Another Pile o' Rocks in Rome

Soooo, what did I say yesterday? That I wouldn't go see another pile o' rocks? And what did I do today, just to drive myself crazy? Went to see a pile o' rocks, of course! Complete with church, another one of my "don't want to go into another one!" things. So I got two in one - piles o rocks and a church. Which had no redeeming value except that it was out of the sun.

Moral of the story: if you're in Rome, skip Diocletian's Baths, unless you are a really big bath nut. You will see plenty of things like the baths in other places, you don't need to bore yourself witless by adding this to the itinerary. Ignore what the guidebooks say.

It's 90 degrees here. HOT. I don't need hot water for my shower, even if they did have it. Give me a coooold shower and I'm happy. I have a "frozen water" guy that I go to every morning now, these are smart people - they freeze and sell full plastic water bottles, and they're the only people in the city I've seen that do this. I will happily give my left arm for cold water at this point, sawed off with a blunt spoon, its that hot. Seriously, whoever thought backpacking through Rome in July was a good idea should, well, go backpacking in Rome in July - with no shower!

Today KK came!!! Too bad I got myself all turned around on the metro and was 30 minutes late in meeting her. But I finally found her hotel and the only logical thing to do at that point was to sit in hotel and enjoy the AC, which they claim was on, but I am not so sure - I am still sweating, ew. And I found ants crawling on me while I was laying on her bed. Now we are out cruising the city. YAY KK!!!!

We did the only sane thing travelers can do when its this hot: get gelato and sit in a piazza to watch people. Piazza Navona is perfect for this, because it has fountains at either end, and sitting by one gives you the illusion of it being slightly cooler there. And gelato never tasted so good! Really should learn what all the flavors mean, since they are listed in Italian...on second thought, maybe not, I could be eating something like worm flavor!

All the artists were out on the piazza tonight, making for a festive air as the tourists wandered among them and some got taken for ride. Do they really think this is original art? I mean, did they not just see it in a souvenir shop on the other side of the piazza? No? Ok, well enjoy. I guess if you like it, buy it. Meanwhile, I will continue to feed my two gelato a day habit, mmm stracciatella....