The Eternal City

Well, I'm just over a week into my European adventure!  First stop was Rome...what a fantastic city!  I loved my time there.  Upon arriving at the airport at 10:00 pm, I stayed the first night at the airport hotel.  The next morning I took all my gear and caught the shuttle into the center of the city.  I had already booked 4 nights at a hotel, so I went in search of it.  It was pretty easy to find, and they were expecting me.  I dropped my stuff off and decided to go take a hop-on / hop-off bus tour to get the lay of the land and see some sights.  I stopped off at the Vatican City because I had read that on Wednesday mornings (which was the next day), the Pope does a papal audience, and you have to reserve a free ticket in advance.  So after searching for a bit, I found the right area and secured my ticket from  the Swiss Guard.  I spent a little time in St. Peter's Basilica after that.  It's beatiful inside, from floor to ceiling.  I caught the bus after that to head back to my hotel area and grab a bite to eat.

The next day I was up early and out the door back to St. Peter's to see the Pope!  I found my way to the Audience Hall, and everyone was funneled into a big auditorium, where we all sat and waited for the Pope to arrive.  When he did, there was sort of a "mini-mass" - the gospel, homily, and blessings.  Everything was done in 7 different languages, and there was a different bishop each time the language changed.  When it came time for the Pope to do his blessings, the bishops stood up and introduced the different groups from around the world who had come to see him, and he acknowledged each group by blessing them in their own language!  It was a pretty neat and interesting experience!

After seeing the Pope, I wandered around the city a bit, ending up at Trevi Fountain, which is so impressive.  I threw a coin over my shoulder into the fountatin so as to be sure to come back again to Rome someday.  I walked down a small side street and found a little restaurant where I stopped for dinner. It had great bruschetta, pizza, and red wine.  There was a theatre right next door to my hotel, so after dinner, I went and caught a show!  It was the Peter Pan musical, and it was completely in Italian!  Even so, it was fun to watch.

The following day was more of a touristy day for me, as I walked all over the city, stopping at some of the more famous sights.  I went to the Colosseum, walked along the Roman Forum, and then on to Piazza Venezia, which has the huge Monumento a Vittoria Emanuele II.  It houses a museum, tomb of the unknown soldier, and an elevator that will take you to the top of the building to get 360° views of the city...very impressive.  After seeing the view, I walked down and across the river to Trastevere, another section of the city.  I wandered through small, cute streets lined with flowers, ivy, and cafes.  I crossed back over the river and made stops at Campo di Fiori, Piazza Navona, and the Pantheon...all great sights.  I made my way back toward my hotel, while making a stop at Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps.  I walked through some of the small streets there and realized I was in the "nice" shopping area of the city...the Rodeo Drive of Rome, if you will.  It had gotten quite late by this time, and it was off to find dinner!

Friday was extremely interesting, to say the least.  I decided to walk up Via Veneto to Villa Borghese, a large lovely park.  It was raining, as it had been for the past few days, and as I was searching for the Lake at the center of the park, I noticed it was coming down a bit harder.  I finally found my way to the lake, which was really beautiful.  There's a temple out in the midde, and as I was gazing upon it, I realized that the rain had turned into snow!  It was snowing in Rome!  It was definitely coming down, too.  Apparently this is very rare in Rome, as it's only snowed twice before in the past 27 years!  I made my way to the Galleria Borghese, a lovely museum in the park and escaped the weather for a bit, but when I came back out, the snow had covered everything!  I carefully made my way back to the Spanish Steps, where there is an interesting Keats-Shelley museum, before finding dinner.

The next morning, I was scheduled to leave Rome and head up to Tuscany.  I got all packed up, checked out of the hotel, and headed out to find the bus station.  I finally arrived there, only to find that the buses had been cancelled.  I backtracked to the train station, bought a train ticket, and waited an hour for a train that never arrived.  Apparently the weather had brought travel to Tuscany to a standstill.  So...back to my hotel for another 2 nights!  I spent the next two days wandering around the city, finding small places to stop along the way.  One place was an Irish pub (yes, I can find one pretty much anywhere!) that I stopped in to watch the Ireland-Wales rugby match.  While there, I met a really great couple from England and ended up having dinner with them as well.  They were wonderful to hang out with, and I hopefully will see them again when I head up to England later in the trip!

The next day, I did leave Rome, and headed out to Tuscany.  I really enjoyed my time in Rome.  It has so many old, amazing buildings and ruins everywhere you look.  You can walk pretty much everywhere, and there are lots of great little streets lined with restaurants and such, and the people were friendly.  I've decided I really like this city and would come back anytime!