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The Final Fling is the biggest party of the year. It is put on by the university student association and everybody gets into the action.

I first heard about the party from one of my flatmates. I had no idea what it was about so she explained that its just a massive party and I should go to it. It is a theme party, which means “fancy-dress.” We would call that a costume party. There have been many of these advertised all year, but I had yet to get to one and I was looking forward to it. I can’t remember many but one of the past themes of the night was Superheroes. My flatmate also let me know that I’d have to get in line for tickets at least an hour early on the day they went on sale. I couldn’t believe all the hype she was giving the party. It made me want to go….

The final day of touring Rome was pretty spectacular. We started the day off on a tour of the Coliseum and the Roman Forums. I had just watched Gladiator the night before and was very excited to see everything. We ran into another pushy tour salesmen that we eventually decided to give in to. I think that these guides have been worth it. They give you so much more context than just the signs with short blurbs around the places you’re traveling. We did not get radios this time, which was a little worrisome, but we did get to skip the queues at both places!

Just wanted to let everybody know that I have finally uploaded pictures from my Italy trip. I hope you like them!

After an early morning and a hurried breakfast at the hostel, I hoped onboard the trains and buses to get to Termini station in downtown Rome. We decided to do the Vatican today and I was looking forward to the pinnacle of church visits on the trip.

After getting out of the train at the Vatican we walked past and endless stream of solicitations for guided tours of the Vatican. I wanted a tour, but I figured there’d me more legitimate stores offering these tours. (Mom said that Uncle Kevin and Aunt Susan told her I should get one of these.) We did not find one of these shops by the time we’d walked into St. Peter’s Square though.

Friday was a long day of travel. We took the cheap train to Roma so it took quite a bit longer. The night before, while ladies were figuring out where our hostel was, they realized it was a pain to get to. A train, another train, a bus, and a walk was too much for them, so they booked a hotel that was closer. I thought that they got a room for me as well, but it turned out we had a bit of a miscommunication. On the train, I was still hoping that I’d be able to get into their hotel, but when we got there it turned out they were fully booked. I tried to find another room around their hotel, but, being Easter weekend, there was nothing to be found. So I took the trains, bus, and walk to the hostel through a little run down neighborhood, but when I finally got there the hostel was actually fairly nice. When you’re not lost and it’s daylight, the area really isn’t bad. But, it was dark, I was lost, and I was not really happy about what happened with the hotel…

After checking in, I read for a while and passed out. I had to get up early to be in Roma.

Today I was supposed to meet the ladies at the train station at 8:30 to catch a 9 a.m. train to Sienna. While feasting on my delicious McDonald’s breakfast, I got a text saying they were wrong—it’s a 10 a.m. train. This was a bit inconvenient, but I looked into what I wanted to do in Rome while waiting there.

After buying us all tickets, I met them on the train and we were off. They had gone out the night before, and they were in pain. I guess they only got a few short hours of sleep. I felt bad for them, but hoped they’d be up for some walking. Sienna was supposed to be one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Italy.

I woke up late today. The previous night’s debauchery hit me hard. I guess it was the wine.

I decided to try to see the David again and was rewarded with another huge line. This time I decided to stand it in and deal with it. After an hour and a half of listening to four girls behind me do their best Dane Cook impressions, I finally got in. David and the other Michelangelos at the Academia were very cool. I like sculpture more than paintings. I’ve also seen more naked people in the last two days than I’d seen in years. Paintings, sculpture, even advertisements have nudes in them. It might be immature, but as an American you’re just not prepared for it!

Lines

Today I took the day for myself. The ladies wanted to “do a little sightseeing and shopping,” which I took to mean too much shopping for my taste. So I got up earlyish and took a look at a map.

The first thing that I wanted to do was get to David, but by the time I got there, there was a huge line that didn’t seem to be moving. I didn’t feel like waiting in line for a long time so I skipped it and headed south.

The Duomo is supposed to be the best thing in Florence, and it does have a beautiful facade. It could use a good scrubbing though. I had to wait in line for probably 20 minutes to get in the Duomo, but it was moving the whole time. The inside of it was massive. Huge. Still, it wasn’t really decorated at all so it didn’t take to long to get in and out.

I set the alarm this morning for 6:40 am. When I turned on the TV, I found out that there was an earthquake a little north of Rome sometime during the night. I didn’t feel it myself, but I did survive my second quake! (The first one being the one in southern Illinois a couple of years ago.) After a shower, I headed over to the train station to meet the girls. The station is between my hostel and her apartment, so that made it easy.

The tickets to Venezia (Venice) were expensive at €72 for the round trip, but I figured when else am I going to have the opportunity? I got on the train just a bit before it left as I hadn’t found the ladies yet. We finally met when they jumped on the same car I was on. They didn’t get the round trip, as apparently you can get regional tickets that are slower, but cost a lot less. They got the express for the way there because it was so much faster.

I tried to wake up early today because we had planned on meeting at 12. I thought that was late, but when the alarm went off, then went off again, I reset it for an hour or so later. I was really tired from the lack of sleep the previous day. I had planned on stopping by a museum that I saw on the way to the hostel last night about Galileo, but sleep took precedence.