the famed hole in the ceiling
a very blurry picture of me in the pantheon
raphael's grave!once the mass started, we were shocked at how little the congregation was, with maybe fifty people total. i guess everyone was in vatican city! it was interesting, too, because the priests were extremely traditional--incense rituals throughout the mass, no "our father" prayer, and backs to us during transubstantiation! supremely old school. there were also pigeons flying around overhead, due to the donut hole in the ceiling.
the outside of the panpizzatheonwe were ready for some easter breakenfarst by that point, so we found a pizza joint nearby and sampled the fare. mine was alright, but i couldn't even tell if it had cheese on it! i must say, i think america has improved the iconic italian dish, what with our heaps of cheese and thick doughy crusts. mmm!
of course, after pizza, you need dessert! i got a "caffe" gelato, which was smooth and predictably delicious. even though we were pretty full, we all still wanted to try italian canoli, so we found a bakery/cafe and ordered a couple to share. i didn't think i would like it, since i typically don't like very creamy, fatty desserts, but it was very mild and nice.
by that time, we were satiated and ready to explore the forum ruins and the coliseum. the ruins were very expansive, so i've only put the top-notch pictures up...
what used to be a temple to saturn
ruinin' everythingeventually, megan and i headed up the hill to see views of rome below. check out our journey...
after climbing back down, we ambled over to the coliseum, which was very impressive, indeed. funny story...as we waited in line, an italian employee yelled to me, "HEY! NICE-A HAIR! L'ORIGINALE?" to which i smiled and nodded. oh, those italian men! at least he wasn't crusty, though, he was legit.
anyways, the coliseum was very cool---since the floor has deteriorated, you could see all the tunnels and passageways that the...er..."performers" would wait in. the floor of the coliseum was partially reconstructed, too, so that you could see what the stage would've been like.
chillin like a villain
a cross jp2 gave to honor the christians killedonce again, our group was a bit exhausted, so we took a breather outside the coliseum to soak up the sun (don't worry, mom, i put on sunscreen). we ended up basking for about an hour, watching the passersby and lazily chatting.
ah yes, and of course helen had to try to buy sunglasses. she was looking for a pair the entire trip, but found none satisfactory. this picture sums up her roma experience
posers
cool lizard friend. can you see him on the rock?thoroughly rested up, we decided to walk to trastevere, a reportedly non-touristy, cute part of rome. we walked for about 45 minutes to find it, passing the fiume tevere on the way
me on the tevere!unfortunately, we had forgotten that "early dinners" are extremely uncommon in italy. we were looking for a place at about 5:30, and almost everything was closed. thankfully, we finally found a sunny little place with smashing food. i tried the "spaghetti all'amatriciana," which had a rich tomato sauce, parmesan, and bacon chunks. coupled with the sweet house red, and more perfect bruschetta, it was the perfect easter dinner. for dessert, helen and i split a tiramisu, which of course was also perfect.
then...we had to get more gelato...so we found a nearby joint and i tried strawberry, a refreshing change from my usual chocolate-laden choices. some nuns came into the gelateria after us!
we knew the following morning would be an early one, so we hit the sack early (after coming back to the hostel and discovering an italian man had taken the place of our american acquaintance). i wasn't particularly keen on being left alone with a stranger the following morning, so when the group headed out at 7:30, i joined them.
ryanair, the ultra-cheap airline that we used to fly to italy, basically is the bane of my existence and changed my flight a few weeks ago, so i had the rest of the day to spend. i bade farewell to the scotland group, and metroed back to st. peter's square to really explore the basilica
the view the pope had on easter morning!
st. peter's altar
st. veronica to the rescue!
the doors that only open on the jubille, and erase all your sins! i've walked through them!since the crypts and cupola were closed on saturday when we originally ventured into the basilica, i decided i should check them out alone. the crypts were alright, filled with dead popes--the only ones i REALLY cared about were JP2 and st. peter. so it was cool to see those!
the walk to the cupola (the top of the basilica) was amazing, though. first, you climbed around to the inside dome of the basilica. there was a high, thick fence blocking us off (probably to prevent suiciders), but i squeezed my camera lens through the gaps to snap a few photos..
then, more steps led you to the outside top. the journey was challenging...i think there were about 600 extremely steep steps. towards the end, the stairwells became extremely tight, and curved. see below for proof!
at last, i made it to the top...and oh my goodness, it was worth it. i took about 30 pictures, but have only put up a few. it was a glorious view of the beautiful city.
thanks to the australian lady who took this
the statues adorning the top of st. peter's!
back inside the basilica.
the gleaming part is the top of st. peter's (suppsed) grave!
by the time i was done at the basilica, it was about 11...so i still had a lot of time to kill! i headed back to the cavour area, intending to chill in an internet cafe, and then in a real cafe, until it was time to fly home (i was very limited by my cumbersome backpack).
