Coliseum and the Roman Forum

March 4:

I slept better last night then I had the night before. Too well actually. I put in ear plugs to protect myself from potential rabble and completely slept through my 10am alarm. Pat turned my alarm of after 15 minutes and after an unsuccessful attempt to shake me awake went for breakfast. When the staff asked him if he wanted breakfast for one or two he stuck his head in to the room to ask me if I was going to come to breakfast and this was somehow enough to bring me to my senses. Moments after he closed the door I was awake and startled by the nearness of the end of breakfast I rushed out to grab some while I still could. We had planned to get to the Vatican that day but it was too nice out to be inside all day and the rest of the week looked much less nice out so we decided that the coliseum was the thing to do that day. We left our hostel by foot after our meal and headed to the coliseum. It is really impressive.

We couldn’t see where you got tickets for it so we headed around to the Roman Forum, adjacent to the Coliseum and found a ticket office for the joint ticket to both ruins. Fortunately today I did bring my camera.

After a thorough walk through them both, we were getting hungry and decider to get lunch. Not knowing a good place we meandered northwards until we found a nice place to get pasta called Osteria da Mario.

 I had spaghetti with a spicy tomato sauce and crispy thick pig cheek bacon. It was amazing. After lunch we wandered around a bit more purposefully, seeing the Pantheon(inside and out), Piazza Navona, and the Trevi Fountain.

After seeing the sights we were ready to take the metro home. Once at the hostel we took a much-needed rest. After a while we got going and figured out our plans for after Rome. We decided to book 2 nights in Naples using one day to explore Naples and the second to walk around Pompeii. With the La Contora hostel booked for the nights of the sixth and seventh we headed out to a grocery store to buy some wine and sandwich making supplies. Once we got back to hostel we ate and chilled until it was time to catch some shut eye. 

First day in Rome

March 3:

I got up at 10am to start our first day in Rome. Due to some quirk with the hostel Pat and I had spent the night in separate rooms. Once I got going I found Pat already at breakfast. The breakfast was really good at Hotel Lodi. Pastries, coffee and grapefruit juice all served up for free. I hadn’t gotten a great sleep the night before but these treats got me well on my way to a better mood. We talked freely with the other guests as we ate and soon made the acquaintance of Zoe, an American girl studying abroad in Italy and leaving Rome that afternoon to go back to school. She didn’t have plans for the day and as we didn’t either we decided to tour the city together. It is at this point where I must tell you that I forgot my camera this day so the photos involved are a sad few phone shots. We took the metro into the downtown and began to walk around. We grabbed some gelato as we wandered and saw many famous historic places such as the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Piazza del Popolo, the Pincio Gardens, and the Pantheon, if only from the outside.

We grabbed a lunch of pizza slices from a nondescript pizzeria. After lunch, it was time Zoe got going if she hoped to make her train so we headed back to the hostel. She had to collect her bag and we needed a rest. By the time we made it back to the hostel she was late for her train. After some quick goodbyes she rushed out to get a taxi and was fortunately able to make her train. 

Pat and I, now in the same room, went to our beds to rest for a bit after our many hours of walking. After a few hours it was time for a late dinner. We were directed to a place called Al Grottino, a local pizza place and each ordered their signature pizza, which had mushrooms, artichoke, prosciutto, and a fried egg on it. It was amazing. After dinner we headed back to our hostel and chilled for a bit before heading to sleep. 

Leaving Lisbon

March 2:

I woke up early this morning but was quite content to doze for a few hours. Once I finally got up and made my way to breakfast I was happy to see that quite a few people were already up. I contentedly ate my pancakes with this ample contingent of fellow Gspotters. It was nice to reminisce and shoot the shit with the people I had gotten to know so well over the past few days. The staff was there as usual and I began my slow goodbyes with them. Other farewells had to be quicker as people had plans for the day. I made many facebook acquaintances via these farewells. I really had made a lot of real friends at the Gspot in Lisbon, staff and fellow residents. In my five nights I had become part of a community, an ever-changing group of people inspired to have fun in one of the nicest cities in the world.

Eventually everyone who was heading out for the day had left and we got around to packing. I had acquired some snacks and wine that I didn’t have room to bring with me so I donated them to Natalia, the cool girl who works at the Gspot hostel. When we were just about finished packing we headed to I Love Hotdogs for some lunch before our plane ride. I was feeling particularly hungry and opted for two hotdogs. When we got back to the hostel we chilled for a little bit with the staff before it was time to go. We said fond goodbyes to the staff that had treated us so well for the past 6 days and headed to the metro. There was a big gathering at the park by the metro but apart from a passing interest we played it no mind. Tickets paid we waited at the Metro station for 20 minutes for an overloaded metro train to get to the station and another couple minutes for it’s entire load of people to disembark. Nearly half an hour behind where we wanted to be we were getting antsy about our flight. After transferring to the airport line we decided we would start running when our train stopped. Unfortunately our efforts were hampered by poor signage at the airport, which has us running 5 for minutes in the wrong direction in search of terminal 2 outside in the Lisbon heat. I was wearing my winter jacket to save space in my bag. When we finally figured out we had to head back to terminal one and take a shuttle to terminal two had to wait on the shuttle bus for 15 minutes for it to whisk us away despite that it was supposed to be an hourly shuttle. Once we had finally arrived at the counter to check our bags, we were informed that baggage check had been stopped already for our flight and we would have to manually carry our bags to the tarmac and check them there for fifty euros. This besides the large some of money involved us taking our checked bags through security. Goodbye body wash, face wash, hand cream, hand sanitizer and Johnnie Walker Green Label. Pat had to part with his Shaving cream and his really nice swizz army knife. Antics complete we boarded the plane and had an otherwise uneventful flight to Rome. In Rome we took the train to Termini Station then a somewhat sketchy bus to Hotel Lodi, where we would be staying the next four nights.

