World Wanderings

Rome. What more do I need to say?

Well, I've been here four whole days now, and have barely scratched the surface of the city. There is just so much to see and do. I arrived the day before my mom was to join me and just took it easy. I was warmly greeted at my hostel by a door being slammed in my face.

Of, course it was just the receptionists way of having a little fun, and I took it all in good humor (as I'm sure they expected) as I was warmly welcomed in the second time the door opened. I knew this hostel was going to be fun, and it was a very warm and welcoming place. I felt right at home. Unfortunately not all hotels feel this way, but become such institutionalized places that the human-ness of the place is lost.

Dinner was a fresh, homemade sandwhich of cheese, tomatoes, basil, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Delicious. By the way, I had 45 year old balsamic vinegar at the vineyard in Tuscany, and it was absolutely nothing like the stuff we use in the states. You could literally drink it straight, it was sweet, slightly thickened, and absolutely delicious.

Of course I finished the night off with a bottle of wine and dark chocolate, what is becoming a favorite past time of mine. There will be plenty of this when I get back to the states.

I awoke the next day excited to see my mom, as she was to arrive late that day, and unfortunately learned that plans had changed, since he flight was delayed by 8 hours. This eventually turned into a her arriving the next day, after the long delay and missed connection. So, knowing that I wanted to see everything with my mom while she was here, I spent the day walking around, just getting the atmosphere of Rome, but not going into any of the places. It was a relaxing day, which I can use those on occasion, as I wear myself down running from one thing to the next.

It was nice to have a hotel room to myself that night. Of curse I found it wierd and amazing. As I had not slept in a room by myself for over a month and a half. There were always at least 2-8 other people in the room with me at any one point in time. I just lay there, had the tv on, the (very weak) air conditioning on, and just soaked up the fact that there was going to be no one else in the room. This would be the first in a while, and probably the last time until I get back to the states.

Well, we connected. In all the chaos of the airport, halfway across the world, with no cell phone (on my side), I managed to be in the right place to meet me mom at the airport. It was good to see family.

The day was spent around the colosseum. What a sight. Of course a road runs around half of it, and it makes me wonder just how many people actually think about the fact that they are driving by THE colosseum every day. It's not just any piece of architecture, it has stood in that place for thousands of years. And it's massive. The Romans really knew how to build on a large scale (and to build objects that last). The line getting in wasn't bad, despite all of the tour guides nearby warning of lengthy wait times (of course a ploy to get you to pay extra for a guided tour which would allow you to skip the line). As I've found with the major sights in Rome, it was filled with guided tours. Too many of them. It's almost an obstical course getting around them at times.

It was walking through the nearby Roman forum, that I really become overwhelmed by the huge amount of history that was present in this city. Just the acres and acres of ruins where quite a sight to see. They were in all stages of decay and destruction, bricks ad columns strewn about the ground. But those structures that still had standing sections where indicative of the massive scale that the Romans built on.

We finished the day with pizza and gelato. How else would a day in Italy be finshed off?

The next day was devoted to the Vatican and St Peters. Surely enough to fill a day full. We decided to start with the Vatican, and despite arriving around 10:30am, well after opening and not exactly early in the morning, we had out to tickets in hand and where inside in 20 min. I'm guess we managed to miss those legendary long lines that the Vatican supposedly has. We were on a mission to the Sistine chapel first, which of course we had to wad through the entire museum to reach it. And wad we did, as we were literally faced with a sea of people. Most of this was caused by the ever present tour groups of at least 20 people, who took up the entire width of the halls. If they stopped, a huge traffic jam was caused. This was human claustrophobia at it's best. I wish I could just hover about 6' above the ground and avoid it all.

After what seemed an enternity of crowd swimming, we found the chapel, and what a sight it was. I have to say it actually was a bit smaller than I expected, but none the less impressive. What a few to accomplish. I sat and had to wonder how an artists would plan to fill up a whole chapel with paintings, making sure all the right people were in the right place. I was surrounded by Michelangelo, and what a sight it was.

After a good viewing, we looped a back around to actually view the rest of the Vatican. Again having to wad through the sea of people, although this time there seemed twice as many as before. Which was just humanly impossible, but evident none the less.

After the Vatican we moved onto St Peters. But something was wrong, the square was empty. There were but a few people left in it being kicked out by the police. Little did I know that the leaders at the G8 were making a visit to he Vatican and St. Peters that very afternoon. It was very odd to see the square completely empty. But there it was, the motorcade, making it's way down the street soon after we arrived. I of course got caught up in the excitment of it all and had to see if I could see Obama. Well see one I did, actually three in fact, Michele and the kids. Good enough for me.

Being completely distracted up to that point I could now turn my attention to St. Peters, one of the largest, if not the largest cathedrals I've yet seen. But it was not just the size of the catherdral that was astounding, but the pure decidence of it all. Filled with frescos, mosaics, sculptures, gilt bronze, and high Renaissance at it's best, it was truely visual overload. I would have to say luckily the dome was closed due to the G8 stuff, so we will have to return, and I can get another look at it all.

Today was spent hopping from catherdral to cathedral, as well as seeing other sights along the way. We stayed in the area of the Pantheon, which was surrounded by many, many churches. Each was different in it's own right, and some housed amazing pieces of art. Luckily, unlike many other cities, entrance to all of them were free. This is amazing considering that we saw a Michelangelo statute in one, and some amazing paintings by Carravagio. The later of which were so amazing to see. I'm fast becoming a big fan of his work. Just the way that way he is able to sculpt scenes with light is astounding. There is just such a huge gap between the work that he did and those of his contemporaries (and the other artwork in many of today cathedrals).

Well I think that about does it for this entry. There is lots to talk about, as there is just so much to see, but that will have to come another day.