When in Rome...Get Lost and Miss Class

Today was actually the worst day ever! We woke up this morning just to find out that to get to Switzerland the train is going to cot us 400 euro. As if we have that kind of money. So we got our asses out of bed and WALKED to the train station (because the tram was down temporarily). That is a far walk. We eventually got on a bus. It took us like an hour to get there (us as in Olivia, Brittany and I). Once we finally got there 7 different people sent us to wait on 7 different lines and were ssooo unhelpful. Eventually we ran out of time because Olivia and I had to get to class. I was cranky and starving so on the way out we stopped and got paninis for 5 euro. (By the way, I have been living off of tomato and mozzarella paninis). We were going to take a cab back to John Cabot so that Olivia and I could get back in time for class but they guy wanted to charge us 40 euro...that is absolutely outrageous. Instead we got on a bus that said it stopped at Trastevre (which is where we needed to be) but really, it did not. We wound up on the other side of Rome! Actually, I don't even know where we were. However, we did drive by the Coloseum. It is amazing; I cannot wait to actually go visit it. I still can't believe that Romans live their every day life just walking by these beautiful and ancient pieces of architecture as if they are just another building. I was in awe and everyone else on the bus barely even acknowledged it.

Anyway, Olivia and I finally got off the bus and decided we needed a new route. We asked some people and they said to take the 75 but, oh surprise, surprise, there was no 75! So we picked a different bus. We found a bus that goes close enough to where we needed to be but it took 45 minutes for it to come. I hate missing class. I rarely do it at school and since I felt so guilty I took out my Italian book and started to do the work I would have been doing if I was in class (Olivia took pictures-I have proof). When we finally got on the right bus we missed our stop and had to get off on the next one and walk back to where we were supposed to get off. We got to John Cabot right as our classes were getting out. But we got some yummy pineapple and watermelon on the walk over :-). I talked to my teacher and she was very understanding. She showed me the work I missed and I showed her how I was almost all caught up because I did some work at the bus stop and she was very impressed.

At the end I really was not that upset that I missed class. No, I don't like it nor do I plan on making a habit out of it but I had a lot of fun. Olivia and I went on a little adventure and, with the help of 3 maps, 2 American tourists, and 1 bus driver, we made it back all by ourselves.

Brittany met us at John Cabot and the 3 of us went into the computer lab to work on our project due on Tuesday (talk about being ahead of the game). However, we are a bunch of young girls so it took us a good hour to actually start the project. Instead we researched how to get to Switzerland for under 400 euros (when in Rome...find cheap ways to travel). We decided on a Eurail pass. For like 345 euro we get a pass that allows us 3 countries (France, Italy, and Switzerland) for 6 days in 2 months. Not a bad deal. We were so proud of ourselves for figuring it out on our own!

The 3 of us bought our train tickets and went to the courtyard to work on our project. We got all the research done before going back home for dinner. On the way home we picked up a few things at a little side store (like bread and tomato sauce).

We made spaghetti with our other roommate from Milan, Enrica (it was delicious), and had a glass of wine. Olivia, Brittany and I cleaned up and went into our room to work on our project, but first played a game of Uno on facebook against our other friend living a floor above us (when in Rome...play uno with friends on facebook). We have to get up super early tomorrow for class so we are calling it an early night. I think tomorrow night we are going to do the Coloseum bar crawl and then this weekend we are going to Venice, Pisa, and Milan...I AM SO EXCITED!!!

Buononoche