Rome- Day 3: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

After a pleasant lunch we decided to walk down the Tiber for a little while. It was a pleasant stroll and we eventually came across a small market that we strolled through. I stopped at one stall and tried on a ring, because what girl can't use more accessories. The vendor told me that this sterling silver ring was 25 euro, a little out of my price range. I tried to walk away and he literally would not let me go, standing in front of me whenever I tried to leave. He asked how much I would pay for the ring and I said ten euro, hoping that it was too low and price and I could just be on my way. Turns out he eventually sold it to me for ten euro; a good deal but I could have lived without the ring. Oh well, in the end I have a nice souvenir from Rome.

We continued on our way to the Colosseum, where we were going to get a tour of the Palatine Hill and the Forum, passing the Castel Sant'Angelo, which served as the papal castle for 1000 years. We also got gelato on our way (we ate a lot of gelato).

Castel Sant'Angelo

With our tour of the Colosseum the previous day we also got a tour of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Our guide, an Australian man, described the Palatine as the Beverly Hills of Rome. This hilltop was were the emperors and elite lived in marble palaces. Domitian, one of the emperors of Rome, built the palace up here in AD 81 and the marble was so polished that you could see your reflection in it. The purpose of this was so that Domitian could see if anyone was coming up behind him to assassinate him. Turn out his wife ended up killing him. Our guide also told us the story of Romulus and Remus and other stories from Ancient Rome, including the Rape of the Sabine Women, which is apparently where we get the tradition of carrying the bride over the threshold. When the Roman men were abducting the women they would carry them over the threshold. Lovely.

At the base of the columns you can see some of the last remaining marble on the palace. It was once all covered with marble but the Vatican came in a "borrowed" all of it.

Original tiles in the palace. The red marble on the left was exhausted, meaning that there is no more to be quarried in the world. One kg (2.2 lbs) of the marble is worth 80,000 euro! The Vatican owns 92% of it...and they charge tourists 14 euro to go in the Vatican museum.

Up next we got a bird's eye view of the Forum. We could see the House of the Vestal Virgins and the site where Caesar was cremated, where fresh flowers are still laid to this day. One thing I loved about Rome is that you would just be walking down the street and see ruins; they are everywhere and fairly well preserved.

This building still has the original door, locks, and key.

We were extremely tired after our long day and took a very crowded subway back to the hostel to rest up before going out that night. I got into my bed and immediately fell asleep, until the other girls woke me up to get the key to the room because they were going down for the nightly free pizza at 8:30. We went downstairs for the pizza and then got ready to go out for dinner. We talked to our other roommate, Will, who had also been woken up last night by Nick's antics and laughed about that together.

We hit the town late that night and found the Trattoria della Torre Argentina to have dinner at. I was just going to get something small but they had homemade pasta so I had to get that (I wrote this sentence many times in my journal; the pasta is just irresistible). I had the Napoli pasta and Britt and Stacy both had pizza.

Stacy had a friend studying in Rome so after finishing dinner we went to Scholar's Lounge Irish Pub to meet him there. Yes, you heard correctly, I went to a an Irish pub in Rome. Dennis was just getting back from Amsterdam so we waited for him while flipping through the selection for karaoke because it was karaoke night. At the end of the night we ended up singing "Galway Girl," a salute to our Irish home.

And that was Day 3! Here is Day 4!

Rome- Day 3: The Vatican City

Day 3 in the Eternal City begins in the Vatican City!

Sunday we woke up rather early so that we could go to the smallest nation in the world, otherwise known as the Vatican City, before the giant crowds that turn up for the free day on the last Sunday of the month. Stacy and Britt turned out to be tired because our roommate, Nick from Wheaton, IL, had brought a girl (whom we've nicknamed "Hannah the Hostel Whore") back to the hostel at 3 am and they proceeded to make quite a lot of noise. They even went to take a shower and she apparently fell twice causing loud thuds. I have to say that I was the lucky one who slept through it all, but Brittany and Stacy suffered through it. Britt had it a little easier than Stacy because she had her iPod to listen to, but Stacy was exposed to Nick and Hannah raw without any distraction, especially since her bed was literally a meter from Nick's. I have to say, it is not classy to bring a girl back to your 8 bed dorm room and proceed to make a lot of noise with a girl. Not classy at all. Hannah, however, was classy and said goodbye to Nick by saying "Good luck on all your future endeavors."

