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After another splendid day it was time to head to Hotel Alessandro for some rest. I was calmer about meeting the new roommates, but I was still a little worried. They were three English girls from a university in London. I thought things would go well because we spoke the same language and since Will and I were studying in England, we would have some kindling to start the conversation. But they were very antisocial, and this is true of other English people, though thankfully not all. These girls said hello and a few words about going to school in London, and then they turned away and talked amongst themselves. Many of the English believe that just because you meet someone casually does not mean that you have to be cordial, even for the short period that you will see him or her ever in your life. These were the only roommates that Will and I didn’t talk to. It was really weird to be in the same tiny room having different conversations. I was so angry with them, but I guess they were being English, which they couldn’t help. I have found that English females will act this way more often than the males. My English guy friend says that his countrymen and women will be friendly with people they consider friends, but they will not be cordial towards everyone, as Americans are. It may be better to let someone know when you’re not friends rather than being fake, but I think one can be friendly without being friends.

Thankfully, the English left the next morning. Unfortunately, so did Will. I was to spend the last day and night on my own. I didn’t mind this because after travelling for a while and having to compromise the things I wanted to do, it was going to be nice to walk around by myself and to have some independence. But whom would I come home to that night? I decided to forget about that and I went up onto Palatine Hill, where many of the Roman empirical palaces once stood. The ruins were fabulous. There was so much beauty in the remaining architecture, which made it difficult to understand why today’s buildings are built with less of a focus on aesthetics. While I marvelled at the archaeology, I noticed that the Italians did a wonderful job, as they do at most archaeological sites, of not providing any information boards for the visitors. I guess the Italian archaeological foundations don’t have the funds to properly present their country’s heritage. Whatever the reason, I’m sure the unreliable train service has something to do with it. The project planners are probably stuck in Florence waiting for a train that has apparently left for Rome, but never turned up in Florence. Must have been a ghost train. I still enjoyed everything I saw, maybe more so because I was forced to use my imagination instead of reading boards, which can be tiresome.

I went back to Hotel Alessandro to freshen up before dinner. I didn’t care who my roommates were because I too tired after my stay in Rome to be social. After my uneasy experience with the English girls (I must admit that a fair number of the English are not snooty) I was happy to return to a room of Americans. At least I knew that if they hated me, they would pretend to like me. Dawn, Heidi, and Tasha: the all-American golden girls. They were all in their late twenties and Heidi was married. Tasha had been married but was now separated. These three were probably the oldest guests in the hostel, and they were a little surprised by the simplistic nature of Alessandro’s accommodation. After introducing themselves, they asked me if I noticed that the room had neither heating nor locks on the doors. Then Dawn asked me if I liked the hostel and whether the neighborhood was safe. Tasha almost decided to leave Hotel Alessandro for a real hotel, even after paying for the night. But I convinced them to stay when I told them that I never once got cold in the night and the people living in and around the hostel were harmless.

It seemed that these three had led sheltered lives. They were all graduates of a Christian college in Maryland, which had no co-ed dorms so they were a little uneasy about possibly rooming with males. Thankfully for them, that didn’t happen. Tasha, who is 27, had never drunk wine until two nights before I met her and she didn’t like it. Heidi said she has about four glasses of wine a year, and she doesn’t drink beer, unless she’s eating crabs, in which case she has a non-alcoholic brew. Dawn didn’t drink much either because after one glass of wine at dinner, she grew into a louder and more obnoxious American.

The four of us went to an Italian restaurant near the hostel. Heidi, the group’s mother figure, had a Wisconsin-like accent, don’t ya know. She was the gung-ho American, wide-eyed and always smiling. She had an Italian phrase book to help her speak, but even so she butchered the language. That didn’t stop her from trying. Tasha was the passive aggressive member of the group. Heidi and Dawn reached this conclusion by psychoanalyzing her. Dawn had big, fizzy hair that radiated from her head and enhanced her American obnoxiousness. I hadn’t realized how loud Americans could be until I came to Europe where I could observe them from the outside. Do I ever act that bigoted?

The golden girls planned a checklist tour of Rome that covers the big attractions in a day or two. Will and I enjoyed having a relaxing few days in Rome that allowed us to see things at our leisure while soaking up the atmosphere. But Heidi had created a strict itinerary that didn’t provide much flexibility. She insisted on taking a guided tour of the Vatican, but Tasha wasn’t too interested. In fact, she came to Rome just to see the Coliseum, and after seeing it, she was ready to leave Rome and go to Florence. Tasha now felt that she was getting dragged around like a little kid. Heidi and Dawn were Tasha’s best friends, but after only a few days of travelling together, Tasha had grown annoyed by their presence. I have heard that if you want to test a friendship you should travel with that friend to see how close you are during and after the trip. However, I think most people would grow tiresome of others if they had to be in close contact all the time.

Maybe this reflects the beauty of youth hostel friendships. A person is not obligated to hang around the others, and contact between youth hostellers is usually short and sweet. "Acquaintanceships" are handy, especially if they’re with people who live in exotic places and have invited you to visit them next year. However, most friendships do not last past the youth hostel bedroom because they are between people whose separate lives converge only for an instant. I would not, however, swap my long-lasting friends for a bunch of brief encounters because I have had too many good experiences, such as my Roman rendezvous with Will. Perhaps I’ll only ever dream of my Wonderland in Rome and of the unforgettable characters. Or we may have all already wished for a reunion at the Trevi Fountain, where our friendships will blossom.

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Helen & friends Patricia, Will, Simon, Jemma in Rome
courtesy of Helen Blouet
[click on photo for enlarged image]

Guess what, our intrepid edita-in-chief happened to stay at the same hostel the year before and met equally interesting people.
courtesy of Yuan-Kwan Chan
[click on photo for enlarged image]

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