Rainy 'Roman Holiday'

Well, the rain has followed me to Rome...apparently it was gorgeous here until I arrived, and then it started to rain and hasn't stopped. But it's ok in Rome because there are so many things to see indoors. I arrived on Wednesday evening, and am staying at a really cute hostel called 'Happy Days'. It's actually run by two Canadian girls...however I haven't met them yet. I get breakfast (cornflakes and warm milk) and dinner (really good pasta) and I have met some really fun people so it's been great! The first night here I needed some 'me' time so I took myself to the movies...and I saw 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. So good. It was Wednesday night and apparently that's cheap night in Rome, so there were a bunch of English people there. I laughed really hard when I realized that was the English movie because I'm pretty sure that its the one that Adam saw when he was traveling in France this summer...yeah Jonny Depp in foreign locations!! The other weird thing about the theatre was that you get assigned seats! I didn't realize this until some guys came in and were trying to find their seats. But it turned out that I am psychic and actually sat in the seat I was supposed to. I'm so amazing. I sat beside an English couple and we started to chat before the movie started and I was telling them about how I was traveling on my own, and before I left at the end of the movie they both made me promise to be safe and look out for myself. So cute. Anyway, when I left, I went to get back on the Metro and the gates were closed. I thought that maybe it was just that one stop, so I asked a couple on the street, and oh no, they metro stops at 9pm...can you believe that! Apparently there are buses you can take, but I had NO idea where my hostel was so instead I chickened out and got a cab. That was really interesting trying to explain it to a cabby when all I knew was the metro stop that I would have gotten out at. But I got back ok and on the way he was pointing out places to me...so well worth the money.
Yesterday I went out exploring on my own and saw the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and Castei S. Angelo. I did a lot of walking around, and it started to rain in the afternoon, so I headed back to the hostel around 3:30pm for some chill out time. After dinner last night a huge group of us went to get Gellato (amazing...it was my first real Italian Gellato and I was in paradise...for those of you wondering, I got dark chocolate and caramel flavours). After we got our Gellato, we decided to go to Trevi Fountain, unfortunatly we got really lost (I clearly wasn't looking at my map or it would never have happened!) and ended up back at the Pantheon. But after some back-tracking we finally go there. It was beautiful. I was so mad that I didn't have my camera but I'm going to go back either tomorrow night or Sunday night and take some pictures then. We also headed over to the Spanish Steps and there was a choir there from the Nethlands (or that's what the general guess was) singing on the steps. They were amazing. And you should have seen the 10 of us North American and Australian 20-somethings going mental when they started to sing 'Under the Sea' from the Little Mermaid. We were quite entertaining.
This morning my plan was to get up early and head to Vatican City, but I fell asleep again after my alarm went off, so I didn't actually get out of bed till 8am. Around 9am me and two guys from Victoria, BC, Jarod and Chris, headed over to the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. The line was around the corner, however it only took us around an hour to get in. We wandered through the museum, but didn't really stop to take it all in as we really just wanted to see the Chapel. It was amazing. Totally worth the wait and the euros to get in. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, so you will all just have to come and see it for yourselves! After the museum, Jarod and Chris headed out to go to Sorrento, and I headed into the Vatican City to see St. Peter's Basilica. Once again, the line was HUGE, but I sucked it up and got in it. I decided to go up to the Dome first because the boys had told me that when you are done you end up inside the Basilica. The line took me around an hour and 45 minutes, and then it took me another 20-30 minutes to get to the top of the dome. My butt is seriously going to be gorgeous by the end of this trip...all the stairs I am climbing! The views were spectacular and once again the line, euros, and steps were worth it. So today turned out to be my Vatican Day. I'm going to head back to the hostel in a few minutes to recharge some batteries and take a shower. Dinner is at 6:30, and I don't know what I'm going to get up to tonight....might just be a homebody and stay at the hostel and get some postcards done...its too rainy and cold out to venture out too far!
I was going to do some pictures but I appear to have forgotten my USB cord, so I'll pop back in here tomorrow and post a few!
Love to you all!!!
PS I have been asked by some friends (and by 'some' I mean one...you know who you are!) what all the boys I have been meeting have looked like...so here's your answer. While in Greece the guys that did the tour with us were goodlooking. Great eye candy while sitting on the beach! Chris, the Aussie from Naples, reminded me SO much of a certain Calgaria RM that I loved him immediately...so obviously he also was super hott! Phil the Englishman was typical English...tall, lanky, bad teeth...yes, it's sad but true. But if he kept his teeth hidden he was quite attractive. Eric was also good looking (I need to be careful though because he will probably be reading this!). Looks very Southern Gentleman...tall, curly dark hair...definetly a yum factor there. Jarod and Chris that I hung out with today were cute but looked really young...I would totally have been into them about 4 years ago though...apparently my tastes have just matured! HA HA HAAAAA!!! That's pretty funny! One very yummy thing about today though was all the Swiss Guards in Vatican City. They wear the most rediculous uniforms but they are some of the most attractive men I have encountered since I started traveling...perhaps even before that! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures, but if I have some extra time I'll head back and see if I can get a few to pose for me!
That's it for now! Happy Thanksgiving to everyone back home!! Enjoy all the Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie! I must say that I am going to miss it!