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Published: November 16th 2006
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Let me in!
Climbing the Vatican walls Our free day in Rome proved to be an eventful one. The three of us planned ahead of time what we wanted to see.
Wake up was early squirrelly this morning. 5:30 am. Breakfast was probably my least favorite so far. And coming from me, that’s saying a lot. We boarded the bus and left at 7:00 sharp. Brek was sure to leave on the dot. We ended up leaving Shelley behind. She ended up catching up later. Pat drove us down to the train station, where we all got on one train car. All eyes were on Brek, since no one knew exactly how to get where we were going. Then we got off the train, and headed for the metro. I have to say, I prefer London’s subway system much better than Rome’s.
We got off right by St. Peter’s square, and walked to the line for the Vatican. The line, to our luck, was not really that long. I had to take Brek’s word for it, because I couldn’t really see the front entrance. But judging by the mile long line behind us, I trusted that we were pretty near it. So now we just had
to wait for it to open at 8:45.
Brek bought us all vox sets. I changed my mind and decided to go on a guided tour of the Vatican, which cost about €25. The wait in line wasn’t so bad, and with the group, we stayed pretty entertained. I learned a lot about what it takes to be a cop in Australia.
Once we got inside, Petro gave us our guided tour. Sometimes it was hard to hear what he was saying. He explained a lot of the sculptures and paintings, but seeing that there are so many, the tour could have lasted days. I just liked walking around and seeing everything. Petro had this habit of saying “Contkiiiii!” very often and very loudly. That got old pretty quick.
Finally, we got in to see the Sistine Chapel, and it was way different than I had imagined. The room was much darker, and I thought that it would be part of the dome. Shows how much I know. The entire room is guarded by Italian men warning “No Foto!” every few minutes, which ruins the whole sanctity in the room. It was still very impressive. I wish
I could have gotten a closer look, but I was too preoccupied with getting a picture/video of it.
Anyways, from there, we went inside St. Peter’s Basilica. The first thing I saw was the Pieta. From about 50 feet away. Needless to say, my pictures did not turn out. I took my time wandering around the basilica, and it was indeed very large. Again, it was very different than I thought it would be. I expected it to be a little more ornate. It was regal, but not ornate. The whole time, I was wondering, “where’s the Jesus in this church?” I see thrones and pillars and gold, but nothing that signified a presence of holiness. That was a little let down.
After a lot of wandering, I caught up with Eva, Charlotte, Erin, and the California girls to wander around the city. Vatican City, that is. First, we stopped for a place to eat, and I had the Meal Turistico, which was spaghetti, some kind of meat, and french fries and a water(€9.50). It really wasn’t all that great. Then we walked back to the metro, which took a little longer than normal.
Anyways, we took
the metro to the Spanish Steps. I have to say, not all that impressed. Waayyyy smaller than I thought, and not as interesting to watch. I thought I had seen pictures of these grandiose steps, with all these people gathered around. Nope, just another tourist locale.
From there, we met up with more tourmates to head back to the Pantheon. I really wish I knew more about the history, because that probably would have made it more interesting. From the Pantheon, we tried to walk our way to the Coliseum, and stopped for a gelali on the way (€2.50). Looking back, it seems like we did a lot of walking.
We got into the Coliseum, (€11.00) and it was pretty cool. Got some good views. From there, we walked over to the train station to call Eva’s aunt. No answer. So then we decided to, in place of seeing the Cappuccin monks, to head to the Nag’s head to watch the USA World Cup game.
By the time we got there, nearly every Australian from our trip was there, and they were very busy celebrating their win. By that time, I was just as ready for some
good ole’ American rowdiness! I bought 2 drinks there (€10), so I was ready to celebrate. Unfortunalely, all we ended up watching was the Czech Republic score 2 goals against us. Booo! I didn’t even get to run around with my shirt off. But in a surprising twist, I think ended up seeing Mark Leech on TV! No one else believes me, because he was sitting in the Czech Republic side, but I am almost certain that it was him. (Note: I later confirmed that he had in fact been at the game in Germany).
By the second goal, Eva got in touch with her family, so she was ready to head out to meet them, but didn’t want to go alone. Charlotte wanted to go back to the hotel. This means that I was going to have to let somebody go by themselves. Intensity!
I decided to go with Eva, since I had already agreed to it earlier. I’m very glad I did. First, we took the metro to meet them at a station near them. It was a little strange at times, since I couldn’t really talk to them. From the station, we drove to their
apartment, which was about 30 minutes away. They had a very nice comfortable apartment, and Eva’s aunt made us dinner. Good, because I am nearly broke! First she made a pasta, then chicken with potatoes. It was pretty good.
The best part was watching the World Cup game from their home. It was the Italy vs. Ghana game, so everyone was pretty pumped to watch. Secretly, I was rooting for Ghana. Anyways, we watched the game, and Eva’s uncle was really into it. There were so many close goals and misses, so it was very intense. Finally, near the end of the first half, Italy made their first goal, and all of Italy went crazy. People were blowing their horns, lighting fireworks, shooting guns even! It was absolutely nuts! Italy ended up winning 2-0. Poor Ghana.
After the game, Eva’s uncle drove us home. It was so nice to spend time in somebody’s home, with family, even though it wasn’t my own. I fell asleep in the car on the way home. I was way too tired from this long day. When we got back to the hotel, I really wanted to call my parents. I bought a phone card at the hotel for €5, and the guy said I could use it from my room. Except that there is no phone in my room. Oh well. I’ll call them tomorrow. Last night in Roma.
Total for the day: € 68
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