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Published: October 22nd 2008
Ahh, my only retained knowledge of Latin Class.
When last you heard from me, we had boarded a plane to Italy, and had landed at 6:30 PM. From the airport, there was a direct train (the Leonardo Express) to Roma Termini, the train station close to our hostel. It was exciting as we sat on the train, watching the Roman countryside flash by. Roma Termini, once we arrived, was bustling with activity, and we were briefly overwhelmed to be back in such a lively community, especially after the tiny town of Dubrovnik. We were highly confused as to where our hostel was, because we couldn't find the number on the street. However, there was a tiny man standing there, where our hostel was supposed to be with a datebook.
"You Kelsey?" He asked us in piecemeal English. We nodded, and found out that this wasn't where our hostel was: it was actually about a block away. He showed us where, and handed us keys. He led us up the stairs in an apartment building, and we opened the door to a fully-fledged apartment. I'm talking two bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom, the works. We were all stunned, and I refused to
believe that this was possible, and there certainly must be a catch. However, my misgivings proved to be false, and it really was legitimate. After the (very nice) man left, we all jumped for joy at our fortune. An apartment in Rome all to ourselves? We decided it was Paris making up for it. Although the desire to explore was tempting, it was rather late, and the area we were in was probably not the safest to look like a tourist. So, we hopped across the street to "Pizza Design", and got some of the best food I've ever had. This slice of heaven had real chunks of mozzarella, tomatoes, prosciutto, and peppers. Baked right in front of you! So tasty.
After our first foray into Italian food, we found a really cool internet cafe, with reasonable prices, and were able to check our emails/facebooks, to let everyone know we were safe. An important part of travel! 😊 With that, we headed back to our apartment (!), and drifted off to the sounds of Italian dubbed American television.
The next day, we conquered Rome, although perhaps not with the same epic gusto of famous figures from the past. The day
started with a stop at a local cafe for chocolate croissants and espresso. We were majorly confused as to the system, but a nice lady who spoke english helped us out, and explained to the gentleman behind the counter that we were tourists who only knew about 4 words in Italian. (Granted, the language was easier than Croatian: it's at least Romantic! More like French) The coffee was divine, as we knew it would be, and provided us with caffeine as we tried to find the Roma Termini, which we knew was close to us, but couldn't seem to find. We eventually were successful in our navigation, and found the bus we would need to take to the Vatican. When we boarded, we met two very sweet Irish women, who were just as confused as we were. We chatted amicably as the bus drove through the intense Italian traffic, and the time passed quickly. We arrived at the Vatican in about 10 minutes, and squealed in delight as we saw the structures which we had read so much about in our History classes.
The actual Vatican center is much bigger than I thought it would be. I think we all
Old Friends
Let's visit the Pope!had these pre-conceived notions that all the famous landmarks in any European town are just crammed into one section. This is obviously not true, but it's still a shock to see how real everything is. The line for the Basilica was magnanimous, but yet, it moved quickly, so we joined the queue. We decided to give up on our plans of meeting Lindsey, Amory, Cara, and Christine when we saw the masses of lay people, priests, and nuns.
Once inside the Basilica, I had to stop for a moment to collect myself. For one reason or another, I had pictured this place as very stark, with white marble, mimicking its exterior. However, this is TOTALLY untrue, and I feel awful for even thinking that. The place is HUGE. You could easily fit 5 of our castle in there. And ornate! It's truly decadent in its design. Obviously, the main draw was La Pieta, which is kept behind glass. Apparently a few years ago, some man decided it would be a good idea to hit it repeatedly with a steel hammer. Because of this incident, it is heavily protected. What a sculpture. The expressions on the faces could move one to
tears, especially when you see how young in the face Mary is...
After we walked around the Basilica for a good 20 minutes, we went down to see the tombs of the popes. These areas are always eerie, but even more so when you see the dates on the sarcophagi. These date back to well before the Renaissance. Of course, we payed our brief respects to John Paul II before exiting, and asking one of the (exceptionally cool) guards how to get to the Sistine Chapel. His directions were good, as was the signage, and we were able to find the building no problem. Before you enter the actual Sistine Chapel, there is the Vatican Museum that you first must get through. There is more stuff in that exhibit than in my mother's trunk. The Romans are lucky to have preserved so much of their history. As our friend described it "The road to the Sistine Chapel is littered with beauty." So true.
