When in Rome...

Or not. So, the way hostels work, for those of you who are unaware (since nobody really reads this, I'm not sure who that includes, but whatever), is interesting. The cheapest option is generally pretty simple: they have large rooms with 6-10 beds and you book a single bed. The other beds can be filled by whoever else books a bed, so you are generally rooming with random people. It makes for a social experience! Anyway, since we booked so late, we were completely split up and two of us had to be in a room alone. Since I was open to a new social scene, I jumped at the opportunity. After all, that's part of the fun of traveling! 

When I went into the room and met my new roommates, I got pretty excited. It was an all girls room and there was one girl from California studying abroad in Cannes and traveling alone for her spring break (Lindsey) and two 24 year old women from Argentina just traveling (Lede and Katalina). They were cool and the Argentinians spoke very good English. Long story short, they invited me out and, since I had a single night in Rome and wanted to explore more, I accepted! We looked at a map and Lindsey consulted her Traveler's Guide to Italy to find some good spots and headed out!

Our first stop: An Irish pub in Rome called The Fiddler's Elbow:

We wound up staying there for quite some time, bantering and hanging out. There was a definite language barrier; another three Argentinians who did not speak English had come with us, so that definitely made things more interesting. We had French, English, and Spanish flying around. One of the greatest challenges was when one of the girls asked me about Obama! Discussing politics was difficult but definitely a welcome challenge. After a couple hours, we decided to head to the next bar.

Or at least, that was the plan. We couldn't actually find the next bar, but we did find the Colosseum! It's all lit up at night and so beautiful. Lindsey suggested sneaking in - according to her book, it's really easy - but one of the other girls pointed out that security had increased exponentially over the last couple of years and it was no longer feasible. Shame. We still had a great time and got gelato, which means I achieved my goal of Italian gelato each night in Italy. Success! 


We headed back around 3 and I crashed for an hour before getting up to catch our flight. My night out was definitely worth not sleeping. I met some fascinating people and felt like I experienced Rome more than the girls who slept. It is a night I am unlikely to forget and a wonderful way to end my Italy trip. So, here's to hoping for similar nights on spring break and later in life!