Yes, I'm in Roma... About as different culturally as you can get from Cambodia. But good nonetheless. Perhaps I should back up though - After I left Siem Reap I just headed straight for Bangkok and spent my remaining days shopping and hanging out - not much sightseeing but a little. I reaffirmed my dislike of Bangkok as a city and spent one too many days there. But it was still a good way to end the trip. The flight back was miserable merely due to the fact that July 15 lasted for 34 hours. I'm not even sure if it ever ended during that time - we crossed the dateline near midnight. But I made it back to MN with an intense case of jet lag - took about a week to fully recover. And then what'd I do? Of course! Head on to Italy!

So I arrived in Roma early Wed morning with no problems. Since I wasn't exactly smart I got off the train (from the airport) with no clue where to even head to find a place to stay. So as I was standing in an intersection of the Termini station (which is just a huge place) I spotted a couple wearing the trademark backpacks and introduced myself. They had just arrived as well and had actually been on the same flight. They had a lonely planet and were more than happy to let me follow them to a pensione they had decided on. Lucky for me this pensione was about the same price as I was willing to spend and had free dorm beds. So I parked my stuff there before heading over to the Vatican city. It being Wed, I thought it would be interesting to go see the pope (he normally does a service every Wed morning in front of San Pietro duomo). But who would've thought that the pope gets a vacation? So I headed up to the cupola on top of San Pietro (St. Peters for the non-Italians out there) which was definitely a hike. Took the lift up to the dome inside the cathedral before starting on the 320 steps to the top. I'm sure these steps would be find if you were short... But the walls slanted inward and were only about 2 ft apart to begin with! I got incredibly claustrophobic in there. And of course once you start you can't go back. I got to the top after almost fainting a couple times and spent a long time up there just enjoying the breeze. I highly recommend doing that when you're not hungry, tired, and working in a different timezone. But the views were absolutely incredible.

My original plans had been to go to the museums there including the Sistine chapel. But the last thing I wanted to do then was go walk around a museum for hours and hours. So I headed to the Vatican castle and walked across the bridge back into Roma. Piazza Navona was calling my name so I headed there to see the Bernini fountains. From there I tried going to the Spanish steps but ended up back in Vatican city (those streets are really curvy!). By this time I was absolutely exhausted and could barely walk so back to the pensione via metro was the way to go. Got back and met an English girl in the room. We just hung out the rest of the afternoon before going out to a trattoria for some yummy pasta. All in all a very good day

Today I took a slow morning - didn't really get moving until 11 or so. But let me tell you, sleep was amazing. Walked from Termini down to the Spanish steps, convienently arriving at the top of the steps! So I walked down looking at all the tourists and ended up sitting in the shade for an hour or so just watching everyone. Gotta love the cop whose job is to make sure no one eats on the steps. From there I wanted to go to the Trevi Fountain and of course ended up completely lost and back at the Vatican. What is it about the Vatican? Do all roads end up there? Or is someone trying to tell me something? Anyway, I turned around and eventually found my way to the Trevi Fountain. All this so I can just toss in my coin to ensure my return to Roma. But again it was fun to sit and eat some gelato and watch the tourists.

Now I'm cooling off in an aircon internet cafe. Italy's in a heat wave from Africa which is kind of entertaining. It's still much much cooler than it was in Laos and Cambodia and here I get to wear shorts! And yet the entire country is on a power shortage due to the high demand for aircon. Luckily Roma gets its water from the mountains and isn't in a water shortage as well! But I'm having a lot of fun wandering the streets and just getting back into the flow of travelling in Europe. Tomorrow I head down to Bari for a few days. That should be fun - beach will be really nice!