(no subject)
Man, i'm falling behind in my updates. So after getting soaked in Nettuno, we came back to the apartment and changed into dryer clothes. We went to the Coliseum, paid WAY too much, only to find out that they were closing for the night in a few minutes (apparently it closes at 4:15 pm?!?). i totally think that if you come to rome, it might seem like a good idea to go inside the Coliseum, but it was just as impressive, if not more, seeing it from the outside alone. Save your 10 Euro and admire it from the outside. We jumped on the Metro and met a girl (Rachel) from Idaho who was meeting her sister and pointed us in the direction of the Vatican, where we sat down just in time for the 5:30 mass at St. Peter's Bisillica. it was a really cool experience, except for that the girl who had been tagging along with us since Nice (Vanessa) was asking me questions all through the whole thing (Which is partially cool, because she wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time was pretty loud and taking flash photos in the middle of mass, and was like 'what is communion? i'm jewish, but i think i'll take it anyways because i don't want to sit here by myself while you two go up there.') I convinced Vanessa that it probably was't a good idea to take communion.
On Monday, we got up and went back to the Vatican and took the tour (In classic Rome style, we paid WAY too much to get in there, only to find out that the stinking thing was closing at 1:30pm!!!!) Saw a lot of amazing art, but in one sense, it's too much. there is so much beautiful artwork there that it is hard to truly appreciate it (That and the fact that you feel like a sheep being herded through a museum. WAY too many people there.) Did the Sistine Chapel thing, left with a 'boy, we just got ripped off for the amount of money we paid to get into this stinking thing' taste in my mouth, but that went away quickly when we walked back to St. Peter's to take a few more pictures, and met a guy who was giving a free tour of the church. AMAZING tour. He was doing the tour as an advertisement of a night tour that he does on the whole city, (which we all agreed would be worth the 20 Euro he was charging), but I learned SO MUCH about the place. About the different statues of the saints, the story of Joan, the only female pope, the artifacts that the church supposedly holds, the design of the church, how the Michaelangelo statue in the back was partially destroyed by and failed artist from Hungary, etc. After the tour, we went into the crypts and saw the tomb of John Paul II.
After that, we went and had more Blue Ice gelato, then went to try and find an internet cafe so that I could update (my update from yesterday) and recharge my ipod. Here in Rome, they try and nail you by charging you 3 Euro (over three US dollars) just to use the CD BUrner or USB Drive in addition to the hourly fee you have to pay. WEll, I was told by the guy last night that I could use the USB to recharge the ipod, but then he freaked out for no reason and told me that I had to leave. it was a little wierd, and my internet time was cut down quite a bit. After that, (And doing some laundry because my wet clothes from the day before smelled like rotten cheese), we went to dinner and sitting at the table behind us was Rachel, the girl from Idaho we met on the subway the day before, and her sister. We talked briefly, then we asked if they wanted to go to Blue Ice with us. I think Vanessa was a little threatened by other girls because she thought up some lame excuse not to come to gelato, so we went with the sisters anyways. It was so nice hanging out with someone who didn't spend every minute complaining about something. AS we were saying goodnight and about to head back to our hostel, two older British women came up to us and asked if we knew where the Lazio Hotel was. We didn't, but we felt like they might appreciate some guys walking through the streets of Rome at 1am to help them find their place. (the neighborhood we were in was a little sketchy). After wandering for several blocks, we finally found it, and said goodbye.
This morning, Vanessa left us to go to Florence and Preston and I rejoiced.
Then, after much rejoicing, we got on the train back to Nettuno to see the museums about the Allied landings that my grandfather took part in. We first went back to the American cemetery there to do a rubbing of the cross(gravestone) of this soilder, Lawrence Goodwin. After doing the rubbing, we went and spent a good hour in one of the museums. REally interesting stuff. WE hopped on the train up to Anzio, but the museum there was closed for the winter, so we went down to the water. Preston really wanted to say he went swimming in the Meditteranean, so he stripped down to his skivies, and jumped in. Unfortunately, it was really shallow and REALLY dirty (think: Willamette River) and people were giving him really funny looks. He got out, did his best to dry off, and we caught the train for Rome.
