diamondsky's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roaming in Rome August 10, 2005 4:00pm Central time There is blue beneath me and blue above me. And cute little white clouds outside of my window (because I have a window seat--yeah!). I'm not sure what to think about all of this yet, but I know that it's exciting, and I can't wait to see what's next! Sometimes (okay, a lot of the time) I don't understand how time and physics work. We went from the ground to the air in the time of a few seconds. The football stadium looked like a peanut. And just like we've crossed Lake Michigan. How does that work?? We're already into another time zone. It's mindboggling to know that it's 11:30pm in Milan, 5:30pm here in Michigan, and 4:30pm at home. So I'm started to doubt Santa's magic a little. Haha. The turbulance is making my stomach jump a bit, and my handwriting in horrible. Oh well, right? I hope everyone at home is okay. My mom was freaking out, I think. Dad was as calm as always. But I'm nervous for Rainbow. What will she do all alone in the apartment without me for 13 days? I guess that's what boyfriends are for, so maybe I don't want to know... None of us have figured out how the headphones are supposed to work, we we're all a little quiet and bored. It must be a perfect time for a nap! August 11, 2005 7:45am Milan So Italian toilets are weird like whoa. I seriously thought I was going to fall in... it was huge! And they have pedals to flush the toilets, instead of our handles. Which is actually really nice, because then your shoes get the germs, not your hands. Smart Europeans. The flight took forever, but we made it. Everyone clapped when we landed, and I guess that's how all the Italians do it. Just thankful that we made it here okay. The trip was amazing, and definitely wasn't the route I had expected. Instead of flying straight over the Atlantic the plane went up over Canada, then over and across Greenland, then back down to get to Europe. We flew over London at night, and it was gorgeous. And I saw some mountains, which is just spectacular for a girl from the plains. August 11, 2005 6:45 Rome Today--as I'm sure every day will be--was long. I can't believe it's not even over yet. There has been so much activity and sights to see, it's a wonder I haven't gone crazy. Rome is a beautiful city. I could live here, if not for the language barrier and the constant tourism. And people say that American drivers are rude, but Romans are the most aggressive, uncaring drivers I've ever seen! It's crazy. Mopeds are everywhere. The people here don't talk to us much, and we've very obvious tourists--the passport pouches, confused faces,-and constant clicking of the camera are all dead give-aways. The boys all remind me of Cookie, with their dark hair, sideburns, thing bodies, and tall frames. Maybe one will fall madly in love with me and return to the States with me. Ya never know. The sights we've seen are breathtaking. Starting will our (small) hotel room. It's the cutest little hotel, ran by a convent. It's overlooking a cafe and a fountain. We have a fountain! There are men playing acordians, and everyone here is so happy. I like it. (11:30pm) We went to the Trevvy fountain--just perhaps my favorite place in Rome. I threw two pennies into the fountain, to find my true love. I think it might be traveling, even though that's a pretty costly love. But traveling can't break my heart, right? I'm also in love with gelato, the best ice cream. Ever. And so inexpensive. Just 2 Euros can give me 2 big scoops of 2 different flavors in a tasty cone. Italians know what's important. So spending time with friends, gelato, and late night mass... This trip is SO worth the money, and I've only been here a day! August 12, 2005 12:11am (So August 13th?) Rome Day two was just as busy as day one. We didn't have time to eat breakfast, so we went straight to the Vatican. Buses here are little too fast and too close for comfort. Walking is better, even if it does hurt my feet after a while. The Vatican is the biggest, most incredible thing I have ever seen. Indescribable, really. People back then had skill, that's for sure. We had mass IN St. Peter's. In front of St. Peter's tomb and next to Pope John Paul II's tomb. Wow. It was amazing. I'll never have an experience like that again. St. Peter's basilica was bult so that altar would be directly in the center, and then to have the top directly centered above that. So the entire building lies on top of St. Peter. You can't argue with something like that. I mean...some faiths grow from myth, but ours from real people. It's a wonderful and beautiful feeling. After mass, and still no breakfast, a girl fainted. I think we all could have fainted. She was okay, but we still couldn't stop for breakfast, because Father had so much planned for our day. We toured the basement/tombs of St. Peter's, and I felt dizzy. Maybe because of the sights that were in front of me, or maybe because of the lack of food, but it was a weird feeling. The inside of St. Peter's gave me goosebumps, just imagining all that's happened in that building. The tombs were so interesting, most of them were Pagan tombs, but we saw one tiny Christian tomb. And then we saw the tomb that St. Peter's was originally in. The story of his burial and the construction of St. Peter's is so inspiring. Finally, at 12pm we had our lunch. Italians feed us well, with 3 course meals every time. The pattern is pasta to begin the meal, meat and vegetables for the main course, and then a yummy desert. Our first night we had dinner at 8pm, with lasagna, breaded chicken, green beans, and Italian ice. Those little cups from the freezer section in IGA just won't cut it anymore! For our lunch today we had mostaccoli, some scary roast beef with way too much fat, french fries, and then gelato. I'll never get enough of gelato. Mmm. But most of us were so starving, that our stomachs could barely fit anything since they hadn't had anything all day. But it was still tasty. There are so many people here. At times it's nice, and at others I just want them to "shut up." A girl here doesn't quite realize no one's listening, and then looks at us waiting for a response. I'm trying to be patient. I think that's something I'm going