Needless to say, we laughed about the situation all the way on the subway to the Vatican. Our first stop (after security) was St. Peter's Basilica. Although I resembled a lot of churches that we had seen before in Europe, it was massive and had a lot of beautiful things in it. Here is the tour:

St. Peter's Square

Michelangelo's Pieta which he carved at age 25.

Bernini's giant canopy in the center of the basilica

(In case you are looking for gift ideas for me, Bernini is my new favorite sculptor.)

Alexander VII's Monument by Bernini featuring the figures of Justice, Truth, Chastity, and Prudence.

After spending time in the Basilica our next stop was the Vatican Museum in order to see the Sistine Chapel. The line, however, was just outrageous and it was already 11; entrance stops at 12:30. Brittany and Stacy got in line and I found a friendly police officer to ask if we would get in if we were at the end of the line. She said that we would have time and it turns out we were only waiting for about 30 minutes.

Everybody waiting in line.

Once we got into the museum (for free) we began our walk through it. They really leave you no freewill and you have to basically queue through the whole museum in order to see the Sistine Chapel. We, along with hundreds of our closest friends, snaked through the museum for a long while, seeing everything that the Vatican has acquired through years of ruling the Roman Catholic Empire, which is a lot. Actually, if you just spend one minute in front of every piece in the museum you would be there for fourteen year. One of the big attractions, besides the Chapel, is Raphael's School of Athens, depicting Raphael's contemporaries as the Classical thinkers.

Hall of Maps

School of Athens

And then we finally reached Michelangelo's famous masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, but I was expecting more natural light in there. I loved looking at the art but I wish I was alone, instead of crowded in with bunches of tourists, so I could take it all in. And photography was prohibited in the chapel but, of course, that didn't stop anyone. People were literally holding their cameras up snapping away and the security guards were doing nothing about it, not that I'm complaining.

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

You can see (from left) the Creation of Adam and Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and being banished from the Garden of Eden.

Creation of Adam

Christ giving the keys to St. Peter, illustrating the transfer of power to the Pope.

And that's the Vatican City! After going through literally four gift shops on our way out, we found a nice restaurant where we could sit outside and got some lunch in the Italian sunshine. I got the Spaghetti Carbonara, which was delicious, and the three of us split a tiramisu.

Sharing some tiramisu.

Second Part of Day 3

Rome- Day 2

It's my 100th post!

The plan for our first full day in Rome was to wake up at 8 am and hit the town but when my alarm went off we could hear the rain so we stayed in our beds a little longer. At 8:45 we finally got up and attempted to check out of the hostel.

Because we were adding Stacy for the next two nights we had to check out and check in again. When we attempted to check out they wanted to see the booking confirmation again. I showed it to the front desk worker and he noticed that the booking we made was not for the Alessandro Palace Hostel but for the Alessandro Downtown Hostel. Oops. They wanted to charge us for the four bedroom that we stayed in (which was more than the eight bed we had booked at the other hostel) but one of the hostel clerks took pity on us and told them to only charge us the original amount.

After working that out we headed into the streets of Roma. It was still raining and I had an umbrella but Brittany had left hers in Dublin. Lucky for her, there were umbrella vendors every two meters asking her if she wanted to buy one. They would seriously just pop out of nowhere. Eventually Britt decided that she needed an umbrella and stopped by a stand to get one. She asked how much they were and the vendor said 4 euro so she said she would take one. I at this point gave her a death stare that indicated that she should never take the first price and told the vendor that we were going to look at other places. As we walked away he screamed “3 euro” and I turned around and said “2.50.” He smiled and said sure and Britt got a deal on her umbrella.

Our first stop was the Colosseum. We took some pictures there and then walked down the street through the Roman and Imperial Forums on our way to the Pantheon. We also stopped at the Santa Maria sopra Minerva on the way, which was built in 1280 and raised over an ancient temple of wisdom (hence the Minerva part). And they were even having a wedding within the church which was a slice of life to witness.

Ruins of the Forum

Roman wedding

The Pantheon is an ancient pagan temple that was converted into Christian church in 608. It had very beautiful marble inside and an dome, the highest masonry dome in Europe, with an opening in the center to let in the light and give it an etherial feel. Raphael's tomb is also in the Pantheon, carrying the inscription "Here lies Raphael, whom nature feared would outdo her while alive, and now that he is gone, fears she, too, will die."

Raphael's Tomb

After taking in the Pantheon we went to the Piazza Navona before meeting Stacy back at the hostel. The Piazza Navona is the biggest square in Rome and contains three fountains, one of which is Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers. Unfortunately, the fountain was partially covered up by walls but I still saw some of it.

