Crossing the street and other things...

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Any of you who are friends of mine from TBS will be interested to know that The Body Shop Italy's products do not differ in any significant way from those in Canada, nor did I find anything awe inspiring (yes, I foind the TBS in Rome, and it's only about two blocks from my hotel. Go figure.

So on Sunday, (4 July... Surprisingly little American pride on display), I began my day by proclaiming myself to be both a pagan and a heretic. I headed _away_ from the Vatican, and instead went to the Colosseum. I decided to take the metro rather than walk, and was hugely amused by the behavior of most of the tourists who have obviously never been told in a crowded metro station that the best way to maneuver is to move to the very end of the platform. Watching them fight to smush in was amusing, as I breezed onto a nowhere near full car.

I had neglected to buy tickets in advance, but the lineup was nowhere near as bad as it was when I exited later, and I was only waiting about half an hour. The audioguide whatsit they rent you is ridiculously informative and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay (albeit very brief - only took about 1.5 hours to do the whole thing. Perhaps most frustrating (and this has been fairly consistent of my experience in Rome) are the guided tours. Tour guides here are now equipped with microphones that wirelessly transmit to receivers with earpieces that each member of the tour has. Sadly, this means that tour groups no longer need to get in close to hear their guide speak, and the sprawl is just insane. And the stopping in the middle of hallways. Not cool.

Your admission to the Colosseum includes admission to the Forum and Palatine as well, which I wandered through at leisure, enjoying the ruins, listening in on other peoples' tours when I heard a snippet of interesting info. At some point, I realized that I was getting sunburnt, so moved to find shade and food, and sunscreen. After stopping for gelato near the Trevi Fountain, I sat on the edge of the fountain at the Piazza Barberini for a little while.

The mission for the afternoon was to see the crypt of the Capuchin Friars. Which I did, since it was literally only steps from the fountain in question. It is a fabulous ossuary/chapel/crypt - entirely decorated by the bones of the friars and the families of those who chose to be buried there, not to mention a few mummified friars for good measure. The whole thing is essentially a massive memento mori, emphasized by the sign in the final chapel, basically saying precisely that in about 5 different languages.

I've gotta say, I feel like an idiot not speaking Italian. Most other countries I've been to I've at least managed the tourist-y phrases. But here, no such luck. Whenever I try and come up with the Italian phrase for something, only the Spanish comes to mind. I've picked up some useful stuff, though.

Evening rolled around and I wandered into St. Peter's. It being about 6 pm, there was absolutely no lineup. I couldn't believe my luck. Now. I have been in some pretty huge churches . St Paul's in London. York Minster. Notre Dame in Paris. But holy crap (pun not intended) is this church big. Huge. Amazing. Not my style (I tend to lean towards the gothic rather than the baroque) but nevertheless incredibly impressive.

That evening I simply sat in St Peter's Square, intermittently reading and people-watching. This was also a landmark as I was hit on for the first time so far by an Italian guy. Which I deftly turned aside without being rude. As H. Said at dinner tonight, not sure whether to be relieved that there hasn't been more, or disappointed.

One final observation for yesterday. Traffic. I have learned to jaywalk like no Canadian has ever jaywalked before. And to cross at a zebra crossing? Just go. Stare down oncoming traffic. In terms of driving, red seems to be interpreted as 'stop if ya wanna', and just about any spot anywhere big enough to fit a car becomes a parking spot - so long as you don't stick out more than one car length from the curb.

Ciao for now (Sorry, still no good pics... Maybe tomorrow?! I refuse to pay for Internet access when I've free Wi-fi at my hotel!).

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Photos

Colosseum
Me at the Colosseum!

Forum
Ruins of the Roman forum

Swiss Guard
Some of the Swiss Guard at the Vatican