Saturday morning we started our day at about 9:30. First I wandered around the train station trying to find the office where I can change my reservation, since I decided I definitely wanted to be in a sleeper car on the overnight train back to Lugano that night. We headed back to the Sistine chapel, only to find a line that was at least 4 or 5 blocks long. I presume this was because it was a weekend and because the Vatican museums closed at 1 that day, but we decided against waiting 2 hours in line for places that, according to my Australian friend who had been in Rome for a week and seen a lot of pretty churches already, were not that amazing anyway. She said the Sistine chapel was “underwhelming” and that the Vatican museum was not worth seeing, although if there wasn’t a giant line I still would have wanted to see the chapel and Michelangelo’s work inside. Next we headed to Ancient Rome, and came upon the Palatino and Roman forum first. We stood in line to buy tickets for the Palatino and Colosseo, and found out that they were closing the Colosseum at 2 that day for “security reasons.” We decided to come back to the Palatino and check out the Colosseum before it closed, only to find out that they weren’t letting people in, but I don’t know why. I heard a couple of ladies yelling at the guards in Italian, showing them their tickets and demanding to get in. One tour group was standing near the front, and the guy was looking at me and saying how their tour guide had the hook up and that they would be able to get in, too bad for me. Well whether or not it was due to her, they started letting people in. I tried to get in with the group in case they were only letting them in, and the tour guide, this older lady, shoved me aside (she was pretty strong) so that the rest of her group would stay together! Bitch. Anyway, they let everyone else in, and Orlando and I walked around the Colosseum, mooching off of tours and learning a little bit about what we were seeing.
Afterwards we decided to look for lunch, and found a trattoria with really fast service. The food was pretty good, I had lasagna with a really creamy cheesy sauce, and we got wine again (half a liter for 2 euros! Talk about cheap). We got delicious tiramisu for dessert then headed out for more sightseeing. On the way I bought gelato even though I was really full, and it was most certainly the best gelato I have ever had. I was really excited because they had Zabaione, which is probably closest to egg nog flavor, but it is my favorite gelato flavor and it was so amazing. We saw some of where the senate used to be (all that was left pretty much were the columns), and explored the Palatino. It was weird because they had bits and pieces of columns left, and remains of brick walls, but it was hard to imagine that there used to be entire buildings and marble floors where we were walking in the dirt.
When we left we saw people with flags walking down the street, apparently protesting something. There were tons of Italians walking and chanting and holding banners that appeared to be from different places and circulos in Italy, but Orlando and I couldn’t tell what they were protesting except to say that the flags said Allenze Italiano (Italian Alliance?), anticommunisto, and had pictures of the same guy on it that we’re guessing was the president or prime minister. There were police and police cars blocking off the street where they were walking, and the end of the procession was followed by policemen and a small fleet of really nice Range Rover police cars. The police and their uniforms were kind of intimidating, but the protesters were very peaceful and Orlando and I made sure we had our tourist books in hand and were also walking against the crowd. We ended up getting lost and walking ourselves off the map, but the good thing that came of it is that we got away from the tourists and into a street with locals and real Italian restaurants and pasticcerias. The first place we walked into I bought some pizelles (wafer-like cookies with a waffle print that are kind of like ice cream cones) and cookies with zabaione, which I have yet to try. I had a little bite of the pizelles and they were pretty good. The lady there gave Orlandopasticceria (pastry shop, I think), and I bought some amaretto cookies. I ate one to make sure it actually was an amaretto cookie, and it turned out to be the most delicious amaretto cookie ever. I seriously wish I bought more. directions in Spanish. We kept walking then found another
We finally got to San Giovanni, the church we had been looking for, and saw the steps were Jesus was allegedly taken before Pontius Pilate!!! We went inside the church and caught the last half of the mass. This is the church were the diocese of Rome is actually located. One of the cool things about how Catholicism is pretty traditional and standard is that you always know what’s going on. Even though they were speaking in Italian I knew when they were doing what, and I got a copy of the little booklet which had the Apostle’s Creed in Italian, and I could identify which words translated into what in English since I know the creed in English. When mass ended they were setting up for an event later that night, so we hung around to see what was going on. A choir up front was practicing, and singing beautifully. People started filtering in, but Orlando and I were getting hungry and decided not to wait too long. We heard a good portion of their practicing, which was a good thing since when we left we found out that it was the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra playing Bach that night!!! We went back towards the Colosseo to look for a restaurant that Orlando’s book recommended, and passed the protesters leaving it. For dinner I got soup with tortellini in broth that was very yummy, and Bocconcini di vitella con pure, veal in white wine sauce with mashed potatoes. When I tasted it I pretty much loved Orlando’s tour book, because it was pretty amazing. The veal was soft, the sauce was tasty, and the potatoes had some kind of delicious cheese, I’m not sure if it was parmesan but they were really amazing mashed potatoes. Then we walked back to our hostels to pick up our bags and met up at the train station for our train which left at 11pm. I’m glad I got the sleeper car because I slept the whole way to Milan and got to stretch out, although it was pretty hot inside. We switched trains at Milan at 7am and I’m now on a train going to Lugano, where we will meet Earl and other people in our group to take another train back to Nyon. I’m by myself for the night since my host mom doesn’t get back till Monday (assuming everything goes well with her train!), then we have two weeks of classes until our next excursion to Bern and Luzerne.
I’m glad we went to Rome – it was a fun, adventurous time and we got to see some pretty cool sights. The only thing I didn’t like is that we only saw tourists. The fact that we went to all the big tourist spots is partly to blame, but my Australian roommate told me that Rome brings in like a million tourists per day! As a result all the places we went had people who spoke English, and I got to practice and learn a little bit of Italian but I didn’t really feel like I experienced the culture. I also feel like I could have had more authentic food (seeing as nearly everywhere we went catered to tourists) had we gone somewhere else in Italy. I’m glad I didn’t go to Florence and just saw museums, though, and I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Rome. One day I would like to come back to Italy for its amazing food and hopefully to experience more of the culture, perhaps in Tuscany, and also I’d like to see Pompeii. Anyway, that was my week/weekend. Ciao!
Ti prego Maria
This poem was outside the Pantheon in numerous languages.
I beg you Mary
throw me a flower
so that I may scent its perfume
this is like the token of love
that made me suffer so
throw me your bouquet
not now and not ever
will I be satisfied with you
(Italian)
Ti prego Maria
gettami un fiore
fai che lo possa un poco odorare
che me ha fatto tanto soffrire
il tue mazzo gettamelo
che di te ancora e mai
io sarò sazio
(French)
Je t’en prie Marie
lance-moi une fleur
fais que je puisse la sentire un peu
c’est un gage d’amour
qui m’a fait tant souffrir
lance-moi ton bouquet
car de toi encore et jamais
ne serai rassasié
(Spanish)
Te ruego Maria
Dame una flor
Para que pueda disfrutar de su perfume
Es como un signo de amor
Que me ha hecho sufrir tanto
Lánzame tu ramo
Que de ti nunca me saciaré
It was shown in German too, but I didn’t get a picture since I don’t know any German, and also because there are a bunch of German symbols I would have been too lazy to add on here :)
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