Rome Journal

So Italy huh? About a month and a half ago Naysayer P Squirrel, while i was still at the University, said that he was invited to a wedding in Rome of a mutual coworker of ours. He said we would meet the pope! I was on the fence for a bit because I was in the process of moving and really poor already. But I felt like it was a once in a lifetime opportunity that i couldnt pass up. I mean, meeting the pope?!? How could I say no. So I agreed. In retrospect my ideas of what the trip would look like were a bit off, but I was pleasantly surprised and the verdict of the trip is as follows: Rome is overwhelming and I did not fully appreciate or digest everything I could have done. For the completionist traveler that I aim to be, I've scratched the surface. There were really awesome people I traveled with and I made some great new friends. I also found some religious pilgrimage bonus points from my time at the Vatican. Despite some bumps throughout this whirlwind, 5 day trip was really special.

Contents

Arrival Adventures
Roman Clubbin'
A bit of Drama
Sleepless Sightseeing (Ancient Rome sights)
City Tours (incl. Pantheon)
Pizza FTW
Wedding and Reception
Family
A Day in Rome ( Trevi, Spanish Steps, Popolo, the park, North Side)
Gelato and Santo Susannas
Dinner and Drinks
Meeting the Pope
Vatican Museum
Sistine Chapel
St. Peter's Basilica
A Pilgrim's Moment
Leavings (Mont Blanc)
Closing Thoughts
Naysayer as a Travel Buddy

Note- I did not take as detailed historical and touristy notes as I did in my England and Ireland blog. For one, I only took two tours and one I couldn't hear very well and one was a walking museum tour. So you'll get more on the big sights and extra wedding stories. I added pictures! The template I use doesn't always like them, so sorry for any weird formatting problems. Also, a lot of this was composed on my phone. Apologies for any typos or funny auto corrects I missed. Feel free to read what you want.

Arrival Adventures

I had relatively painless travel plans until i hit Rome. The hardest part was that i didnt sleep more than a few dozes on the plane because the gentleman next to me kept getting up cuz he felt sick. Naysayer and i were supposed to meet in Paris and i got to our plane with time to spare. No naysayer though. I waited and waited and then we started boarding. I kept checking to make sure i had the right ticket and terminal, which i did, and i said OK itll work out and got on the plane. I didnt know where we were staying i didnt have any contact info for the wedding party. I knew absolutely nothing. But i got on the plane and tried to imagine the adventure ahead. Fortunately, the pilot decided to wait for some stragglers and naysayer was one of the last to stagger in. He'd gotten lost switching terminals and stuck in customs, which is rough with only a 45 min layover. It was a close call, but only naysayer would be lucky enough for a plane to wait for him.

When we arrived, we took a cab after being unable to find a shuttle. We found our bed and breakfast which was where we were staying that night before joining the apartment with the wedding party the next. The b&b was in an old apartment building next to the new entrance to the Vatican museum. There were call buttons for the other tenants but none for our place, and we needed keys to enter. We concluded that if we called the number on the sign we'd get the b&b owner to bring us a key. After 10 or so phone attempts we finally got through, and the man said he would be there in five minutes. We'd already waited thirty and we tired and hungry but at last we were getting somewhere. And hour later after id gone bank and map hunting, he still hadn't arrived. We started walking to the apartment the bride and groom and family were staying at, but couldn't find a cab (hence my hunt for money) and were pulling out the map when some very very nice elderly Canadians overheard our plight and offered to help. still carrying all our bags, we walked around Vatican city searching for the street called Via Della Stazione de San Pietro. We saw where the actual station was and there were signs leading to it but we couldn't find the street. We wandered and wandered asking directions every block. With the Canadians helping us hunt, we found (after another hour) a seemingly random apartment and buzzed the door. I was sure I was gunna get yelled at in italian like I had been at the b&b when I buzzed a random number, but up came the brides sister, who naysayer immediately took to calling Pippa and we made it at last.

