First Weekend in Rome

Rome is as fabulous as I remembered, and I'm having a wonderful time. The trip got off to a slightly crazy start because the first leg of my flight was delayed by an hour, which meant I would've missed my connection to Rome. So after spending a long time on the phone with US Air, I was able to get a seat on a flight out of Dulles, which also had four members of my class on it. So we met up in the waiting area at Dulles and got to know each other a bit. The flight itself was fine; I was in economy plus class, which had plenty of arm room and leg room, but I still didn't sleep very much. When we arrived in Rome, the five of us took two taxis to the hotel. I sat up front with our driver, who was so kind and gave me lots of good information and advice on how to enjoy Rome NOT as a tourist. We checked into our hotel--so quaint. It is a couple of blocks from the Coliseum, and we have a nice view of it from the rooftop terrace. 

 

  Then, two of the older students and I went on a walking tour of the area for about six hours. We walked around the Coliseum and the Forum, we looked at a building nicknamed the Wedding Cake, and then we found several churches that we could go into and visit. The churches here are simply amazing. We went into Rome's cathedral, St. John the Baptist, which is just humongous!! It has cloisters and a little museum, and they all have gift shops. We had a nice lunch near the Colisem, where I had a caprese salad on bread. Delicious.

When we were winding down our walk, we got a gelato. I got mango--so yummy. We came back to the hotel, showered, and got a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant recommended by our hotel. Some things that are interesting here include our hotel: we have twin beds in our room, which is totally fine. It has marble floors, a teeny bathroom, and no screens on the windows, but there don't appear to be problems with bugs or birds. We have to leave the one key there is to the room at the front desk when we leave and then ask for it when we return.

 Rome is loud. LOUD! People drive like maniacs in little tiny cars. This morning, we went to mass at the Vatican. The pope said mass at 9:30, but we left here at 7;30. We walked to the Metro stop at the Coliseum and then took the metro to Termini, where we switched to the other line and rode it to the Vatican stop. Then we walked a good distance, close to a mile, I think, to St. Peter's. We got in line with our tickets and waited there for a while. It kept moving, but it was a long line! When we got up to the front of the outside section, a man waved us all through, and then we followed another guy through the metal detectors and then around the side of the church, up a small staircase, and into the church from the side. We sat to the right side of the altar, about 100 feet away from it. A little after 9, they said the rosary. It is very beautiful in Latin. More later. Heading out for a little bite to eat tonight.