Second to last spring break post...
So on Tuesday we got on our train to Rome and it was similar to the train to Venice with the 4 seat table style. Luckily, the train was not full and I was able to sit next to Cody and Brian so it wasn't another awkward train ride. As we traveled through Italy we saw the clouds and they looked awful. Apparently it was supposed to rain but I was hoping I would bring the Gardiner luck (I mostly have Rodriguez luck but I was hoping the recessive gene would prevail) and the sun would shine through. Seeing as about 30 minutes after our arrival in Rome it started hailing, I would say I definitely do not have Gardiner luck. Fortunately, it hailed once we were safely inside a restaurant eating full pizzas each. Can't complain about that.
After lunch half of the group went to meet up for a walking tour while the other half of the group stayed at the restaurant in order to use the wifi to buy our tickets to go into the Vatican the next day. The group that stayed was Angie, Saleh, Bo, and myself. So for some reason the payment wasn't going though and it turns out the wifi was shut off so we had to go to an internet cafe to buy them. Wifi is definitely taken for granted by this generation. While Angie and I waited for Bo and Saleh to buy the tickets in the internet cafe we went to get gelato because what else were we supposed to do. Turned out to be the worst gelato I had in Italy so that was disappointing. Once we finally bought the tickets, we started walking to try to meet up with the rest of the group. Keep in mind that none of us have phones that work in Italy and none of us have internet so basically it would just be lucky running into them. We started to head towards the Colosseum because that's where they were supposed to be. Then the rain started.
Rome is a gorgeous city. That did not keep us from hating it while we were in the rain. We (meaning me and Angie) were miserable walking through the city in the rain. Maybe it was a combination of being exhausted and sore from walking so much but we were not happy campers. At least good pics resulted from it:
Photo Cred: Bo
On our way to the Colosseum, we found a church and it's doors were open so we meandered inside. They were having a concert of some sort and it was insanely beautiful. Little did I know what was awaiting me in the St. Peter's Basilica tomorrow but in the meantime, I loved this church. It definitely put me in a better mood.
Through the rain, we made it to the Pantheon. Which I honestly thought was the Colosseum until I walked inside and said, "This isn't how I imagined the Colosseum" and everyone was like wait are you serious so obviously I said I wasn't serious I was just kidding. I wasn't kidding. So that was embarrassing. The Pantheon was pretty cool and old. That's all I have to say about that.
So we continued walking and casually came across the Colosseum. It was incredible. Also it was partially covered in scaffolding. The Ancient Romans invented scaffolding, you know. It was authentic. We walked around the Colosseum and discovered that we were there too late to buy tickets to enter so we were going to have to squeeze that in after the Vatican on Wednesday. We did get some good pics of the outside though:
That scaffolding...just amazing. I also like this picture because I look tall which never happens. Anyways, we sat down for a bit outside of the Colosseum to form a plan of attack for locating the rest of our group and then deciding what we want to do for dinner. While discussing this, the other half of the group just so happens to walk up and run into us. Coincidences. Gotta love 'em. So after we reconvened we walked for a bit to find some food because people didn't feel like cooking again. So we ended up at a doner kebab place. Doner kebab is a Turkish dish that's kind of like a gyro and they are all over the place in Europe. They are delicious. Unfortunately, this was not one of the best kebab's I've had but whatever. That night we just got some vino and hung out in the apartment because we were too tired to do anything else and we had a full day in front of us on Wednesday.
We woke up Wednesday and immediately went to the Vatican. The Vatican is such a cool place. All of it is just really important so it makes way more entertaining to look at it. Obviously, my first order of business was to see the Sistine Chapel. It was like a sick maze through museum after museum to get to the actual Sistine Chapel. Imagine herding cattle through a hallway. That was how it was getting there. There were also signs saying it was coming up and then it was never coming up. It was a sick joke. I just wanted to see the ceiling! Finally, we made it. The fact that it was absolutely packed with people really ruins the whole chapel effect but that didn't make Michelangelo's masterpiece any less amazing. The security guards were incredibly strict with the no pictures rule. I saw one guard catch a woman taking a photo and then insist to watch her delete it on her camera. I'm so sneaky though:
YOU SEE THAT??? That's some famous art right there above my head. Didn't even get caught in the process. I'm kind of a big deal. So after this we just hung out in the gardens for a bit and decided to make our way to the St. Peter's Basilica, the place where the Pope gives mass. It's important. So we get there and the line is super long but I was not about to leave Rome as a Roman Catholic who did not go into this basilica so we waited in line. Turns out that the line moves extremely fast. The second we walked in, we realized every second of waiting was 5785% worth it. Honestly cannot put into words the effect this basilica has and pictures cannot even do it justice but I'll try:
I'll post more on Facebook later. It was absolutely incredible and I HIGHLY suggest everyone to go there. In the basement there are the tombs where all of the popes are buried. It was just cool to see the capital of the religion I have been learning about my entire life. There was also a choir performing in the back and that just made it so much cooler. Ok I'm done raving about this place after this picture of me in front of what was probably my favorite thing in Italy:
So anyway, after this we headed to the Colosseum to actually go inside this time. We had to take a taxi there because we had to be inside by 4:30 and we were running out of time. We made it inside and walked around for a bit. Lizzie McGuire fans, this is where she performed "What Dreams Are Made Of" so obviously I was on a historic monument. I probably should have gone on a guided tour of this place because I was totally clueless as to what everything was. It's incredible to see how advanced the Ancient Romans were. They had entrance gates and stadium seating and everything it's so crazy. They were pretty smart I guess. Since I already included a picture of the Colosseum I'll spare you another one.
After the Colosseum we headed to the Trevi Fountain. For you Lizzie fans, this is where she met Paolo. Pretty big deal. This fountain was incredibly gorgeous and not one bit overrated in my opinion. I think I took 100 pictures of this fountain alone:
It's also really pretty at night:
We packed up everything and we were ready to go for our 11:26 departure time. We had to wait for the woman who was leasing the apartment to come meet us so she can return the security deposit though so we called her and she said around 10:45 she would be there. So we decide that everyone except Bo and Saleh will get on the metro and head toward the train station. It was fate that at the moment I started walking to the metro and I went to twirl my rings, a nervous habit I have. My rings weren't there. I had taken them off to braid Angie's hair before we left. Let's keep in mind for a hot second that these aren't bullshit rings (ok one is bullshit but the other one really isn't). My claddagh ring is from Ireland and it was my 16th birthday present so I was not about to lose that. The keys were locked in the apartment so my only hope was to wait for the woman to return with the security deposit and let me in. She ends up getting there at 11 and we run in, get the rings, explain to her that we do not have time for her to examine the apartment, run out, and look for a taxi. We get into the taxi around 11:10. There is so much traffic. So half of the group is on the train already and half of the group will likely miss it. Alas, our cabbie was not about to let us down. We asked him if there was any way he could go faster and at that moment an ambulance came zooming by. He gets right behind the ambulance and follows it all the way to the train station (total Noreen movie? I think so). It was like a movie scene. We get to the train station at 11:23 and absolutely sprint to our train. It was a very high adrenaline experience but definitely a good story (at least in my opinion). We were then on our train to Naples.
Overall, I LOVED Rome. I think it's because I was raised Catholic and I also really like history so there was a lot for me to do and see in the city. I highly, highly recommend it to everyone, especially Catholics and history buffs. I'm for sure going back someday, it's been decided.
Next stop: Naples/Sorrento. Stay tuned.
Angela
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