Brittany and I then headed over to the Alessandro Palace Hostel to meet up with Stacy who had just gotten into Rome. After stowing her bags in the hostel we headed back to the Colosseum. Brittany and I had already seen the outside but we wanted to go inside. When we got there a woman approached us about getting a guided tour of the Colosseum. Because it was "Cultural Week" we didn't have to pay admission and therefore we thought it would be a good idea to use the money we saved to get a tour that explained the ruins. After all, to the untrained eye ruins just look like ruins. Max was our guide and Roman, although he talked in a monotone and wasn't the most entertaining. He did, however, say the movie Gladiator was very historically accurate.

There were men dressed up like gladiators outside the colosseum whom you could pay to take pictures with. One of them took a fancy to Stacy (because he liked her hair) and pinched her cheek and said "I like you very well." Needless to say, we spent the rest of our time at the colosseum trying to avoid him.

Roman numerals above the gates at the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was finished in 81 AD by Roman slaves. One of the major points that Mac had was how many thousands of animals died at the Colosseum for show. Thousands could be killed in a single day and then their meat was sold outside the stadium. Exotic animals were also often brought in including lions, giraffes, and crocodiles. He also informed us that gladiators often chose to fight and were very famous, and that they Colosseum was never flooded for marine battles. I feel as though I have been living a lie.

After spending some time in the Colosseum we headed towards the Trevi Fountain. On our way we got our first of many gelatos. Brittany and I had already walked by the Trevi but waited to throw our coins in for when Stacy was there to share it with us. Legend says that throwing a coin in ensures a quick return to Rome. I hope it doesn't matter the value of the coin because I only threw in ten cents. While we were sitting there a man with a magnetic pole came in and fished out some euro coins from the fountian. Profitable-yes. Classy-no.

The Trevi Fountain was my favourite site in Rome. It was so big and the water was a beautiful aqua colour. Also, the fountain is literally built into the building, where even the windowsills are rocks that turn into the fountain (it's kinda hard to explain). I just loved it!

Stacy, me, Brittany

Tossing my ten cents in

The Spanish Steps crowded with tourists.

The Spanish Steps was next on the list of places we had to see in Rome. According to my guide book we came at the perfect time of year because all the of the flowers were in bloom. We walked around there and then were fairly tired and wanted to get back to the hostel. Stacy had been up since very early due to her early flight and we had to check into our hostel and get our room.

After checking in we went to a small Italian restaurant near our hostel. I wasn't very hungry so I just got some bruschetta, which was again delicious, and olives. And that's the end of day 2 in Italy.

Day 3 in Rome

Rome- Day 1

All roads lead to Rome

My week long Italian odyssey began like most my other trips, on the Dublin Aircoach to the Dublin Airport. Friday was also the day of the UCD Ball, which claims to be the biggest private party in Europe. It is basically just two stages in a field and a bunch of students rocking out under the Irish sky. The odd thing was that only two bands performed live, the rest were just DJs playing sets. For example, they said that they were going to have the Venga Boys but the Venga Boys weren’t there in person, it was just a DJ playing their music. And I ask you, if you are ust going to have a DJ play a band’s music, why not pick a better band to play than the Venga Boys?

But I digress. Brittany and I (Stacy was arriving in Rome the next day) took the bus to the Dublin Airport not knowing what was awaiting us there after a week of cancelled flights due to the volcanic ash. Turns out the airport was not busy at all and we got through security in record time. We got on our Aer Lingus flight and were on our way to Rome.

When we arrived in Rome it was raining and we caught the Leonardo Express from the airport into the Rome Termini train station in the city itself. From there it was just a short walk to the Alessandro Palace Hostel. We were tired and wet when we arrived and they could not find our reservation. I had the booking confirmation printed out and so they said that they must have lost the reservation and put us in a 4 bed female dorm for the night, an upgrade from our eight bed dorm. How luxurious!

When I get into a new city the first thing I usually need to do is find some food. I asked the hostel if they had any suggestions for dinner and they gave us a 15% coupon for a restaurant down the street. Now, Italian is not my favourite cuisine (I don't dislike it, it's just not my favourite), but I was ready to embrace it full force in Italy. Therefore, for my first meal in Italy I ordered bruschetta and pasta with pesto. The bruschetta was not seasoned as heavily as what we have here, but the tomatoes were so fresh and flavourful! The pesto was good, but the pesto I get at home is pretty superb too.

Britt and I then headed back to the hostel and get to bed so we could rest up for our big day exploring Rome.

