March 22, 2004
sad day. most of my erskine friends are gone because its their spring break. so i have no one to talk to on im.
happy day. i just got back from rome yesterday. after our hella hard time getting there, it was wonderful. lets see. tuesday we caught a night bus to barcelona because we flew out of there (its way cheaper). however, the airport was actually in some pueblo about an hour outside of barcelona, so we had to catch a train then a taxi and we were sure we would miss our flight. we finally made it and checked in and waited at the gate to board...only to discover that our flight was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. since when has bright and sunny been adverse weather? i dunno. so, we had to change our flight for one to milan, where we then caught a 4 hour train to rome. ridiculous. and to top it all off, we were conned by a fake taxi driver. he saw we were looking for a taxi and jumped on that, grabbing emilys bag and taking us to his car. which wasnt even a taxi. and telling us it would be 40 euros because our hotel was so far away. dirty filthy liar. it was not way far away. and he couldnt close the trunk so it flew open as we were driving. he even got out of the car at a red light and slammed the trunk down several times on my bag. but when we got to the hotel and had paid he was outside trying to reclose his trunk. i think we broke it. and i hope it costs more than 40 euros to fix.
that was 24 hours of traveling. more for justin because he had just come from london. ridiculous.
but rome was excellent. we saw all of the major sights. actually, we spent most of our time at the vatican city. waited over 1.5 hours to see the sistine chapel. in spite of the huge crowds of people there, i think it was worth it. and st. peters basilica is incredible, especially the pieta by michaelangelo. one of my favorites was the colusseum, even though we didnt pay the 10 euros to go in. i hear its not worth it, and the outside was incredible enough for me. we had a picnic beside it on thursday. the ruins of the forum were also incredible. its strange that theyre just sitting in the middle of the city. the trevi fountain was neat, but steph didnt like it because she thought there would be a plaza. emily and i had an authentic expensive pasta dinner on friday at a little place near the spanish steps while steph and justin had a date for the big 2. so cute they are. we picnicked in vatican city on saturday. and saturday night steph, justin and i went out to this great jazz club near the pantheon for some beers and good times. unfortunately, we had to wake up at 4am for our flight out the next morning. fortunately, it wasnt cancellend. all in all, a great experience.
this week justins here, and we have some good times planned. tomorrows clabs birthday, so we have to go and get her good and wasted. wednesday is rock and roll day: were going to see school of rock, then our monthly meal at hard rock cafe. thursday we finish with our grammar classes and take the test, then were going out that night to celebrate and bid farewell to our good pal marge, whos going home soon. friday steph, justin and i might go to el escorial. next week begins our spring break, and stephs brother comes. what fun.
today im just going to take it easy and wind down from the trip. i just saw pedro almodovars new film with my spanish cinema class. it was interesting, to say the least. now i think ill check out the sale rack at topshop before walking home (its too nice out to take the metro).
happy day. i just got back from rome yesterday. after our hella hard time getting there, it was wonderful. lets see. tuesday we caught a night bus to barcelona because we flew out of there (its way cheaper). however, the airport was actually in some pueblo about an hour outside of barcelona, so we had to catch a train then a taxi and we were sure we would miss our flight. we finally made it and checked in and waited at the gate to board...only to discover that our flight was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. since when has bright and sunny been adverse weather? i dunno. so, we had to change our flight for one to milan, where we then caught a 4 hour train to rome. ridiculous. and to top it all off, we were conned by a fake taxi driver. he saw we were looking for a taxi and jumped on that, grabbing emilys bag and taking us to his car. which wasnt even a taxi. and telling us it would be 40 euros because our hotel was so far away. dirty filthy liar. it was not way far away. and he couldnt close the trunk so it flew open as we were driving. he even got out of the car at a red light and slammed the trunk down several times on my bag. but when we got to the hotel and had paid he was outside trying to reclose his trunk. i think we broke it. and i hope it costs more than 40 euros to fix.
that was 24 hours of traveling. more for justin because he had just come from london. ridiculous.
but rome was excellent. we saw all of the major sights. actually, we spent most of our time at the vatican city. waited over 1.5 hours to see the sistine chapel. in spite of the huge crowds of people there, i think it was worth it. and st. peters basilica is incredible, especially the pieta by michaelangelo. one of my favorites was the colusseum, even though we didnt pay the 10 euros to go in. i hear its not worth it, and the outside was incredible enough for me. we had a picnic beside it on thursday. the ruins of the forum were also incredible. its strange that theyre just sitting in the middle of the city. the trevi fountain was neat, but steph didnt like it because she thought there would be a plaza. emily and i had an authentic expensive pasta dinner on friday at a little place near the spanish steps while steph and justin had a date for the big 2. so cute they are. we picnicked in vatican city on saturday. and saturday night steph, justin and i went out to this great jazz club near the pantheon for some beers and good times. unfortunately, we had to wake up at 4am for our flight out the next morning. fortunately, it wasnt cancellend. all in all, a great experience.
this week justins here, and we have some good times planned. tomorrows clabs birthday, so we have to go and get her good and wasted. wednesday is rock and roll day: were going to see school of rock, then our monthly meal at hard rock cafe. thursday we finish with our grammar classes and take the test, then were going out that night to celebrate and bid farewell to our good pal marge, whos going home soon. friday steph, justin and i might go to el escorial. next week begins our spring break, and stephs brother comes. what fun.
today im just going to take it easy and wind down from the trip. i just saw pedro almodovars new film with my spanish cinema class. it was interesting, to say the least. now i think ill check out the sale rack at topshop before walking home (its too nice out to take the metro).
