Fabulous Fridays

So Rome holds in it a vast array of opportunities for adventure.  Many of the nights we had there consisted of bars and lots of wine, with plenty of interesting conversations in half Italian and meeting people from all over the world.  One night stands above the rest in its wildness.  This particular Friday, we were out doing our usual drawing assignments, when lunch came around, and we didn’t feel like going back out to draw, rather, Ryan, Loren, Sarah, and I set out to enjoy the evening and start the weekend off right.  First thing we set out to do was go enjoy the amazing cloudless day while the sun was still out.  We went to the new Richard Meier building by the Piazza del Popolo which had a great little fountain out front with an amazing place to lay about.  We took our shoes off and dangled our feet in the fountain relaxing to the enth degree.  After a brief nap, we set out to buy some wine to take up to the lookout above the Piazza for the sunset.  We picked up a bottle a piece and set out to pick out our spot.  

When we got up to the overlook, we knew right away, this was the place we wanted to be most in the world at that particular moment.  The sun was setting directly behind the dome of St. Peters with light even being able to seen through the clerestory windows of the building.  The sky turned blood red.  We cheersed to our mutual ecstasy at the moment we were in.  Then after the wine was gone and the sun was set, we set off to see what else we could come up with.  Just under the overlook was a series of fountains and such stuck into the wall which we knew we had to get to.  We climbed some fences and I scaled a few columns and inched along a cornice to get to where we wanted.  From there, we danced in the fountain and enjoyed mooning Rome and just generally having a good time. 

Then, we headed off for our next adventure, with a few more purchased bottles of Italy’s finest.  An adventure is indeed what we found.  We came across Hadrian’s tomb and just to the side of it was some loud music, and believe it or not, a gigantic ice rink.  We couldn’t pass up the chance to laugh at ourselves, so we finished off our drinks, laced up our skates, and proceeded to glide and fall all over the ice.  Sarah couldn’t quite help but fall every 2 minutes or so, and we all had a great time being ridiculous.  Ryan and I did some power slides on our stomachs, and called it a day when we were all quite covered in ice.

Then we headed for some pizza to regain our center of balances, and make plans for later in the night.  After dinner, we gather some more troops and the enlarged group of us head off out to a bar.  Going into the bar, I make a new friend with the help of my Roma scarf.  A Lazio fan (the other team in Rome) disliked my scarf and said I shouldn’t wear it not being from Italy, but just then, a Roma supporter came to my aid and spoke up for me and we proceeded to have a great time singing the Roma song and sharing a few beers. 

After having a few beers with the locals, and trying to strike up some conversations with some good looking Italian ladies, we decide to head off to do what Ryan and I had been planning for a long time.  We headed to the Trevi Fountain with La Dolce Vita in mind.  Upon getting there, we unfortunately find a cop car there at 2am, trying to ruin our fun.  So we head to the other side of the fountain, and there out of sight of the cops, take off our shoes and roll up our pants and hop in the fountain.  We wade around in the water, and I head over more to the center to find an overflowing part to wash my hair in.  We frolick in the water, and enjoy baptizing ourselves in the architect’s version of holy water.  Finally, we pull ourselves out of the water and start to dry off.  Then we finally pack it up to call it a night and rejoice in what was such a glorious Friday.