Inside the bride fed us pizza and water which we desperately needed and recounted their own horror stories from traveling (broken planes, missed flights, lost luggage). Exhausted after being awake for almost 24 with only naps, I was getting sleepy. The wine they served didn't help. But at midnight despite everyone in pj's we decided to go out. I took a power nap while the girls got ready and 7 of us (6 around, my age and a bit older, and one in her 50s) and headed toward the piazza Navona, a famous strip with a church, some bars and restaurants on the sides and beautiful fountains in the middle (You'll soon find this is a running motif in Rome). We were close enough that it took a 20 min walk to get there, which was almost without incident, except when this one car pulled up to us along the road and we could see a gun in the guys hand. It sped off and didn't acknowledge us but that was kinda disturbing.

Roman Clubbin'

We followed the crowds past most of the bars that were closing to this "disco lounge" which was open until 4am. Inside we found many tourists and a few locals dancing to modern American pop music. We drank crown and cokes and while dancing is not normally my thing, I was in Rome and danced the evening away with the girls and Naysayer. At times, they would light sparklers and hand them out to the clubbers for free. Alcohol, dancing and blinding lights suddenly flaring up. That's how they do it in Italy. In retrospect, I've only seen Naysayer dance once. Our employer employee relationship has definitely fizzled out. More on that later but its not a bad thing.

After the club, three of us decided to stay out, sleep be damned. We wandered around the Piazza Navona, snapping pictures of the fountains and statues and simply wandering around. We eventually stumbled upon the famous Trevi Fountain, a giant wall of a fountain which is normally super crowded. At 4 am, it was nice and peaceful and of course, very pretty. We even ran into one of the couples from the wedding party we'd met that night, taking their own photos before they retired for the night. Wandering on, we found a little restaurant where we ordered a bottle of dessert wine, a bottle of regular red wine, and a delicious steak salad, which was a tender, well seasoned steak, basil leaves, and tomatoes. So. Good. But that wine coupled with the many drinks at the bar, began to hit us hard.

A bit of Drama

At this point, I don't know how much of a story I want to tell. On one level its one of those "What happens in Vegas" stories. On another, it became kind of a running story throughout the trip and as a storyteller, I feel I would do injustice not to mention it. So you get an abridged version, which is probably for the best. It turned out to be a long, drama filled next two hours. Naysayer and I were with a third wedding attendee, who unfortunately is kind of a depressed drunk. She was telling us her life story and the most recent drama related to it. Everything was fine until we started staggering home in the bleary morning hours. At one point she jumped on Naysayer's back and he carried her down the streets of Rome. Later, she jumped into my arms. Embarassingly, I took a few steps an we toppled to the ground. Cobblestone isn't fun to fall on, but it certainly is funny when two fools fall down. Naysayer started laughing so hard, like noone but him can do. I also started laughing, at my own failure and the ridiculousness of our wine-assisted antics. Unfortunately, she was not laughing and worse, thought we were laughing at her. This turned her hysterical and she began crying and screaming and trying to walk away. She claimed she had a concussion, she claimed she could take care of herself, she claimed we were terrible people for laughing at her. We both knew that all of those statements were incorrect, but it turned into a take two steps forward one step back yelling and screaming match with her to get her back to the apartment. By the end of the walk, Naysayer was so angry and frustrated, he barely spoke to her the rest of the trip. I am a bit more forgiving but it turned out this girl was trouble throughout the week. Still, while I am fine talking about my own stupidity and am able to laugh at myself, I don't feel I should go into more details about her or how anyone else felt about and reacted to her. Needless to say, it was a bit unfortunate.

