I am not sure what I think about 
ve ever been to. (Mrs. MacInerny’s Latin class is coming back to me in rapid flashes right now. I can practically smell the cigarette stench exuding from her clothes). But I don’t believe that the modern Romans treat the city with the respect it deserves. The city can’t have it both ways. It can’t be a modern city and a well preserved historical site at the same time. The two don’t add up.
On the other hand, it is a great big city. It has great food, great shopping (not that I shop) and is wonderfully crowded. But it feels wrong to have major streets running by places such as the
Roman Forum and the Colloseum.
The Roman Forum in itself was somewhat upsetting. It almost looks like a graveyard or a dump. The stones may have been there since the beginning of modern time, but now they are just lying around like someone’s trash. And having cars whizzing by their site doesn’t help give them the reverence they deserve. At the same time, they are well protected so I guess I am just being paranoid.
The thing about museums that hold so many great statues (as the ones in 
The Sistine Chapel was amazing, but there was so much going on that it was impossible for me to focus on anything in particular. You aren’t supposed to talk in the Chapel and there was a guy going around shushing people. He was quite annoying. I wanted to punch him when he started having a very loud conversation with one of the guards he knew.
Now a short story about hostel living. The thing about hostels is that they don’t provide a home base like hotels do. The only time that it is worth going back to the hostel is bedtime. When I went to sleep last night, no one else was in the eight-person room. They were all out partying or clubbing and seeing a side of 
sleeping, which I in no way should. Anyway, at about 1 am I was sound asleep when some of the other travelers came barging in.
“I swear man, that girl wanted to have sex tonight.”
Oh boy, this could be interesting. I fake like I am still asleep so I can listen.
“But I can’t go out there man. The owner is out there”
I couldn’t figure out why this guy was scared of the owner seeing him. Then it became clear.
“Dude, you shouldn’t have puked in the stairwell.”
“You think I can control that? I paid for this room, man. He can’t lock me in here. Man that girl wanted it to.”
The guy thus preceded to try to persuade the hostel workers, who were ordered to keep him in his room, to let him go upstairs to the girl. The guy managed to get the girl somehow. I know because he was far from sparing with the details the next evening. Hostels offer little privacy.
Comments Welcome,
Andrew
6 comments:
Andrew,
First, I have to say that I was very relieved to see your postings, as I was beginning to get worried (what's a mother to do?)
I will write you a separate email, but I wanted to say that I felt the opposite about the ruins in Rome. To me it seemed that there was alot of respect because in the US, we probably would have gotten rid of the "old stones". I also kind of liked the juxtapositioning of the old and the new. I thought it was amazing that you could walk on the Appian Way (which brought back memories of my Latin class an eon ago).
It sounds like you had an interesting time,though. I hope you got to hook up with your friends in Rome and didn't have to eat alone there.
Love,
Mom
Mom,
I guess that's true although the Romans saw the Colloseum just as "old stones" until recently.
The next time you have your picture taken, you should take your hands out of your pockets. That's my two cents.
Paul,
Noted
Mr. Waite,
Hostels are...interesting, to say the least. I just stayed in a hostel this weekend in Barcelona. I was the odd-girl-out and ended up in a room of people I didn't know. I was also the girl who woke everyone up when she came in (however, I was not the one talking loudly about banging some other chick).
Italy is the one place I feel like I'm missing out on seeing. It looks pretty incredible, even if it is suffering a slight identity crisis.
PS Love the videos. I might start adding some myself!
Steph,
You WEREN'T the one talking about getting with a woman? Surprising. One of the Hostel workers was actually living in the hostel until he could earn enough money to leave. I don't envy him.
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