room 11/15

room 11

there and back again.

we are back in rome. the three of us had a much smaller room this evening, a 4 bed mixed dorm. jen and yen had the bunk and i got to "share" part of a double with our roommate, yet unmet (1 bunk bed and 2 twin beds somewhat close to each other).

the three of us traipsed about rome, heading to st peters and the trevi fountain. a college age boy interrupted drawing in his moleskin to take mine and yen's photo at the trevi. we joked later about how it was a shame we didn't have etch-a-sketches with us so we could join him in his artistic endeavours.

jen had a bit of a migraine, so yen and i went out for sundries at the supermarket and then ran out for dinner.

we asked the guy at the desk for a good restaurant and he recommended one just around the block!
the food was wonderful! red wine, of course, but also marrow (fried zucchini flowers). yen completely dissected her flower, noticing they were filled with mozzarella. erika had mentioned these to me in the past, but this was the first time i got to try them. SO GOOD. i drool just thinking of them.

note to self: grow zucchini when i am able to have a garden. gorge on the flowers.

towards the end of our meal, who should sit down next to us, but alex, davin and christopher (our roommates from our first night in rome)! we talked about our respective trips and had a really great uproarious time, especially towards the end of the evening when the server put our tables together (ignoring our requests for the check) and bestowed upon us a delicious, sparkling bottle of spumanti dolci.

we made our tipsy way back to the hostel to find jen and our roommate, some 21 yr old named ... leelo? leelee? lolee? regardless, he was insanely creepy and oversexed. he seemed nice enough, i suppose, at first.

discovery: CREEPIEST ROOMMATE EVER.

we all went to sleep and i had the worst time falling asleep. and poor yen, her top bunk was SO LOUD and sqeaky. she mentioned in the morning that she had tried not to turn about too much.

naturally, the instant i actually fall asleep is the moment our neighbor decides to tap me on the shoulder.

lala: are you awake?
me: wha? um. i am now.
lalee: i can't fall asleep. i'm bored. wanna make out?
me: um, no.
loser: are you sure?
me: yes.

at this point, he turns over and leaves me alone.

in the morning, i tell jen about it in the bathroom and she said how he asked her the same thing and creeped her out so much that she slept with a sharp implement (a cuticle trimmer) in her bed in case he tried anything.

apparently he regaled her with stories of his explicit sex life, informed her that he was ok with the "idea" of rape and noted that he thought there was nothing wrong with really young boys being with (in the biblical sense) really old men (5 yr olds with 80 yr olds).

UGH.

room 15

the next day, i walked yen to the train station and jen and i got a new room.

we walked about the city, from the coliseum to the forum. very relaxed, overcast day. *sigh*

overall, i had a lovely time in italy. delicious food and delicious wine.

it was surprising because i expected to enjoy florence the most, but really, ravenna was my favorite. and i wasn't expecting rome to as fun and walkable as it turned out to be!