Espionage and Sciopero

Now that I am in Europe, I am allowed to be and feel, “whelmed.” And that is exactly how I felt In Rome.

One of the subway stops put you, literally, right outside of the Colosseum (il Colosseo) and the Arch of Constantine. Again, whelmed is the only word I can think of that most closely describes how I felt. It was so huge! And pictures don’t really do it justice at all. Whelmed, again, at the thought that this thing was built in. And again thinking about all of the things that happened inside of the structure. And again when there is information about current excavations and discoveries still happening.

I think one of my favorite things about Rome is how instead of destroying or building over the ancient sites, the people built their modern city around and through. We were able to get a nice look of this when we went to Trastevere for dinner both nights we were in town. Trastevere is were the real Italians live in Rome, and there we were able to find the best and cheapest food. The first night was rigatoni and pecorino pasta. And the next was bruschetta with artichokes and a pizza with more artichokes and prosciutto (and cheese too). My Nonna cooks very good dinners, but wow these dishes incredible.

Saturday was whelming from the shier amount of places we went. We were lucky enough to have my friend Liz accompany us to Rome. Lucky because she is practically fluent in Italian (very helpful when you’re in Italy), and also has a slight OCD complex so she over prepares for travel trips which also comes in handy. One of her many brilliant ideas was to leave the hotel by 7:30 so we could make it to the first couple of stops before they became too crowded. When we made it to our first stop, The Spanish Steps (Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti), we were almost the only ones there.

We had the same luck with the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi), which is a lot bigger than I imagined, and had time to take our pictures without bodies squishing together and to find the spot where Lizzie and Paolo met (yes, as in Lizzie Maguire).

(throw a coin over your left shoulder and you are promised to come back)

We had the same luck at the Piazzo Navona where we able to admire the beautiful building, Bernini sculptures, and many paintings and water colors being sold in the Piazza. And it continued through the Pantheon as well (which is currently my favorite architectural building).

In fact, that morning the worst line we suffered was trying to get gelato at La Palma. Worth it. I had biscotto (tasted kind of like a Milano cookie), and this other one that was some mix between hazelnut, peanut butter, and chocolate, and had these little wafer cookies mixed in.

By this time, the last places on our list were closed for a long lunch break (12-4) and we took cover in the beautiful gardens of the Villa Borghese [also near the Galleria Borghese that we had not tried to get a reservation enough in advance (at least a month) and so were not able to go].

Our last two stops of the day were both to churches, the Santa Maria della Vittoria and to the San Pietro in Vincoli (Saint Peter in Chains). The first holds one my personal favorite sculptures titled “The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa” by Bernini. While it is smaller than I imagined, I was no less touched by its power and beauty. In the second resides the unfinished work of Michelangelo. A tomb, originally meant to be three stories, but only one was completed and includes a beautiful work of Moses. This one was larger than I was expecting, and was easier to study and ground level. I love hands and his were so beautiful and powerful. On the whole, sculptures seem to amaze me more than paintings. The artists are given a block of marble, and the make something that looks so life like and doesn’t give any room for error. Truly amazing.

Every last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museum (museo di vaticani) is free. Needless to say, even though we arrived well before it opened at 8:30, we were still a good 600 m behind the entrance.

Since our train leaved for home a 2, we were a little worried about getting in and also making it to Saint Peter’s Basilica. So funny thing about being far in line: you get a bunch of people offering tours and to put your right up in the front of the line for a little money. As they say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do!” I’m not quite sure if this is applicable, but we did it. SO SKETCH. But it worked. Took some espionage, and basically we payed to cut in line, but again, it worked. And weren’t BS-ed. Even though it though it was extra suspicious when he said that the tour guide’s name was “Luigi.” But, Luigi was a licensed tour guide who gave tours in the Vatican for 40 years, both in English and Italian. Do I regret losing that twenty Euro? No I don’t. The Vatican was absolutely stunning, as was Saint Peter’s Basilica. And I was able to see great works of art such as (but not limited to) Michelangelo’s “Pieta,” (another one of my favorites, a sculpture of Mary holding the crucified Christ), Raphael’s “School of Athens,” Matisse’s “La Vierge à l’Enfant” (yes the Vatican can even buy expensive contemporary art), and, of course, The Sistine Chapel. Where yet again, I was whelmed. And literally had to take a minute and sit down and soak up the entire room. Incredible the time and talent and creativity that went into making the room come to life. Within each painting there are so many individuals that the artist had to create, and really everything about the chapel was far beyond my grasp of comprehension.

(This is in the very beginning of the ceiling sequence, and an image of God creating the world. In this particular image, Michelangelo placed him in the same position that he took in creating the ceiling.)

Our adventure was not yet over though. After returning to the terminal to catch our train home, we had to deal with the very crowded and confusing Termini, where no one would supply us with an Orario (which included what train we needed to take, and which stop to get off and catch the connection home). By the time we figured out which train was ours, we had a about 3 minutes to make it to the other side of the station before the train left. We made by the skin of our teeth. However, about an hour into our train ride, we discovered that many trains were holding strikes or a “sciopero.” In other words, when we made it to our connection in the middle of nowhere, a town names Grossetto (emphasis on the first half of the name) we were stuck there for nearly four hours until a came finally came in that was not on strike. When we reached Siena, we had yet another lovely surprise when we found out we were misinformed about the correct bus route. And so, we got off at the closest stop, and walked about half a mile home in the dark. We did make it safely home though. Eventually. And I am perfectly content to stay in Siena this weekend.