Spring Break (Part II)

Most of our spring break was dedicated in Italy! We started our first full day in Rome on Monday (3/12) with a guided tour through the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter’s Basilica. By mistake (because it’s what our voucher said! But apparently it was on certain dates…), we arrived at the meeting point an hour and a half early. We were worried for a while until we found a very friendly couple from New Jersey who were in the same boat. We were able to figure out that the meeting time was actually at noon. This gave Rasa and I time to grab some lunch at a local pizzeria. For those of you know my eating habits, I am not a pizza person; but heck I’m in Italy and I *will* have some pizza. So maybe my stomach is just picky because my tomato pizza was delicious! As a side note, the way they serve pizza is not the in the circular pan or anything…it’s long and rectangular; and they cut (yes, cut—not slice) your piece as big as you like because then they way you pay for it is by its weight. We had a little time left to walk around and do some window-shopping before meeting our tour guide. We walked over to the Vatican Museum and waited in a not-so-long line. The line to get into the Vatican Museum can sometimes wrap around the block or even further! So we were lucky, partly because it was a Monday. Before long, we had our headphones and were able to listen to our tour guide. She has lived in Rome for seen years, is from Michigan, and has an art history degree. She was very impressive and knowledgeable as she led us through the courtyard, garden, multiple galleries and rooms. Then, we spent 15 minutes in silence and awe as we gazed at the walls and ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The countless imitations and “copies” of Michelangelo’s masterpiece do not even begin to capture the stunning beauty and inexplicable brilliance of the Sistine Chapel. I second-guessed my eyes as I could have sworn that people were popping out of the ceiling. Before we knew it, Rasa and I were being led into St. Peter’s Basilica. Our first stop was La Pieta, which is now behind a bulletproof glass because someone attacked it with a hammer some years back. Fortunately, unlike in the Sistine Chapel, we were allowed to take pictures in the Basilica. Rasa and I were snapping away so mach that we actually lost our tour guide halfway through the Basilica. Luckily, we were able to find her after about 15 minutes of wandering around. She was wrapping up the tour outside the Basilica.

By this time, it was already 4:00 PM so we headed over The Vatican souvenir shop, which was right next to the entrance of the Basilica. After about an hour of debating with myself, I picked up some beautiful sterling silver rosaries for my family. For my mom and older sister, I picked out Sworvaski crystals; for my grandma and younger sister, I picked out pearls; and for my dad, I picked machite stone, which is the green stone that Michelangelo crushed to paint inside the Sistine Chapel. Before heading out, I also picked up some postcards and sent them from the Vatican post as Rasa went to get holy water from the Basilica. As we were exiting the Basilica, the sun was setting and again I tried to reach Laura, hoping that Rasa and I were going to be able to contact and meet up with her that night. Unfortunately, it was getting dark so Rasa and I decided to pick up some dinner and head back to the hotel. I was really glad to pick up my phone to hear Laura’s voice later that evening! She and I were both relieved to finally get in touch with each other. We made plans to meet the next day…

Rasa and I spent Tuesday (3/13) in beautiful Firenze (Florence)! The Eurostar train ride was only about 90 minutes and we were strolling around Florence before we knew it! We started off our visit by walking towards Il Duomo (The Cathedral). The line to enter seemed long so we wandered through the countless roads of flea markets. We shopped around and kept note of the prices for souvenirs we were interested in before sitting down to have lunch. Oh, how I LOVE Italian food, especially in Italy of course! Rasa and I both really enjoyed tortellini and lasagna accompanied by pleasant service. By the time we headed back to Il Duomo, the line was much shorter so we perused and photographed inside before heading back outside to get in line to climb La Cupola. Apparently, climbing to the top of the dome of the Cathedral is THE thing to do, so we did. The one setback? Climbing to the top is 463 steps and Rasa is asthmatic! Needless to say, by step number 200 or so, we stepped aside to take a break. Getting to the top and seeing the view, however, definitely made up for the pain of climbing all the way to the top. The sun was shining and it was SO beautiful getting a 360-degree view of the city! Rasa and I relished in the sights before heading back inside to get a closer view of the paintings on the ceiling of the dome. It was mid-afternoon by this time so we headed towards the Academic Gallery where the original statue of David is. Unfortunately, the line to enter went down the block and was estimated to take at least an hour. Rasa and I did not have that kind of time to spare so we settled in picking up a snack and finishing up our shopping. I was also successful in finding the post office in Republico Square before we had to head back to the Eurostar station to catch our 5:30 train back to Rome.

