The Fun Continues!!

Day 6

Our 3rd day in Rome was quite long, we woke up at about 8 so that we could go shopping before catching our 11:40 train to Florence. Unfortunately for us (not so much for our bank accounts) we only made it to one store before heading to the train. Once we arrived we tried to buy tickets from the kiosk but were unable to because we wanted to use credit cards instead or debit. After waiting in line for a few minutes we realized that we needed to take a number in order to be called to the counter. We got our ticket and sat down to wait for about an hour (missing the train we wanted to take along with the one right after it). We finally got on the train at about 12:50 and made it to Florence around 2:00.

While in Florence we walked around a bit and made our way to the statue of David, however, the line was so long that we decided to skip and look for the replica instead. We stopped at the leather market on our way where we got matching leather jackets. We were pretty proud of ourselves when we talked the owner of the store down from 160 euro each to 125. Continuing our shopping spree, we heckled with a few street vendors for some purses and then stopped at a cafe where we asked a few locals where the replica statue was, no one could understand what we were asking for so we gave up and tried to find it on our own. Although unsuccessful we found a very nice leather shop were we continued our shopping spree before going back to the station. We found a second shop that had the same jacket we had purchased earlier. Trying to figure out if we got a good deal we asked the man how much. He rudely responded "you already bought one, why are you asking?" so we quickly walked away.

We made it back to Rome around 8:00pm and went back to the hotel to rest before we left for dinner at about 10:30 (we felt like true Europeans eating so late). We finished dinner and still had some time to spare before meeting our pub crawl friends so we decided to visit the Coliseum.   On our walk we passed a man who was levitating in the air. This blew our minds, although we are still convinced there was a secret bench or something to help him. We asked some security guards which direction we should go to find the Coliseum and they sent us on our way. While walking we received a call from our local friend Liam who asked us to come meet him but we told him we were just arriving at the Coliseum and would meet him a little later. After a few minutes we realized that we in fact were NOT at the Coliseum but instead we were lost. We whipped out the map and realized we weren't even on it! So we started to walk back the way we came. After walking for about an hour, we stopped a local who told us if we talked very slowly she would be able to help us find our way home so we asked her to direct us to the Coliseum. She was able to point us in the right direction and eventually we arrived at the Coliseum, unfortunately we made it to the Coliseum bar and not the landmark. At this point we felt it would be best to call up Liam and have him come find us. When we finally met up with him (an hour and a half later), he took us to join the pub crawl. We were so happy to find that our friends from Sweden had also decided to join the crawl for a second night as well. We danced for a while and then decided it was best to go back to the hotel. 

On our way back, we stopped at the Pantheon where we saw a man in a full suit sleeping on a ledge. We weren't exactly sure if he was alright but there were police patrolling the area and they seemed not to mind so we went on our way. We of course stopped at the Trevi Fountain for another photo-shoot before going to bed. 

Day 7

We woke up relatively early, although still missing breakfast and decided to start our day. Our first stop was Zara. The night before I, Blair, realized one of the shirts I had bought the day before still had the security tag on (this explained why the security alarms kept going off the day before). We decided it was best not to continue shopping due to our huge spree the day before. We had a small list of places we really wanted to go. 

Our first stop was the Coliseum. Although we had seen it at night we really wanted a day time view. We decided it would be nice to take a tour of the inside. The line seemed somewhat long, but moved pretty fast. While in line we couldn't help but notice a lady who looked quiet unusual in front of us. We had come to the conclusion that she had way to much Botox and really need to lay off. We finally got out tickets and ventured in. The Coliseum was quiet a site. We stayed for a little then ventured off. While leaving we were stopped by a pub  crawl promoter who asked if we would be joining his pool party that evening. After looking at the flyer we had told him we were already planning on attending and were good friends with many of the guys. He was pretty shocked by our popularity but was excited we were going. 

Our next stop for the day was the Jewish ghetto. While walking there we realized this was the exact spot we her walked the night before and just didn't realize. It was much better to see it during the day. We took a tour of the two synagogs. They were amazing to see. 

By this point it was important for us to get home, shower and pack in order to go out that night.  We decided to eat at a restaurant suggested by our concierge. Once again the food was great! 

It seemed a little too early to head to the pub crawl, so instead we bought a cheap bottle of wine and drank on the Spanish Steps. This was really cool for us, considering we can't do this in the United States.  We hung out for a while before walking to the highlander, our corner bar in Rome (similar to Ye Olde back home). 

Once inside we grabbed a drink and then hopped on a bus to the pool party. The pool party was quite a bit away from where we were staying so it took a little while to get their but it allowed us to make friends with some of the other crawlers. At the pool party we again danced for a while and watched a fashion show the club put on. After that wrapped Blair told two of the boys we had met on the bus to jump into the pool, they obliged. While we were hanging out we met some guys who were on holiday from the London army. We hung out with them until we were ready to leave the club and then convinced them to come to the Trevi fountain with us since they hadn't been yet. 

We left the club with no idea of where we were and how to get home. Blair and our new friend Lloyd decided to follow some random guy because he looked like he knew where he was going so we followed him up a huge flight or stairs and arrived at the express way. After 10 minutes of me standing in the middle of the road trying to flag down a taxi we decided it was best to go back to the club and take the bus with everyone else. We started to head that way when a taxi finally pulled over. We arrived at the Trevi fountain around 2:30 am and hung out there with our friends Lloyd and Matt for about thirty minutes before they walked us home and we said goodnight.