Rome & The Vatican

 Our huge adventure last week was a jump over to Italy to see all the wonders of Rome and The Vatican.  Having only three days to see all the sights we were busy running up, down and all around marveling at art and ruins.

Dakota along the river in Rome

The trip began with our first planning mistake wherein I (Harper) booked a flight that left from London at 6 AM, thinking we could get a train from Bristol to London very early in the morning.  This, however was not possible and we had to catch the last train from Bristol to London the night before our flight, leaving us in London's Paddington station from midnight till 3AM.  Then the train company I had booked our trip on said we could get on the Tube (Underground) at 3AM to transfer to Liverpool station where the shuttle to the airport runs from.  So we assumed that the Tube opened at 3AM and we would be able to get to Liverpool station at that time (since that is what our ticket said).  We faithfully waited at Paddington in the freezing cold with no one else around but the cleaning crew and some vagrants.  Dakota eventually noticed that he had brought his special pocketknife that had belonged to his Grandpa with him on accident and we were panicking that it would be taken away at the airport and it was too early in the morning to mail anything.  So we walked around the station a few times looking for a place to hide it in hopes we could just pick it up when we returned.  Finally we found a rafter just barely in reach that had 2 CCTV cameras mounted on it pointing in opposite directions away from the rafter, so they couldn't see it.  We decided to go for it and hid the knife there in hopes that it would still be there on our return.  And in hopes we wouldn't be caught for acting suspiciously.

Eating pizza after a long trip to Rome!

After playing lots of solitaire on my phone and standing in the warm light of the Millie's cookies booth, it was finally rolling around 3AM, but the Underground still wasn't opening.  I asked someone what time it opened and they said not until 5! So we rushed to a bus stop and finally got on the right bus to take us to Liverpool station where an exhausted Dakota and Harper got on the airport shuttle and immediately fell asleep on the warm train.  A 2 hour flight later we found ourselves in Rome.  Going through customs unusually fast (they didn't even look at us when they stamped our passports) we were finally in the city and ready to explore!!!



The first thing we set out to see was the coliseum.  A ginormous ruin, it truly is a marvel.  Happily, we had pre-booked tickets and a tour allowing us to skip the loooooooong line.  We got the 90 minute archaeological tour, allowing us to go through locked gates and even to the top floor (not the original, but the highest one left standing).  We learned lots of interesting facts for example nearly the whole thing including the seats was covered in marble, it used to have a roof, and the floor was covered in sand so that the blood could be cleaned out easier.  Originally it started out as sort of an arena of water with boats in it that people would tell stories from.  Then it became the bloody venue we know of today.

Harper imitating a statue

Next, we headed across the street to Palantine Hill (one of the 7 hills of Rome), where many Roman officials used to live.  Attached to it was also the Roman Forum, and both of these made up a very large collection of ruins.  Actually large is too small to describe it... there were so many we were almost bored by the time we'd seen them all! And that's saying something -especially for Dakota who's an archaeology major.  But nevertheless it was very interesting and we spent a few hours trudging around there.



After that it was gelato time! On our way to the Pantheon we stopped at a yummy looking gelato shop -after cramming ourselves into the tiny shop that was a brimming with people we picked out our flavors and ordered.  Dakota asked for a small cone that had a wavy edge and pointed to the lady which flavor he wanted.  She scooped it out and then looked at him expectantly and after a moment said that he had to pick out two more flavors.  So he did and then she proceeded to put another cone, two wafers and several swirly cookie-sticks and finally handed it over to him for a charge of 9 euros!!! After finding out that the original chocolate-sprinkle cone I wanted was going to be 24 euros, I promptly asked for a simple cone with just one scoop -I have no idea what they could have possibly put on it to make it that much!

We finished our abundant heaps of gelato and walked to the Pantheon -a huge domed church with great columns leading to it.  Magnificent!

Our next stop was to check in at our bed and breakfast -which proved to be more difficult than we expected.  It was in an apartment building with a buzz in door.  We had told them what time we planned to check in and they were supposed to meet us outside but no one came and no one came so we went in behind some people with a key.  At this point we were a little panicked and before we even got to the stairs, an elderly lady told us we were supposed to wait outside (or at least we think that's what she was saying).  So we went back outside and waited a little longer, then snuck in behind more people with a key and hiked up to the seventh floor where the directory said our bed and breakfast was.  On the door there was a little note that said if no one was there we should go to a different bed and breakfast on the third floor and they would check us in.  We went down the four flights and sure enough the lady there helped us and checked us in to our room.  Phew what a relief!

