heat and lack of AC wasn’t helping, either was the 30 Euro tab. The cab ride took us right through the heart of the city, we got a taste of Rome right away.

Emanuele II War Memorial from the cab


Next boy band “The Wolfpack”


View of Central Park and Vatican City from Hotel Balcony


After we settled in at the hotel, I made friends at the front desk with Francesca who gave me directions to her favorite restaurant. We were all starving and began our trek to the restaurant, with a map in hand I watched as our cabbie took us the longest way possible. We finally made it to the restaurant and some highlights of the meal include 5 Euro bottles of great wine, me knocking a glass off the table, and all of us eating our hearts out. The food in Florence overall was much better than in Rome.

Me and Johnny Boy at the Restaurant


The House Wine



The wine and food got the best of all of us, and we called it a night pretty early. This would be the right decision considering the day we have ahead!

Day 2

So we completely fail to wake up before 11AM and cash in on the 5 Euro breakfast downstairs so we head into town to eat. I must say we are damn good at navigating every subway system we have come across! Even though we got on the wrong subway 2x in Rome, it only cost us about a minute each time.

We make our way directly the Colosseum terminal and purchase a Roma pass which basically substitutes for tickets at every sight we would see, except the Vatican City, and it also allowed us to skip all lines. We immediately parked it at the first place offering a meal, which ended up costing us 5.50 Euros for a soda, yet our meals were 7, lesson learned.

It was a great thing we decided to eat here because guess who found us?! The Irish girls from the train ride to Monaco. They had spent a few days in Nice and came straight to Rome, while we went to Monaco and then Florence before Rome. Yet somehow in the busiest city we’ve seen yet, we see familiar faces. This would set us up for an intense pub crawl for the night with our favorite “Irish lassies” as they like to say.

Then an intense session of sight seeing began, the sights we saw included; The Colosseum, Palatine Hill, Arch of Constantine, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon.

Colosseum


Four of us at Colosseum


Arch of Constantine


Trevi Fountain


Pantheon


After our toughest day of sightseeing yet we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the pub crawl. We met the girls and the rest of the group at 9:30 right outside the Colosseum and we got started quick. Basically we paid 20 Euros for as much as we could drink in the first hour, and then we got to skip all lines at the next 2 bars and the club to end the night. It was well worth it! Shoot we even got t-shirts.

We have very few pictures of the night but some highlights included… Pounding a tall can before we even got into the first bar, Irish girls chugging white wine, a group of 60 people from nearly every part of the world, meeting those 60 people and then some, me getting those 60 people to chant AY-OH LETS GO at the top of our lungs walking the streets of Rome, being laughed at for saying I am Irish, being told to calm down when 2Pac “California” came on, meeting girls from HB, having a girl give me a fake name that turned out to be a famous writer, dancing our asses off and nearly passing out because of the strobe light, and most of all keeping pace with Irish girls that we were worried would out-drink us! I could go on and on… it was an amazing night.

Part of the crew


Jamesy, Myself, John


Sal and the Lassies


After a drunken cab ride at 4:00AM and a minor issue at the front desk with having too many people in our room we finally passed out while the sun was coming up. We would be feeling it the next day big time!

Day 3

THE HANGOVER: Rome Edition

So if our bodies had adjusted to the european schedule, that was out the window now. I got up at 2PM and the other three might as well have been dead. I couldn't lay in pain any longer so I made my way into town on my own, I needed the alone time at this point anyway.

I gathered my tourist gear (watch, ipod, safepac, sunglasses, camera, and maps)and made my way to the subway... I would be a prime candidate for a mugging at this point. Nobody bothered me however probably because this hangover had me looking mighty pissed off I'm sure.

I started my day off with the Spanish Steps followed by the Trinita dei Monti, Santa Maria Aracoeli, Capitoline Hill, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, and finally I ended up back at the Colosseum.

Spanish Steps


Trinita dei Monti


Tomb of Unknown Soldier and Emanuele II Monument


Capitoline Hill


There was a fire raging on the outskirts of Rome which gave the city a very cool backdrop for the whole day, the boys were worried I had burnt the city down! I parked it outside the Colosseum for awhile and just laid on the grass and just pondered life and some of things I have weighing on my brain. It was a much needed day!

Fire from Roman Forum


Approaching the Colosseum


I made it back to the hotel by about 7PM just in time to eat with the boys at the hotel. James and I ordered the gnocchi "Roman Style" which turned out to be a bad idea. It was basically like eating a potato sponge and you all know how I hate my potatoes. The gnocchi in the States is much better. After a few bottles of wine the other three hit a bar for a bit while I settled in to write the Florence blog and get some much needed rest.

Day 4

The Pope is back in town! As well as Obama apparently... We had no idea he was here at the same time as us, he hit the Vatican the same day we were pub crawlin. Regardless the Vatican City did not disappoint.

We started by walking St. Peter's Square and then walking through St. Peter's Basilica, and then through the Tombs of all the Popes. James and I stopped to say a prayer in one of the prayer rooms in the Basilica, this church has an intense aura I have never felt before. I now understand what a mass pilgrimage might feel like!

In St. Peter's Square facing St. Peter's Basilica


St. Peter's Square


Inside St. Peter's Basilica


After walking the Basilica and through the Tombs James and I decided to trek on while Sal and John needed a breather. We made the climb to the Dome of the Basilica which included over 500 steps that were of all kinds of different shapes and sizes. The hallways were extremely narrow and on tilt so you couldn't even stand straight up. It didn't help that it was scorching hot and it smelled like an NFL locker room. The climb however was worth it, the dome was beautiful and the views at the top were unmatched.

Mosaic on inside of Dome


Dome


View of the square and surrounding Rome


Next we moved on to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. John and Sal had met back up with us and we began what seemed like a never ending journey through timeless works of art and sculpture. The two that left the most impact for me were Raphael's "School of Athens" and obviously Michelangelo's "Sistine Chapel" as a whole.

Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement"


Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam"



Rome as a whole was amazing, but at the same time overwhelming. We saw so much that I could never possibly fit into a blog or even my brain for that matter. I definitely will be returning to this city in the future. On that note I'd like to leave you with James doing his natural impression of Alan from "The Hangover".