When in Rome!

Buon giorno!

Train ride to Rome remained dull, thank goodness. Arrived midday and immediately felt the heat and more so the humidity that everyone has warned us about! Thermometer said 32'C but Jess swears it was at least 49 with humidity. 

Lots of gypsies upon arrival and the train station is very impressive/huge! Luckily our hostel was 5 blocks away so we didn't have to carry our packs too far. Checkin took about 30 minutes because of an overly-inquisitive French broad infront of us (Ted + Thomas, I'm looking at you). However, the hotel seemed very nice on first impression. 

When we finally checked in the custodian of the nice hotel came out of a back room and told us to follow him to our room. So we did. He took us outside. Down the street. Around the corner. And past 2 Italian army officers,  who were standing guard on the corner. Turns out we were in the hostel part of the hotel, which was located behind the Russian embassy. Saved our Ukraine jokes for another day. 

Dropped our bags and headed out to explore the city for a good chunk of the afternoon. Naturally, we ran into Kyle and Kathy Jordan again randomly on the street. They'd just finished a 5 hour walking marathon around town and were saturated (still smelled ok though ie. Not like an Italian). Just a bit of a glimpse into our next few hours. 

We boogied around Roma and checked out the Colloseum, neighboring ruins and the Palazzo to name a few. Took alot longer than anticipated and by the 3 hour mark, these native Ontarians realized they could no longer take the humidity. We ended up paying an absurd price for water and Gatorade to try and quench our thirst but not too long after realized a beer was the only thing that would help us home. We stopped at the closest pub and replenished before making our way back to the hostel. 

It was pretty late by this point so we went to the nearest restaurant for an okay meal and then off to sleep. A great sleep!

Next morning, went for breakfast at Rome's BEST rated bakery and it did not disappoint! Then grabbed some tickets for a hop on hop off (HOHO) tour which made life much more pleasant than walking. Took in a formal tour of the colloseum. Guided by ultra-ripped sex bomb historian, Paolo, we learned lots and enjoyed staring at Paolo. Of course this entire paragraph is written through the eyes of Graham. 

The rest of the day was relaxing and lots of ruins are under repair. There was no water in Trevi Fountain, but lots of scaffolding; Spanish Steps were under repair and unrecognizeble; the Pantheon was free with nice line up so we toured in our risqué tanktops and used flash photography accidentally. On a side note, our tank lines would have us in the running for Mr. and Mrs. Alabama. 

Met up with Kyle and Kathy at a local Bangladesh-Italian restaurant around the corner (our places were 2 mins apart). Graham owed Jess a litre of prosecco from a lost bet, and settled things with a jug of the good stuff. 

Hanging out at the Rome airport awaiting our flight to Porto. Flight to Ibiza is boarding at the gate beside us and looks like a mix between Jersey Shore and a Vanilla Ice concert. 

See you in Porto!

Jessicaolo + Grahamcules 

And when in Rome, why not unite under Restaurant Africa?!