Sleepless Sightseeing

Because we weren't allowed to technically stay at the apartment yet (the landlady was very strict) and we had this adrenaline rush from the two hour walk home at dawn, Naysayer and I had a snack and went back out into the city. The groom, who was going out to meet his aunt and uncle, showed us how to get bus passes and rode with us to the Victori Emmanuelle, which is this giant monument/church/landmark in the middle of the city. After climbing the many stairs and wandering through the church, we ventured out into the fresh morning air to the Coliseum. Passing a type of "farmers market" and the ruins of the Roman Forum, we saw the ancient arena. It's really amazing how big it was, though in size alone it does not hold up to the football stadiums of today. But the architecture is more intricate, the arches and the fact that its around 2000 years old makes it very impressive. It's also surrounded by many other ruins and villas, and even Constantines archway, which is reminiscent of like the Arc de Triumph in France.



City Tour

We took a Hop On Hop Off bus tour to see all the other big sights. Among them included several basilicas, Santa Maria Maggiore, Circus Maximus, Castol San Angelo, and the sacred ruins of Argentina. We also saw some previously mentioned places like St. Peters and Piazza Navona. We rode the bus around until we get to the Pantheon. That was an amazing building, a huge domed structure with giant pillars and a hole at the very top. We saw the little drains for rain and the enormity of a roman temple turned christian. Naysayer was getting tired and did not want to stay long, so I stopped eavesdropping on tours and we left. At this point, we were exhausted and it was about noon. The beautiful bells went off at a nearby church and I mentioned I'd want to attend Mass, since it was Sunday. We wandered in and sat through a nice little service. During the sermon, which was in italian, I had a nice little semi-coherent prayerful experience. Naysayer said I was sleeping. Regardless, I love how, with the exception of the sermon, a Catholic can participate in any Mass in the world. It really gives new meaning to the "universal" church (catholic means universal) and a larger sense of communion in the sacred shared meal.

For exhaustion reasons, we went home afterward and slept until 6pm. Of course, we could not find the bus stop, which would have been worse if I hadn't lost my bus pass anyway. We wandered past what I think was the capital building near Piazza Cavour, realizing we had a good long hike ahead of us, but still enjoying it because, well, we were in Rome.

Pizza FTW

For the Wedding "Rehearsal" Dinner we went to a pizza place called something like El Focaccio. It was near Piazza Navona and when you entered you passed the brick ovens where they cooked everything. You then take a windy path into the brick and adobe walled restaurant, heading down stairs and passing little rooms for family-like meals. This was my first true meal in Italy and truly wonderful food. I ate a sausage pizza, and it was the best pizza I have ever had in my life, no exaggeration. They did little stuff like add salt and pepper to the bottom of the pizza, with very fresh dough and great cheese and tomatoes. Simply perfect and big enough that I could barely finish. On the way out, we passed some random ruins which made me feel like I was truly in Rome. Follow that with a cab driver jerk who tried to take us the long way to our apartment, so much that we told him to pull over and walk, and I also felt like I was in a different country. We had another angry walk back with one of the drunk uncles at the wedding, who was upset over an apparent oversight with his apartment. There's one in every family. Tomorrow is the wedding though. (see my previous post for the full wedding recap).

Wedding and Reception

I wasnt ready for the Vatican. We played best man to the groom who only had two people from his family here. I was in wedding help mode. Next thing I knew we were on a shuttle to st peters basilica, which I had walked by twice but never in. We came from the back side, around to the front and walked in like tourists. The chapel was off the main room and gorgeous. The entire basilica is detailed and decorated to great lengths. I loved every step. The chapel itself had gold inlaid panels with various bible stories depicted, a choir section two organs and floating light/censure and a huge painted depiction of Mary queen of heaven. Every time I glanced around I saw new things. It was over so fast.

We left together like celebrities with the paparazzi (tourists) snapping pictures like crazy. It was surreal. We did a photo shoot and then went to the secret location, the Hassler Roma Hotel near the Spanish Steps. We were on top of the world, drinking champagne, wine and eating great food, like shrimp, ravioli, sea bass, apple and rigotti, and one of the best wedding cakes I've had (it was an Italian style, single layer cake). The party was grand, full of food, drink, live Cuban singers, and of course, drunk people dancing the night away. Ahh good times. We wandered past the Spanish Steps after before retiring home to sleep around 8pm.

