First day in Roma

So begins my 6 day Roman stay. I booked a hostel today for an average of 19 euros a night, and will be here until the 13th when I fly to Amsterdam. I wrote earlier about my last night in Paris. Because I got in to the apartment last night at 1:30, then packed and planned, I only had an hour to spare before my 5am busride to the airport. The walk to the bus stop was depressing. At 4:45, no one in Paris is awake, and the giant city's squares are filled  only with giant monuments and vast empty highways. I was the only person on the bus, and the driver drove like a bat outta hell while listening to French techno music. At 5 am, this was all really weird to me. We spoke in French, and it was a good conclusion to an awesome trip around Paris.
     When I arrived at the airport, it was devoid of life. A silent, empty airport is a particular kind of horror. I eventually found my way to my terminal (despite all the signs being in French) and went through security. Unfortunately, I realized when I got to my terminal that I had forgotten to check my one bag. I talked to the guy behind the counter, and without his boss looking, he took care of everything for me so that I didn't have to pay a 50 euro fee. I will not make that mistake again.
      The plane ride to Rome was just over an hour long, but I still had time to make a friend. She was a Parisian/Roman named Camilla (another Camilla!) who gave me some great travel tips for places to get pizza in Rome. Her utmost advice was simply "Walk around." Don't follow guide books, don't go on tours, just walk around and let the city show itself to you. While I will take a map for safety, I am excited at the prospect of this kind of travel. I took a half hour train to the city center from the airport (and met a future Spanish teacher from Missouri named Melenie). As we entered the city, I was surprised by the plants. There were a lot of cacti, but also mixed with more deciduous, temperate trees and shrubs. Also, everything was covered in graffiti, and not as nice as what I had thought Rome would be.
      When I got to my hostel (located near the terminal in a graffiti riddled part of town resembling a second-world Mexican city) I checked in and slept. After I woke up, I had some free pizza and met a guy from Amsterdam named Steven. We hit it off really well, and decided to go walking around Rome at night. He has already been here for a few days, so he was sort of my tour guide. We saw the Colosseum and some other immense ruins, as well as more really impressive buildings (pictures forthcoming). After that we had some drinks at a local ex-pat bar where I learned from Steven that the Dutch word for "cheesy" is "Oprahwinfrey".