7/1/09-- 7/02/09 -- Continued!

After we got to the hotel and got cleaned up we went straight to the Coliseum. There were only a few hotel shuttles so the group couldn't all fit on one. I went with the first group and we got dropped off right by the metro, but we had to wait around FOREVER for the other group to get there. It was so hot and humid, our first taste of Italy weather. We sat down on this concrete wall while we waited, and it was right next to a merry-go-round and funpark. The merry-go-round was playing Michael Jackson's greatest hits over and over again. Italy plays an awful lot of American music. While we were waiting I fell right to sleep on this concrete wall. It had been a very long night on the plane. The other group finally aririved and we headed to the metro. It was so scary! I had never been on a metro before and I was so nervous with all the creepy people around. Luckily we're in a huge group and I felt pretty safe. We got off the metro and as we stepped out of the station there in the middle of everything was the Coliseum! It was the coolest thing I have ever seen. I couldn't believe that something that old was still standing.
We took tons of pictures around the Coliseum, and then started to head up toward the museum. While we were walking it started to rain so hard! We were all soaked in seconds. I didn't have an umbrella or a poncho so I was trying to fit underneath Julia's. Then all of these gypsies ran up and started trying to sell umbrellas to everyone that didn't have one for 5 Euro. I thought that was way too much so I bargained with him a little and got my umbrella down to 3. It has been very useful sense then. This whole experience was quite the adventure.
It finally stopped raining, so we went inside the Musei de Capitolini. This museum was so neat! It was filled with broken statues that had been dug up from the Romans. Upstairs in the museum there were the most beautiful rooms. All ornately designed and painted. We spent a lot of time looking around and taking pictures here. Also in these rooms they had a bronze statue of the great "she-wolf". The story of the wolf that raises the two boys. It was very cool.
After the museum a few of us headed off to go eat dinner. We walked past the Coliseum again and it is the prettiest thing at night! We also were able to see Triumphal Arch, we didn't get to see that earlier because of the rain. We got back on the metro and then Darrin, my teacher, and his family and some of my friends went to the cutest Italian restaurant for dinner. I had my first of many Margherita pizza's. It's a pizza with very thin crust that has only tomato sauce and cheese. It is similar to American cheese pizza, but the tomato sauce is stronger. The rain was a little dissappointing, but overall it was a very fun day!