Vacation in Rome continued...kinda

Let me start this post off where my post about Saturday let off. Me and the others that remained in Rome whilst everyone else was in Florence went to the jazz club I was talking about before...for about 15 seconds. The show was letting out just as we got there; however, my first experience with jazz in Rome would not elude me much longer (I will explain this in a little bit; don't worry intrepid reader).

Sunday morning started a little earlier, but not without its share of hinderances (a splitting headache that was the result of the night prior's activities and 100% my fault). As soon as it subsided, my compatriots and I left Trastevere where we live for the area of San Lorenzo. We read that it was a very interesting part of Rome filled with a thriving ethnic area as well as the majority of the younger population in Rome, so we wanted to check that out as part of our self-guided tour around the bustling city. We took a different route there than our guidebook told us to go, mainly because we forgot to bring the guidebook. The way we went showed off the less than beautiful side of San Lorenzo, bordering the Termini train tracks and graffiti-covered pseudoslums. After about ten minutes of increasing concern we finally reached the more central and thriving part of San Lorenzo, more specifically an urban park area populated with native Romans sitting on park benches and lounging casually about. We encountered in the center of the park the ruins of the old Trophies of Marius, which served centuries upon centuries ago as a large fountain with two sculptures adorning it, representing the triumphs of an ancient Roman Caius Marius over barbarian invasions. We were also greeted by the oft-stereotyped presence of cats littered about the city of Rome. There were probably nine or ten residing within the ruins picking at leftovers left for them. 

Looking up from epic grooming session (as you can see) right as I took this

We continued to walk around, and stumbled upon a church that we proceded to enter and mildly interrupt the service going on within it. Still, it was a beautiful church, as most churches in Rome end up being. As we continued on our journey around San Lorenzo we bumped into something rather un-Italian. On the street we were walking was an Egyptian protest rallying against Mubarek and the Egyptian government. It was very daunting; however, once we noticed the non-violent nature of it we embraced what was occurring in front of us and realized its historic value. Very few times can I or will I be able to say I have seen a product of a country overthrowing it's government. We left as it continued on past us, as we did not want to become too engulfed in the fiasco. 

Having walked around the whole day, we decided to bus it back to our tram stop. We didn't end up boarding the tram though, as outside the tram stop were a group of Italians dressed in black and pink playing brass instruments (the return of my Italian jazz experience) who called themselves the Pink Puffers. We couldn't helped but get swept up in their music. For street musicians, the were very good (and even managed to convince me to buy a CD!) This is a video of the last song we stayed for, which consequently ended up being the best one. Fast forward to about 3:20 for some sweet percussion.

The rest of my sunday was spent sleeping and preparing for what would end up being one of the greatest nights of my life (you can guess why). After hopping around two irish pubs filled with Americans packed like rats, a friend and I ended up at a small, pretty empty Italian restaurant called "Miscellanea" that was showing a game. The owner offered us bow-tie pasta in a spicy tomato sauce...on the house. We delightfully accepted. We met a few Americans from another study abroad program who were dumb Steelers fans, but very nice nonetheless. Over the course of a fantastic football game, around 3 liters of beer, and a lovely conversation with the family over skype following, I found myself submitting the previous post to you all.