Family

I woke up after a few hours and had good family conversation with the brides mom, sister, aunt and girlfriend. At that point I felt really welcomed by the family, who included characters that would tease me, share a drink with me, dance with me, and just hold a good conversation. Since it was the day of the wedding everyone went to bed early. So I then worked on paper until I just getting sleepy when a cousin woke up and wanted to go clubbing. I convinced him to just walk out for food instead. We got some good paninis from a random late night place with drunk Italians chatting excited we were from California. The panini was good but she didn't give us change til we told her.

A Day in Rome

I woke up early despite my late night and Naysayer and I jumped on a bus to the Victori Emmanuel again. This time we walked down Via de Cordo, another main street through Rome. We saw the Trevi Fountain again, ate more paninis, and passed through a few shopping areas where we randomly saw the Groom's Aunt and Uncle. Naysayer wanted to see the Spanish Steps more... clearly... and so we moved there. We followed a Rodeo drive type of road with lots of high end stores. That lead us to the Popolo area where we found several basilicas surrounding the quad (there are four). In our continual meandering, we wandered to a park (I think called Piazza Flaminio). We had a blast taking pictures and goofing off with the various busts and pillars of artwork that dotted the park. There was even a nice villa turned hotel, a carousel, and a museum in this big park. On a beautiful sunny day, it was so idyllic. Since we were walking, we continued along the entire north side of city which is more business than touristy. Nice to say we did but nothing exceptional. Rome is an amazing city and its nice to be in it. I did see a moped slam into the side of a van. It was only a matter of time before the crazy drivers had an accident. He was ok but jeez they definitely don't pay attention to things like lanes, signals, or right of way.

Gelato and Santo Susannas

After our long journey, we passed St Peter's again and got what the previously mentioned helpful Canadians called the best gelato in Rome. I had a chocolate and hazelnut scoop with another scoop of nutella. Soooo goooood... It made up for the sparkling water which I had earlier (I shook it to get rid of the carbonation, which made it barely bearable.) How can water taste so bad?

Afternoon Mass was at Santo Susanna's Church near the Four Fountains (one per street corner in a certain section) Mass was pretty with the traditional presentation of flowers to Mary by the bride. St. Susanna was actually buried there under the altar. Amazing. Such a beautiful church and I got to spend some time with the Eucharist in adoration after Mass.

Dinner and Drinks

Then a walk down to dinner at a random restaurant where we had wine, bruscetta, caprese, and I had Spomacetti (?) with mushrooms. It was a thick curly noodle and I could very well have gotten the name wrong. It was this dinner that most of the people I got close to on the trip all hung out. The Bride and Groom, her friend from work (i've been call her the girlfriend), the girlfriends boyfriend, Naysayer, and the the Bride's cousin, who was a bit younger but tagged along with us nonetheless. We did not hang out with the girl with the drama anymore and Pippa was tending the family, but our crew wanted a night on the twon. We wandered down Via de Cordo again (past the Spanish steps for like the third time) looking at the various stores. Much to the grooms dismay, the bride wanted to show her friend a boot store. We tagged along, stopping at a Disney store of all places (both the bride, her girlfriend and the boyfriend work or have worked at Disneyland parks and hotels). We chatted about various things from the bride and grooms previous trip to Rome and seeing the Pope to the challenges of marrying into a latina family for a white man (from the PoV of the groom and the stories I heard from my father). Those conversations always bring a good chuckle. We even passed these fountains that you can apparently drink out but look like fire hydrants with a leak. Naysayer refused to try the water. I guess there are natural springs under Rome. Finally, we reached the Wine and Bar, an apparently famous restaurant near Piazza Navona which had great drinks all night. We'd met the owner Saturday and he was awesome, an Australian with a penchant for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His bar was decked out with American sports teams pendants including the University's. He brought us his popular hard passion teas, then we moved to long islands bulmers cider and a special shot he made with Baileys and coca bine (from a cocaine leaf), which he called Sinews Fav. We wandered again back through Piazza Navona and grabbed a few cabs home, feeling very, very sleepy.