Roman Holiday

The cloud of ash has dispersed and I'm leaving for the airport in a couple hours to go to Italy. While there I plan to do many things, including singing the whole score of Nine: The Musical many times and eating gelato. It will be great!

Brittany and I fly into Rome today and Stacy joins us tomorrow. We stay there until late Monday and then head to Florence for a couple days. We end our trip in Venice. It should be a good time provided another volcano doesn't erupt and we get stranded in Italy, and even then it could be a good time.

Karaoke Update

Thursday night means only one thing- karaoke at the Wicked Wolf. We were very disappointed last week because it was cancelled but today was a good time as always. Here are the highlights.

• Greeted by Canadian Mark and his rasping voice. He later sang “Gangsters’ Paradise” and “Streets of Philadelphia,” as he does every week. I think he has been practicing “Gangster Paradise” because it was better this week. I still only catch about 1/3 of “Streets of Philadelphia” but maybe he’ll get it eventually.
• Brittany and I sang “Love Shack.” Naturally it was amazing.
• “Don’t Stop Believin’” came on it I danced like crazy because it is one of my favorites and always puts a smile on my face.
• I almost started crying when “I Want to Go Home” came on. Instead I just settled for fake crying.
• At the end of the night Brock Jones and Allister dedicated “End of the Road” to “the four Americans and one Australian” which was very nice; they know we love it. However, there were only four of us, not five.
• We had a sing along with Allister, resident X-Factor contestant, at the end of the night outside the bar which included “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me.” He later joined us at Supermacs, our favorite Irish fast food restaurant. Stacy, however, did not order the chicken tenders meal and therefore did not give me her drink. Laura did though.
• We had another great conversation with our cabbie. Stacy always sits in front and shares all about our night.

Farewell Dinner II and Elections

Tuesday was an uneventful day that involved going to EU and the Business Environment class and reading the new book I got at the Dun Laoghaire farmers' market. The Study Abroad Program sponsored a farewell dinner that night and I am always down for free food. The sweeten the deal they even added a free gift, which turned out to be a UCD t-shirt.

The dinner they served was a nice buffet and really good cheesecake. They also served all-you-can-drink wine, something that still shocks be because that does not happen at University of Illinois. We also had entertainment after dinner which included the Irish House Party performing again. We even had some performers from our program go up and sing! We also did a dance where we got to meet different people but it made people who were partaking in the all-you-can-drink wine a little dizzy.

After the farewell dinner I just headed back to my dorm. It was the night of elections back in the realm of the Upsilon Chapter down in Champaign so I wanted to chat with Gia a little bit beforehand. We were running for Vice President Professional together and I wanted to make sure everything was ready for the big presentation. It is so hard being away from campus during these things because I want to be there to help Gia make the presentation, give my pros for people running for positions, and be able to vote.

But to make up for my lack of physical presence I woke up at 4 am to attempt to be part of the process. It was really nice having many of the Dsigs on Gchat (everyone's preferred form of communication) so that I could chat with them and watching the sunrise out my window. The downside is that right now I am extremely tired; the position Gia and I were running for didn't come up until about 7 am. At 5:30 I went into my kitchen to discover the fuse was tripped and the fridges were not on. I reset the fuse and was a hero.

At 7 Gia gave the powerpoint and speech and at the end there was a little video of me (16 seconds to be exact). Lindsay came on Gchat and said that I looked beautiful during it which boosted my spirits a little. I was also chatting with Olivia but after my speech they weren't chatting with me (because they were talking about the candidates) and it took a suspiciously long time. At one point I was convinced that I had lost and no one had the heart to tell me so they were just giving me the cold shoulder.

At about 7:45 Olivia came back on and told me that we won! What a pleasant surprise! Laura told me to wake her up when I heard so I flung open her door at 7:50 am to tell her the good news and she was happy to. Laura knows quite a bit about what happens in the frat and was glad to hear that Danny and Tiffany won as well and wanted me to send along her congratulations.

Gia and I have a lot of work ahead of us but it is so exciting. I was so happy and, although I tried to sleep a little before my 9 am class I couldn't sleep.

Tonight Britt and I went out to celebrate. We searched for traditional Irish music and ended up a VAT House for a little while, then O'Gogarty's. At O'Gogarty's they played "Take Me Home Country Roads," which seems to be a favorite of the Emerald Isle. We also think we may have stumbled upon a pub crawl because they fed us free chicken fingers. We took advantage of this and had about 5 each, which somewhat set off the price of our very expensive drinks.

Laura got me flowers with a lovely note:

"Congratulations on being elected Professional! You deserve it!"

I love her.