We decided to take an overnight train to Venice, so we had some time to kill, so we went to the old Roman Forum and saw 2 really amazing things of the Christian faith: We saw the jail cell where Peter and Paul were imprisoned together, and we also saw the chains that held PEter in that cell. (oh, and we saw the box that contains the remains of St. Peter in the vault of the Bisillica where we saw Pope John Paul II's tomb) REally interesting stuff.
Now we're waiting for the train to arrive so we can head up to VEnice overnight. We're planning on getting a huge pizza for dinner tonight. we'll see. i think you're all caught up now.
peace.
On Monday, we got up and went back to the Vatican and took the tour (In classic Rome style, we paid WAY too much to get in there, only to find out that the stinking thing was closing at 1:30pm!!!!) Saw a lot of amazing art, but in one sense, it's too much. there is so much beautiful artwork there that it is hard to truly appreciate it (That and the fact that you feel like a sheep being herded through a museum. WAY too many people there.) Did the Sistine Chapel thing, left with a 'boy, we just got ripped off for the amount of money we paid to get into this stinking thing' taste in my mouth, but that went away quickly when we walked back to St. Peter's to take a few more pictures, and met a guy who was giving a free tour of the church. AMAZING tour. He was doing the tour as an advertisement of a night tour that he does on the whole city, (which we all agreed would be worth the 20 Euro he was charging), but I learned SO MUCH about the place. About the different statues of the saints, the story of Joan, the only female pope, the artifacts that the church supposedly holds, the design of the church, how the Michaelangelo statue in the back was partially destroyed by and failed artist from Hungary, etc. After the tour, we went into the crypts and saw the tomb of John Paul II.
After that, we went and had more Blue Ice gelato, then went to try and find an internet cafe so that I could update (my update from yesterday) and recharge my ipod. Here in Rome, they try and nail you by charging you 3 Euro (over three US dollars) just to use the CD BUrner or USB Drive in addition to the hourly fee you have to pay. WEll, I was told by the guy last night that I could use the USB to recharge the ipod, but then he freaked out for no reason and told me that I had to leave. it was a little wierd, and my internet time was cut down quite a bit. After that, (And doing some laundry because my wet clothes from the day before smelled like rotten cheese), we went to dinner and sitting at the table behind us was Rachel, the girl from Idaho we met on the subway the day before, and her sister. We talked briefly, then we asked if they wanted to go to Blue Ice with us. I think Vanessa was a little threatened by other girls because she thought up some lame excuse not to come to gelato, so we went with the sisters anyways. It was so nice hanging out with someone who didn't spend every minute complaining about something. AS we were saying goodnight and about to head back to our hostel, two older British women came up to us and asked if we knew where the Lazio Hotel was. We didn't, but we felt like they might appreciate some guys walking through the streets of Rome at 1am to help them find their place. (the neighborhood we were in was a little sketchy). After wandering for several blocks, we finally found it, and said goodbye.
This morning, Vanessa left us to go to Florence and Preston and I rejoiced.
Then, after much rejoicing, we got on the train back to Nettuno to see the museums about the Allied landings that my grandfather took part in. We first went back to the American cemetery there to do a rubbing of the cross(gravestone) of this soilder, Lawrence Goodwin. After doing the rubbing, we went and spent a good hour in one of the museums. REally interesting stuff. WE hopped on the train up to Anzio, but the museum there was closed for the winter, so we went down to the water. Preston really wanted to say he went swimming in the Meditteranean, so he stripped down to his skivies, and jumped in. Unfortunately, it was really shallow and REALLY dirty (think: Willamette River) and people were giving him really funny looks. He got out, did his best to dry off, and we caught the train for Rome.
We decided to take an overnight train to Venice, so we had some time to kill, so we went to the old Roman Forum and saw 2 really amazing things of the Christian faith: We saw the jail cell where Peter and Paul were imprisoned together, and we also saw the chains that held PEter in that cell. (oh, and we saw the box that contains the remains of St. Peter in the vault of the Bisillica where we saw Pope John Paul II's tomb) REally interesting stuff.
Now we're waiting for the train to arrive so we can head up to VEnice overnight. We're planning on getting a huge pizza for dinner tonight. we'll see. i think you're all caught up now.
peace.