Ciao!
Yesterday, we arrived in
Rrrrroma. (It's hard not to roll your "r"s in Rome.) Anyway, our plane touched down at just after 10pm, which, after baggage and the shuttle into the downtown, left us getting to our hostel at about midnight. Being the
ol' pros that we are (knock on wood), this did not phase us the slightest, as carrying 50lbs on our backs just seems like natural torture at this point. (SICK TORTURE... but "natural".) We checked in, our beds were made for us, and all was well with the world. Well, mostly.
Anyway, come the light of day, all IS still well, but it's a bit different around the edges. Which leads me to my real point, which is about the joys of some women in our women only hostel, and some of the stark realities that the light of day has brought to me.
Read:What follows is my testament as to why I'm starting to think that (some) girls make terrible girlfriends.
**
Our hostel is a bit like one
shmoozy, kind of clingy girlfriend.
Y'know - the kind you swore you'd never be? Sure, it's all cute and quaint from the outside. Clean hallways, comfortable pillows and mattresses, a bidet in one of the bathrooms, huge private lockers; it's all glitz and glam and new and exciting. The relationship is fresh. She looks good, you look good... it's all good! At least, you thought is was. What happens when you wake up in the morning though, and you realize (as you wait in line for one of three shower-toilet combo bathrooms) is that really, maybe there's just a little something off about this girl?!
It's not that I don't like our hostel. I do! The location is great, and all is well. What I'm underwhelmed about is those wonderful qualities that make some girls terrible girlfriends. They're the girls who you suddenly wake up to find have taken over.
Y'know, garbage on your kitchen and end tables, blow dryers at every plug in, hair all over the floor - okay. I'm guilty of that too, but whatever - a thousand tiny little bottles of shampoo and conditioner and creams and crap you've never even heard of or imagined littering showers and counters and surface area of floor that's covered with pools of water from your shower that just should not be. There's the neatly stacked plates, covered in yesterday's food that somebody left next to the moldy sponge in the sink, which prompts my step-dad's line of "Who was your servant before I came along!?", and which goes along with thoughts of, "Is it THAT hard to throw moldy food out of the mini-fridge?!"
Oh, but that girlfriend - she is sly! Catch her without her make up on, and she's surrounded by a posse of friends saying that she's never looked better! "Isn't this THE best hostel!? I LOVE that it's all women!" arise cries from
newbs who clearly haven't spent 5 weeks on the road, staying at places like Goat Hostel in Budapest, or
Rossio in Lisbon. Tell me then - why is there an oven, which tricks you into buying 3 days worth of dinner groceries, when it doesn't work, and the only person who is around to answer your questions are the people who run the hotel across the street because, hey! "24 hour reception" apparently means "we don't ever have anybody here to look after the place or answer your questions", which, in bad girlfriend code translates into, "
OMG! So sorry. My cell phone died and I totally didn't get your
msg! Were we supposed to meet up!!??" It's like you left toothpaste all over the counter, used the last square of t.p., and then ran out before your boyfriend woke up, hoping he didn't notice. (Please note. I am not a boy. & I
have noticed the 24 hrs. of toothpaste spit on the counter, & the now obsolete toilet paper in bathroom #1. It's gross & inconvenient in that order.)
It's just so... wrong! What's next, a love fern!? A guilt trip because you're insecure and don't want me hanging out at my other hostels, judging you based on them?! I can't help it if my past relationships were better than this one! I mean, not "better"... Those relationships just weren't the same! Oh hostel, I DO like your friends... I just don't know that I can commit!! You understand, don't you!?! IT'S NOT YOU, IT'S ME!!!!!!!
**
Anyway, like I said (or at least, meant to say), I actually quite like our hostel. It's in a great location, only a close walk away from the
Trevi Fountain (which we saw today!) and the Coliseum, and a zillion other "little" things that make Rome Rome, and the beds ARE super comfy. It's just... I don't know... "different", is all!
:P
That said, GOD I love Rome.
xoxo from the land of Christiano Rinaldo billboards the size of the
CN Tower!
-a. (& d.)
(Though I take full responsibility for the cattiness of this blog. :P)
A hot and sweaty evening in Florence. (Above.) +40C + Crowds = Grossness
Ciao, Roma! Your gelato is beyond human descriptions of deliciousness.
Been there, seen that. Y'know?! :P
Above: Au depart. Ma famille!! Andre, Genevieve, moi, Francis et Gigi.
Free French Toilettes... if you can find ones that are operational!
Does the picture above REALLY need to be captioned?!
Is it me, or is Dani awkwardly distance-pinching that statue!? ;) TREVI!
Is the line at the Coliseum REALLY worth it? (We're still debating...) 
10 hours later (that'd be today), we're all gelato'ed up and Vatican'ed out! :) 
