Guess What!!!

So, my week-long trip alone in Italy was going pretty well. I said goodbye to my classmates who had to go back to school last sunday, and then I headed to Florence. I had no problems with the trains, and no problem with the hostel. Florence is amazing.

I'm not even going to try and find the right superlative, the poetic among you will have to provide one for the rest of us. If you ever go there...well, don't miss the baptistry...and don't pay to see the archeological dig under the duomo. I went into the Medicci palace on a whim...and there wasn't much there...but they did have a cool chapel, with nice frescos. But the thing that made it awesome, was that they had taken really good digital pictures of the frescos, and put them in a computer program. You could stand in front of a big screen tv, and point at parts of the painting, so it would zoom in and then tell you about what you were seeing. If you wanted to see a different part, you just pointed to the left or right, and it would scroll. Like I said, awesome.

I also went into the museum with the statue "David" and it was cool...not as cool as everyone says, but cool none the less. Saying that the door into the museum was uninspiring would be an understatement - it was just an ordinary door, with almost no sign. But once you stepped inside, it was cool. There was also an exhibit on musical instruments, and I saw some pretty old violins and cellos...they also had two of the first pianos ever made - that was cool.

Next, I went to Viterbo to visit my sister. The town wasn't all that special, and I missed one of my connecting trains, so I got there late...but her family is awesome and you expect to miss some trains on a month-long trip, and that hadn't happened to me yet.

Which brings me to today. I came into Rome this morning, and had to take a taxi to my hostel. I had made the reservation last night, saying I would be checking in around two...and I got a confirmation...but when I got there, no one was around...so I sat around for about an hour, and then I went to find a phone and an internet place...and I was right about what my reservation said, but evidentaly the hostel closes from 12:00-4:00 every day, so I had to wait even longer. I still haven't gotten in, but at least now I'm confident that I'll be able to check in. And as a side note...all the Italians I've talked to today have been very, very helpful...especially the doorman at the hotel building who said he'd keep an eye on my bags for me...he's a good guy.

So, did you guess everything? Have any suggestions about what I should do with my one day in Rome? (I'm planning to go to the vatican and sistine chapel) I'll be coming back to the states on friday, and I'll be getting home around 2:00 in the morning, if everything goes right. Saturday is laundry and give gifts day, and then sunday back to school to plan my superbowl party, which I'm inviting the whole dorm to. Come around if you're nearby...we'll be doing everything up in style...and it's gonna be awesome...

Have you heared enough now? Sorry about the typo's here...my keyboard is really stick (I don't want to think about why) and I don't have an english spell check...but I think you're all smart enough to figure out what I'm saying.