A Full 10 Hour Day with a Bonus

Neither Beth or I had good or even decent feelings about our hostel so we decided that leaving early on our first day in Roma (Wednesday) wouldn´t be such a bad idea. It would get us out of the room and we´d hopefully beat some of the crowds. First on our list was St. Peter´s Basilica. We made it there at 7:45am with no problem by way of the metro and encountered our first line of the day. The Basilica opens at 7am daily so we found it odd that there was already such a long line. After a bit of investigating and trying my SpanItalian with some nuns we figured out that the Pope was due to come out that morning (apparently a weekly event) and thus the Basilica was closed. Many people had red tickets to let them in but we were let in by the guard after he searched our bags... we just couldn´t go into the seating area. We took pictures and staked out good spots for when the Pope did actually come out. There were so many people all around us and the heat was starting to welcome us to Vatican City. We both had khakis and short sleeved shirts on so that we were appropriately dressed for the Basilica and we missed our shorts and tank tops. Once the Pope was seen coming in his car the crowd got wild and there were no more guards checking for red tickets. So, Beth and I went in with the rest of them and got a decent spot for some pictures and to catch some of the mass...what a bonus! There were many other priests officiating the mass with the Pope and I understood the reading in Spanish. Being raised Catholic, it was a such a great feeling to be able to see the Pope and to hear Scripture read in my native tongue. I really loved relaying that news to my parents! On to line #2... the Vatican museum and Sisteen Chapel. This was the worst one by far. It moved pretty quickly but it was really hot and there was hardly any shad while we stood in line waiting to get in. I think we were in line for about 45 minutes. When we finally made it in we had to fight our way through all of the hallways-through various tour groups, tour leaders speaking loudly into microphones and many other people stopping to take many shots of sculptures and the ceilings. We did our best to see what we had on our list without getting trampled on. The Sisteen Chapel was gorgeous. There is no other way to describe it. I was lucky to find a seat on a bench and to look at all of it without having to negotiate for personal space while I took it all in. We were tired and hungry so we got a quick but filling lunch across the street and then headed back to St. Peter´s. Line #3. This one moved pretty quickly too but the sun and the humidity are unforgiving. Once we got in it was overpowering. This was the one big thing I wanted to see while in Roma and I took my time giong through the church and prayed in the closed off chapel for a while. I loved how it was curtained off so that people wouldn´t snap pictures, talk on their phone or talk loudly to one another. These places are religious sites and it´s a shame that so many people forget this. I got my time in here and I could leave Roma happy knowing that I had ample time to take it all in. It was then about 3pm... 3pm... how did that happen?! We were running low on energy so instead of spending 4euros (close to $5) on a can of Coca-Cola we decided to stop at a street vendor station. I bought a lovely dress and Beth bought an equally lovely blouse. There´s nothing like retail therapy to boost one´s spirits and energy level before jaunting over to the Colosseum. :) The metro got us there with no problem. It was amazing to step out of the metro station and onto the street with the Colosseum greeting us in a matter of seconds. I couldn´t believe that I was seeing the edifice that I had seen so many times in books and on TV in person. The history that Roma has is indescribable and though we were tired and sweaty I know we´ll always remember that full day in Roma. We walked around for a while, took some pictures and sat for a few minutes before we made our way back to the hostel. Close to both the hostel and Termini we found a pizzeria that kept us well fed till we left... a huge slice of pizza with a bottle of coca-cola for only 5 euros! Now Roma was really speaking our language!