During my time off between the SLI language course and the start of the semester I planned to go on a little excursion around Europe with a few friends. The friends I traveled with were Colin (who is also in the Umass exchange in Freiburg) and my former roommate at Mount Holyoke, Winnie, and her friend Rosie, who she met studying abroad in Denmark. Since Winnie and Rosie’s vacation started and ended at different times it was agreed that we (Colin and I) would meet up with them in Rome and from there we would travel together to Florence and Paris.
The first day of the trip began very early around 4am as a matter of fact. 4am is a time that most people aren’t usually commuting into town but it was the time we needed to get up in order to catch our 4:50 train to get us to Italy. Since the time was indeed a time when most sane people should sleeping the trams into town were not running and we had to walk from the Stusi to the train carrying our trendy “we-are-in-college-and-we-are-going-to-backpack-across-Europe” backpacks, which mind you are very heavy do to the two weeks worth of clothing crammed into them. The walk isn’t that bad only 30minutes if you are going slow, the only major problem we dealt with was the enraged drunk man who clearly had been up all night consuming large amounts of alcohol that “roared” at us. The startling affect of this caused me to break out into a run for about 10seconds before I realized everything was just fine and I didn’t need to try to out run or out walk that guy (seeing as he was probably incapable of doing both at his present state). We made it to the train station on time (in fact our train had been delayed so we could have taken the tram after all…) and we made it into the city of Rome safe and sound. Now I shouldn’t need to tell you that there is so much to do and see in Rome. However, we only had time to spend three lovely days in this city and three days is barely enough time to not feel rushed, but it was completely worth it!
If the first night in Rome had a name it would be called "The Roses of Awkwardness." When Colin and I got to Rome we arrived one day before my roommate from MHC and her friend. So after we dropped our stuff off at the different hostels we were staying at we began to wander and sight see. The problem with having a friend who is male is quite obvious, especially, when you appear to be traveling with just him. Everyone assumes that you are a couple, which for both Colin and me is just uncomfortable or at least it can be. I discovered just how awkward it could be at the Spanish steps. I had just finished taking pictures at the top and I was admiring the vista when a random guy gave me a rose. I thought, "that's strange" but maybe they are giving them out since it was Easter weekend or something and I kept walking. He then followed and began telling Colin how beautiful I was and how lucky he was and that he should kiss me and harassing him to pay him for the roses he just gave me (because as we kept walking he just kept handing more roses to me.)
After this event Colin and I decided that if we are ever out just the two of us again he shall be my brother/half brother to ease the level of awkwardness. And despite how embarrassing and awkward the situation was at the time it made for a good story one that we can both laugh at. After the Spanish steps we went in search for the famed Trevi Fountain and along the way saw the outside of the Pantheon, which sadly was under construction. Once we got to the Trevi fountain I was very very happy! It is the one image of Rome I had had in my head since I first decided to go to Rome and seeing it at night is very spectacular. I honestly prefer it at night the lights in the fountain make the water shine this brilliant radiant turquoise color that is just breath taking to see against the darkness of the night. When then had a very traditional Italian pasta meal (or better what tourists think is traditional) at a nice restaurant and the called it a night.
Rome Day 2:
On the second day, Winnie (my roommate) and her friend Rosie weren't arriving until the late evening because they had missed their first train. So for the day Colin and I went to the Vatican and saw the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums (a location that luckily isn't a beacon of romance.) On the way there I really noticed for the first time just how touristy Rome really is. Every corner has a man selling knock off Prada and Gucci purses, and the incessant number of tour guides get annoying very fast! “Hello Excuse me, do you speak English? English Speaking Tours of * Insert name of tourist sight * for a good price! Cheaper than any other offer!” and “Excuse me are you looking for the Vatican City? I won’t bite I’m just trying to help you find your way!” were just a few examples of how pushy these guides were.
