BBBenny and the Jets!!

OH EM GEEZ

I meant to update last week....but too much goes on...and then I went to Rome, and I'm still trying to process the fact that I...was...in...ROME!!

But since I'm going to Krakow later today (mah homeland!!...well, half of it) I should update before this turns into an entry that rivals War and Peace.

EDIT:...yea....im already back from Krakow (krakow will be the next post)...I ran outta time...and was slightly hungover one day

So 2 weeks ago...what happened to me...

hmm...half of 2 weeks ago was spent helping with preparations for our country presentation. You see, every Wednesday there are presentations of all the countries that all the international students come from. Every week there is 2 or 3 countries that present who they are and have some typical dish and such...and each presentation usually involves a drinking game...

so for our country presentation, we decided to make peanut butter and jelly (but we used strawberry jelly...because apparently Czechs have yet to discover the one true jelly...welchs grape. We were also going to make rice crispie treats, but could not find anything remotely close to rice crispies, so we had to abandon that idea. I also helped out in making 200 jello shots! And by helping out I mean I had to figure out how to put 200 little plastic shot glasses into a 3.0 cubic foot fridge; which they did. BUT...long story short our presentation went as well as could have been expected- we started out in high style with beer bongs...and I totally did one! THATS RIGHT....you heard it here first. No one thought I could do it...and I wanted to prove people wrong. I got high fives and shocked faces (and I didn't throw up either by the way)...but needed a moment to myself afterwards. I did not get back to my room til early the next morning though because I wound up going on an extended walk around Prague...and got to see the castle and such at night. Its a different experience to see all the tourist sites when there are no tourists around.

AND NOW....ROME!!!

I went with seven other people to Rome: 2 people from my studio...2 other guys from K-State...one guy from Texas Tech...and 2 guys from MSOE. In retrospect that might have been a few too many people to go on a trip with because its hard to get everyone to agree and even harded to make sure that everyone is seeing what they want to, but it worked out pretty well. (there is a group picture of all of us somewhere...but I dont remember who took it)

There were no complications getting from our dorm to Rome. It was all relatively uneventful...we got to the airport...got our tickets...eventually got on the plane...I kicked someone...you know, normal stuff.

The sign at the airport from where we had to take a train from there to the main train station in Rome- Termini. The train was only slightly akward.

Our hostel was one block over from the train station in the same area as a lot of other areas...but it wasnt...um...lets just say that its not the place the someone should hang around by at night. So everyone got all situated...and then we ate at a place right by our hostel. We all got pizza and a soda for 7 Euro. I got everyone to start saying JP2...and told a joke. The joke: "what do you call Pope Benedict and his College of Cardinals?... Benny and the Jets.

My pizza...I think it has salami on it. It was ok til about 3/4 of the way through...and then the grease got to me.

After that...headed to the first place on our list of Rome sites...the Colosseum. Funny thing though...it kinda creeps on you when coming up the escalator from the metro stop...none of us knew that we would see it...from the metro. I believe the first words out of my mouth were... "holy shit...that's the god damn Colosseum." And it is definitely an impressive site. I wound up walking around the whole thing....and damn...I walked around the Colosseum.

Colosseum

Colosseum

Then...we spent the next hour and a half walking in the direction of the Pantheon. Everyone kept stopping to take pictures of random things. After a while....it all started looking the same to me...so I stopped taking pictures...for the time being. And...I had to concentrate on not being hit by a car. Italian drivers are insane. And...I think that one of my friends pointed out at some point later on during the trip that there are no red lights...its only green and yellow. For instance...say you are crossing the street....and you have the right of way- apparently that means very little to the driver who is making a turn. They will keep turning until they get about 2 feet away from you...and then you have to run across the street to keep from dying.

But moving so...so we eventually get to the Pantheon (which was a Roman temple that was converted to a church in the 300s) ...but we were there too late to take a famous Pantheon picture. The famous Pantheon picture is one where the shadow is just right from the hole at the top of the dome and projects itself onto the inside of the dome. Sad day indeed...but...I did the best I could. The interesting thing about the dome of the Pantheon is that no one is entirely sure how it was built...but the concrete gets progressive thinner and it gets to the top to reduce weight and pressure.

Ok...this was a lot longer of a post...but for some reason blogger would not save it...so this is going to a lot shorter...and half as funny as it is supposed to be.

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain....its built into the facade of the building. AND...there has been a fountain in this spot for since 27 BCE.
Our dinner at a restaurant down the way from the Trevi Fountain...it wasnt exactly what I wanted...but it was pretty good.

SOUTHSIDE (of St. Peter's Square) REPRESENT!! We got to the Square at 7 in the morning...and were done seeing what we could by like 8:45...of course about 15 minutes before the entreance to the dome opened up. But it I did pick up some religious souvenirs in some shops in the square.
St. Peter's. The dome of the Pantheon I believe fits in the dome of the church (or its the other way around...either way...its one of the 2) There was a small prayer room off to the side in the church that I visited...but I did more gawking at the interior than actually praying...so as i left...I tripped on one of the pews in the back and almost fell. And of course...I said "holy shit"....im going to hell....
OREOS...i found them in the Vatican Museums...and hadnt had them in over 2 months...they were delicious!...even though I ate them in the museums. One of my friends told me that I was going to be excommunicated now...I was too hungry to care.
One of many hallways you pass through during the 1.5 hour trek to get to the Sistine Chapel. I think this one had tapestries.....or maps...but im leaning towards tapestries
Im guessing parts of the pope's exercise routine...gotta keep your pope hand strong!!!
I never found the Vatican secret archives...another clever rouse on the part of the Catholic Church. Another rouse....gift shop/kiosk areas EVERYWHERE...and they all sold the same things... you could not travel far in that place without seeing one.
The Vatican at night...after that we ate at a cafe...down the street from the Colosseum. One of my friends also got the exercise the use of his Popener. YES thats right...a pope bottle opener. I bought 2 the day before....Its the most awesome pope gift...EVER (or incredibly sacreligious...)

Inside of the Colosseum...It rained like right after this picture...and kept raining...and I stayed soaked...for most of the rest of the day...

Inside of the Colosseum!!

Me in the Roman Ruins...im pretty sure I wasn't supposed to be sitting there...oh well...yet another awesome shot to prove I was in Rome.

Roman Ruins

Delicous Gelato...coffee gelato with a tiny scoop of biscotti gelato on top in a tiny cone...and my friend Lindsay skysharking me from the right trying to take my gelato.
Me drinking a giant bottle of Peroni In front of the Trevi Fountain...because there are no public drinking laws in Rome. (As far as we knew...i bet the asian chicks at the store we were at were lying to us.)
Me being an ass...and stretching out my legs...and showing off my fabulous Puma's at the same time...

The rest of the trip involved a 7 hour stay in the airport...don't ever do that...ever. I was unable to sleep until we got on the plane...and was asleep as soon as the plane took off...and I never sleep on planes.

Next post: KRAKOW!! the land of JP2...and Perogi!!