This past weekend I took a wild adventure to the city of Rome ( a few Mel Brooks quotes keep popping in my head-watch History of the World to get what I'm saying!)
As I have learned many times over during this trip, your plans are never your plans so don't bother getting set in your ways. I bought my train tickets to Rome on Wednesday thinking that I was being proactive, until I learned of the train strike planned for friday throughout the whole country. So now my train would maybe leave, and it maybe wouldn't. On friday morning we took our chances and had to catch a cab to the train station since the metros were also closed. We anxiously stood at the departure board until the platform for our train thankfull appeard. From here we had a 6 hour train ride to Rome, which wasn't bad at all since we got to sleep in cars like the ones on Hogwarts Express (just not as cool). It was quiet and there was a nice view of the Italian countryside.
My seat in the "Harry Potter" car
Once in Rome we had a little trouble finding our hotel, which turned out to be exactly across the street from the train station..whoops! Once we were checked in we headed to a restaurant recommended by the front desk and had one of the best meals I've had in Italy, four courses for 15 euros, not bad! I even got to have tiramisu for dessert-my favorite! After this we walked around the area by our hotel and saw piazza della repubblica, which had a beautiful fountain and was surround by lit up buildings. We then wandered down to a local pub and grabbed a drink and some nachos (how American!) and then called it a night since we knew the next day would be packed with things to do.
Best meal in Italia!
Piazza della Repubblica!
Couldn't help myself :)
We woke up the next morning and grabbed a breakfast chocolate croissants around the corner from the hotel and then navigated to Rome metro over to Vatican city. To our marvelous luck we were met on the street by a man named Fabio who told us about touring the Vatican and that the smarter way of seeing everything was to take a tour group so we wouldn't have to stand in line. I'm SO glad we listened to him because being a Saturday in July, there were thousands upon thousands of people in the city and we would of had to wait hours in line just to get in. Our tour guide Silvio was hilarious and took us through the museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica, giving us all of his knowledge of history and art.
Seeing Michelangelo's paintings in the chapel up close was very surreal and I found it amost impossible to make a mental photograph (since no cameras were allowed in) and soak up the experience. It was definitely sensory overload. From the chapel we went to the Basilica which is so much bigger than what I imagined from on TV. It was the most elaborate, beautiful church that I have been in Europe and housed many important works of art like Michelangelo's Pieta. The church was crowded with so many people it was hard to see everything, but I was so thankful to even have the experience of going inside. It was the second surreal moment of the day...and not to be the last.
Our hilarious tour guide Silvio
The Discus Thrower by Myron
Inside St. Peter's square, the Basilica in front
The Pieta by Michelangelo
Inside the Basilica
Guards outside the Basilica
After the tour of the city we grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to the hotel for a much needed nap. When we woke up we headed over to the Colosseum, which was only 2 metro stop away from our hotel. It is one thing to visit Williamsburg in Virginia and feel like people lived there so long ago. It is another to be standing against the walls of the Colosseum in Rome and know that it has been there for over a thousand years. Seeing it in a photograph is nothing like seeing it in person. Although it was already closed to go inside, it was still an amazing view to see. After we circled the whole building we sat against a railing and noticed that there were many brides and grooms newlywed having their photographs taken. What a site to have in your weddings photos!
I still can't believe I saw this in person
We met some Roman guards, no big deal.
By this point we were starving and needed dinner so we walked past the site of some ancient Roman ruins and were trying to find the river where there were restaraunts. We were having trouble finding where to go when Greta stopped and asked a girl on the corner. She spoke perfect English (something that never happens in Milan) and offered to take us to her favorite restaraunt which is one of the best in Rome. Her name was Blaine and she was about our age and has lived in Rome almost her whole life. She sat with us for a little and then left to meet up with friends, by kindly left her number and invited us to meet up with them later. After an amazing dinner we headed across the river to Campo di Fiori piazza to meet up with Blaine and we hung out with her friends until the early morning. I can honestly say I have done as the Romans do, being shown the city by a true Roman socialite...Blaine knew EVERYONE around the square.
Some ancient ruins along the walk.
The next morning when we headed to the train station we thought it would be smooth sailing since the strike was over. Never assume anything in Italia, ever. Even though the strike was over there were many trains that were being delayed and cancelled. After sitting around and finally getting answers from the information booth we learned that there was a fire at a train station north of rome and any trains going to or coming from the area were delayed. Since the train we were supposed to get on was cancelled, we were told we could get on a shorter 3 hour train that was to leave at 1:15..or so we thought.
After running to the train and luckily finding seats we sat and wait for the train to leave. And we sat. And we sat. And 3 hours later, we were still sitting in the train station in Rome. After getting up multiple times to see what was going on, a train employee informed me that we would be leaving in 10 minutes. 10 minutes turned into 30 but we FINALLY slowly pulled away from the station. Our whole car started applauding. The funny thing is that during the whole three hours, not one person in the car complained or got frustrated. The british couple sitting across from Greta and I were saying how this would never be the case in the UK, as well as the United States. It made me think of how fast paced life was at home and that we need to learn to go with the flow more, even when it can be a little inconveniencing. We finally made it back to Milan some 3 hours later and quickly grabbed food and went back to the dorms. I was thoroughly exhausted by happy with my amazing experience in Roma!
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