Two Days in Rome

Anthony and I are on a train to our final destination together, Budapest, and I think it would be a wise choice for me to catch up on blogging now, as I am about to end my mini-tour of Europe and begin my program.

We had no problem making morning plane from Paris to Rome since we slept in the airport and our flight was delayed several hours.  It was about two hours to Italy; there wasn’t even a hint of Customs.  We shared a cab into the city with a middle-aged couple we met in the check-in line back in Paris; a cab was much quicker into the city than the bus, but I had my first taste of Italian drivers in a cab with no seatbelt and the possibility of my own untimely death crossed my mind once or twice.  (There is really no rhyme or reason to Italian driving or if there is, it’s completely inaccessible to Westerners.  I’m so glad Anthony and I decided against renting a car!).

It was a relief to finally get to a hostel.  Our place was in a great location in the city and we were sharing it with two sisters (one of the girls is a friend of Anthony’s and had booked the hostel for all of us).  I slept for until the evening soon after getting there which was lovely because I really needed it at this point.

At about 6:00, Kelsey, Katie, Anthony, and I went out to sight-see.  Can I just say: Rome is awesome.  It’s impossible for me to do justice to the city’s countless marvels with words or even with pictures.  It’s magnitude is really only conveyable through experience.  The architecture is like nothing I’ve ever seen up close before; every building in the area we explored was a masterpiece in itself.

The food was also spectacular and, surprisingly, not very expensive.  The four of us stayed out sightseeing until around midnight.  Back at the hostel, the drinks cost more than I would have liked and the music sucked (I didn’t come to Italy to have to relive adolescent memories through 50 Cent).  But it wasn’t all bad.  I had a nice conversation with a lawyer from Uruguay who was also staying at our hostel, and Kelsey and I danced when the “prices” went up slightly, if you know what I mean... (get it?  50 Cent... prices... okay never mind).

The next day was packed with activities and even busier considering that we all had to check out of the hostel before we left.  Thankfully, we were allowed to stow our luggage at the hostel for the rest of the day so it we didn’t have to repeat Paris. 

We went to the Vatican first, although Anthony decided to meet up with us later because it cost quite a bit to get into the museum, skip the lines, and have an official tour guide.  I was a little reluctant to pay the fee at first but in retrospect I’m glad I took the tour. 

As someone who grew up in a Roman Catholic household, it’s strange to me that I never felt an inclination to visit the Vatican.  I mean, I would have been (and was) happy to take the opportunity when it presented itself, but I’ve always had a million other places I would rather visit.  Now, it’s so awesome to me that I walked through the Sistine Chapel, marveled at the facets of St. Peter’s Basilica, looked across the courtyard to where each new Pope greets the world...  (I was hoping to bump into Pope Francis at some point but that didn’t happen.  Oh well). 

What I didn’t realize (and I doubt I’m the only one) is that the Vatican is not only the headquarters for the Roman Catholic Church and a country of its own, it is also a museum with a wealth of pre-Christian history within its walls.  And it has Michelangelo’s genius all over it.  OH.  That Sistine Chapel.  First, I must express my utter disappointment and anger at the people who blatantly ignored the signs and calls for *silence* in the chapel.  Let me tell you, I’d hate to have the job as a shush-er in the Sistine Chapel; the noise level goes up, the guards say “Silencio” and the noise might subside for less than 15 seconds before getting even louder than before. It was simply infuriating.  I stared up at The Last Judgment and wished that people would notice it and think about respecting the rules.  But I digress.  I almost don’t even care about rude people when I think of how glorious the chapel was to behold.  Of course, I couldn’t take any pictures in the chapel because of copyright laws, but it’s impressed in my mind’s eye forever. 

We met up with Anthony at the Colosseum.  The Colosseum is incredible, but it became eerier and more disturbing to me the longer we were there.  All I could think about after awhile is how this building was once full of screaming spectators, cheering as human beings violently killed one another or early Christians and other enemy minorities were fed to lions and crocodiles.  There is something awesome about the building itself, but I couldn’t shake the feeling of tragedy and injustice.

Anthony and I split off from Kelsey and Katie after the Colosseum.  We visited the Capital among other places, and finally returned to our hostel to get our luggage and make it to our next hostel.  We took a wrong turn and it took us forever to get there, but the location allowed us to make our train for Florence the next day.  More on that soon.