Well I have had quite the week. Last Sunday I got food poisoning and was up the whole night sick. Charri, the wonderful woman, was up with me through it all. And as I recovered the next couple of days she was always close to my bedside. Wednesday afternoon Jackie and I left for Rome. What a city.

Our hostel was fine for how little we paid and it was literally a block from the colosseum. So that was really nice. And it was close to the metro so we took that around quite a bit. We did end up sharing a very small twin bed the last night because of some accidental overbooking but we saved some money so we didn't complain.

We had 3 full days in Rome and we took full advantage of them all. I don't think my legs have ever been so tired. The first thing we did was take a tour of the Vatican Museums, which was absolutely amazing. Our tour guide was wonderful and we learned a lot, especially about Michelangelo. I pretty much walked around with my head back, mouth open. I've never seen so much art cover so much wall space. And the Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. I had no idea how massive the figures were. And we went inside St. Peter's Basilica which was also stunning. We also went to the Spanish steps, the Trevi fountain, the colosseum, the Roman forum, the Pantheon, and tons of other huge, ancient buildings. I think the Roman forum was my favorite. I couldn't get over how old everything was.

So this all was wonderful, but the climax of our trip was going to be the Mumford & Sons show. We got to the venue 3 hours early just to be sure of it's location, etc. I've never been so excited for a show. But while we were waiting, 45 minutes before the show was supposed to start, we were told that the lead singer was sick so the show was canceled. I think I just stood there with my mouth open for awhile. Someone does not want us to see M&S. We tried to go to France to see them, flight got canceled, and then we made it to Rome but the show got canceled. So I was pretty devastated and I'm still getting over it. Nonetheless, the night was not lost. Johnny Flynn and the Sussex Wit, another band I like, played for a bit and it was amazing. And I got to meet the members of M&S, well except for Marcus. They all felt really bad about not being able to play so they all came out and just hung out with everyone at the bar. I actually had a really nice conversation with the piano player (he's the guy in the picture). They are all delightful chaps.

So Rome ended up being a bittersweet trip. Some very fun things, some disappointing things. But I really can't complain. I'm having the time of my life.