Aug 12, 2009 14:03
I am back in Switzerland, just arrived back from three days in Rome. As much as I absolutely loved Rome (which I did in every sense) I am happy to be back in a cooler climate. I actually got a tan in Rome - first time in about 7 years.
We arrived about 3pm on Saturday and after taking the scary train to the middle of Rome we went to the hotel, it was the third floor up in an old building - I loved it even if the elevator was epically frightening. Then wandered down to the "Wedding Cake" (I can't remember the real name of it) A huge monument to the first King of Italy after reunification (so after the fall of the Romans) then wandered through to Trevie fountain where I did the whole coin toss thing and Jason shook his fist at it (when he first visited Rome, the threw in the coin and it bounced back out - meaning that he would not return so now the fountain is his arch nemesis). After that we had pizza and wandered through some back alleys - which was the best way to get the culture fix without having to deal with millions of tourists.
On Sunday we did all of ancient Rome - Colosseum, Roman Forum (which they are still excavating and I peeked in on the archaeologists). The Colosseum, while good to visit, didn't interest me as much as the Forum did, I think for me it had been tarnished by the constant media surrounding it (But I can still say I've been there!) Fun Fact: The Colosseum could fill to its capacity of 50 000 people in 10 minutes, try doing that in a modern day stadium. The Forum was much bigger than I had anticipated, it covered nearly all of the centre of ancient Rome, from the senate to temple, an arch of triumph, the spot where Julius Caesar was cremated (which has turned into a rubbish pile of love notes and what-not from all the tourists). We also went up the hill to where the emperors resided and viewed the Circus Maximus. After visiting the Spanish Steps we found an Irish Pub (the pub theme for this trip) had dinner and Old Man Sarah was asleep by 9pm - the sound of Italian Kirk and Spock pretty much put me to sleep.
Monday was Religious Rome day. We took the Metro the Vatican and bypassed the line by finding one of the many tour groups. We had an American called Stan, who was fucking AWESOME. The man had rants like no other and actually gave us information we didn't know. He also pointed out the shape of Darth Vader's helmet in the Last Judgement Painting, which I now cannot stop seeing. The Vatican Museum was amazing, all the statues and sarcophagi and the paintings (I had a history-gasm). Unfortunately the Sistine Chapel was ruined by the thousands of tourists, all taking photos and running around (A rant which Stan and I shared - This place has been here for hundred of years, the vatican could easily close it up again. Have some fucking respect.) But the best part was Saint Peters Basilica, it made my jaw drop - and I am a consistently underwhelmed person. The whole time there was this indian girl who kept on running up and stroking my hair, decided to get rid of the green now. After a bit of shopping (Mainly rosaries - got one from the Vatican and Rome) we went back to the pub and found another place for noms, those three hours consisted of Jason going on Old Man rants.
I also got some good pictures of the Alps from the plane - Camera is pretty epic to have survived the street party flood. Will blog about the party and what-not later, Tomorrow I visit Leceurne (spelling?) and Friday Jason has a surprise for me - not sure what it is but it requires me to be in formal dress and pretty :S
Later this weekend I'll visit my friend in another town and see the Rinefalls (spelling again?) but for now I'm going to sit on this very comfy and appealing couch. :3