June 19, 2006

• This entry has a lot of links, pictures, and some videos.  You may even find it slightly educational.  You have been warned.  Also, I have found out how to prevent the annoying delay that youtube puts on some videos’ sound.

  
  

  This weekend was pretty laid back, until I decided to do something.  This weekend’s adventure had me going to Rome to visit a friend, Joanna:
   
  who hails from Shetland.  Does she have an accent?  Yes.  Do I find it funny from time to time?  Yes.  Did I occasionally talk with an accent and she failed to comment/notice?  Most definitely. 

  
  

  The adventure started with me trying to actually get to Rome via train.  After missing one train because I couldn’t get a cab, I got the next one, which required me to change trains in Verona.  I learned that there are two stations in Verona.  Guess which one I got off at?  So I go into the station, in which there are no people, and read the train schedule.  What I didn’t notice is that, for some unknown reason, the schedule for the OTHER Verona stop was posted in this station.  The one for the current station was there, only across the room, and not neatly behind glass like the wrong one was.  Eventually, I get on a train to the right stop, go to the ticket machine and find out when the next train is heading to Rome (I trust large automated electronic databases much more than a person behind the window.  Also, the computer doesn’t care that I asked it questions and bought nothing).  I find that I can go to Bologna, and then change trains, and head to Rome.

  
  

  I eventually get to Rome, probably around 2130, which isn’t a problem, since Joanna had to work later than expected due to a party.  While I waited, I snapped this picture of the Colosseum at night:
   

  
  

  Then she took me to a pub, and introduced me to some strong whiskey, which my body really wasn’t ready for.  I forgot that I hadn’t really eaten thanks to the train issue.  That, and I’ve never sipped anything as slowly as you’re supposed to drink whiskey.  I quit that after one glass, maybe 3 fingers high.  We walked around for a bit and found a fair down by the river, and spent some time there.  My camera was in my bag, which was in her car.  The boot of her car, which is what they call the trunk.  Then we walked around for a bit and got lost, which is easy since Rome seems to be built like Washington D.C., eventually getting back to the Colosseum, where she was parked near.

  
  

  The next morning I got a good tour of Rome, and actually ended up in at least 3 places where I was back when I went there with my grandparents when I was nine.  The first place we stopped was here:
   
  There was no point to it.  Just where I took out my camera and snapped a picture of people snapping a picture in front of the place that I wanted to take a picture of.

  
  

  Because I’m an idiot, I forgot to remember where this next fountain was, or what it’s called.  Fell free to comment if you know the name:
     
   
  I like how it looks like the people are looking at what the statue is pointing at.

  
  

  It was hot as hell, but for some reason we kept going.  I think we were lost.

  
  

     
  This is Triton Fountain.  I would write about it, but that’s why I gave you the link.  You can go learn on your own time.

  
  

    
  These are the Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps).  It’s more of just a view from the top.  Fortunately, we went down from here, so that made life a bit more bearable.  The picture look like they are in reverse order because i like the zoom function on my camera.  The fountain is the Barcaccia (Ugly Boat) Fountain, which tourists will say looks beautiful, creating a wonderful irony.

  
  

  Our next stop was the Fontana di Trevi.
   
  This is one of the places that I remember coming to as a kid.
  
  According to the tour guide that told me this as a kid, if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will return to the fountain later.  Of course, then, Italy was on the Lira, and this throwing thing was much cheaper.  According to the Wiki, if you throw two coins, you will fall in love with a beautiful Roman girl (or guy, for you women), and three coins means you will marry them.  This begs two questions.  First, If you’re going to throw two coins, why not throw three?  Second, what’s going to happen with the guy that poured the jar of coins in there?  Anyway here are videos of us throwing coins (one each, because I know someone will ask), into the fountain.
  

  
  

   
  Next up is the Pantheon, which was converted to a church from a Temple of some Roman gods.  There would be video here, too, but Joanna said something that I won’t post on the web, and when I tried to record again, I said something I won’t put on the web, and on try number three, I was out of space on the camera.  Needless to say, I kept the videos, and then started erasing older things on my camera that I had already downloaded on my computer.

  
  

  Now, various places in rome are ruins.  I think it’s just an excuse not to build new stuff.  Anyway, the ruins show where the street levels were back in the day.  Apparently, the rest of Rome was built on top of everything else, saving them the work of actually cleaning up the original mess.
   
   
  Now, on that whole statue thing.  I’m not sure what was up with the Romans and naked men.  In any case, if I were a powerful culture, I would make sure that statues, which were dedicated to our greatness, had more greatness where greatness should be.  They also stood the guy next to a horse.  Apparently, the horse is so “great” that it needs a pedestal.

  
  

  The Romans liked to take things from other places:
   
  In this case, they took this Obelisk from Egypt.  According to the Wiki, there are twice as many of these in Rome as there are in Egypt.  Probably to compensate for the statues.

  
  

  Last place was the Colosseum, which had a really long line, and I didn’t feel like playing with the train schedule again.  This brought my trip full circle.  The second fight with the train went a lot better, but was not without its issues.

  
  

  Black 6, out.

  • 5:12 pm
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