Once we finally made it to Vatican City we first went into the Museums, which led through a labyrinth of famous artworks that ended with the grand finale of the Sistine Chapel. I gazed in amazement at all the treasures and artworks that made their home at the Vatican. I even took many pictures of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, even though many a guard was yelling "NO PHOTO!" I guess because it is a very religious site and they want to be respectful you aren’t allowed to take photographs, or more likely they want you to just buy their own prints of it in the gift shop. I’ve come up with this theory because I noticed in Rome, Florence or any major tourist city you aren’t allowed to photograph any of the sights that you can by pictures of on post cards. For example you can take pictures inside St. Peter’s Basilica because they don’t sell images of the inside on postcards, magnets ect. at the gift shop (although you can buy plastic holy water containers in the shape of the Virgin Mary). So because of the photo patrol brigade most of the photos were blurry and not in the best light. I did manage to get a few that turned out ok though. Outside of the Vatican in St. Peter's square two sad/funny moments happened. One: I saw a group of girls lying on the ground sun bathing in front of the Basilica and watched as the Swiss guards yelled at them to get up and not do that here. And two, as we were leaving the Vatican I heard a middle aged American Woman describing how "Tom Hanks played a professor at Harvard in a movie that took place right here at the Vatican!" because of course the main reason anyone should visit the Vatican is because Tom Hanks starred in a movie that took place there...It made me cry a little inside.
After this Colin and I just walked around the city some more before had to meet up with Winnie and Rosie. We found a carousel that was moving and we illegally hoped on and off of the carousel repeatedly. It was quite childish but also a lot of fun. I'm thoroughly surprised we didn't get yelled at all. After that we picked up Rosie and Winnie at the train Station and called it a night.
Rome Day 3:
On the third day Colin and I had made plans to get up super early to go to St. Peter's Basilica because the day before it was good Friday and we couldn't go in (The pope was holding mass.) We knew that in order to avoid a 3 to 4 hour long wait we had to be there when it first opened at 7am. We invited Rosie and Winnie to tag along but they were too tired from their late train ride to Rome and wanted to sleep in a bit. Colin was staying at a hostel that was different from where Rosie, Winnie, and I were staying so we decided to meet at the metro stop for the Vatican at 7am. That morning I got up at 6:00am and was out the door at 6:30am. I got to the metro stop about 15min early and I waited for Colin. And I waited for Colin. And I waited for Colin...It was 7:30am and he wasn't there. I called and no answer. After several snippy and passive aggressive texts (one said the following: A. I hope you are alright and nothing bad happened because you aren't answering your phone. B. If you aren't in trouble, then I hate you) I decided to go and see the Basilica myself. Luckily the line at 8am is far shorter than the line at 9am and I managed to get in within 10min. The Basilica was by far the most impressive site I saw in Rome. It was so ornate and spectacular. I even began to tear up a bit. The pieta was definitely able to place the viewer into a state of melancholy. I just wish that it wasn't set so far back behind it's protective glass, I wasn't able to see all of the detail that Michelangelo had worked into to sculpture. The pieta of course wasn't the only famous work of art in the Basilica, and everything was so amazing and breath taking.
After I had my fill of the Basilica, I ran into Winnie and Rosie outside of the Vatican by pure chance and I went with them to find the information office to get tickets to see the Vatican Museums. During this time Colin called and explained that the Australians staying in his hostel with him had turned his phone off (which he had been using as his alarm) and he was pretty pissed about it. He managed to meet up with us though and we went to the Coliseum and the ancient Roman ruins. Overall Rome was a pretty amazing trip I could have spent a full week or more there.
Just a few tips about Rome, stay away from the tour guides most of them are a scam and will charge you far more than if you just go to the official ticket window. Also, most of the museums and tourist sights will have really long lines just to get to the ticket window inside the sights. What you can do instead of waiting in line all day is find out where the other official ticket windows are for the sights. For example at the Tourist info point in the Vatican you can buy tickets for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel and for 4 extra euros you can also buy a reservation time, which lets you skip the line and just walk straight into the Museum. At very popular sights like the Coliseum you can buy “combo-tickets” that get you into many of the Roman Ruin Sights and you can buy them at any of the sights. So instead of waiting in the three hour line at the Coliseum to get tickets just go to the Roman Forum or the Palatine where the line is significantly shorter. And while the gelato was fairly inexpensive nothing else was (as far as food goes). My tip for eating is to try and get as far away from the tourist sights as possible otherwise you are going to be paying for over-priced pasta which was probably heated up in a microwave or you’ll spend a fortune eating at the “nicer” places, which as a college student I couldn’t manage. Also bring a water bottle with you. Through out many cities in Europe there are drinking fountains, which are usually labeled as “drinking water” and you can just fill up your bottle and save cash! In Rome there were many of these fountains and the water is very clean, I wouldn’t recommend filling up your water bottle at the Trevi fountain, but you get the idea.
