Today I woke up and paid the bill for my hotel. I highly recommend Aurora Green B & B! It’s a reasonable price for the location, cleanliness and quality of accommodation! As I was leaving the guy that runs the place was getting in to a MAJOR argument with someone on the phone and I was laughing so hard…he was going HAM on whoever was on the other end of the phone!

After all that, I went back to Via del Corso to try to find those shorts I saw at Alcott in Naples. Earlier this week I went to Men’s Alcott on Via del Corso, but today I went to the coed store.

I can’t wear their women’s clothes–it’s basically Hollister/Abercrombie & Fitch for Italians. They have CUTE women’s stuff, don’t get me wrong, but I have too much cellulite to wear their shorts or pants…MERP. They had a Brooklyn basketball jersey that was really cute, but I didn’t get it.

I didn’t find my shorts at the coed store on Via del Corso.

If you are going to Rome, I suggest two things for sure: Vatican City and Via del Corso. The Vatican is beautiful and overwhelming, and Via del Corso runs from the Spanish Steps to Mussolini’s “palace.” It’s store after awesome store. The luxury brands are closer to the Spanish Steps and the cheaper stores are closer to Mussolini’s “palace.”

After failing to find my shorts, I walked back towards the Steps and got on the subway. I stopped at the government library and bought some excellent primary and secondary sources for my future research. The cashier acted like she had legit never rang anyone up before (as in didn’t know what buttons to push on the register), but she was SO sweet and told me about an exhibit happening right now regarding the liberation of Italy in WWII and she told me how to order books online from their store-which will be AMAZING for my future studies of Italian political history. After leaving there I went into the Italian parliament building and got yelled at for taking pictures. I saw something today about them having a parliamentary meeting today, but I went into the “public entrance” and got in trouble, so I don’t know how one would go see a meeting of the parliament. I know you can go in for tours, but once again I’m not sure how.

After leaving parliament some man stopped me in the common area in front of the building and was being really weird. He had pamphlets for some kind of art thing, but never gave me one. He asked how long I was in town and where I was staying, but it wasn’t like a flirty type of thing, it was just weird. I played it off and after about 5 minutes he walked off and I started back towards the Spagna stop. I made an uh-oh and went into a book store…I wanted ALL the books! I might go back tomorrow and get A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, since I was in Bassano del Grappa and part of it is set there. I didn’t buy anything there since I bought books earlier and I started back toward the station.

I looked up the locations of Alcott and saw that there was Alcott men’s store on Tuscolana, so I just stayed on line A a couple of stops past my building and checked that store with NO luck…I should have just bought the damn shorts in Naples when I saw them…

I saw that there was another store near the Bologna station so I decided to try. It was almost 5 so I was worried it would be closed. I got back on Line A, went to Termini, switched to Line B and rode to Bologna. The store was literally right in front of the station exit, so I went in and couldn’t find the shorts I wanted…:(

They are khaki burlap, with an aloha print–help me find them!

After leaving the store I realized I had lost my metro pass! Yesterday I bought a 16 Euro, 3 day pass, so I was freaking out! I bought a one-time ticket for 1,50 Euro and went back into the station and patrolled the floor, picking up every pass I saw (a lot of people drop their tickets). It turns out that I either found mine or another one that expired tomorrow at midnight, so I picked it up and got on my way.

I decided to try to find a Korean restaurant called Hana that was advertised on a sign in Vatican City yesterday. I got off at Termini station and started walking around. I had taken a picture of the map printed on the advertisement yesterday, but I got confused. I walked all around and my phone was dying, but I couldn’t find it. I walked past one Korean restaurant called Arirang and ALMOST went in, but decided against it because there were NO customers and the proprietor was standing outside trying to get people to come in. I used my iPhone and finally found Hana Korean Restaurant. It was kind of expensive and the service wasn’t great (just a man and his son running it and cooking), but the food was great and I didn’t get food poisoning-so 4/5 stars!

I got the chicken bulgogi entree which included rice and banchan. I ordered soju, but didn’t get it (they didn’t charge me-so, no harm, no foul). The entre, water, and cover charge came to 22 Euro, which isn’t bad, considering how much I’ve been charge at other places I’ve been in Italy. They also have free Wifi and my corner table had an outlet!

SN: I highly suggest carrying a converter and charger everywhere you go.

After dinner I walked the short 20 yards back to Termini, hopped back on the train and decided to stop at Re di Roma to go back to the super market. I ran right in and picked up some yogurt, wine, water, and an ice cream cone. They have AWESOME yogurt flavors at Punto Simply. The Muller brand is so delicious. I’ve tried white yogurt with chocolate crunch and coconut with lime crunch.

SN: I think I’ve seen this brand, but different flavors, at U.S. stores…

Today I bought white yogurt with truffles, so I will update you when I eat it. Also, I bought a liter of red table wine for a little over a Euro!

I was able to walk from the grocery store to my building since I’d already been there and it was only one subway stop away (maybe a 10 minute walk).

Today, I shopped and got to take some awesome pictures.

I can’t believe tomorrow is my LAST day in Italy. After that difficult 12th-14th day hump, it  FLEW by. I’m already packed up, so I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow, but it will definitely include one last visit to Blind Pig and hopefully something fun and memorable.

🙂