Harper in one of the many
churches we visited

After a much needed sleep we woke up early the next morning at 4 o'clock because we had to register for our fall classes at home (University of Idaho), only to find that the internet server was down! But we managed to register by getting on to another network that wasn't secured (much to our relief). After a couple more hours of sleep we woke up to go to the catacombs of St. Callixtus, one of the first Christian crypts that used to house many of the first popes.  The bus ride there was very... well crushing.  We waited for about a half hour at the bus stop and then literally had to push ourselves into it to even get on it was so crowded! Every time it stopped everyone had to cram together so that the doors could open.  Slightly flattened, we arrived at the crypts to take an interesting tour seeing rows and rows of what now look like built in shelves on the earth walls where the bodies would have been placed and then a plaster would be put even with the wall to entomb them.  Our guide was an Australian priest who liked talking to me and Dakota and making little jokes -which made it all the better!

Dakota in front of Trevi Fountain

That afternoon we saw a few more incredible churches and fountains.  Our favorite was Trevi Fountain -and it is many other peoples' too as the throngs of fellow tourist proved.







Our next stop was the Capuchin crypts under Santa Maria della Concezione.  These were intricate decorations and monuments made of human bones.  They were very impressive covering the ceiling and walls in what could be considered beautiful designs.  To us that was pretty cool (although some might find it revolting and creepy) but the disturbing part were the dead monks around the crypts that still had flesh on them.  One even had a traces of a beard still! 


The next day was devoted to the Vatican.  We got up early to go see if we could get into St. Peter's Cathedral before getting into the Vatican Museums.  St. Peter's is a separate entrance and Wednesday morning is when the Pope appears so there was extras security measures and they were checking people's bags.  Dakota had just bought an Italian coke bottle and can (he's a collector) and they took them away (because they were such a threat to the Pope?).  After getting our soft drinks confiscated we asked a Swiss Guard -who really do look hilarious -how to get into St. Peter's and he said that it wasn't open until after the Pope gave mass! So we went back over to the Vatican Museum entrance, happily skipping the line of several hundred there as we had pre-bought tickets.  

Dakota's nose filling in for the statues' missing one

The Vatican museums have a one way traffic scheme, but we hurried through to the Sistine Chapel so that we could be sure to see it before it was too crowded.  It truly is amazing and the scenes look three dimensional in person.  There were only maybe twenty people in the chapel when we were there so we had plenty of time and room to marvel at it.  We went back to the beginning and through all of the increasingly crowded rooms with an overwhelming amount of art everywhere.  My favorite part was the map rooms with wall size depictions of places and villages, cities, trees and mountains painted intricately on them.  We were glad we went to the Sistine Chapel first though, because when we came back through a second time it was jam packed full of people!









After seeing just about as much art as we could stand, we went back to St. Peter's Basilica around 1:00 only to find that the mass was still going on (and there was no security so no need to steal my coke in the first place! -Dakota).

 

 

We joined a small line that was forming to get into St. Peter's Cathedral while we saw the Pope come out and crowds of people cheering for him.  So hurray! We saw the Pope! The line got longer and longer and when they finally opened it up to get into St. Peter's masses (Haha no pun intended!) of new people were pushing in to join the front of the line.  That is one interesting thing we encountered in Rome a lot: pushing, 

shoving and line-cutting.  Nevertheless, we ended up close to the front and headed strait for climbing the cupola.  It was an amazing hike, the first level taking us to the dome inside the church were we could look down and up at the inside of the incredible monument.  Then we went up more stairs until we were on top of the building itself, and then up more stairs until we were inside the cupola -the dome on top of the cathedral. In total we climbed 546 steps and some ramps.  Towards the top of the cupola the walls were tilted so you had to walk crooked! The view from cupola is stunning and you can see the landmarks of Rome around you.  After admiring the sights from above and finding our where we were staying from that height, we went back down a layer to the roof of the cathedral.  There we looked in the souvenir shop, wrote a few postcards (to send by Vatican mail) and sat and enjoyed ourselves.  This was our favorite part of the trip.  

The next day we were sad to leave the city of Rome with its overwhelming amount of artwork, ruins, churches and fountains.  Nevertheless, we boarded the plane and, after a scary landing where the pilot slanted the plane so the wing almost touched the ground, we were back on English soil.  And at Paddington station we were happy to find that Dakota's pocketknife was precisely where we had hidden it.