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| So much cheese. |
It showcased a lot of their Italian food. Cheese was a big one, but what's the best thing to put cheese on? Yep, you guessed it. Pasta. And boy oh boy did they have pasta. We might be excessive in the US or UK and have half a row dedicated to it. But the Italians? They want their options open.
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| Top one look familiar? It really is Italy's favorite pasta. |
I was impressed. It was exactly what I wanted to see out of an Italian grocery store. So I happily took my purchases, pretended I was a local just casually at the store checking out, and continued on my way back to the hostel for a well-deserved night's rest before heading to Vatican City the next day.
Now Vatican City is still technically part of Rome, but it is a different area. This was the place I was most excited to visit. Before I left for my year abroad, my friend and flatmate Shannon told me that I needed to go to the Vatican and see the Pope. I told her that I would without really meaning it. I didn't expect to do too much travelling on my year abroad. But when faced with the opportunity to go anywhere I wanted, Italy sprung to mind. I wasn't sure where in Italy, but I knew at least Venice. And while there, I might as well see the Vatican. I didn't realize that it was a part of Rome, and so that made it even better!
My parents told me that I always seem to know where I'm going when I travel, but honestly, it's just luck. It's luck that I wanted to go to the Vatican which happned to be by Rome. It's luck that Jason had gone to Rome before me and was therefore able to reccommend seeing Pompeii. The best things in life come unplanned. I've come to realie this more and more this semester.
I was so focused on trying to fit my year abroad into a cookie cutter layout of everything I had heard it was supposed to be. But every trip is different. Everyone's life is different. This year abroad and this trip has definitely taught me to let go and life life more freely. I've been shaping my life to fit the plan I've always believed I was suppoed to follow. This year abroad has been a big step away from that as it is quite different than the normal college experience (although it is becoming more and more popular).
But to be a 20-year-old travelling on their own on a somewhat religious quest to see the Vatican (and other parts of Italy)? Not what everyone chooses to do. I'm incredibly thankful that I was able to travel alone as it is such a self-discovering adventure. You learn that you can depend on yourself much more than you otherwise might have expected. I would have never expected that I would be able to navigate the Roman metro system and walk 15 miles a day all over the eternal city. It is mentally and physically exerting, but I did it. And I loved every second.
And nothing compares to getting off the metro station, Google mapping your way to the Vatican, and then coming eye-to-eye with this:
In order to enter the Vatican, you have to go through the equivalent of airport security. And get past a hoard of people trying to sell you selfies sticks. But as marvalous as it was from the outside, I really wanted to be able to go in. Plus, I had planned it out so that by going to the Vatican today, I would actually be able to see the Pope and hear him speak. Yeah, it would be in Italian. But how incredibly amazing to witness it all the same?
Despite Christmas being over, there was still a nativity scene set up. Complete with a Chistmas tree.
It was still early to wait for the Papal Audience, and so I decided I would go inside the Vatican and then see the museum after the audience.
It was so gorgeous on the inside. High ceilings and so much decoration. What drew my atention most was seeing the Pietà right at the front. This is an extremely famous sculpture made by Michelangelo.
Before it was kept behind a glass cage, people used to make pilgramages to the Vatican and touch Jesus' foot. From some many people doing this over the years, the marble in the foot began to wear down.
This is most likely why it is now behind a glass cage. To protect the foot from getting too small.
There were many other beautiful paintings and sculptures in the room besides for this famous one. Once you step in, you know that you are in somewhere important.
The front of the Vatican was blocked off. Since it was early in the day on a Sunday, there was a mass taking place. Someone in front of me was trying to get in, but the guards would not alllow them. I entered and asked if I could go through. "Why do you want to go in?"
So many people just wanted to take photos, but I said, "Just to observe the ceremony" and was let in. The person behind me was demanding that they wanted in for the same reason, but the guard knew it was an act just to get pictures.
I was respectful and didn't take photos once ast the gate, but here are some I was able to get from behind the line.
The mas was all in Italian, but from going to church previously, I was still able to understand what was happening as all masses have essentially the same parts to them. When it was time to go forward for holy communion, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and recieved the blessing. I never had a first holy communion, and so this was the closest I could get.