An hour after entering the building, we were staring at Michelangelo's famed ceiling. This is another art image that I was totally mystified by. We all see the classic representation, of Adam and God's fingers so close
to touching. However, the rest of the ceiling is almost always ignored (in general). Alysia and I had always pictured that the entire ceiling was taken up by this one painting. Oh, no! Not only is it just a part of the whole work of art, but also one of the smaller portions. We marveled at the different Bible stories that came to life via Michelangelo, as well as the entire wall of the chapel that was dedicated to angels and robed men and women.
Our necks all had cricks in them after staring up at the ceiling for about 25 minutes, and the constant bellowing of the security guards "NO CAMERA! SSSSHHHHHHH!!!!" was starting to annoy us. We escaped from the museum with alarming speed, and sidled into the first authentic-looking Italian restaurant we could find.
It was an admirable choice! The gnocchi and pizza were delicious, as was the vino (c'mon. How can you NOT try Italian wine? IN Italy??). We were all exhausted from the Artwork Overdose, but were still determined to see the Colosseum.
Yet again, Rome has surprised me. As we were driving along on our bus, we would see random patches of ruins, just
kind of sitting there...DEFINITELY something you don't see in the states, and something difficult to get used to. What is even more interesting is to see how the modern culture has adapted to the old. They are very careful, and build around all the ruins.
From our bus stop, we had to walk, but were able to see the Colosseum looming large in the distance. When we arrived at the base, we were stopped by Gladiators, and I was beckoned with a "hey you! Nice legs! Want a picture?" I should have known from that sentence that these sneaky Romans were up to no good, and the pictures cost 5 euro...which they conveniently forgot to mention. I sheepishly shelled out the dough, but looking back at the 5 pictures taken, it was worth it, I guess. How many Gladiators do you meet? Who are toothless? Although, that's probably an accurate depiction of the real Gladiators, now that I think of it.
When we got inside the Colosseum, we were taken aback by the odd structures in the middle. It looked like ancient mazes. We were expecting a flat playing area. This was not so. This place also begged the question,
"why is so much of the wall destroyed?" It's a very mysterious area.
By this time, it was around 7, and we were all tired. We took a taxi back from the Termini (which Kelsey was kind enough to pay for), bought some cereal and snacks for the train the following day, and headed in for another early night. The night life isn't all the fascinating to any of us for some reason. I think it's because you can really go ANYWHERE to see drunk people.
The next morning, we had to be out of the apartment by 10. We arrived at Roma Termini, with the plans of taking a leisurely bus tour of the city. However, there was a massive rally/strike in the city, which caused all traffic to be jammed. Because of this, the woman selling us the ticket didn't know if it was worth buying. We decided against the possible wasting of 17 euro, and with nothing else better to do, decided to hang around in the train station. Luckily, this place is big enough, and has enough shops that it kept us occupied. We spent the majority of our time sitting in a McDonald's and discussing
life, but with good company, time does pass a lot quicker.
We boarded our train to Lausanne at 8:00, almost 12 hours after we had arrived at the train station. All of us slightly frazzled and batty, we got dressed for bed, and with the sleeper compartment to ourselves, settled down for a night of interrupted sleep. Slumbering on trains, I have decided, is not my favorite activity. I was able to catch a few winks, though, especially when I thought of all the "Fundue" we would be consuming in Switzerland...
But that's another entry 😊
Hope you all have a pleasant evening, and I love ya.
T
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Wilma Miley
non-member comment
From Bristol,from Wilma,to Theresa
Hi sweetie, It was interesting to see you and all your new surroundings. Continue to enjoy yourself but continue to study also.I miss you very much. I'll see you on your return. Continue to learn everything you can. Don't forget us in (the old country). I can hardly wait to see you again,at Christmas. I'm setting up a singing gig for you at Franklin Court for the week after Christmas. You'll be the STAR !!! Love Wilma YGM