PontifiKate

Day 4: Fri. Sept. 16th -- ROME

Rome photos with titles and some captions

Rome photos in slideshow format

We got up early, well-rested as we were, but ended up waiting around for the free breakfast our hostel offered (which turned out to be somewhat questionable, but which we ate anyway as others set the example to do).

We spent a chunk of time at the Termini Station trying to reserve places on a train to Florence for the following day, but were told in the end, very matter-of-factly, that our Eurail passes would suffice. Well okayyy then. (What am I trying to quote, Dad?)

We spent the first part of the day at the Vatican, which we found without too much trouble (even though our only clue was another ever-popular sign pointing resolutely into a building -- Bercy!). Waiting in line around the corner and down the street, we met an Australian guy who was nice and conversational.

So, the Vatican! Wow: Tons of tours. Tons of Mary. (What did I expect, you ask? I dunno, but I just can’t hardly hold my tongue… !!!) We saw the Sistine Chapel, which was cool, though not as much of a standout as I had thought it would be (though granted, I have an untrained eye).

We grabbed lunch and proceeded to St. Peter’s Basilica, next door. They made Elissa wear my jacket over her tank top out of respect. Evidently most religious establishments in Italy require this. Huh.

We chose to save three euros and take the stairs rather than the elevator up the copula-thing, which was supposed to have a great view. Oh. My. Gosh! We must have walked up 700 stairs, at least (because the elevator only takes you up to where there are still 300+ stairs to go)! Check out my thought process during the climb: This must be the last bend… no this… no this… no this… I think I’m gonna fall over… there’s more?!… I think I’m gonna pass out… am I dead yet?… there’s more??!!... maybe I should sit down… no I can keep going… there‘s more???!!!… just a little further… just a little -- no, I need to sit down now. :o) The view of Rome was spectacular, though. We went back down to the actual church for a little bit and then went on our way.

To mix things up a little, we went on a walk. :o) Elissa’s guidebook had a walking route that started at the Castel Sant‘Angelo, which was close by, so we made our way over. We started out in the right place, stopped for gelati and water, and continued, but we were never quite where we were “supposed” to be. Eventually, we saw some major-looking stuff and went to investigate. It took a good while for us to figure out where we were, which was way off-course at the II Vittoriano, right by the Roman Forum and lots of other big stuff! Oops. (I make it sound like we were terrible navigators, but I really don’t think we were all that bad. It was Europe‘s fault.) We just went with it, as there was no lack of important monuments right where we were.



Darkness was falling as we reached the Colosseum and we began our walk back to the Sunshine 2. *sigh* If only it had been that simple! We got lost again -- probably the most lost we’d been yet… and it was dark. No matter, right? We stuck to main, well-lit streets and checked our humungo map as furtively and regularly as possible. We found our way back quite well, actually. I was very proud of us. :o) (Thank You, Jesus, for protecting us!)

We met a few new roomies (two from Holland and one from Israel), freshened up, and treated ourselves to a *nice* dinner out in Rome. And it was a nice dinner!

All in all, a full, good, tiring day.

posted by Kate @ 4:56 PM