Checking in at 11:30pm we were pretty hungry. Upon inquiry we learned that there was only one place open for food at this hour of a Saturday night: Avalon. Avalon is a medieval fashioned pub. Styled to look like a dungeon the staff wore tunics. It was a bit strange but we were hungry and the food was good. After a fairly large hot salami pizza apiece we headed back to the hostel and to bed. 

A Failed Walking Tour

March 1:

After my second consecutive night staying out at the club until it closed I was unready for my early awakening. At dinner the previous night some American foreign exchange students who were calling it an early night had said they intended to go on the walking tour this morning and I had boldly decided to go with them. Due to the nature of Pat’s illness the previous day I was unsure if he would be able to do anything today and decided that I may as well be productive.

I arose after a scant few hours sleep at 9:30. To say I found the task I had set for myself today to be daunting would likely be to overstate my reluctance but I will say my reaction to my alarm wasn’t a pleasant one. Fortunately for me though, in a disturbingly usual fashion of late, my courage from the previous night had not yet worn off. When I stumbled to breakfast I saw Mitch had shown up to say his goodbyes with a pitcher of joy. Well on my way and with some trepidation as to what might befall me later that day I joined him as I prepared for the day.

With pancakes in pocket and refreshment on hand I left with the group and we made our way to the rendezvous point for the walking tour. I did see Pat before I left but he was rather predictably out of sorts through much better then the day prior. The group I left with was one of the larger that I had been with so far on my travels, consisting of the seven Americans who had went to bed early the previous night, the one who had joined us for our fun, two girls who had checked in that morning (Alice and Alejandra), and myself.

The walking tour started slowly. We first went to a church where they had slaughtered some Jews. It was here where I realized that through I managed to bring my camera I had not remembered that I removed my battery for charging the previous day and had yet to replace it. Fortunately Alejandra had her camera and was willing to share her pictures with camera-less Alice and me. We proceeded from the church to the first store in Lisbon that sold ginja. Ginja is a very sweet cherry liqueur that is traditional in the region and is the alcohol most associated with Lisbon. This would be the place if any to try this local drink and it was no longer as early in the day as it once had been so we gave it a go. For those interested it is offputtingly sweet and many of the now swelled walking tour delighted in taking pictures of their friend’s faces as they reacted to a sip of their spirit. As the tour proceeded we went to the Santa Justa Lift. We approached from the back as to not to have to buy a lift ticket but as it was half the tour group went up to the top of the lift anyways. It was a euro fifty to get what could only be ten feet higher so Alice, Alejandra, and I went to go find a washroom. At least ten minutes later we returned to the Lift to find the group still there. Perplexed as to how they could possibly be taking that much time and getting hungry as it was now the afternoon the three of us, now acting as a group, went to get some lunch.

After a sandwich and a beer apiece we wandered our way down to the waterfront. In the central square I remembered the free Portuguese wine tasting Nick, the hostel owner, had recommended. We arrived there at 2 but were soon informed that 2 was the one hour they did not run the wine tasting as it was their lunch hour. Unperturbed we crossed the square to the sea wall and hung out there in the sun for the hour. Oh, I have yet to mention the weather but it was amazing out, 17 degrees with zero wind and Portugal’s amazing ability to have not a cloud in the sky.

At the wine tasting we ran into the American foreign exchange students who had gone on the walking tour. They planned to do more stuff after the tasting but our trio was getting tired and would be going for a nap. The wine tasting was pretty interesting, Portugal has a terrific variety of grapes to suit its various climates that are largely unknown beyond its borders.  After the wine tasting we stopped into a kebob shop for a second lunch to hold us till dinner and went home to nap. After my nap I was afforded a few hours to hang out before dinner. After dinner we all tapped into the unlimited beer for 5 euros and played some beer pong after a big game of trivia. Our trivia team, the Canadian Beauty came third but afforded me an introduction with a guy named Benoit who watched Archer! For those of you who do not know:

Fortunately I was much better at beer pong and with teammates of Pat and Alejandra I remained undefeated. When we headed to the bars the first one was the same as always and there were a few of the one euro peanut shots to be had. The second bar was across form the first and was so packed that few of us dared to venture in. It was around this time that Alejandra and I were hungry and decided to get some food. Nick said we had ten minutes before they were leaving so we figured we had plenty of time. After a trip to the kebab shop we realized we were mistaken. We were alone but the night was still young so we headed back into the bar district and visited a few more places before deciding we were tired and it was time to head home to bed. 

A Lazy Day in Lisbon

February 28:

Today Pat was under the weather and I was content to lay about for the day watching tv and chilling with Zak. Highlights include the Daily Show, Colbert Report, Cougar Town and Workaholics. Also we got hotdogs again from the place near the hostel. That night we went out to many of the same bars as the previous night.