Meeting the Pope

So apparently, every few months the Pope blesses newly wed couples, inviting them on "stage" with him in front of St. Peter's. As wedding guests, we then get to sit in the seats next closest. I originally thought this would be a more intimate meeting with the pope, but instead it was like a communion of pilgrims and guests, many of whom were listed aloud by priests assigned to speak about them in their native languages. For example, the German priest rad the names of the parishes who sent pilgrims to the Vatican. Benedict XVI came out in his pope mobile (it was an open top Mercedes that he stood on, not the glass box- dont read much into the Mercedes, they all drive them in Italy). There was a reading of a psalm in 7 different languages. The pope gave a sermon in Italian, then proceeded to discuss the Psalm in the same seven languages, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian. Basically a second homily to welcome in all. The extra sermon was about faith and joy and moving from darkness to light. The pope concluded, leading an Our Father in Latin and blessing the objects we brought, including my Bible, my rosary and a rosary for Micki Granger. I have a good picture of him driving really close to me and kissing a baby or two pass through the crowd to him. It was amazing to see the love for the man and to receive a blessing for me and my loved ones back home.

Vatican Museum

That afternoon we helped pack up one of the apartments as we consolidated for family members leaving. We then hung out in apt drinking wine before leaving to go investigate the Vatican.

The line to St. Peter's looked to be about three hours long. I asked the guard if there was a Sistine Chapel tour and he pointed us around the corner. On our way, we were approached by an Englishman who told us about a two hour private tour for 35 euros (it was normally 50 but this was the last of the day). We agreed to go and actually got in after closing to tour the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and then St Peter's.

The Vatican Museum was really awesome. Besides having one of the largest Egyptian collections outside of London and Egypt (I think ). Too bad we sped through it because the tour guide has specific stops she wanted to hit. We actually started in a new entrance commissioned by JPII to better handle the crowds to see the museums. We got a glimpse of the Vatican gardens and a cool courtyard I think they called the pinecone court because it has a giant statue of a pinecone that originally stood in Constantinople. It also had some cool modern art including a big bronze ball. We then toured through an awesome octagon courtyard with a lot of roman artwork represented, then pass through "the animal hall" with many sculptures of various animals, passed a room of the Muses of ancient lore (I thought of my blog and all of my musings), and ended in a room with a giant bronze hercules, and other statues of gods, goddesses and emperors and a giant basin Nero used for decoration but could have held 50 people as a jacuzzi.

We then walked past two sarcophagi for Emperor Constantine's daughter and his mother, St. Helen, who is responsible for convince Constantine to convert the Roman Empire to Christianity. She's kinda a big deal. We then followed the stairwell up to the Gallery of Geographic Maps. This impressive hallway was lined with huge fresco paintings of the various regions of Italy, and used as an atlas by the Popes starting int he 1500s. The maps were aligned with the north, south east and west regions of the hallway and the country, and in and of themselves would have been impressive. However, the ceiling of this 200 foot hallway was elaborately painted, decorated by sculptures, goldwork, wood work, and various feats of architecture that I could have spent the whole day simply staring at it. It blew my mind how every square inch was elaborately decorated. And this was just the predecessor to the Sistine Chapel, though in my opinion, this hallway was more impressive due to its scope and color.

