― Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
Ok. I should apologize for not getting back to this sooner. I know it's been a month and a half, but more life changing experiences happen almost every week in my life lately. After my trip to Cali I know where I want to live, San Diego. I backbacked through all the best cities for free crashing on couches I found on couchsurfing.org. If I were to tell you to do one thing right now, it's sign up for that website, it'll expand your world in ways you never thought possible! :) I went to San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Tijuana, MX for free for 12 days, and you can too.
Other happenings in my life include not being able to find a new roommate, which is going to cost me a lot of money in rent. I didn't want to give up my place in MT Adams, but the universe has bigger things for me, so I'll be putting my notice in on my apartment, and move out by March. As luck would have it, I have a friend closing on a house offering me dirt cheap rent for the duration of my stay in Cincy...funny how these things work themselves out when you worry so much and enjoy the ride. So, the last thing I need to do is find a job. I've built my resume up more than any person I've met over the past 7 years, so this won't be an issue. San Diego beaches here I fucking come!!! Also, if you've ever wanted to make a big change in your life but have been too hesitant or afraid of being alone, I want you to read this post by my friend, a Cincy native who made her first scary trip out of a 10 year marriage and the best job in the country to find happiness, and found more than I could've hoped for her in Hawaii of all places this year. http://chroniclesofriddikulus.blogspot.com
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| The Colosseum |
Onto Roma, Italia day 1!!! Now that I got my rant about my American ignorance of the public transport system abroad, let's go onto the city. I stayed at the hostel The Yellow which, as all good hostels do, supply you with a map of all the big toursity shit to go see. This is a life saver I found out later in my trip since you are in Europe, with no GPS and not everyone speaks English...ok, that's only part true. Did you know that Rome was founded by the legendary twins Romulus and Remus in 753BC? Turns out the story goes they were sentenced to death as babies, were saved by a she wolf, and years later they made their own 2 cities founded on where they thought they were born. This pissed the other brother off so much he killed his Remus. The city needed women, so they invited everyone from the surrounding country, at which the men of the city abducted all the women in what is known as the Rape of the Sabine Women...yup, the more you know. Hahaha! What?
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| Old ruins from the Colosseum. |
The Colosseum was just amazing! It is just a marvel of human creation! When you walk in, it feels like a football stadium, but it's all made out of stone. I've been to the Packers Stadium and the Bengals, and you don't get THIS feeling where your jaw drops. This is a 2000 year old structure that held some of the most violent events of history. This is a place that held gladiators fighting to the death against criminals and wildlife. At one point, it could hold up to 50,000 people. The Colosseum was used to kill 9000 gladiators and 10,000 animals in a 117 day killing spree. There are even paths underground so that this could be made into a navel warfare event. Awesome!
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| Part of the Roman Forum, or kind of like a market, religious area, etc. |
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| Look what I found on Palatino hill! So random |
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| America! Fuck ya!!! ;-) |
Everything in Rome is gigantic, and historic, and breath taking. It also turns out that Rome, is the most American city I've ever seen in Europe. They speak better English there than in England, so you know it's a huge tourst area for Americans, Australians, Canadians, and well, the rest of the fucking world. Hahaha! When you see all of the signs in English, and the waiters don't have Italian accents at all, you know it's not an authentic Italian city anymore.
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| Oh, and there was a dance club in the hostel's basement where I met some of the coolest friends in the world! |
