I love the fact that Italians eat chocolate things for breakfast. This morning I woke up to Stefania making espresso ( I stayed at her flat lastnight). And we had espresso and what tasted to me like a warm ooey gooey bun with chocolate chips for breakfast. It was delicious.
We rode on her scooter to the studio. She is a lot more of a cautious driver then Giulio. With him I feel like we are threading the needle between cars to get to the front of the line at the stoplight. At one point I looked over and I was face to face with a bus tire. It's crazy. Thank gosh I have a helmet...just in case. Anyway... on the way to the studio I saw a cool outdoor gym. I am going to have to try and find that again.
At the studio I planned out my day of sightseeing. Things didn't go as planned. Some of the places I wanted to go to weren't open today so I only had a few places to choose from. That wasn't a problem because I didn't even get to all the ones on the list that were open. It took me a little more time to find things then I thought it was going to...I guess I should have taken the Italian boy up on his offer. Sidenote: After I got off the subway an Italian boy was sitting on his motorcycle looking over Circo Massimo...where they had the chariot races...and he meandered along until I stopped to take a picture. He took this opportunity to stop me and ask me what time it was (who doesn't have a cell phone or a watch these days...really). Then he went on and on about how he was an archeologist major and that he would show me around if I wanted...although he told me he had to go back to class in 30 minutes. I chose to forge ahead on my own.
My first stop was Santa Maria Basillica in Trastevere. (It is said to be the first Christian place of worship in Rome) I thought it would be easy to find because it was near the studio, but the Trastevere area is crazy because there are so many roads and none of them are straight. There are small ones that aren't even on the maps and big ones that helped me find my way. It was a lot of guessing because with all the roads it was hard to determine what direction I was going. I went the wrong direction a few times but the end result was worth it. The church was beautiful. There was so much to look at that it was almost overwhelming. I wanted to see every little detail but I knew that wasn't possible. There were frescos, statues, paved walkways, candles lit all over, flowers, and the list goes on. There were a lot of people in there praying and lighting candles. I took a few pictures but felt rude doing so while people were praying so I moved on
After I headed to Santa Maria. I found myself going in all different directions. I even ran into another church that wasn't even on my list. While getting myself lost I stopped to buy some postcards at a little shop because I was getting frustrated. There were some coasties there looking at postcards too and they made me mad because they were pushy and rude. UGH! I paid and walked out of the shop into an open area that led to 4 streets including the one I came down. Now I am sure at this point I looked like a true lost tourist. My camera was hanging from my neck, I had my book open to the page with the map, and I kept looking up to figure out what the street names were. The Tevere River should always be on my right but that doesn't help when you can't see it. I took a guess on the road and went for it. It was actually the right one. WOW! I got halfway up the windy road and stopped to get a drink of water out of the faucet. It was very cold and refreshing. I asked some people if they new if I could access San Pietro in Montorio and the Tempietto by going up another road and not continuing on the winding one (Garibaldi). They didn't know but I took my chances. Turns out I went past what I was looking for but found a pretty sweet fountain and an amazing view of the city down below. I went back down Garibaldi and found the Tempietto and the people that told me they didn't know if the road went through or not. Looks like I made the better decision, they were still climbing. :) It wasn't as big as I expected it to be (the picture in the book looks a lot bigger. The Tempietto is in the courtyard of San Pietro in Monotorio. I got to go inside the church but, again, people were praying and it was small so I didn't take any pictures inside.
My next desitnation was supposed to be the botanical gardens, but after spending all afternoon trying to find my first two destinations I chose to do that tomorrow instead. I headed back down the winding road only to get to the bottom and not really know where to go from there. At this point I thought I should start to head home because the sky was getting grey and I didn't bring my umbrella. It was also getting late and I really wouldn't have time to go to many other places before they closed. I put away my map and decided to wander the streets until I found my way out and SURPRISE!!!!!!!!! I actually found the botanical gardens. Now all I have to do is remember where they are tomorrow....haha! I was walking the tiny cobblestone streets taking pictures along the way a group of guys pulled up in their black mercedes and said "we can pose for a picture if you want" in their italian english. I laughed and kept on walking.
I eventually found my way out when I saw the Tevere River. I decided to head in that direction since I had to get on the metro that way, and if I made good enough time I could still get into the Castel Sant'Angelo because it closed at 8:00 with the last people getting in at 7:00 so I had 45min to get there. I would have to put St. Peter's on my agenda for tomorrow too because I wouldn't have enough time to go there. I stopped along the way taking picture after picture. And asked a Asian kid to take my picture with St. Peter's in the background.
I got to the Castel in plenty of time and had to pay full price while the two people in front of my got in for 1/2. What's that nonsense. They were out of towners too! Anyway I really enjoyed my time there. I ran around for the first 1/2 hour like a chicken with my head cut off so I made sure I saw everything, but then I slowed down and took my time. It had a lot of different levels but my favorite was the top where I could see the whole city from up there and great views of St. Peter's. The sun was just starting to set so the pictures were great. I kept running into the same Asian kid and his girlfriend throught the Castel. Another couple stopped to ask me how to get to the top of Castel, and since I ran up there before I gave them my best EnglIan directions on how to get there. I found out they did when I ran into them again when I went back up there. I took pictures of them and them of me. I think the guy felt bad for me because I was by myself. It would have been nice to have someone to walk around with, but I had fun being a tourist anyway.
It was getting to be closing time so I excited, but I walked around the whole outer Castel to make sure I saw everything. It was weird because the whole 3/4 of the circle around the Castel was calm and quiet. I was the only one besides the lady playing fetch with her dog, but once you got to the corner facing St. Peter's the masses of people suddenly appeared. I decided to head towards St. Peter's because I had to catch the metro on the same road that the Piazza St. Peter was on. When I got there the Pope was just finishing up whatever service he just had, so all the people were leaving. You could actually hear something from a top the Castel. I decided to hang around until some of the people left. I wanted to take some pictures and wait for the mad metro rush to calm down. Turns out the other couple that I met at the Castel had the same idea too, so again we swapped turns taking pictures for each other.
I think I will go back to St. Peter's tomorrow, but I was cooked for tonight. My feet hurt and I was getting hungry and I am sure the kitties wanted their tuna dinner too! On the way home I had to switch metro lines and they didn't stop at the Colosseo stop. Turns out that ther was a candle light service at the Colesium tonight. I almost went back but was too tired so I watched it on TV instead. The pope was there and everything. I wasn't sure if it was a vigil for the earthquake victims or an actual service. Although it was in Italian, I could tell that they were saying the Lord's Prayer and giving the Benediction, but I still wasn't sure. I will have to ask Giulio. I made some dinner and watched some American TV...House, Sex and the City, and even Law and Order: SVU in English!!!
It's kind of nice having the house to myself for a few days. I haven't even really been here that much. Tomorrow I am going to try to find the Botanical Gardens again and go to St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel. Myabe go to the Colesium and look around too!
I will get some pictures up soon!!!
Ciao!
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