Day 3 - Last full day in Rome

After another late start (went to bed around 6am this time around). Ann and I decided to hit up the Vatican museum. After much debate (and harassment) we decided to do one of the guided tours. Right away I can say this is worth it. The info in the Vatican is poorly labeled and there are over 50 different rooms, some of which are filled with nothing important. Some of the most important pieces in the entire museum has no labels what so ever.

Our guide was from http://www.edenwalks.com. I cannot remember his name, but he was amazing. Simply amazing. He has been giving tours for 10 years in Rome, knew so many mainstream and off the wall facts about the Vatican and its paintings. He did a great job at giving the different myths, theories and rumors surronding different aspects of the Vatican, added his opinion on which is most accurate and then backed up his reasoning. It was a fantastic tour. He somehow managed to get this ADD kid (me) to keep his attention on art for 2.5 hours.

After we finished the tour, entered St. Peters Basilica (wow, huge), I decided why not trying planking infront of some Swiss Guards. If you don't know what planking is, read this (Planking). The conversation was great. I approached him and just said

Tom - "Sir, do you know what planking is?"
Guard - "Yes" (while laughing)
Tom - "Can I plank in front of you, right here, on this rail?"
Guard (laughing) "You might hurt your self"
Tom - "Worth the risk"
Guard - (thinking)
Tom - "What if I am really quick about it?"
Guard - "Okay, be quick" (still laughing).

Boom, planked!

Later that day we visited the villa borghese (a park). It is very beautiful, but nothing as exciting as ancient ruins and the Vatican. Finally, we capped out night off with a trip to Trastevere and it lived up to its expectation. A beautiful part of Rome near the River lined with bars, cafes and restaurants and filled to the brim with people, mostly in their twenties. We went to a Jamican themed bar (by accident) and made a few new Italian friends. We talked about life, differences between our countries (a common conversation) and I was asked how I like Italian women so far. Sorry Mom and Dad, but I keep falling in love with a new Italian beauty every 10 minutes or so. I don't know if I can come home until I bring one with me. Hopefully the rest of Europe keeps up at this pace.

After a few drinks, I decide to retire early at the ripe hour of 2am. When we get back to the hostel there are three British youths (our age) hanging out. One works there, one is a friend of worker and the other is staying there. We start talking about how to identify people based on what country they are from. Then we start to talk about Tornadoes (of course) and thunderstorms. None of them have ever experience a real storm before. Finally, I mention my families hometown of Lavenham, England, in which one of the people knew a lot about. It is a small town, but had a famous family, the Springs (my Mom's family), who were extremely wealthy, one of the wealthiest (if not number 1) during that time period. (1400-1600). They built a beautiful church that is covered in the Spring family crest and has Thomas Spring's remains in a bronze display.

Finally, I called it a night around 3am only to enjoy our hot room, with a non-working bathroom and loud noises coming from outside. I did enjoy my 4 hours of sleep though.

Bonus picture - We met a one legged pigeon.