When we arrived back in the station at Rome, we were warmly greeted by Laura!!!! Once we had a visual of her, we RAN over to her for a great big hug! We were so excited to each other and trying to catch up on all that we have been up to that we jumped between stories of being in London, Paris, and all over Italy (for Laura). We had a chance to sit down at Piazza Novona—a Baroque-style fountain of the four (largest of the 17th century) rivers—while we caught up and waited for Laura’s friends—Rachel and Kim—to meet us for dinner. Nearby, we had a very nice meal in what seemed to be a family-owned restaurant. We shared appetizers such as bruschetta and fried pumpkin cakes; then I ordered spaghetti while Rasa had fettuccini with artichoke. We definitely LOVED the food and the great company. What a day! Actually, what a week! (And it’s not even done…)

On Wednesday (3/14), Rasa and I finally took advantage of the fact that breakfast is included with our hotel, so we picked up some pastries and juice before hoping on the metro to the Coliseum! I could hardly believe that this massive monument is just there…in the middle of the city! It’s almost unreal. The line to enter was long, but we were able to cut because we signed up for an English didactic tour. Our tour guide, a native Italian with an archeological background, had us imagining how the Colosseo (as it was known by the Romans) must have been when it was first built in 80 A.D., when it was all white with stone slabs acting as the ceiling. The elliptical shape and 3 tiers allowed over 70,000 spectators to have a great view the action below. The arena below was a maze-like den where thousands of beasts were “hunted” and killed. We walked through the different levels and arches as he pointed out that the Colosseo was used as a quarry during the middle ages to build other monuments, like St. Peter’s Basilica. Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the Colosseo faced many threats until Pope Benidict XIV finally declared it a sacred monument. The cross on a pedestal at the entrance is still used as the starting point of Stations of the Cross observed on Good Friday. Charles Dickens put it best when he said that touring the Coliseum is, “seeing the ghost of old Rome floating over the places its people walk in".

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the other Roman ruins and monuments across from the Colosseo like the Palatino and Arco di Costantino. Before we knew it, Rasa and I had to head back to the hotel room to drop off our stuff and meet up with Laura. We met another friend, Pam, who was with Laura to meet us at the obelisk in the Vatican that night. They led us to Praise and Worship service hosted by a seminary where we spent about an hour signing songs of, well—praise and worship. This was definitely no tourist-y experience, and that was what was so special about it! Laura introduced us to some more of the friends that she has thus far met in Rome. After getting a special trip to the roof of the seminary—which has arguably the best view of Rome—Laura took us to Oldbridge’s—which has arguable the best gelato in town. What a night!

We spent Thursday (3/15) leisurely walking through some of Rome’s other well-known monuments such as Fontana de Trevi, The Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo. We also attended mass at in St. Peter’s Basilica that evening. Even though I hardly understood what the priests were saying because the service was all in Latin, it was definitely special. The evening continued to special because we met up with Laura and Pam again to walk over to Laura’s apartment where she and her roommates were whipping up a homemade dinner. The meal was delicious! We had two kinds of salad, fried zucchini, chicken Parmesan, spaghetti, and chocolate cake. It was the first homemade meal I had since leaving SoCal. Thanks Laura!!!! I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend our last night in Rome.

The next morning (Friday 3/16), Laura was under the weather with a fever, so Rasa and I left her to recuperate while we spent the last of our day in Rome walking around. We picked up some Oldbridge’s as we did some more souvenir shopping. We then had lunch outside at a café where we had some risotto. We finished the last of our souvenir shopping (and grabbed some more Oldbridge’s!) before heading back to Laura’s apartment to give her our hugs and goodbye before our driver picked us up. (Yup! Rasa and I got the VIP treatment with out own personal chauffeur driving us in a Mercedes to the airport.) We arrived back in London late Friday night where we met up with Cloud and Becca to catch up and share stories for a little bit. We decided to get some rest and have a tell-all over dinner the next day.

Rasa and I spent most of Saturday (3/16) catching up on much-needed sleep. Actually, we spent most of the weekend doing so because all I wrote in my planner that weekend was that we went out dinner at Garfunkle’s (where we shared our spring break adventures) and that it hailed on Sunday. Yes, hail! I was definitely missing the sunny, SoCal-like weather back in Rome!

Speaking of, I hope all of you back in SoCal are dealing with the freaky weather I had been hearing about.

Arrivederci!
Danielle