Ciao

Ciao da Roma!  We are currently updating from our hotel which is a gorgeous 20 minute walk from the Fontana di Trevi and Colosseo! Today we are touring the Vatican. Yesterday we started to walk to the fountain, and we ran into an English couple that was lost but also heading towards the fountain, so we all walked together and hung out for the rest of the day.  After enjoying the fountain, we got gelato (so freaking good), then we walked by the Piazza Mignanelli and saw the Spanish Steps! Then we began to wonder to this giant park.  On our way there, however, one of those annoying, persistent f***ers that tries to rip off tourists tried to hand me red roses, while yelling "you're so beautiful, you should have these","you are so beautiful" and repeated himself about 10 times. We continuously said "no", "no thank you" and so on.  Finally he backed off as we continued walking up the steps.  Then he popped up a minute later, handed me the damned roses and said, "you're so beautiful, have these." By that point, I assumed they were free.  Side note: We've been to Paris, I've encountered these little a**holes before, I knew to avoid them because they target/rip off tourists and make to feel like an idiot for falling for their tricky ways.  Back to the story.  So by this point, I had the roses and we continued to walk the steps, not being bothered by anyone.  I thought I had won, not been scammed, and scored some free roses in the mean time, what a fabulous way to start our Italian adventures, right?  WRONG. Little a**hole comes out of nowhere when we reach the top of the steps and says, "this place is so beautiful, let me take a picture", "picture, picture", "let me get a picture of the beautiful couple".  We were definitely apprehensive about handing this little a**hole our camera, we thought, "okay, well free roses probably equals a stolen camera."  So after much debate, all while being harassed by this annoying a**hole, we hand over our camera and he hands us the bouquet of roses and tells us to hold those for the picture too.  He takes a bunch of pictures, and we thought, "okay cool, cute couple pictures, awesome."  After, he hands us the camera and we hand him the roses and he, then, OF COURSE asks for money.  How could we be so stupid?! With much hesitation, Koby tries to hand him the change in his pocket and he says, "no, not enough". EXCUSE 

ME YOU LITTLE SH*THEAD?! So Koby, now this was not very smart on his part, pulls out his

wallet to look for a small bill, but the smallest bills here are 5 because the small coins are 1 and 2 euro.  So this guy tries to grab the 10, and Koby is like, "no, here's the 5", and they have a small argument and guy eventually accepts the 5 and we walk off with the damned roses feeling like complete idiots that fell for the typical tourist trap.  I began to resent the roses and eventually left them on a bench. It was frustrating, but definitely a good laugh and now a hilarious story, especially after you look at the brilliant photos the man took of us.  

After the scam, we walked with our new friends to this giant park, then went to a restaurant for pizza and drinks.  After that, we both went to our separate hotels to chill out for a minute because it is quite hot and quite humid here, and after all that walking, we needed a break.  Our hotel charges 5 euro a day for air conditioner, so we're trying to avoid that. We then met up again around 9 at the fountain and shared a bottle of wine, it was a little more peaceful, but I think we'll venture back there at about midnight to really enjoy the fountain, since it's such a tourist attraction.

All in all, we had such a fabulous first day in Roma.  All of the buildings, and even the alley ways, are so so beautiful!

Anyhow, we're off to our tour, ciao!

*Excuse the language, those words are just so fitting.

^^ the aforementioned photo..

(We haven't uploaded our pictures yet)