I was only able to catch the last 15 minutes, but it was still an amazing experience. People around me were crying and blowing into tissues. People from all over the world came here just to gather under God's roof and hear His words. A truly spectacular experince.
Once it was over, I wandered around the second half of the Vatican, which was just as stunning as the first half.
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| Confession Booth |
Above is the gift shop, where I purchased a bottle to fill with holy water. From the gift shop you took it to another room where a priest took it back and filled it. It seemed like there was some ritual done as the bottle was being filled, but I was not allowed to see.
I still had more of the vatican to see, and more chapels to pray in. I felt incredibly grateful as I was so terrified when I started this journey. A 20-year-old girl by herself in another country where she doesn't speak the language. So I thanked Him for keeping me safe and for allowing me to have such an incredible opportunity.
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| I was not allowed in here. |
At the end there was a little set up of Jesus' birth. Another nativity scene, but I felt this one was likely permanent. It also switched from day to night and had moving pieces.
There was still time before the Papal Aduience, and so I decided to make the climb up to St. Peter's Bsciliaca. I had read on trip advisior that this was the highlight for many people's trips to Vatican City as it offered such a spectacular view. It is 531 steps up, but you can get the lift up for the first 320. At the end of it is the Cupola, where you can see the entirety of St. Peter's Square (the front of the Vatican).
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| Heading to the lift. |
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| Partway through you walk along the top of the interior, and get a spectacular view of the Vatican. |
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| Better view of the domed ceiling. |
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| Gorgeous pictures along the side. |
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| First view on the way up. |
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| Note: I'm standing up straight and the photo is taken straight. As we approached the top, it got very curving to accommadate for the domed shape. |
And when I approached the top, I saw why people did this climb. Absolutely stunning! Rome really is incredible.
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| That's a mirror, not a window. |
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| St. Peter's Square |
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| St. Peter's Square |
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| Getting crowded now. |
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| Why do people have to do stuff like this? |
By the time I got down, people were already starting to gather for the Papal Audience. Coming out of the Vatican, I had a really good spot as I was in the interior rather than the exterior. So instead of doing anything else, I waited for an hour, ate some almonds, and watched the world around me. I wasn't too sure where to Pope would be, but figured I had a good spot regardless.
As the time got closer, screens by the statues began to show images of the square. The Pope would be making his appearance shortly.
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| A crowd of people from around the world waiting to hear the Pope. |
He appeared in a very tiny window that had been adorned with a red hanging. It was easy to see him on the screens, or by utilizing the zoom on my camera. Suddenly I was thankful I went for a camera based on zoom rather than anything else.
Again, it was Italian and so I did not understand a word that he said. But nonetheless, it was amazing just to hear his voice and be able to witness something so incredible that many people are unable to see in their lifetime.
St. Peter's Square emptied out after he was done speaking. Time for the museum. There was a long queue in front of the Vatican for tickets, but it turns out that they were tickets for the following day. The museum was not open on Sundays. Although I would be leaving for Venice the next day, I knew I had to see the Vatican museum and especially the sistine chapel. And so I decided to buy the tickets for 8 a.m. the next morning. I would cram it in before taking a train to Venice the next day.
In the meantime, I was going to enjoy some added time exploring Rome. I was originally going to see the Colosseum before Venice, but now I would just do it today.
Instead of taking the metro (as I have been doing), I walked along the Tiber River to get there.
And along the way, I stopped by the castle: Castel Sant'Angelo. I didn't have time to go inside, but rather appreciated it from the outside instead.
Mainly, it was such a sunny and nice day (compared to the rainy and horrid Swansea) that I was hapy just to take in the sun. Though I did regret bringing only my winter coat, which was too big to fit in my small backpack. So I had to boil inside my purple tube.
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| Cool graffiti. The main on the left is standing in front of an angel statue picture. |
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| Some random market. |
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| Near a park with a cool fountain. |
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| No idea what this is. But it looks cool. |
The Colosseum was just as impressive the second day, and this time I actually got to go inside. I didn't take a picture of the outside again, as I had already taken one yesterday. However, I got lots of it from the interior.
