On this day we decide we are going to try the Vatican. It wasn't a must for us but thought why not?! Once we got into the outskirts of Prati, nice and early in the morning we were amazed at how beautiful it was. We crossed a bridge and to the right you could see a castle- we never checked it out but it was quite a feast for the eyes.
It was early in the morning for Italians but right on schedule for the tourists which meant there was already a substantial line. The day previous while inspecting the outside of the Colosseum we were approached by many a tour guide trying to convince us to purchase their services. We were quite put off. Today was no different but by the third person we decided to hear them out. The tour company we decided to listen in on was When in Rome tours. Our group was being ran by the fabulous woman from Georgia who has been living in Rome for 4+ years. We were allowed to listen to her 15 spill and then decide based off of that if we were interested. We went for it and we are so glad we did. Yes we paid more, but we skipped the lines and even more so having her walk us through everything and explain art and the history made the experience so much more than just walking through and staring at art with no understanding to what truly went into it. It really enriched our experience.
Let me back up one step here for a fun little side story. Ryan insisted on taking a Gerber knife from his cousin Derek with us to Italy... for our protection *rolling eyes*. After we hear the introduction from the guide and decide we are going do the tour we find that the Vatican, rightfully so, has a security check. Hmmmm, do you think they are going to let an American bring a knife into the Vatican? I think not. So now Ry has to find a way to hide his knife as he obviously might need it later when the Italian Mob finds him a threat and they get into a Michael Jackson style knife fight. SOOOOO, he finds this side street by a coffee shop we went to earlier. He steps up onto the side walk, behind the street merchant. and subtly stashes his knife in a plant pot.
Now we are ready for the Vatican!
There was so much art and so much to see and learn. Knowing that we were walking down the hallway that Pope walks down, or how the art ended up in the Vatican was really interesting. The Sistine chapel was obviously the best and has a lot of hype for obvious reasons. There was so much to see in the Chapel and to know it was created by Michelangelo is just mind blowing. It's a surreal experience to study it through out your schooling and hear about it growing up and then to finally get to see it with your own eyes.
The final stop was Saint Peter's Basilica. They had pewes and let a certain amount of people in at a time so I was allowed to go in and pray. That almost brought me to tears, being a Catholic and being able to stop and pray- amazing!
We stop back by our plant pot and amazingly the knife is still there. We retrieve it and I once again travel safely under the cloak of Ryan's protection.
We took some side roads and found our way back into Trasteve, which as you remember we were there the night previous with Nikki and Memet, so we were familiar with the area. We found a place to eat and enjoyed house wine and pasta. We then made it home for a nap! Yay for Naps!!!
When we awoke we had a text from Nikki inviting us out dancing at 10 with her friends. Ummm, Italian discotec???? Yes Please- I can now mark this one off the list. As I was getting ready the two other room mates of the house (Deya- Italian [little to no English] and Arzpo-Russian [great English and Italian]) came into the bathroom to talk to me. Arzpo was asking on behalf of the Sicilian Deya if she could come out with us. Her fiance lives back in Sicily and she was in Rome for school and never went out because she was always studying. But tonight she decided she wanted to go out. I said but of course and then told Arzpo she should come out as well. She decided why not. So we all got ready which put us an hour late! Nikki I think was getting a little nervous. The dance club wasn't far off the Tram stop so that was nice. Nikki came out to get us and was surprised to see both her room mates in tow. I am not for sure if the bouncer was going to let Ryan and I in or not. He stopped us and stared at us and the room mates so spoke to him in Italian and I heard them say we only spoke English. He let us in, it was weird. For our rum and coke and beer it was like 30 euros. I guess it's because they don't have a cover charge to get in so they up the prices. Those were the only drinks we had! Took awhile for dancing to get started up but then it did and it was really fun. A little hot and crowded for poor Ry. Nikki ventured off with her friends and Arzpo and Deya and I had a great time. Ryan and I were cracking up as these Americans from South Carolina were trying to work their mojo on these gals from France. It was pathetic, truly... I think the girls used them for drinks and then took off. They were sleeze balls, so I don't blame them.
At 2 we decided we were done and the roomies decided they were as well. Of course, as it always goes though, we get out the door but everyone wants to stand around and smoke. This Aussie comes up and starts hitting on our beautiful Russian Arzpo. She isn't interested and pretends she can't speak his language. He friend is from Calabria which is where my family is from so the two of us start speaking in Italian. I actually held a very basic conversation- IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then we wall took off for home.
No comments:
Post a Comment