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Published: March 26th 1998
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There is only one word to describe me at this exact moment. EXHAUSTED. I am so thoroughly worn out from today it's not even funny. Allow me to tell you why...
My end to yesterday was no breeze by far. After stopping by this café to write yesterday, I decided to walk down to the Wedding Cake and then went to the Colloseum. Both were/are spectacular. The Colloseum absolutely astounded me. I really don't know what I expected...I thought it would be a little bigger (clearly I've watched Gladiator too many times) but what I really found amazing was just to stand there looking at it and imagining it in its former glory...and the sounds of the crowd and the smells and to think of all that took place right there where I was standing. Loved it! After which I began walking back towards the hotel which took me quite awhile. This freaky guy started talking to me at the Colloseum and I excused myself (told him I had to go meet my "group") and I wasn't altogether sure that he wasn't following me, so I waited until I heard an older couple speaking English and asked if I
could walk with them for a bit and told them why. They were very kind...Canadians.
FINALLY made it back to the hotel (felt like I'd been walking forever by that point, but then again I hadn't experienced today yet in which I HAVE walked forever!). Showered, changed, and headed out for dinner. This was about 7:30pm. It was so gorgeous out that I couldn't imagine eating inside so I walked back up towards the Villa Borghese as I remembered seeing a number of outdoor trattoria's on the Via Veneto. I had ordered and was reading my book when an American couple was seated next to me (and I mean RIGHT next to me...our tables were about 1" apart) so we started talking.
Their names were Jen and Tom Moon, early 30's. They've been traveling around Europe for the past 3 months and are about 2 weeks away from going back to the States. They have a ranch in Dallas and, I have to say, were probably two of the nicest people I've ever met. We talked and drank Chianti and ended up sitting for so long that they agreed to walk me back to the hotel since I
wasn't all that comfortable with the idea of going back down some of those side streets by myself so late at night. Turned out their hotel was right in the Vatican and they were planning to go to the Sistine Chapel today, which had been my plan as well. So I agreed to meet them at their hotel for breakfast this morning and we'd head over to the Chapel afterwards.
I was finally in bed at 2am.
7am this morning...I get up, shower, and grab a taxi over to Vatican City. Jen, Tom, and I have breakfast and then walk around the corner to the Chapel. After getting the audio tour and moving like cattle through the masses of people, big surprise but we got separated and I didn't see them again. Fortunately I have their email address so I'm going to send them a nice "thank-you" note later on.
The Sistine Chapel... I have no words to describe how absolutely amazing I found that room. I sat in there staring at the walls and listening to the commentaries for probably an hour. The only thing I really didn't like about it was how crowded the room
was and how no matter how many times they were all told to be quiet, no one was! I thought it was rather disrespectful.
After meandering through the rest of the Musei Vaticani, I picked up a couple of posters and a book about the Chapel and headed over to Piazza San Pietro. Yes...I climbed the dome. All 320+ steps. (I have to say that on this trip, I've really been SOOOOO thankful that I started working out regularly or else I'd be about DEAD by now!) After climbing the dome, I went into the actual church portion which, once again, took my breath away. I couldn't believe the affect it had on me. I took a picture of Michelangelo's Pieta which I didn't know was kept here in Rome so that was a bit of serendipity. I saw the tomb of St. Peter and went through the Vatican Grottoes. Before departing, I stopped into the gift shop in St. Peter's and bought a souvenir.
I walked back through the Piazza San Pietro, down the Via Della Conciliazione and to the Castel San Angelo which turned out to be closed on Mondays. Instead, I turned right and took
a walk down the Tiber River to Tiber Island, which ended up being a very long walk indeed! Walked across Tiber Island, and slowly worked my way to the Roman Forum.
The Roman Forum... Another utter total wow. My 'Let's Go Rome' guide turned out to be really helpful with the Forum. I couldn't find the audio tour sales so I just decided to make use of my book which walked me through the whole Forum, explaining every bit which I really enjoyed.
After about an hour or so of the Forum, I took another hike up yet another hill (I hiked up quite a bit of hills and stairs today) and went to the Palatine Hill. Another fantastic and funtiful experience. Help - I think I'm in danger of being cultured to death!
I finally came out of the Forum area, crossed over to the Colloseum and decided that I was just WAY too tired to walk another step (my feet are KILLING me!) so I took my first ride on the Metro.
The Metro... Best thing I can say about that is it runs. It's not extensive, by ANY means, but hey, it'll get
you there...and it's not overly expensive (one ticket, L1500). Personally, I prefer to walk, but I really feel like I've walked close to 100 miles today so I'm about walked-out, not to mention that I'm doing all this on about 4 1/2 hours sleep. I'm going to bed early tonight! As soon as I finish here, I'm going back to the hotel.
The Hotel Cortina. The bed in my room is firm (which is not something you often find in European hotels) and clean. The bathroom even has a hairdryer which I was REALLY surprised by. Most of the places I've stayed in the UK (and even Paris) didn't have hairdryers so of course I brought my own. Otherwise, it is a little hard to find from the front, like I said yesterday, because often times here they will have more than one hotel in one building. So the Hotel Cortina shares its building with a couple of other hotels and some apartments I think. HC is on the second floor of the building, so after you get buzzed in, you have to walk up a flight of stairs and then the glass door to the hotel is there.
I don't think the hotel in general is all that big, but then again I've only seen a small part of it.
When you leave in the morning, you check your key back in with the desk and they give it to you again upon return. The shower is just that: a shower. I was personally expecting a bath...how nice it would be to soak after all this walking...but it's a new shower anyway, it would seen. Glass doors, a little small...but it's fine. It's no 4 or 5-star, but then who cares when you're on a budget?
Well now...tomorrow will be a treat! The Pantheon will be first on my list, and then I don't know! One of the things I need to do tonight is sit down and figure out what else I want to see... There are the catacombs of course, so we'll see if that fits into tomorrow or not.
On Wednesday I'm thinking of taking a train down to Anzio and then catching the ferry out to the Pontine Islands, staying overnight, and then going to Pompeii on Thursday before returning to Rome. I need to see if I can get a
reservation in the Islands first...that's my next thing to do on the Internet when I'm finished with this journal, which I think I am.
K...I'll write tomorrow.
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