When in Rome (Day One)

The class took a train to Rome on the third weekend. We met at the station at Santa Maria Novella around 8:30AM. My roommates and I were first to arrive. After two weeks of pasta and pizza, we were somewhat delighted to each have an egg McMuffin at the station’s McDonalds.

When we arrived in Rome after a two-hour train ride, we waited quite some time before we could check in. We sat in the lobby and told variations of that old “When in Rome” saying. We decided that once in Rome, that saying is no longer applicable. The U.S., Chad declared, was now the new Rome. “When in the U.S.,” he said.

While waiting for our room, we had lunch at a small restaurant near our hotel. Again, we had more pasta and pizza. Since Rome is known for its carbonara sauce, I had the spaghetti alla carbonara. The funny thing about this restaurant, however, was that it seemed to be all Filipinos in the kitchen. There was, however, one old Italian woman, whose temper flared up when someone asked to pay with a credit card. Though I'm always the type to pay with credit or debit, I always make sure to bring cash to restaurants out here. What can I say? When in the U.S., I suppose.

We spent the first day pretty much just sightseeing. We saw the forum, the coliseum, Trevi fountain, where I threw in one Euro, and the Spanish steps. It was hot that day, but I climbed to the top of them. I love the Spanish steps. I'd love them more if they weren't so crowded all the time.

I roomed with Xander at Hotel Torino. It was probably the best air-conditioned room I've ever been in all of Italy. In talking with some of the others, it seemed that the accomidations weren't equal all around. Xander and I got one of the nicer rooms. Some of them had bathrooms with just one room, a toilet, a sink, and a shower head. Ours had a complete shower with a door. I’m not used to sharing a room, but this experience was quite alright. He certainly is an interesting character. We fell asleep with CNN in the background. I haven’t watched too much television since I got here (besides MTV Europe). The top story at the time were the explosions in India. I guess there’s always a lot going on in the world.