Roaming Roma

(3/21) Pisa to Rome:
This morning we took pictures in front of the Leaning tower, ate crossaints and drank coffee, browsed souveneir shops, said good-bye to Jen, Jen and Ashley and hopped on a train to Rome...

This afternoon we walked out of the Roma Termini train station and went in the wrong direction for about 10 blocks before finding our hostel. We eventually got there, checked in and took a nap. We hadn't gotten much sleep in Florence! Britt and I went out tonight in search of the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps...and neither were quite as magical as we had expected. The fountain was beautiful, and we threw our coins in hopes of returning to Rome. The hasslers, however, were not so charming. We told a guy 3 times that we didn't want the stupid, tiny tripod he was trying to sell us before he started yelling at us and following us around. Not pleasant. Then we got to the Spanish Steps via some strange and dark back streets, and once we got there they were sort of deserted. We ate a gross, overpriced dinner and returned to our hostel, tired and frustrated.

(3/22)
This morning we ate a weird, but free, breakfast of dry Quaker Oats, stale bread and burnt coffee. Britt and I checked out of our hostel and went to find the other one where we were planning to spend the next 2 nights. Well, turns out that we were in the Comptom of Rome. We walked quickly and fearfully to our next hostel amidst groups of scary, leering guys, the sound of beer bottles shattering, cigarette smoke and filthy streets. Needless to say, this was not the Rome we had imagined. Once we found our hostel, the guy at the front desk (who spoke no English) shoved us into a tiny elevator despite the massive bags on our backs and took us up to our hostel room. I'm not even sure how to describe it except to say that it was Nothing like the hostels we have experienced thus far. It's name, Hostel Eden, was definitely a misnomer.

The rest of the day was spent as far from the hostel as possible. We went straight to Vatican City hoping to attend the 11:30 mass, but the pope was in Africa! We watched him on a big screen TV instead :) Next, we found our way through the crowds into St. Peter's Basilica, which was grander than I had ever imagined. Wow. The ceilings were enormous, the mosaics gorgeously detailed, and every nook and cranny was carefully and thoughtfully created. And I absolutely loved the Pieta, just as I had been told I would. It was the first representation of Mary and Jesus that was truly beautiful. It didn't seem contrived or strange. Instead, it was serence and sad and hopeful all at the same time. Michaelangelo is a sculpting genius!

After seeing the Vatican, we spent some time at a darling coffee shop in a tiny wooden booth checking e-mail and fervently searching for another hostel to spend the night. We didn't find anything available except a camp site (it was 40 degrees though), so we decided to leave Rome early and head to Venice tomorrow night. Britt and I ate gelato for dinner and walked to the Colosseum to see it lit up at night. So cool! We were finally starting to feel like we were in Rome.

Oh, and when we got back to the hostel, we found 4 American girls staying in our room. God is protecting us!

(3/23)
When we got up this morning we checked out of our hostel (so thankful to be leaving!) and headed to the Colosseum. We stood in line for a while but decided that with the time we had left we would rather see the Sistine Chapel. The Vatican museum was massive and overwhelming but incredibly cool. Every wall and ceiling was either painted, molded, sculpted or covered in mosaic. We followed the hoards of people all the way to the back of the museum to the Sistine Chapel. It was a little different than we had expected (which may, in itself, be a theme of this trip), but it was amazing anyway. I loved seeing so many Bible stories depicted in giant frescoes. I love the way that a painting can tell a story without words, and I love the fact that Brittney and I can both stare at a work of art, yet see it and think about it differently.

After leaving the museum, we hopped on the metro to get to the train station for our 2:50 pm train to Venice. We arrived in Venice at 7pm, got off the train and immediately fell in love with this city. More on Venezia soon...

Rome is:
-spread out so much...there is really no city center, which was so confusing
-disgusting hostel/ghetto
-"We miss Pisa!"
-creepy men
-gorgeous art
-so many nuns and priests!
-incredible to be standing in a place of such ancient history
-a chance to dust off my Latin and realize that there isn't much remaining besides root words
-the pope on TV
-reading I Peter in St. Peter's Basilica