Notes from Abroad

It’s only been around 3-4 days since I last blogged, but it feels like a lifetime ago. I don’t even know where to begin!

Let’s see…Sunday: Rolled out of bed early to check out and get on the BusAbout to Rome. It’s a really nice long-distance coach with AC and power outlets. If it had wi-fi I think I would have cried with delight, but no luck there. Pretty much everyone had 2 seats to themselves which was nice to napping (or rather continuing the previous night’s sleep). We stopped every 2 hours at rest areas for food and bathroom and such. Everyone who’d been on the bus before said that it was one of the worst rides they’d had so far. I thought it was great – sleep for 2 hours, wake up, eat, go to the bathroom, get back on the bus, sleep, and do it again until you’re in Rome!

We got into Rome around 6:30 I believe. Laura and I managed to get into the same cabin which was good considering the many early mornings we had planned. And it’s air conditioned. Major win. Even better news (or so we thought at the time) was that there is a supermarket across the road. We literally threw our stuff down on our beds and went straight to the produce aisle. So. Disappointing. Really I don’t know what these people eat because there weren’t many vegetables around and the selection they DID have looked like it’s had a tough life so far. We ended up getting bagged salad (nothing like the ones in the States. This was a sad, sad salad) some pre-cubed ham (glorified SPAM) to throw on top, and the only dressing we could find: lemon juice. Not the greatest tasting salad on the planet, but I just wanted vegetables. I would have eaten a carrot Bugs Bunny style if I had to.

Post-dinner I’m pretty sure I went straight to the internet area because the wi-fi in this place is free (SOOOO exciting, you have no idea) and tried to catch up on some email and things. I’m getting better at going entire days without being able to go online, but it gets to be a pain in the arse when I finally can get on and there are 100 emails waiting for me. I only want the good ones though: updates from friends, travel ideas, general hi-how-are-yas and the like. The rest are still unread, so if you don’t give your email a compelling subject, don’t expect an answer anytime soon ;).

I think we all hung out by the pool that night and listened to the live music. Early to bed, big plans for the next day.

Monday: 2 things on the list: The Pantheon and The Vatican.
We got up really early (I’m talking like 6:15) so that we could beat the crowds to the Pantheon. After some confusion with the bus system (what else is new) we made it. It was really spectacular. Though I’d say it’s probably one of the more minor sights that we took in, it was still amazing and, nerd that I am, I kept thinking back to Archaeology this past semester and how the Pueblo people used to use the sun in a similar way to how they were using it in the Pantheon to mark the time of day for prayer for each religion. I’m actually really glad I took that class before doing this trip. Especially in Rome it’s given me a whole new appreciation for ruins and other archeological sites (more on that when I get to Pompeii…). In any case, we had to go back in the direction of Termini to pick up our tour of the Vatican.

For the Vatican, I’d booked a walking tour through BusAbout because a) you get to skip the lines and b) most of my knowledge of the history of Christianity and Catholiscism in general comes from what I’ve learned in Art and English classes (and I suppose the occasional history class too), so I thought it’d be a good idea to have someone to tell me what’s what. It was definitely a smart choice because the Vatican Museum is really, really intimidating! I think the statistic is something like “if you spend 1 minute looking at each piece of work in the Vatican Museum you’ll be there for 14 years”? I didn’t have that kind of time.

The tour was realllllllllllly long. I think it started around 11AM near Termini station and we went through the Ponte Sant’ Angelo, went past the Castel Sant’ Angelo, down the Via della Conciliazione and found ourselves in St. Peter’s Square. We wound through the Vatican Museum for what felt like an eternity (though it was really interesting) and (finally) made it to the Sistine Chapel (or…as most people put it, the Sixteeth Chapel. Honestly, how can you actually be standing IN the place, with signs outside pointing to the Capella Sistina and STILL not get that it’s not the 16th?). I’ve obviously seen tons of photos of the Sistine Chapel over the years, but it’s really nothing like seeing it for yourself. It’s actually really intimidating and you don’t know where to look. The Chapel itself is also packed with people talking and taking pictures even though you’re not supposed to, so it didn’t feel as reverent as I was expecting. The ceiling and walls and everything else were magnificent to say the least. The figures themselves were a lot larger than I expected. I’d love to be able to go back there one day when it’s completely empty, lie down in the middle of the floor, and stare up, because even after spending 15 minutes standing in one place and slowly rotating around trying to take it all in I don’t feel like I saw enough.

After the Sistine Chapel I think we were dropped in front of St. Peter’s Basilica to go in if we wanted. Laura and I were so incredibly beat from only having about 4 hours of sleep and being in the beating sun all day that we decided to skip it and instead go to this gelato place that was supposed to be amazing. I do kind of wish I’d been able to go into St. Peters, but at the same time it gives me a reason to come back here.

The tour was really useful, especially in some parts of the Vatican museum, but I have to say, my history, English, and art classes throughout school were actually pretty successful at prepping me for a place like Rome. There were only a few tidbits that the tourguide mentioned that I hadn’t heard before and most of those were about the Passion of the Christ angels along the Bridge of Angels. I guess school wasn’t so bad after all.

I should also note, anecdotally, that the entire time I walked through the Vatican (about 4.5 hours total) I had various scenes and songs from both Sister Acts playing in my head. Those of you who’ve known me for a while know that over the course of my life (or rather since they came out) I’ve seen both Sister Act movies a combined total of over 100 times. Probably closer to 150-200, actually. I love those movies. So here I am, in what’s called one of the holiest places on earth (at least for the Catholics), surrounded by nuns, priests, cardinals, Swiss Guardsmen, and of course, tourists, and the only things running through my mind, apart from omg it’s so hot and omg my feet are killing me, were some songs from Whoopi Goldberg movies. OK, maybe it wasn’t the ONLY thing, but still. At least, though, for the majority of the time, it was the scene that they sang I Will Follow Him for the Pope. More appropriate than the “boogie woogie” fast versions…

ANYWAY – so we get the gelato from the supposedly excellent place (it’s called Old Bridge, it’s basically across from the entrance to the Vatican Museum), and it was, indeed, excellent. The scoops were enormous! I ended up going with Fragola, Limone, and however you say Pineapple. So tasty.

I’m pretty sure that from there we decided to head back to the campsite to nap, go online, eat, etc. Oh right – we had pizza in the restaurant. Pretty good I suppose. To be honest the best pizza I’ve had in Italy so far was at a rest stop somewhere between Ancona and Rome. Or maybe it was between Venice and Ancona. Either way, I haven’t been very impressed. Gelato on the other hand? mmmmmmm….

So that’s my first 1.5 days in Rome. Tuesday was an entirely different type of adventure that was only going to get a few paragraphs mention, but now deserves an entry of its own. Read on, my friends. Read on…

Tags: Adventures, City, Italy, Journal, Rome