Stinky Romans

I must say, Rome was interesting. My camera got pickpocketed by a little boy there. Luckily I noticed and grabbed it back from him. I would have completely freaked out to lose all my pictures!

Everyone either rides a scooter or drives a very small car there. And they drive like snot. I don't know why there are even speed limits posted because none of them pay attention to it!!! And they will ride your ass if you're driving too slow (and I am by no means a slow driver).

The touristy sights are pretty neat, but you'll pay to see them, in time and money. Holy shit, I could NOT believe some of the lineups. I also couldn't believe the stinky budgers. People had the nerve just to go up the line and duck under the rope. I felt like saying something but felt it would be petty. Oh well, it's going to take hours anyways so just suck it up is all I tried to do. There's a picture of only a small portion of the lineup for the Vatican, and one of the lady who was supposed to give us a tour... Uh, then she got arrested. Woops. At least we got ahead in line and then got our money back! I guess in a sense, we budged.

After the Vatican, we stopped for two coffees (plus I had an ice cream). The lady spotted us as tourists and gauged us for 13 Euros. That's like 20 bucks for coffee and ice cream... they even have Starbucks beat!!! They also wouldn't take Visa. And they'd get cranky at your just for asking. I started to miss people who actually appreciated your business. Bizarre.

The subway was hot and stinky. I had to take it for 45mins to and from the conference. Just when you thought you couldn't fit anymore sardines into the tin, a few more would get on. So body parts start to meld together, people's BO almost makes you puke, and some weirdo is giving you googly eyes and you're pretending not to notice. Ugh. It was painful at times.

Rome was neat even though it stunk in many ways. Hey, how can you complain too much when eating pizza, sipping espresso and wine every day!!! Mmmm. Anyways, it was worth muddling through the stinky, cranky people, pickpockets, long lineups and hefty admission charges... that is, at least once in your life. It will probably only be once for me.

Buh-bye Roma.