Adventures in Rome, Day 1: Thirteen years and nothing has changed

I know I'm way behind on actually writing about my trip to Rome over Thanksgiving, but it's been a combination of being super busy and a little lazy (mainly being busy) that has prevented my writing up until now. Thankfully, I anticipated the possibility of this (I know myself so well...) that throughout my trip I kept detailed notes in my "handy dandy notebook", also known as the Notes app on my iPhone. And so with those words, I commence. ;)

I was in Rome back in the year 2000 when I was 16 for a giant Catholic celebration called World Youth Day. I remember that it was an amazing experience then and I had always wanted to go back. I had thrown a coin in the Trevi Fountain, after all, so I knew it would happen at some point in my life. Last time, though, was solely a pilgrimage. A group of over 120 of us from my diocese were joining millions of other youths (and their chaperones) to sing and show our love to God, culminating with Mass said by Pope John Paul II (aka JP2). This time, however, I knew there would be some religious pilgrimage stuff thrown in there, but I'm not 16 anymore and I was on vacation, dang it! I was going to see Rome and everything possible within the five days that I had.

Since I hadn't been to Vicenza for work in a while, I decided that it would be a perfect idea to combine the two trips. I took a train down Sunday night, got in Monday morning, spent the next few days there for work, and then headed to Venice to catch my just-after-midnight train in to Rome Thursday (Thanksgiving) morning. Although it was nice to get in to Rome early in the day, it was a mostly sleep-deprived night. At one point the train stopped to let more passengers on, so we were all again awoken. There was a group of 3-4 American girls that I heard get on. I know they were American because they were superbly loud, and one of them made a comment while trying to find her cabin along the lines of, "I can't understand what any of them are saying, and they smell bad. It's not like any of them can understand me." Had it not been about 1:30 in the morning, I was about ready to jump out of my cabin and lecture her for being part of the reason that Europeans have a negative connotation of Americans and being arrogant enough to think that no one in the train could understand her while she spoke one of the most international languages in the world. However, I let my blood boil for a few minutes and then let it go. The irony was that one of the girls (not the one who made the comment) actually had a ticket for the seat next to me. I just ignored her and went back to sleep with everyone else, thankful that I had a corner so I could lean up against the wall a little bit.

The train ride itself was scheduled to be about 6.5 hours but took about 45 minutes longer due to some delays. By the time that I got off the train and found my hostel, it was about 8:30. Thankfully the hostel wasn't too far from the train station, but I still had a little trouble finding it at first. It was actually right next to Santa Maria Maggiore. I rang the bell, put my bags in a side room since it was too early to check in yet, brushed my teeth (which felt awesome), and then decided that I would head down to the Roman Forum until I could check in at 11.

Arch of Titus

The walk to the forum took me a little longer than I thought it would, but I made it there in about 20 minutes. Not surprisingly, I got a little lost on the way, which is what accounts for the increased time. Prior to leaving Germany, I had downloaded Rick Steve's Pocket Rome book on my iPhone, which was a great decision. It had information about a ton of stuff, including sites and restaurants, but it also had audio walking tours for most of the major sites. So, I paid my fare, which included entry into the Colosseum within the next 48 hours as well, and put on my head phones to listen to Rick guide me through the ancient ruins.

The arches of the Basilica of Constantine

This is one of the places that I didn't get to go last time I was here, so it was cool to get to see. It's pretty incredible to think that this stuff is literally thousands of years old. These are the times when I wish I were a history nerd. I tried the best that I could to transport myself back in time, but it proved mostly fruitless.

The door is the original door made of metal

Temple of Antoninus Pius and Faustina

After walking around the Forum, I headed back to the hostel to check in. It felt phenomenal to take a shower after 36 hours and traveling!

The spot where Julius Caesar was killed

By the way, I stayed in a place called Mia Lodge B&B and Hostel, which I will say is the best hostel that I have stayed in to date. I found it on HostelBookers.com, which is generally where I find all the hostels I stay in, and I was very pleased. It was very reminiscent of a dorm living space with four bedrooms, mine being the largest capacity with a max of 4 people, and two bathrooms. There was a basic kitchen that served as a common area. The only thing that was a downfall was that the internet connection was not very good, but I would take that as a complaint over other things that can go wrong in a hostel any day. It was very cozy and homey. I recommend it to anyone who ever decides to go to Rome, especially if you're traveling on a budget. (And if I were more tech savvy, I would probably know of some way to benefit from that plug, but I'm not, and I don't care enough about reaping any benefits to look into it, so that's my 100% unbiased opinion.)

After cleaning myself off, I decided to put my heeled boots on rather than my new Uggs while walking around. It definitely had the desired effect of allowing me to blend in more with the locals, thereby cutting down on annoying merchants. It also showed me that I need to learn Italian because my "disguise" was ruined when I went to open my mouth. For those who don't know me well, I absolutely HATE looking like a tourist. I will go to great lengths not to, including finding maps for my phone so I don't have to pull out a paper one, observing local fashion, and trying to at least learn some words of the country. I am usually successful until I open my mouth. But, I'm getting better even at that the longer I live in Europe.

Hanging out with the Apostles

My wanderings brought me over to St. Peter's Basilica. I had tickets to go see the museum the following day, so I just decided to hit up a couple other areas of interest. Another thing that I didn't do last time in Rome (which I didn't know that you actually could do) was go up to the Cupola, or the top of the dome. It cost 5€ to go up (7€ if you take the elevator), and it's well worth it.

There are two different stops. The first stop puts you out on the roof where you can walk to the almost edge right behind where St. Matthew and the other statues hang out at the top. They are much larger than they look from the ground, being twice as tall as I am. It's pretty incredible. There's also a gift shop on this area where you can get handmade rosaries and some other items from some of the Sisters. I did a little shopping in there on my way back down. You can also view the inside of the Basilica from the gallery inside the dome. It looks a lot higher looking down than it does looking up.

Almost there...just 320 more steps to go.

After walking around on the roof, you can ascend the dome. This portion you can't take an elevator up. It's 320 steps on varying angles and some tight spaces. Not for the severely claustrophobic or those easily dizzy. However, the views are absolutely breathtaking. Luckily there weren't too many people while I was there (one of the benefits of traveling over Thanksgiving is a decrease in tourists to high tourist traffic areas) and I could easily get to see the views on the whole 360 degrees.

My camera is pointed straight up

                                                                 

After my high-rising wanderings, I decided to go inside the Basilica. I went back a few times, so I'll post pictures in some of my upcoming blogs, but it was nice to warm up a little bit after being on the top of the building. It was a colder day than I expected, even raining later on in the evening.

My last priority for the day was to get some food. I had eaten almost nothing in the past 24 hours because of traveling and getting settled, so I found a place to sit down and get an incredibly overpriced pizza on the street leading up to the Basilica. I knew it wasn't going to be wallet-friendly in that area, but I was on the verge of no choice before I hurt someone to get my blood sugar levels up. The waiter at the restaurant was quite "Italian" with me, ever so kindly reminding me that he would be willing to kill my boyfriend so that he could be with me. As flattering of an offer as it was, I told him that it wasn't necessary and finished up my meal to head back to the hostel.

I decided to take the metro back since it was dark, I didn't know exactly how to get back by foot at this point, and I was just plain tired. When I got back I met one of my roommates who was from South Africa and chatted with her for  little bit before passing out about 19:30 (7:30 pm).

Day 1 - well spent. :)