"Do you think they know we're arguing about ninja turtle and not artists?"

Ahhh Rome the gentle sound of the ambulence and police siren every two minutes...

Ok so it's been a while since the last post... I hopped onto a boat in Dubrovnik at like 11pm and got off it in Bari around 8... it wasn't as bad as people said it would be. The trick is to sleep on the floor rather than the chairs... I'm claiming credit for starting that trend in the section of the boat I was in. I was first to lie down on the floor and when I woke up nearly everyone was doing it... I was coughing up an absolute flem storm though (yeah I know you think I'm gross... but as I've said before I'm not really gross I'm Rock & Roll).

I then got a train from Bari (down south somewhere) to Rome... the train was actually pretty good... The italians may be chaotic and out of control but they do their trains well. It also wasn't packed in the slightest so I got to sleep easily.
Got into Rome and decided to stay two nights to fit in all the Rome touristy stuff. I decided to do it all in walking tour type things rather than faff about alone and try and do it... mainly because I didn't want to have to plan it out I just wanted someone to show me where it all was (yeah it's lazy but gimme a break). I did a night tour the first night that concentrated mainly on the fountains and stuff that looks good at night... It was pretty cool and I saw a lot of things and got told stuff I wouldn't have seen or found out if I was alone. Things like the bitchy "war by sculpture" that was conducted mainly by Benini (or whoever he was that sculpted most of Rome). The guide knew heaps and ironically there was a bogan aussie on the tour whinging about bogans... I also got told about another Bone church and saw what I thought was a magic shop I wanted to go back too.
The Yellow hostel I stayed at was a "party" hostel... which wasn't really my scene... I don't really appreciate the "lets get wasted" mentality of some travellers... especially when it affects your ability to see the sights etc that you're travelling for in the first place... Stupid seppos...
I also wore shoes for the first time since halfway through WUCCs because I put on my long pants the next day and went off to see the pope... or at least visit his house.

...He wasn't home...

But the Vatican tour I did was pretty interesting, although I do cringe everytime I meet a new "Aussie" travelling. Although listening to selfish people try and justify their selfishness is kinda amusing.
One part of the tour was going to "the best gelato shope in Rome" and yes it was AWESOME. I had a caramel and a lemon on (not together I got two)... The caramel rocked my socks... but it meant the lemon one tasted like the sourest of sour sours...
I saw some old buildings and the 10 angels bridge (hearing all about the passion of the christ along the way) and then in the line to the Vatican museum I bumped into Max and Nick and aranged to meet them for dinner.
So the vatican museum was pretty cool... but even I was gettting over italian rennanisance scultpure and (especially) painting by then. The sistine chapel was kinda cool though... I didn't realise it was lots of little pictures though. I think the irony of a little man shouting for everyone to be silent (not to mention the loudspeaker telling everyone) was a bit lost on most though. And talking noises... sistine chapel, best venue for a penis game EVER... Due to all the people I completely lost my tour group though so I headed off to St Pete's Bassilica by myself... Only to re find them there after I left it. That's the nicest church I've been in... which is would want to be given it's like god's house etc.... I then climbed the dome after a brief fight with the ticket man (why the fuck would I want 4 tickets you retard... I'm alone)...

I then returned to the hostel to find my new room reaking of BO... yuck...
Then I went to dinner with Nick and Max... finding out in Italy you apparently need a passport to access the internet to stop the terrorists or something. We booked our accom for Florence together there and then crossed town to a restaurant that the Lonely Planet recomended...

and they were right...

Dino and Tony's was a serious experience... I hadn't had awesomeness food experience until this restaurant... It felt a bit like eating at your friends parents' house... we felt like we should be carrying the dishes into the kitchen to help wash up against their protests of something... except the food was about the best I've ever had. Now (as you should know) Iàm not a "foodie" like a lot of my friends, but this place rocked my socks... We didn't even order... Dino (or perhaps Tony) just said "I sort you out" after we asked for antipasto...
This antipasto was so big and so good we started to think it was actually a main course too... then we got two pasta dishes each... A simple bologenese and an even simpler garlic, olive oil and basil number cooked better than I'd ever had before... followed by an "ice coffee" which was essentially frozen coffee shaved into flakes and covered with whipped cream... Coupled with the unique serving style (throw cutlery from a distance and slam plates onto the table) and a fight between dino and tony and it was amazing... A trip to a bar (after a post midnight dinner finish) and a watermellon on the walk home and you had a very full and very happy anthony.

The next day I did Justin's gore and violence tour of "badass" ancient rome sites... I saw the pantheon and the colleseum and circus maximus and other stuff like that... very cool, quite interesting and great to see all these legendary places I've been reading about for years... I also went back to the magic shop (which was an oddity, collectibles and antiques shop in reality) to get that statue I noticed of the devil for mum for her bday... only it cost 2000 euro... WOW... I guess her and I do have similar taste...

I then had a slight hiccup leaving town... 45 mins in a line getting pushed in on nearly blew my cool... especially as I nearly missed the last train to Florence because of stupid old people... I made it by 1-2 mins TOPS after sprinting in my pack. I really liked Rome and was happy I went to see ancient rome... but modern Rome and the people (and the rudeness) in it nearly ruined it for me...

Anyway that was Rome, I leave for home tomorrow and will try to blog up Florence on my stopover in Bangkok... but the summary goes Florence food is amazing, Dave is AWESOME and the girls won gold... YAY

Lòve, hùgs and Kisses
ANt