When In Rome

November 5, 2016

Riding on the train back to Naples from Rome I'm on that travelers high. I did a quick day trip with my two coworkers Alan and Jake. Jake is a reservist from Germany and is with us for a month.
I haven't been to Rome since 2007 and it's what I remember it to be. Tons of crowds, tourists from all over the world and historical monuments galore. Like I've mentioned before;
I can't be more grateful for my location considering I worked Friday hopped on a train right after work to Naples for an hour up to Rome. What America lacks in its corruption and lobbyist of never having bullet trains other counties make up for. Our top speed that I caught was 182MPH!! I just can't comprehend the fact that America doesn't have what Japan and most European countries have in their fast trains.

Dropped off our stuff at our hostel and explored Rome in the evening. No disrespect to USA Tomb of the Unknown soldier but Rome's makes it look elementary in comparison of size. Colosseum is cool to see but still haven't been inside yet. Big plug and shout out to Foursquare for me being able to create lists for each city I visit of foodie, coffee, bar, craft beer spots, and things to do. If anyone visits Europe I'll be sure to email my list. I found a gastropub/burger spot called Open Baladin and its just the type of atmosphere I would find back home. Good food, conversations, and craft beer. Although I grew up in the craft beer capital, it has no bias of culture, race, or ethnicity. It's more of a generational preference than a geographical one. My travel experiences here have shown my narrow vision of gastropub/craft beer/foodie being American only to being global and generational. We are living in an interesting time right now where not only is time changing but preferences in the way our generation spends our income at our leisure. The culture shift from the dominant "baby boomers" to Gen X/Y is taking effect as we speak and everyone is taking notice.

Calling it a night we had a full room at our hostel but Alan and I surprisingly slept like babies. Started our day with a hearty Filipino breakfast by the Vatican. I know some may think Filipino food in Rome? But there are thousands of Filipinos in Italy especially Rome, and there's a spot called Asian Delight. Living in Italy like I said in previous posts the variety is nothing compared to other counties so when you travel to a city with variety you take advantage of it. My friends enjoyed it which didn't surprise me but they were surprised at how much food they got.

Checked out St. Peter's Square, made our way to the Spanish Steps, walked by the Pantheon, and went to a cigar shop that my friend Alan wanted to go to. We posted up at this park area smoking our cigars taking in the view and appreciating our surroundings.
Grabbed a bite to eat for dinner and before we knew it was time to head back to Naples. In total it was 28 hours of travel but we fit in what we wanted. Till my next travels peace!