Backpacking around the globe and back again (Part 9)
We were all excited [even though we were tired] to get on the bus the next morning, afterall, our destination was ROME! The night before after my shower at 1:30 in the morning I had to climb (somewhat intoxicated) into my top bunk and because I'm an idiot I had left my pack at the end of the bed creating an obstacle. As I launched myself off the bed frame and over the bag apparently my right leg just wasn't interested in staying up and my bare knee scraped over the rough material of my pack. At the time I thought nothing of it (although I believe I mouthed "shit" in the darkness) and went to sleep, however, in the morning everytime I bent my knee and the material of my pants rubbed I felt pain. Not remembering the previous nights bedroom mishap (so not kinky) I ignored it until finally I decided to check things out and found that I had in fact taken a rather large area of skin off my knee (which brought back all memories from the previous night). Stupid bag (?) burn!
Anyways, the drive to Rome was as long as we had expected, and not nearly as exciting as the other segments had been. We did drive along the water for the first half of the trip however, which was pretty to see, and we had a stop in Ancona which was kind of dirty in my opinion. Ancona is the port at which you can take a ferry across to Greece, so there are always people there, but rarely do they stay more than the transition period.
When we finally arrived in Rome we were tired and the idea of hauling our packs up the huge hill that loomed in front of us was a scary one. Yet we did it and didn't die from it. Our accommodation in Rome was some of the best we had while traveling. Even though we stayed at a camp ground, everything was new and of the best quality. Our cabin was en suite (with shower) and we had our own bar fridge plus there was the most glorious air conditioning. Lija and I (along with everyone else) walked across the road to the grocery store to pick up supplies (in other words we just wanted to put something in our fridge haha) after throwing our bags in the room. We were sure to lock our door and as we walked past people on the street we grabbed our bags in close to us. As we were unloading from the bus there was a girl crying in reception, apparently she was pick-pocketed on the bus and everything... EVERYTHING was taken. This happens all the time on the Rome bus system so we knew to be extra careful.
After we had returned to our cabin and put our stuff away in the nice cold fridge, Lija and I headed to the campground restaurant for an authentic Italian dinner. It took forever for our food to come out, but it tasted fantastic and even though he had eaten, Graeme sat down to talk with us. We stayed there for a few hours talking about everything and anything then went into the bar to see the rest of the Eurocup Soccer Championship game.
The next day we had signed up to take a walking tour around Ancient Rome but first we headed into the city to check things out. It took about 20 minutes on a hot and sweaty (aka smelly) bus to get into downtown Rome and then to get to the other side of the city we took the underground. There are only two underground lines in Rome because everytime they go to dig another one they find parts of ancient Rome and have to stop.
We got off at the Spanish Steps, they were very disappointing. I mean they are just stairs and there isn't even anything interesting at the top. Lija and I were smart about it, we decided not to walk up and find nothing, instead someone else let us know when he got back down.
We walked around some of the Italian streets, really taking what we passed and noticing that instead of selling hotdogs the food carts sold pizzas, a nice difference in my opinion. It took us forever to walk around, probably because it was so stinking hot, maybe because everywhere you turned there were people and cars, but in any case we were a bit worried that by the time we found our meeting spot everyone would have left.
So we quickened our pace and made it on time gulping down bottles upon bottles of water. The great thing about Rome is that you can find free flowing water fountains with drinkable water all over the place. And the water coming out is even quite cold. So we avoided dehydration by filling up every chance we got over the next couple of days.
When we got to the meeting spot it was hard to miss the sea of people waiting. We took that as a good sign, if that many people are willing to turn out to a tour then it must be good... right? We talked with our friends while waiting for the okay to go, with the exception of 3 people, everyone on our bus had decided to do the tour so there were plenty of people for us to talk to. They split the sea of people in two, our half was probably 95% Busabout people whereas the other group had no Busabout people. Graeme was with us, so they had to do a good job in order to impress him. He is works for Busabout in Marketing and Publications, so if he didn't like the tour then he had the power to promote another company instead.
Our tour was around Ancient Rome, and since we started right outside the Colosseum it set the pace for the entire day. I could go into detail about what we saw, but to be honest, it would be easier to explain if you just look at the online photos, the layout of Ancient Rome is difficult to explain for anyone without a degree in the topic and so I won't even pretend to know what I'm talking about. I can however fill you in on my thoughts and feelings while touring this large part of history.
I was hot, and that sucked. But I think I approximately drank 6 gallons of water so I wasn't too dehydrated, however, I never even had to pee! I thought that just seeing how people used to live and how much we have evolved, not only meaning technology because their lives were very advanced in my opinion but meaning how much the earth has changed and moved leaving these buildings below our ground level was amazing. Archaeologists keep finding new parts of Ancient Rome, and each part has it's own history. I think it's cool how I walked down the same path that Ancient Royalty would have taken chariots down, and that I stood under arches dedicated to people who died in battle and who were respected in their own right.