Sistine Chapel

After passing some Raphaelian tapestries we entered Michelangelo's masterpiece chapel. The Sistine Chapel is small by Vatican standards but still rather large, especially when considering one man painted most of it (for his first stab at painting frescos no less). Our tour guide went over the room in detail, but it turns out I actually remembered most of the information from the Art History community college class I slept through in high school. I remembered how the pictures are of the genesis stories through Noah (this is where the famous God stretching toward Adam picture is, in the dead center of the ceiling). I remembered the prophets lining the edges and the Second Coming being depicted on the front wall. I remembered how the Chapel has traditionally been used for the papal voting and election. I had forgotten about the sides depicting stories of Moses and Jesus and the decorative seals depicting figures in the Greek style, which the pope demanded by covered up because he did not want nudes in the chapel. Since we couldn't really take pictures, there were two security people constantly yelling at visitors, I simply sat at one end and listened to my tour guide and just took it all in. It was beautiful, impressive, and really grand.

St. Peter's Basilica

Finally, we wandered outside to the front of St Peters. I could see where we were sitting earlier that day for the pope, but now it was time to venture back in at a more leisurely pace than the day of the wedding. We returned our tour guide equipment as our tour officially ended. Unfortunately, this meant that some of our stuff was left back at the side entrance. Naysayer and another guy volunteered to go back and get it, but myself, the bride's girlfriend, and the bride's cousin ventured inside. I got to fully appreciate the sheer size of the basilica. It is huge. With 3 chapels on either side, each with their own domes, the place is enormous. The first thing on the right was La Pieta, the picture of the Lamentation, where Mary holds Jesus' body after he is taken down from the cross. This very famous Michelangelo sculpture was impressive, but crowded and we only had about 30 minutes before we were supposed to meet Naysayer, so I kept moving. Leisurely but limited time! Next was an outlet chapel where Blessed John Paul II, JPII as I like to call him, was buried. This was perhaps the most beloved popes of the century, and maybe the most universally respected of the modern age. He passed away in 2005 and is already well along the process to sainthood. To think we lived at the time of such a great leader. Other popes we passed in the basilica included John XXIII, who started Vatican II which among other things made the Mass in the language of the people and began a large church update, and Pius X, the last pope who was canonized as a St. I don't know much more about him though as he was pope at the turn of the century. As I kept walking, marveling at the huge statues of saints and popes, my camera (aka phone) died. This at first seemed sad but also fitting as I kinda feel bad about taking pictures in church anyway. This hasn't stopped me but I feel bad. There was a vespers service (evening prayer) going on in the main church part of the basilica, so we could not get any closer to the heart of the building. At least at first. I was trying to see if I could go to the service, but it blocked off and I assumed it was a special party or something.

A Pilgrim's Moment

I did come to realize that there was a section for confession though. I had been kind of hoping I could attend confession while in Rome, but I never imagined I could do it in St. Peter's, I timidly snuck around, looking for a confessional in English when a passing priest asked me what I was looking for. I mentioned confession in English and he said he could do so, and suddenly I found myself confessing my sins in the heart of the Catholic Church. What an uplifting experience to be washed away of my sins and to kneel in deep prayer at St. Peter's. This was the highlight of my trip, my pilgrimage to become closer to God. I had a goofy smile on my face the rest of my time there, both from the relief of the sacrament and just being in the holy place.

The vespers service ended and we were allowed to get closer (which apparently most tourists do not). We got to see where St. Peter, the first pope and apostle to Jesus, was buried in the true center of the church. Jesus said you are Cephas (rock, Peter in English) and upon this rock I will build my church. Well, there's literally a church upon Peter, as well as the lasting leadership of this first pope. A real pilgrim site. We also wandered by elaborate tombs, amazing carvings and artwork that simply blew the mind. I could sit in there for hours and hours and keep seeing something new. We did not linger much longer venturing to meet our companions outside. It was a perfect late afternoon, with the bluest sky and spotted clouds at about 75 degrees, the sun just starting to set. I lay on the ground next to the central obelisk in the middle of St. Peters Square. I was in my happy place.