internet cafe--closed! frustrated, i walked down via cavour until i found a little cafe. i ordered a cappuccino (in italian, no less!), and completely pulled a jk rowling. i plopped into a corner, and nursed my cappuccino for about an hour and a half, writing in my travel journal to pass the time.
i began to get a little bored, when my dear friend andrew called me! he's studying in rome, and had been in croatia for the weekend. but now he was back! we decided to meet in front of the vittorio emanuele monument, and chill for a bit!
it was really nice to see him, and we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon catching up. eventually, i had to be off, so i bid him adieu and took the bus back to ciampino. arrivederci, roma!
if only things were that easy. once back in the jolly uk, i was fretting about catching the stansted express home. when i had asked the airplane steward when the trains stopped running, he said "i think 12:30...could be midnight," so once i was out of border patrol at 11:55, i became nervous when i saw people running for the trains. i knew i'd be a bit screwed if i missed the last train home, so i jumped on the train at the last second, without a ticket.
then, once i sat down, i began panicking over the fact that i didn't have a ticket. i'd never been without one before, and was worried i'd get into deep trouble. i then realized that i was on the wrong train, since this one was stopping at bishop's stortford, and the stansted express doesn't stop until liverpool street. in a split second, i decided to get off and try to get a train back to stansted.
i did so, and stepped on to a platform of a completely deserted train station. i didn't see a single otehr person. that's when i really began to panic, because i had no idea where i was, it was late at night, and i didn't know if any other trains were coming. about ten minutes passed, and no trains came through. thoroughly freaking out, i found a monitor that said a train to liverpool street was coming in forty minutes. for some reason, i didn't trust the monitor at all, but decided to buy a ticket and wait it out.
while i waited, for the entire forty minutes, i didn't see another person anywhere. needless to say, i don't plan on repeating that experience EVER.
but, thankfully, the train finally came, and i practically ran inside. i finally made it into liverpool street at 1:30am, then caught the 1:45 bus back to mile end. i was so grateful to be back in my own bed--even if it was at 2 in the morning.
despite the sour ending, the rome trip was utterly lovely and amazing, and i can't wait to start my adventures with helen in exactly one week--when we conquer france and germany! stay tuned for more english updates...
missing gelato,
lilly
by the time i was done at the basilica, it was about 11...so i still had a lot of time to kill! i headed back to the cavour area, intending to chill in an internet cafe, and then in a real cafe, until it was time to fly home (i was very limited by my cumbersome backpack).
internet cafe--closed! frustrated, i walked down via cavour until i found a little cafe. i ordered a cappuccino (in italian, no less!), and completely pulled a jk rowling. i plopped into a corner, and nursed my cappuccino for about an hour and a half, writing in my travel journal to pass the time.
i began to get a little bored, when my dear friend andrew called me! he's studying in rome, and had been in croatia for the weekend. but now he was back! we decided to meet in front of the vittorio emanuele monument, and chill for a bit!
it was really nice to see him, and we ended up spending the rest of the afternoon catching up. eventually, i had to be off, so i bid him adieu and took the bus back to ciampino. arrivederci, roma!
if only things were that easy. once back in the jolly uk, i was fretting about catching the stansted express home. when i had asked the airplane steward when the trains stopped running, he said "i think 12:30...could be midnight," so once i was out of border patrol at 11:55, i became nervous when i saw people running for the trains. i knew i'd be a bit screwed if i missed the last train home, so i jumped on the train at the last second, without a ticket.
then, once i sat down, i began panicking over the fact that i didn't have a ticket. i'd never been without one before, and was worried i'd get into deep trouble. i then realized that i was on the wrong train, since this one was stopping at bishop's stortford, and the stansted express doesn't stop until liverpool street. in a split second, i decided to get off and try to get a train back to stansted.
i did so, and stepped on to a platform of a completely deserted train station. i didn't see a single otehr person. that's when i really began to panic, because i had no idea where i was, it was late at night, and i didn't know if any other trains were coming. about ten minutes passed, and no trains came through. thoroughly freaking out, i found a monitor that said a train to liverpool street was coming in forty minutes. for some reason, i didn't trust the monitor at all, but decided to buy a ticket and wait it out.
while i waited, for the entire forty minutes, i didn't see another person anywhere. needless to say, i don't plan on repeating that experience EVER.
but, thankfully, the train finally came, and i practically ran inside. i finally made it into liverpool street at 1:30am, then caught the 1:45 bus back to mile end. i was so grateful to be back in my own bed--even if it was at 2 in the morning.
despite the sour ending, the rome trip was utterly lovely and amazing, and i can't wait to start my adventures with helen in exactly one week--when we conquer france and germany! stay tuned for more english updates...
missing gelato,
lilly
Wow, intense man. Rome looks really cool. Glad you made it back to Queen Mary though, it would have sucked to spend the night in the airport.
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