I HEART Roma

First off, Merry late Christmas everyone!!

I <3 Roma!! It was so much fun ( and very exhausting trying to fit everything into 3 days!!) I got to have a SPECIAL AUDIENCE with the pope!! I DID have to use my zoom on my camera but we wree actually prety close to him. We saw the Colloseum (Erin's favorite) the ruins, and all the fountains and smaller ( comparatively to St. Peter's Basilica) churches. Last post, we had just gotten our electricity back. Soon, after, Madame Giordono ( the one i love so much) called and insisted that she take us to the train station in the morning, so ........

Tuesday morning, she picked us up at 7 am... and we had nice little 3o minute conversation in French on the way to the train station ( I think Erin fell back asleep in the back seat)... lol i wonder why she insisted on speaking French still even though she knew he didnt speak it... maybe she just wants to help my french a whole lot lol...We got to the station and thus began a very interesting trip to Rome. To make a LONG story short, all the trains basically had delays due to a random snow storm in Milan, but...... by jumping on trains that werent exactly the trains we were SUPPOSED to be on,...but still had the same destination, we ended up getting to Rome by 1:00 a.m. (with only 18 euros in "fines".. technically, I never even bought my train ticket from France to Milan- no one ever came by to check). So, all in all , a long yet successful trip down. If we had taken the trains we were SUPPOSED to be on, we probably wouldnt have gotten into Rome until like lunchtime the next day. We walked to our hotel in the drizzling rain- and really made our hotel guy mad because he wouldnt open the door so i just kept pushing the buzzer. I think we made amends though by the end of our trip.

Wednesday, we woke up at 830 ish (after getting roughly 6.5 hours of sleep) and headed straight for Vatican City. Despite the weather forcast, it was a GORGEOUS day on Wednesday. When we got off the metro, like a thousand people bombarded us offering to give us "guided tours".... and well, we caved. mostly because they included the private audience with the Pope. That part was really cool. There were like 20 brides and Grooms there to receive blessings from the pope. We couldnt understand anything that was being said but, it was still very cool. The actual tour included the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, the crypts with the past popes, and... well, i guess St. Peter's Square. We were there for roughly 5 hours. My favorite part was either the Sistine Chapel or the Square. I could have spent like 3 hours alone in the Sistine Chapel.. it was kinda dark, though, so that was a little disappointing. I also found a new favorite painting: The School at Athens by Raphael (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanzio_01.jpg)

We went home, got a take out pizza, and rested up for couple of hours. That night, we got back out and went to a cool square outside the city's center called Popolo Square. You could climb some stairs and get a really awesome view of whole city. We also saw the Spanish Steps. We sat there and discussed our future Christmas Traditons we were gonna start (again, we're precious).

Thursday, we woke up early enough to eat our "AWESOME" free breakfast which consisted of pre-packaged croissaints and coffee/hot chocolate. But, hey, it was free. The weather wasnt AS beautiful as Wednesday, but at least it wasn't pouring. The rain held off long enoug for us to see the Colloseum. While we were there, we met a couple from Memphis, TN of all places... what a small world. They were trying to take a picture of themselves when I offered to do it for them ( which is a great way, by the way, to get them to return the favor- so we got a picture out of it as well...) Walking around the ruins was a bit soggy, but was pretty cool. There were TONS of ruins, so it was hard to see it all. Afterwards, we ended up getting a little lost but , in the process, saw some extra little buildings we wouldn't have seen otherwise. Next, it was time for the Pantheon. There, we saw Raphael's tomb, and enjoyed a not so yummy sandwich on the porch of the Pantheon afterwards. We had to book it from there back to the Termini Train Station because Elena ( the Italian Assistant here in St. Tropez) actually lives in Rome and she and her boyfriend (who is Greek) wanted to meet up for a coffee. They are actually very adorable. She, of course, speaks Italian and he speaks Greek, but they both know English, so that is their only way they can communicate, so Erin felt right at home cause we HAD to speak English.

Again, we went back home and rested for a little but before heading back out at 830 in order to make it to the "midnight mass" which actually started at 10. On the way, we got some GELATO. Erin got Banana which was probably my favorite. We didnt even try to get seats INSIDE the Basilica. We were content watching the ceremony on the BIG screen out in the square. That is, until the POPE got attacked and we couldnt really see anything from out in the square. In fact, we werent even sure WHAT exactly happened until the nexy day. He played it off very well...Good job, Pope Benedict XVI. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plJrDnbLxqo)

We left "midnight mass" a little early because we wanted to catch the metro before it closed... butttttt, i guess cause of x-mas eve, it closed early, so we started walking home in the rain ( after being offered a taxi ride for FIFTY EUROS- which we clearly turned down) But then, about 1/4 of the way home and thirty minutes later, i gave up and flagged down a taxi- a legit taxi- and ended up paying 13 euros to get home dry.

CHRISTMAS morning, we woke up, ate our awesome breakfast, and did the rest of the sightseeing we hadnt seen yet- which consisted of TREVI fountain ( a very cool HUGE fountain) and Place Navona ( where there was cool xmas market and COTTON CANDY!!). We enjoyed a very indulgent McDonald's Christmas meal at the train station that night ( Rome's train station was actually very cool- very big- and actually stayed open on Christmas, which is why we had to eat there) That night, we got to talk to our FAMILIES!! which was definately a highlight, and packed to come home.

SATURDAY- woke up at 6:15 and took 4 trains and one bus ride home. We ate dinner in St. Raphael once we got back into France, and we picked up some basic groceries. We got home around 9:15, super exhausted.

Erin;s Top Favorite Rome Sights:
1) Colloseum
2) Sistine Chapel
3) Trevi Fountain

Becca's Top Favorite Rome Sights:
1) St. Peter's Square
2) Sistine Chapel/ Trevi Fountain ( it's a tie)
3) Colloseum

whew, ok i think that is all. Hope I didnt bore you with all the details. I tried to be as succinct as possible. Rome is definately a tourist-driven city. TONS of street performers, people trying to sell you anything and everything ( notably umbrellas while we were there) and tons of people begging for money. BUT, most people spoke Enlgish ( at least around the main attractions). Contrary to what i had thought, French did not help me much at all.. no one spoke it or WANTED to speak it. I don't thnk Italy and France get along very well for some reason. However, my KNOWLEDGE of a Romance Language certainly helped me figure out signs (especially in the Metro).. Erin was actually very impressed! Look at me being all International!

OK OK well love to all and Gros Bisous!