Roma!

"NO. I don't want to break a 50" Call of the day from Lynda. Yep- she was referring to using a 50 cent coin in the train ticket machines. We made it into Rome yesterday from Napoli, jumped the metro into the Spanish steps area and went in search of the accommodation that a group of American travellers told us was everywhere around here. Long story short, we found nothing suitable. As much as I would have happily done the 4-star hotel thing, my bank balance is already having kittens over the price of stuff here. After we had enough of funny prices from 4-star hotels, we hit the marble clad first ever McDonalds store in Italy to use their free wifi. Unfortunately you need to register with an Italian mobile to get access, so out of luck. With the help of the lonely planet book we jumped back on the metro, got off at Termini (Rome central station) and went in search of a bed. 60 euro a night later, we had a nice place with 3 beds, sat TV, a kick arse plasma and were sorted. The initial plan was to head straight back out for some sightseeing, but our running around town after the TV was switched onto the BBC channel, Me Lyn and Will got stuck on a game of catch-up on world affairs. Did you know a fuel tanker was seized by pirates a few days back? How the hell does that happen??!

A few beeros from the local supermarket and some Basement Jaxx later, it was time to head out. We hit a cafe-bar around the corner from our Hotel, Hotel Viennese and got in some cheeky beers over a chat to some Romanian blokes at the table next to us. They pointed us in the direction of a pub up the road, and we set off. A bit of an eye opener to Rome prices: 6 Euro for a 400mL beer. Fair shake of the sausage- That's a bloody outrage! The Swedish back packing bar tender was mystified why we thought it was expensive, saying it was the cheapest place around, and soon we found out she wasn't joking. We decided to get in on a pub crawl for some cheaper entertainment so I tried to navigate our way to the meeting point for it. Along the way I took a wrong turn, realised 100m later and turned back. Lyn gave me 10 minutes of shit over it and I cracked it- glad we had Will as a mediator there! Its been good seeing other people and groups travelling around and seeing how badly we could be going, like the couple that almost had a brawl after a heated argument with each other when we told them they were at the wrong platform in Napoli. Lyn got a compliment from a local Pizza man when we stopped in for a quick dinner of Calzone at a pizzeria near the main station- A bum followed us in and was very vocally begging for cash inside the shop when the shopkeeper noticed and was about to tell him to get out when quick as a flash Lynda whipped out the "VA VIA!!!" Nice work.

In the pub crawl, it was 20 EUR, there is all you can drink the first hour, free pizzas, drink specials and free entry to the pubs- good deal, but we rocked up 3/4 the way through the first hour and then the drinks stopped early than we got denied drink specials at one of the bars. The pizza was good though. Myself, Will and Lyn are still mystified just how the hell we each smashed through 70 Euro in about an hour of buying drinks. Oh yeah- Beers were 5 Euro for a half-pint. Thats a joke. It was a good night all up- a bunch of us had a good laugh when I spotted a chick still wearing her reading band, and pointed it our to Lyn who commented on it with a "Err ya bogan what the hell are you still wearing that for?" The chick snubbed Lyn and Lyn spent the rest of the night wondering what she did wrong. It was a nice change having a vast majority of non-Aussies on the crawl. Most of the city here seems like Americans, and on the tour there was about 80% US, the other 15 a mix of UK, Swedish, Australian and European. I did my bit for the country in a drinking comp, and still say it was rigged- I want a photo finish on that one.

The next day, after saying our goodbyes to Will at 5am so he could catch his plane to Sofia, We copped a good 4.5 hours sleep and picked up a 4 EUR all day train pass and hit the biggest of the city's sights. Best value ever, and it sure helped with the blown budget from that pub crawl last night! The hangover just setting in and still drunk from last nights shenanigans, we trekked our way to the Colosseum, Vatican, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Fountain of Trident, Repubblica, Arc de Constantine.. it was pretty cool. We also saw the obelisk that the Romans stole from Egypt, cut into pieces then reconstructed. After wandering around the Piazza that is Flaminio for a bit, we realised it was actually the Roman Empire's trophy cabinet. Chinese obelisks, Sphinxes, Egyptian Obelisks, Greek Statues... All the pillaged cultural icons from other countries acquired under Roman rule. Nearby we hit a museum that showed the Roman empire's expansion through Europe and it was impressive to see the rapid growth of the empire- It almost looked like they were not contested with in their invasions they spread that far. Come sunset, we made a move back to jump on, no lie: the most packed train I have EVER been on. and wound up our lightning visit of Rome. $50 AUD of shopping at the railway supermarket later, we had all the gear to make elaborate sandwiches (stale bread, a block of cheese and some cold sliced meat) and some fruit for the train ride. Ouch! Everything here is over priced- I'm glad we are heading off soon. Again the Moroccan Shoe-knife that I'm told was a dumb impulse buy at the time has been the most used item this trip and saved the day again here.

Random weird Italian stuff- here in Italy you need to register to use the Internet- Either a drivers license or a passport is essential to get online. Makes me wonder what it was that set them off to be that cautious. At local supermarkets, Fanta is available in Cherry, Orange, Grape, and a new one I haven't seen before: Chinotto! Sitting in trains, buskers come through with piano accordions and play a tune- nice way to break up a trip across town. And again, yet another country where everyone is very well dressed and we are the bogans of the town yet again. I did see one chick wearing a set of thongs in he train and I guessed she may have been homeless... then I saw a black wolf backpack next to her- JAFA.