to be struggling with a lot during this trip. Patience. My camera is quickly filling up with pictures, even though I'm trying to be resourceful and take good pictures. But everything is so increidble here. It's tough to be picky. Today we also went into the museum. Our tour guide talked a little too much, but there was so much to be said, so I guess that was okay. Everything was just so...surreal. Grandiose. From the tapestries that covered the entire walls, to the mosiac floors, to the acient Romans everything was art. And the Sistine Chapel? Spectacular. Just the fact that I can say that I've actually seen it amazes me. The room was stunning, and my friend, K. (an art major), kept whispering me secrets about the paintings. I didn't want to leave. Collegiates (that's me!) had the afternoon to ourselves. A bunch of us wandered the city. Roamed in Rome. Ha! All the girls posed in front of the Colleseum at night. N. and I found a kitty hiding in the Colleseum, and I grabbed a picture of him before he scurried off. My Colleseum kitty. J. and I have decided that "we love stairs." Because they're everywhere. And speaking of stairs, we took a journey to the Spanish steps, where people were playing music. One group tried to sing Coldplay, with no success. Another group was singing some classic oldies, and they were fantastic. A man tried giving E. and I free roses, and as soon as we took them, he turned to the guy we were with and rubbed his thumb and 2 fingers together implying he pay for these roses. It was horrible! So we tried to return the flowers, but he wouldn't accept them. E. put her flower on the ground, and as I went to put my flower down he snatched it out of my hand. Weird Europeans. What a way to make a buck. Euro. Ha. For dinner we stopped by a pizzeria near our hotel. I had the finest sausage pizza. And we can't stop buying the gelato. Tonight's flavors were capuccino and caramel. Simply fantastic! I think I have all of my sourvenier shopping done, too. I bought myself a cute Italian shirt, and my parents a Coca-Cola shirt in Italian. Of course Rosary beads, and small gifts for people at home. I really don't have that much money, and everything here is expensive anyway. I'm trying to stretch my Euro. Tomorrow is a completely free day. College kids can go absolutely anywhere, so that will be an adventure. August 13, 2005 Rome What an adventure indeed! Today we woke up for a continental breakfast prepared by the nuns. Hot milk and sugar--who knew? And Nutella on rolls? Man, Europeans do breakfast right. Mass followed, and then...free day! I went with 4 other people, and we all headed out to the park. The metro here is really nice, not scary at all. But we still protected our bags like they were our own children. The day was getting long(er), but we found 2 more churches. And the Panteum. I met my future husband when he accidentally bumped into me and said, "mi scuzi." Sigh. I ate a McDonald's cheeseburger, right there in front of the Panteum, a Roman temple turned into a Catholic church. Because it was there. And McDonald's tastes like McDonald's. Even in front of a massive, ancient structure. There was some shopping involved, and lots of walking. We love stairs. My feet are burning, but it's all worth it. To see such a gorgeous city. A place so important to my faith. The praise of God in the churches and the admiration from everyone... It's such a great feeling. Finally we had dinner. Italian food is delicious, and I'm sure pasta from home will never be good enough again. Ha! There was, of course, more ice cream. Gelato stores can be found on every block. I'll miss that when I go home. After ice cream, another group of us went out at night to walk along the ruins. We walked on an old chariot race track. Can you imagine? K. and I sang Disney songs, and probably drove the locals crazy. All in good fun though. It was such a unique way to end our Rome adventure. I can't believe it's time to leave this city already. August 14, 2005 Rome It's our last night in Rome. I am ging to miss it so much, I can tell. It will be sad not to have a gelato shop on every block, the cute little fountain outside my window, or a view ofhte Colessuem down every street. But leaving Rome means entering Germany, so it's a fair trade. No more hotel though. That will be hard to leave behind, too. Today we visited Assisi. The train station was so cute, and the train was pretty nice. We went to first class on accident, but economy was just a good I thought. We all played Uno, and I've never had that much fun with that game. Assisi is supposedly a small city, but it's built into a huge hill. Everything requires walking uphill. Our first stop was the tomb of St. Francis. It was so inspiring, to see remanants of a man who did so much for our church. He was such a humble man. We could all learn a lot if we were a little more like him. I wish I were humble. Today I really struggled being patient with people. I hate big crowds. When we got off the bus to Assis, we lost 2 group members. Our priest gets so wrapped up in everything, and sort of goes into his little world. It was sad, because they missed mass in the church in which St. Francis was baptised. We did find them, but can you imagine? Being alone in a big tourist city, not knowing where to go? Scary. I think it taught us to slow down. It's not just that we lost 2 people. It's just that there are people everwhere. But our group gets divided, and people don't even notice or realize that we're not all together. The language barrier is so hard here. You'd thinking some would knoe English, but they really don't. Germany will be better. So on the way home I barely said a word. I was grumpy, and if I talked I'd just snap at someone. Rannier got me out of my slump, but then I took a quick nap. I watched the mountains whiz by through the train window. I just realized that I shouldn't be complaining. So that was that. When we returned, I went to a small pizzeria by the Trevvy Fountain with k. We window shopped, and I found the cutest necklace. Yay! Ken found a Disney comic book in Italian. So our mission was complete. Tomorrow we have mass at 6:30am, so I really need to sleep. 2:56 p.m. - August 23, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||
|
||||||