4 JD's and a Wedding. Part 1

So last weekend I travelled to Rome to take part in my GM's Wedding . . . I had to I failed my dodge roll. I'm kidding of course. As they both are some my closest friends so there was no way I would miss it and when I was asked to be a Groomsman I was extremely honoured. I flew out on sunday morning into Ciampino Airport and got a Taxi straight to the hotel I'd be staying. Unfortunately the Giro de Italia was running so there were a lot of diversions but the driver did make every effort to get us there as quick as possible.

Once I got to the hotel I checked in straight away and tried to make contact with my friends who were there already. The happy couple were there since the day before, but when I got through to them they were already out with a native guide that worked with my GM. And unfortunately I had know Idea where anything was as we couldn't access the map we had done up online. So I decided to wait for the Bestman and his Girlfriend to arrive, they were staying in the same hotel. Since they were flying with AerLingus they were flying into Da Vinci Airport and would have to get a train to Rome. I ended up watching Italian dubbed Baywatch and KnightRider and napped for a bit.

Eventually my GM made plans with me for Dinner and we went out to find a restuarant. We ended up in a nice little place that did Pizza and Pasta, I had a Pizza with sausage and Potato . . . yes I said Potato. After the Dinner they had to head back to their Hotel as their son was tired but fortunately the Bestman was just heading in to meet with us, so we ended up looking for a bar that was still open. And that was a challenge in itself but finally we found a place called Mad Jacks. It had everything we were looking for. . . a Guinness sign above the door which was still open. After a couple of Rounds we headed home but with a couple of Souvenier glasses.

The next day I headed over to the Hotel Napoleon to pick up the Grooms suit as he was going to stay with us that night and the Bestmans Girlfriend would stay with the Bride to keep her company. When I arrived there, the Brides Family were just getting in so I got to hang with them for awhile which was fun. I then returned to my Hotel just as the Best Man and his Girlfriend had finall gotten up and were ready to go exploring. We walked as far as the Colosseum and were contemplating trying to go inside as we couldn't see any admissions signs when a girl came up to us asking if we were english speakers, when we said yes she told us about the tour she worked for. It was a good pitch, she explained the prices €12 admittance & €10 for the tour which was the last one of the day, The tour itself would be from a fluent english speaking native who had visual aids to help people get an idea of the past view, they also threw in another tour around the ruins of Rome which would be done after the Colosseum tour and for these reasons it was definitely value for money but there was one more thing to tip the scales in her favour . . . we would be able to skip the queue which was 45 mins long at that point. Sold to the Lady with the American accent. She really should just have started with that one.

The Tour was great it pointed out a lot of facts that weren't readily available inside the Colosseum (and there was plenty of info and signs everywhere). We were walked around by the Guide who was Italian but had great english and he had no problem pointing out the more gruesome details and morbid facts. And then when his part was concluded we had a half hour before the second tour to walk around for ourselves and take photos and the like. Actually here are some from the Colosseum showing the reconstructed Arena and the Gate of the Dead.

Before you ask I dont know who the girl in the first photo is but she was too cute to crop out. . . as mentioned before in previous posts, I am a Skeeve . . . don't Judge me!

Due to Time constraints we didn't opt for the second tour. We were on a mission . . . to find a Bone Church. The Best Man and his Girlfriend had heard about a Cappuchin Crypt which was below Santa Maria della Immacolata Concezione so we decided to try get to see that. Along the way we stopped for a brief bit in a fetish shop . . .


]-----------------------------------------[

Scene Missing

]-----------------------------------------[

. . . After navigating our way to the crypt we arrived just before it was due to close, so we figured they'd come back later (I was flying home the morning after the wedding) and we made our way back to the hotel. At one point I could see a huge fountain down a street that I had mistakenly thought was the Trevi Fountain ( I couldn't think of the name of it to find it on the map) so we took a detour to have a closer look. It was in fact The Fountain of the Naids at the Piazza della Republica. It was a fantastic area, the fountain was amazing and the spray from the water meant you felt cool and refreshed. On our was around the fountain we saw a church across the way that we decided to stick our heads into. After a few minutes of looking around in hushed reverence we left as they closed the church for the day.

And I shall continue from here tomorrow.

And why the hell not!?!