Leavings

For dinner we ate at a subpar restaurant with ok wine and ok lasagna. Which means it was good by our standards but we could tell it was weak. This is an unfortunate side effect of traveling with groups and being on a budget. I had a crepe there too and it was ok. We had an amusing moment when Pippa bumped her own drink spilling it over the bride's close friend. It was one of the spectacular party fouls. Oh well. We returned and ended the evening talking and chatting and I really did feel a part of their family. Pippa and I had an interesting discussion about the shift away from religion, at least it seemed that way in our part of California, though in other places it is still very common. Unfortunately, Pippa had spent the day taking their adopted aunt to the hospital because she had tripped and fallen on her face, cracking a tooth. She is an older women and looked like she'd gotten in a fight. I told her she showed Rome who's boss. She was a really good sport about it. I'm going to miss all of them.

Naysayer left that night for an early morning flight. I stayed and had a brief breakfast of a frosting pastry with the groom and my touring buddy, the Bride girlfriend. Then it was time for me to rush onto a bus to catch a train to get to the airport. In writing this blog, I'm currently on a train, running 30 minutes late to the airport, so I'm a little nervous. My next update may be about travel woes...

But its not. I managed to get in and on my plane with time to spare for some last minute shopping. Now I just flew over the alps, which was a rather breathtaking experience. Im not sure how high we are flying but the alps aren't much lower. Its sunny right now and I can see the peaks towering above the foamy sea of clouds, islands whose beaches are covered with snow. The pilot pointed out the tallest mountain in the European Union, Mont Blanc's peak a few moments ago. I wonder how Hannibal crossed these behemoths.

My trip ended with close calls at all airports but no serious trouble. Shakeweight Ref picked me up from the airport, and I am eternally grateful for his generosity. I'd like to end with some observations of Rome and then thoughts about traveling with Naysayer P Squirrel.

Closing Thoughts

Rome is a great city. Easy to walk around (though cobblestones are rough on the feet after a while). My Spanish really helped me get by, as this was the first country I was ever in that I did not know the language. I definitely see the value in learning a foreign language and cannot imagine effectively visiting a country, let alone staying long term, without at least a basic understanding of the language. Mad props to international students. Some of the cab drivers are out to screw you and the euro is a bit pricy. It's also hard to pay with credit card. A lot of places did not take it. I heard there is a high fee for those machines, that's why. Buying a bus pass was also kinda of useful, but I ended up walking mostly anyway so it wasn't really needed. Rome is not known for its food but we did find some good places. I do want to return both to take in more of the city in detail and to travel around Italy, really finding some good Italian restaurants.

Naysayer as a Travel Buddy

Traveling with Naysayer was actually really nice. We worked as a team more than I thought we would since he was such a veteran traveler. While he enjoys getting a taste for everything and I enjoy hearing all the details, we both were able to compromise our travel styles and have a positive trip. He was a good sport about the religious journey I was taking and I tried to help him find good gift shops. I would plan out our trips and routes and navigate us around the city. He'd be more decisive about where to go next and pay for cabs. I most definitely owe him money. Naysayer was also just being Naysayer. Every morning he would play various songs on his ipad, like Nicki Minaj and Mumford and Sons, but mostly he'd blast Tonight Tonight by Hot Chelle Rae every. single. day. The poor groom had the song in his head during his own wedding. And not in the lead singers voice, but in Naysayer's. I bet that was rough. Naysayer at one point said we were a combination of like a father-son team as well as friends (I'm paraphrasing it sound more positive than it probably did). I think this is accurate. He does treat me like his kid sometimes, for better in that he's looking out for me and for worse in that he's embarrassing me, like asking me really loudly if I got the girl I was sitting next to's number or talking about my business to complete strangers. I got him back a few times with stories from work, and got the entire table at dinner one night to try to guess his middle name, which he's kind of embarrassed about, though I think is kinda cool. I'd like to think he was impressed with my tolerance for alcohol and I think I proved my ability to keep up both with his energy despite like of sleep and in trying new things with people. I hope I was less maintenance than his normal travel buddy, who I had replaced for this trip. All in all, I had a great time traveling with him and hope he did with me too. It was like old times back in Summercamp. Except with alcohol. And in freaking Rome!

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