The following is a chronological listing of what I did in Rome. For Rome pictures, click here.
6/25
- Got on the train in Zurich; the (Italian) train was late getting into Milan, so I had to run to catch the connection to Rome!
- Coliseum: was snagged immediately by a tour operator who asked if I wanted to participate in the last English-speaking tour of the day; even though famous stuff is often disappointing in person (looks smaller, duller, or more worn than it does in pictures), I was duly impressed
- Palatine Hill and the Forum: the 20 Euros I paid for the Coliseum tour included this second tour; ruins are so commonplace that they even serve as benches for tourists to sit on; I couldn't help thinking that ancients visiting Rome in its heyday would have been totally blown away by the architectural grandeur
- Every clock on the street showed a different time; Dorothy, we're not in Switzerland any more
6/26
- Vatican City: pleased with yesterday's tour, I decided to go on with the same tour company the next day
- Vatican Museum: so many paintings and sculptures; taking pictures with flash was forbidden, so I had to take videos instead of pictures
- Sistine Chapel: cameras not allowed; shockingly disappointing; small, crowded, dark and unaesthetic
- St. Peter's Basilica: gorgeous, stunning, huge, marble, artful, bright
- Met a 27-year-old project manager from Australia on holiday for -- can you believe it -- seven weeks!
- In the late afternoon, it started to sprinkle; within an hour, it was POURING
- Trevi Fountain: reminded me of a fountain at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, which probably was modeled after the Trevi
- Watched the U.S. lose to Ghana at a local pub; was quite exciting because Americans and Ghanians were both in attendance, and very enthusiastic
- Ate the most redolent pineapple and melon gelato at 11 p.m.; I love being an adult and eating dessert at ridiculous hours!
- Woke up in the middle of the night scratching a newly bestowed bug bite :(
- I can't believe that rain and bugs follow me everywhere, especially when I specifically removed my umbrella (honestly, who thinks it'll rain in Southern Italy at the end of June?) and bug cream (Europeans whom I consulted laughed at the mere idea of bugs in metropolitan Rome) from my luggage
6/27
- Woke up at 7 a.m. to the ringing of a phone in the hall; who puts a phone in the hall that no one answers?!
- Pantheon: mass was being conducted in the morning, so I decided to return in the afternoon
- Mouth of Truth: made famous by Audrey Hepburn in "Roman Holiday"
- Circus Maximum: looking quite minimus now; just a dirt track overgrown with flowering weeds, but it must have been awesome to see the chariot races in Rome's heyday (kind of like watching Formula 1 races today, just with horses instead of cars)
- Pantheon, v2.0: very impressive; loved the spotlight of sun coming through the circular opening in the dome's center; the artful arrangement of variously colored marble was impressive; saw Raphael's tomb
- Piazza Novella: sweaty lunch in 90-degree weather; the heat didn't stop me from having yet another plate of risotto
- Bought a stamp with my initials and red wax to stamp into
- Ate 5 scoops of gelato in a waffle cone; yum
- Relieved to sit down in the train after a total of 17 (out of 48) hours walking, despite a fussy baby that showed up in the same car to and from Rome
- The (Italian) train was late again, so I had to run to catch my connection back to Zurich
- Sank into bed exhausted and happy