There was a museum section as well where they ahowed various artifacts they dug out from inside and around the site when restoring it.
It was an impressive structure, but it wasn't as amazing as you would expect. Had I gone here before the Roman Forum and Pompeii, I think I would have like it better. But after seeing a huge expanse filled with ancient ruins, this was a tad underwhelming. Others had informed me that this would happen as well.
Still, it's quite hard to not enjoy seeing something so iconic.
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| The area on the left is what it would have looked like during it's time. The area underneath is all for support and storage. |
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| Stairways to get to the various levels. |
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| As they started closing, they covered this little bit. |
One of the perks of travelling alone is being able to talk to other people. Since you don't have the people in your group to take your picture, you need to rely on the kindness of strangers. In this case, it was an older couple from England. I told them that I was studying abroad in Wales, which made them very happy to hear.
People in the UK are not the uptight posh people we Americans often picture in our heads. Though London may have more of that, most people are incredibly friendly and talkative, especially in Wales. However, that can be found in England as well, outside of the bigger cities. Since these people were more in the outskirts, I got the friendly-natured attitude.
"There, dear. Now you'll have a memory of your trip to Rome forever!" She said quite happily.
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| They're covering more up now. We'll probably get kicked out soon. |
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| The outer area of the arena. Perhaps they also had food and drink areas. Wine and battle? |
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| Storage. |
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| More storage. |
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| They didn't age well. |
Once they closed, they ushered everyone out of the area rather hastily. They weren't going to put up with any slow tourists. They were ready to clean up and go home. That meant it was time for me to eat. I had walked a lot that day, and my phone battery was dying. That meant I couldn't go anywhere too far off the main track or else I would get lost.
Instead, I chose to find a restaurant right off of a metro stop. Had to have some Italian pasta while I was here, right? The stuff from the hostel didn't count.
I don't know why, but this ad always was on when I boarded the metro. They played some eerie music (X-Files theme?) and gave an Italian ad for getting the station on their TV. It was almost a welcoming thing to come back to. Like, "Yep. You made it to the metro. Buy X-Files."
I had used the last of my battery to look up a place that looked very promising. Many tourists had come and enjoyed the food.
Originally I was going to wait for my hostelmates, but they never showed up after waiting for an hour at the metro station. I went back to the hostel to see if they were there, but alas it was empty. However, I did get a chance to recharge my phone and see that they had gotten hopelessly lost. I figured that by this point they had gone out to get food and so headed back out myself. I was quite tempted just to stay in at that point, but I had only had one real meal in Rome and wanted more Italian food.
The bus wasn't coming, so I walked ll the way over to the metro station, which I hadn't realized required a walk similar to the one I had done in October to the Gower. Walking alongside a road without any pavement. It was a bit of a sketychy one and I was hungry and emotional the entier time. So tears did roll down my face. I was talking to my mom the whole time and explaining the situation.
But once I got to the restaurant, I felt a lot better.
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| Rome is stunning at night. If only I weren't afraid to walk around on my own in the dark. |
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| The restaurants all looked fancy like this. |
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| I bought a glass of this wine to treat myself. |
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| Bowl of parmasean cheese on the side to go on top of my four cheese gnocchi. |
At this point, my hostel friends got back to me. The bus they had gotten on changed to another bus halfway through, going in the wrong direction. Since all buses circle, they decided just to ride it out back to the hostel. This took over an hour and went through some very sketchy parts of Rome. Apparently a butch guy with a teardrop eye tattoo came on and the girl started crying. This is where the mafia was, after all.
They were going to join me for food, but I said that by the time they arrived, I would already be done. Instead, we decided to go for "breakie" tomorrow at McDonald's.
Meanwhile, I was picking out some fancy dessert.
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| Tiramissu for dessert in honor of Sarah. It's not a cake here. Instead, they make it in pudding form with the fingers in the middle. |
Before getting back on the metro and going home to my hostel, I found a fountain I had seen the previous day. Only this time it was lit up to look even more stunning at night. I found a couple of touists and asked them to take my photo. I couldn't have asked a better person. The girl was from Venice having her first day in Rome. Meanwhile, I was on my last day in Rome going to Venice the following day. Funny how the world works out.
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