Some of my roommates and I went out to a couple bars last night which were chalk full of Americans and kind of sketchy. We didn't end up leaving the apartment until 12:30 and didn't get back til 5. I don't know how Italians manage this extreme night partying. I didn't wake up until 3pm and felt as if the whole day had been wasted. I love going out and meeting people as much as the next person, but 5AM is obscene. The highlight of the night was walking past some ancient Roman ruins which were gorgeous lit up by random lights and the trees in the midst of them were full of bats. You don't get that walking through the streets in Philadelphia, you get murdered instead.
I wanted to get out and see the city, but since I woke up so late I had to make it a limited time excursion. My roommate and I ended up taking the bus to the Colosseum. We got on the bus and it made two stops before it stopped completely and the driver got out. After the immediate confusion, I followed the driver off the bus and with my broken Italian asked him what was going on and whether the bus was still going to the Colosseum. He casually replied that the route would continue once he finished his cigarette. So after the driver's smoke break we were on our way.
The Super Dome of Ancient Rome was overwhelming lit up in the dark, and I was able to give my roommate what little of the history I remembered about it (lots of death, lions, no one liked Christians, gladiators, how possibly Joaquin Phoenix is even creepier now with his beard/horrible new rapping career than he was in that movie, columns, missing marble). I was disappointed to see that all the sexy gladiator impersonators were not out and about flexing their vino guts, but I'm sure I'll go back during the day and have better luck. We walked around a little bit got some gelato (delightful) and hopped back onto another bus, luckily there was no smoke break before we got to our stop. Sorry the pictures are blurry it's rough taking night landscape photos because you have to be absolutely still, and that's more difficult than it sounds when you're balanced on thousand year old cobblestone.
I wanted to get out and see the city, but since I woke up so late I had to make it a limited time excursion. My roommate and I ended up taking the bus to the Colosseum. We got on the bus and it made two stops before it stopped completely and the driver got out. After the immediate confusion, I followed the driver off the bus and with my broken Italian asked him what was going on and whether the bus was still going to the Colosseum. He casually replied that the route would continue once he finished his cigarette. So after the driver's smoke break we were on our way. 
The Super Dome of Ancient Rome was overwhelming lit up in the dark, and I was able to give my roommate what little of the history I remembered about it (lots of death, lions, no one liked Christians, gladiators, how possibly Joaquin Phoenix is even creepier now with his beard/horrible new rapping career than he was in that movie, columns, missing marble). I was disappointed to see that all the sexy gladiator impersonators were not out and about flexing their vino guts, but I'm sure I'll go back during the day and have better luck. We walked around a little bit got some gelato (delightful) and hopped back onto another bus, luckily there was no smoke break before we got to our stop. Sorry the pictures are blurry it's rough taking night landscape photos because you have to be absolutely still, and that's more difficult than it sounds when you're balanced on thousand year old cobblestone.
