When in Rome.... do as the (most obvious title ever) Romans do

Oh Roma...... what a hectic start to this city!

Our flight arrived around 8pm and we had no place to stay when we got in. We were hoping for a couchsurfer to host us, but got no luck. A quick euro into the computer (yes 1 computer) at the tiny airport and we had 5 minutes to check our email and book a hostel. This 1 computer was very slow, and we had just enough time to write down directions to an available hostel hoping that they had room for us that evening. Luckily they did.. but only for 2 nights - we would have to adjust our plans a little... but it worked out in the end!

We grabbed a map and planned on getting up early the next morning to venture out into the city like only Apes 'n Ju know how - walk around til you see something interesting, check if it's free to get in, if not, snap some photos of the outside and move along.... but then again, there are free things too...

Apes at the Forum wishing it was free

Ju and a really large statue just hangin' out and Apes at the Pantheon

I would just like to point out the fact that April and I walked everywhere... except from the hostel to the main downtown area. That means, we spent, on average 7-10 hours a day walking... in sandals. We are champions!!

So when we were near the Colosseum (first thing in the morning), I sat down for a second in my white shorts... and then stood up only to realize that I had sat in bird turd. GREAT! Now here I was in Rome with bird doo doo on my bum - what to do? I had to be "supercool", yes I say that in quotes.... and tie my sweater around my waist. So not only was I a tourist in Rome, I was a cool tourist too. YAH! Jealous?

Cool tourist Ju with her awesome sweater tied around her waist

Moving along... so we saw this big pit construction-looking thing and a man leading a tourist group through it... other than the tourist group there was no one else there (well, some little Asian man trying to sell sunglasses, but that's beside the point). We thought "What a joke! This man is leading this group through nothing!". We took a photo of them for fun and proceeded along the way, later realizing that this giant "waste of space" in our eyes was actually Circus Maximus. OOPS!! Our bad. As you may now realize, Apes 'n Ju aren't the brightest tools in the shed! To our credit though, "The site is now a public park and retains little evidence of its former use". Thank you Wikipedia.

The tourist group at Circus Maximus

As the day progressed, we started to get hungry! Mmm food... we found a small grocery store off of the main strip and bought delicious cheese, apples, yogurt, and red bull - a feast fit for a queen... or two cheap backpackers. We then decided that we were going to find a lovely spot outside to eat it all! We wandered around looking for where the best place would be, and stumbled across a crapload (refer to the definition of a crapload in April's previous post) of people... "So THESE are the Spanish Steps!" hahahaha. What a perfect place to dine! Apes 'n I hiked up close to the top, plopped ourselves down on the steps and began to feast on our exquisite lunch. Ten minutes in, an angry security guard approached us and says "NO MANGIARE! NO EAT!"... boo! So we packed our things and moved up further... to discover that there is an amazing panorama of the city! What an even better place to eat! So that we did.

The Spanish Steps AND a crapload of people

While wrapping up our meal and enjoying the breathtaking view, a small entourage came near and needed us to move over a bit. No problemo!! It was a photo shoot hahahaha - with a male model! Zoolander would have a hey day! :) Look for this ad in upcoming fall magazines:

It's hard to be that ridiculously good-looking

To steer clear of the craploads of people (which we tend to not enjoy), we discovered the Borghese park - so beautiful and so massive!! I think we spent at least 2 hours in there and still didn't see it all. And when we wanted to leave, we kinda got lost - but that's just what happens when you're Apes 'n Ju!

Off to the Trevi Fountain!! In a small sqaure in Rome there is a giant fountain - literally taking up half of the square - and guess what takes up the other half!? You've got it -PEOPLE! People from all over the world!! But we wanted to get right down to the water so we could toss a coin in - out came the French in us as we pushed a shoved our way to the front! YAY! We each tossed a coin in, snapped some photos, and left the crowd just as viciously as we'd entered it!

Tossin' a coin in the Trevi Fountain for good luck!

We thought we'd seen enough for the day, so we made our way back to hostel, bought some groceries and proceeded to have some wine and cook risotto in the microwave (no flames allowed). It turned out amazing and the hostel-goers were impressed. We spent some time chatting with a nice guy from California and fun chap from England! April also had a reunion with one of the girls that was at the same hostel as her in Porto - small world indeed!!

Fabulous Rome - an early morning meant off to bed so we could head to the Vatican the next day!