After touring the ancient (and somewhat dilapidated) part of Rome we wandered more into the city, still with the tour to Venezia Square, where the guide made fun of the "wedding cake" building then we wandered over to the Pantheon. The outside of the Pantheon didn't appear to be very desirable, at least not to me, but the inside was amazing! We didn't have much time to stand inside the Pantheon, which was okay because there were people everywhere and it was a bit stifling. After the Pantheon we made our last stop at the Fountain of Four River, which has an interesting and funny story. Located in the Piazza Navona this fountain is made out of marble and travertine by the famous architects Bernini. The four allegorical figures represent the four great known rivers of the four known continents at the time of it's creation: the Danube, Ganges, Nile and the Rio della Plate from each of the major continents (Europe, Asia, Africa and America respectively.) The popular story is that of rivalry between Bernini and Borromini who built the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone which stands in front of the fountain. If you look at pictures you notice that one of the figures, Plate, is covering his face with his arm so he doesn't have to look at Borromini's horrible work.
After the tour Lija, Graeme and I decided to do as the Roman's do. We found a cute cafe (with a horrible disgusting Italian bathroom with no toilet seat... ICK!) and sat on the patio drinking wine and eating complimentary crackers. After that we wandered to the other side of the canal and found a cute restaurant and had dinner and a couple bottles of wine on their patio. By the time we started back to the campground we were a little bit light-headed, but then topped it off with a few more bottles when we got there. In total we had approximately 12 glasses of wine each. Lija was fading on the last couple of bottles so we drank her share probably bringing our totals to 14 glasses each. It was a great night and boy did we do as the Roman's do lol.
The next morning we were feeling surprisingly chipper. We wandered into the city with Mick while it was still early morning (okay it was around 11 when we got there) to get in line for the Vatican. The line was gigantic so we tried to join the tour group that would be jumping queue, unfortunately too many people got the same idea and there was no room for us. We got in the line, and to our surprise, it moved quickly! We got into the Vatican in about 20 minutes, give or take, and avoided purchasing anything from the many purse and sunglass vendors who line up along the route.
Once inside we had to clear numerous security checks and make our way through the hoards of tour groups. It ended up being a good thing that we could go through on our own. We were able to spend as much or as little time looking at what we were interested in.
The thing that amazed me the most I think was the art work. On every wall, ceiling, and inch of floor there was something to see. Whether it be a mosaic picture in floor tiles or a statue propped in an alcove, there was something to look at everywhere. And that was only just on the route to the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel itself was incredible! I don't know if I expected it to be quite as it was. Lija and I spent nearly 30 minutes staring, trying to figure out if the drapes were real (they were painted as were the ceiling beams) and finally after being shoved around as much as we could handle, we left. I want to go back.
After leaving the Sistine Chapel we were ushered (by flowing crowd) into the gift shop where we turned down all the holy mechandise and moved outside into the court yard. We entered the basilica and apparently missed the dead body in a plexiglass case, some bishop who died hundreds of years ago and is now grey and sunken. We were oh so sad that we missed that... NOT. We followed the crowds and walked down into the crypt where they keep all the tombs of popes and bishops who have passed on. Probably the plainest of the tombs was that of Pope John Paul. Nowadays there just isn't as much talent as there used to be. Many of the Popes had tombs which were their bodies carved from marble. His just said his name. I didn't take a picture.
It smelt like fungus down there so after a quick look around we escaped to the "fresh" Roman air. We sat on some steps and watched the "changing of the [Swiss] guards," don't take the term to mean that it was some big affair as it is in London. This was just a mid-day switch and was rather unimpressive. Although the boys did look incredibly cute in their jester outfits. I bet they hate the influence of the Italian Renaissance period.
After leaving the Vatican we headed to a shop we had been to the day before while on the tour to buy some Venetian glass. We spent a lot of money and I ended up also getting some Roman glass. We ate some Gelato while sitting on the edge of the Trevi fountain, famously known as the wishing fountain, and we turned down street vendor after street vendor as they tried to sell us their merchandise (crap).
Eventually we dragged our very tired, and somewhat broke, bodies back to camp for a group dinner as we celebrated our last night in Rome. We took it easy on the wine that night, and instead just sat around talking with our new found friends as if we had known each other forever, traveling does that, makes new friends old friends very fast.
Rome may have had some magic to it, but it wasn't one of my favourite cities, probably because of the heat, the crowds and the dirt. You just shouldn't go home at the end of a normal day feeling that dirty and having black stuff under your nails!
Onto Florence in the morning, watch out Tuscany here we come!
Pictures are fully loaded at: Ashley's Travel Photos -Part 2
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