Once we arrived in Rome, Martin told us we were staying at a very nice hotel, and it was, but no Hotel Embassy. We got checked in and had about two hours to relax. While we rested, Martin got us Rome passes that allowed us free admission, discounts, and transportation all over Rome. We never once used public transportaion in Florence and I never once not used it in Rome. A good indication at how different the cities are in terms of size. Martin took us to our first church. We couldn't tour it though because of mass. I guess Martin is not aware of 5 o'clock mass...We went to the steps that Jesus walked up. Tradition is you do them on your knees. There are other steps to get to the top, but I wanted to stick to tradition and went up on my knees. By end, my knees were pretty tired and a little shaky. We then headed over to Mary's church. It is one of my favorite churches so far. The story goes like this. There was a man in Rome who claimed that Mary had come to him and asked him to build her a church. In this dream, he asked her where he should build the church and Mary told him she would let him know. He met with a ruler of Rome who claimed he had the same dream. On August 8th, it snowed in Rome. And only on this one little hill. And that is where they built the church. And every year on August 8th, it snows in Rome on this little hill, with the help of rose petals.
In Rome we met our other teacher for our last block of classes. Jon had met us in Florence. I'm not taking his class, but he is young and hung out with us a little bit. Real nice guy. Archie, who's business ethics class I am taking, met us in Rome with his wife Priscilla. I met Priscilla first and chatted with her and I adore her. They both are very sweet people and I'm looking forward to his class.
That night, we tried out Roman Kebobs and hung out in the hotel before it was time to go out. Everyone did a pub crawl, but Kari, Brooke, Cameron, and I tried out some Italian wine before we went to the downtown of Rome. And I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. We had a great taxi driver who took us around and showed us the sights of Rome at night before dropping us off in what could be mistaken for downtown Athens on a game weekend. It was crazy! We checked out the bars before deciding on yhe Drunken Ship. We met tons of people (it is a lot easier when everyone speaks English...) and I hung out with some great Aussies! It has been decided that Australia will be my next globe-trotting adventure. After the 2012 Olympics in London with Claire...
Sunday morning Martin took us on a walking tour of Rome. We hit all the highlights before arriving in St. Peter's square to receive the Pope's blessing. We received it, via live stream from his summer home...
After, we headed to the Pantheon, where Rafael is burried. After lunch, a much needed Mc-Ds trip for me, we headed over to the Trevi Fountain. AKA...my favorite spot in Rome. Martin, you gotta stick with him (some people still haven't figured this out), bought us gelato once again. I ventured out and instead of my usual chocolate, I got chocolate with raspberry. Good decision. We hung out at the Trevi for a little while and before we knew it was late afternoon. A quick nap and then we headed right back to the Trevi to see it at night. We had planned to eat dinner outside there, but a surprise rain storm ruined that plan. So, we did what any American would do, headed straight to the Hard Rock Cafe.
Monday (how was it already Monday?!) we went to the few places that weren't closed. First was to see Michelangelo's Moses and St. Peter's chains. Then to the colesium. WOW! Is all I have to say about it! We met a couple from TIFTON! (I wast thinking Tifton) We headed to the Roman Forum and Palentine Hill. I wasn't terribly interested in this, and I found it to be a little boring. Sorry Roman Empire. The Spanish steps were up next. I could sit and people watch for hours! Another trip to the Trevi (told you it was my favorite) was a must since we had forgotten to throw a coin in! This is supposed to bring you back to Rome (well, I did return to Rome, but more on that later...) Katie H and I ventured to the "Bone" Church. All the monks of this church were burried under it and then dug up so their bones could be used as decorations in these underground burial sites. It was one of the most unique things I've ever seen. As embarrassed as I am to admitt this, we returned to the Hard Rock for an afternoon snack. We were just too full the night before to order dessert and the peanut butter pie (I know, how typical of me) was calling my name. Another good decision. That night it was ladies night at our Drunken Ship, so why wouldn't we go back?!
Tuesday (again, where does the time go?!) was Vatican Day!Inside, it was more of a museum than I had thought it would be. I enjoyed all the ancient Egypt stuff, even if Martin claims it is all replicas and none of it is real. We toted around, saw Rafaels Stanza room and then on into the Sistene Chapel. Man do they wind you all around that place. Michelangelo's sistene chapel was almost surreal to see in person. I snapped a few photos illegally...St. Peter's was next. Michelangelo's Pieta is in there and it is, too, very impressive. That Mikey... Martin showed us how the woman who jumped the Pope at Christmas did so. She had some good hops because it wasn't an easy jump. We climbed to the top of the dome for a very impressive view. The hike up was pretty intense. We opted to not take the elevator and we were surprised when the part that the elevator took you to was the easiest. Honestly, anyone could have walked it. Even the girl on crutches (Crip as we call her) in our group could have done it. The next part that everyone has to walk was very difficult. It was narrow, slanted at some points, and the spiral staircasses were tiny. We saw a man have a mild heart attack-scary. We took in the view for a while because it was such a beautiful day.
We grabbed some lunch (pizza with ham and mushrooms as always) and went and sat on the Spanish steps. Side story: There are illegal immigrants all over who sell little touristy knick-knacks. The police won't arrest them, but if they can't provide papers, all of their loot gets taken. We watched some undercover cops make a bust and I felt extremly sad for the man. All the other men selling things, took off. Even though I never bought anything from them, they are hard workers trying to make it.
After my little sad-fest, I went off to see Rome on my own. It is a big city, but I felt safe the entire time. I had read about a National Geographic exhibit at one of the museums that I wanted to check out. It was tons of photographs that had yet to be published but were incredible nonetheless. Fran, you would have been in NG heaven.
That night, Martin had arranged a less than spectacular group meal that left me a little hungry. The obvious thing to do next, head to Italy's first ice cream shop and get the biggest chocolate milk shake I could. That night was an early one, as we were headed to Spain the next day!
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