Day 30 - More Vatican

June 30 – Back at the Vatican

As if yesterday wasn’t enough, we made our way back to the Vatican. We had the Vatican Museums to visit, and the Basilica’s dome to climb. The Argentinean girls said they were also going to the Vatican and so we all went together. We definitely bonded quickly and during breakfast decided to go together.

There was Macarena (like the dance), Carla, Brenda, and Sabrina. They had worked in Wales for 8 months and saved up money. Now they’re backpacking all over Europe and some Middle East countries. They’re a cool bunch. We went through the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel with them while Macarena read her guide book. It was very fun. We split with them because Shannon and I were pressed for time and still needed to go climb the dome. So, we walked to the Basilica. Luckily, the line wasn’t very long. This was around 2pm. First off, we took the elevator because we were pressed for time. It costed 7 euros (2 more than taking the stairs/ramp). When we got there, we still had to climb about 230 steps because we had to climb the dome itself. The stairs were ridiculously narrow. When we got to the top, it was breathtaking. Zarpada! (Awesome!) :P

When we went back down, we exited back into the church. This time, there were definitely less people. :P So I took pics near the altar and we bumped into the Argentinean girls again. So, again, we said our goodbyes and goodlucks (we exchanged email addresses) and Shannon and I had to leave to catch our plane back to Spain.

We made it to the airport 2 hours before takeoff. We couldn’t risk another heart attack-inducing trip to the airport.

Ciao Roma. Till next time. :)

Day 29 - A Special Sunday

June 29 – Sunday at the Vatican

Shannon and I woke up early, had breakfast and got ready to go to the Vatican. We knew there would be Mass there so we thought it would be cool to go. So off we go. We used our Roma Pass to use the subway for free. We got there around 9 something. The lines were not too long but the heat made it feel painfully long. Anyway, we got in the basilica and I was just in awe. It’s ginormous, beautiful, elaborate, magnificent. Simply amazing. Then we found out the Pope was giving the Mass. I was exciteddd! The place was packed. The middle part of the church was cordoned off because Mass had begun. So, the sides were supercrowded. Shannon is 6’9” so she didn’t have much trouble trying to see the altar and such. I had given up hope so we kinda wandered off to the church bookstore where I bought a few stuff. We were walking around for a long while and taking pictures and such. I sat in one corner and started writing postcards. Then I realized Mass was still going on. LOL. Ummm so I abandoned my writing and got back on with the program. The Mass was in Latin so I really had no clue what was going on except for the “peace be with you” part. :P Anyway, we had been there for a while and so we started to head towards the door. Then, I realized I really really wanted to see the Pope. My camera lens had seen him but I said that doesn’t count. I had come all the way here and I ain’t leaving until my naked eyes see the Pope! So, after long stretches of tiptoeing and neck-craning, I finally caught a glimpse of the Pope who was probably a kilometer away from me. So, we started heading towards the door when we agreed to just finish Mass. That was definitely a good call. Next thing we know, it was Communion already. That place was packed. I’m telling you. I never thought that I would be able to receive Communion because there were so many people. Good thing though there were so many other priests that they were dispatched all throughout the church. A curious thing – when they give you the body of Christ, there are people who make sure you eat it. I don’t know why that’s so. I’m thinking maybe there are people who sell those on eBay or something? Haha. Idk. Anyway, when I received mine, I seriously almost cried. It was such a good feeling. I was beyond belief that I just received Communion at St. Peter’s Basilica during the Pope’s Mass. To add to the excitement, we stayed until the whole Pope entourage walked down the aisle for the exit. It was cuh-razyyyy. There were probably 6 people in front of me but I couldn’t be shot down. :P I was going to see the Pope and I didn’t care for how much longer I needed to be on tiptoes. But boy did that hurt. LOL. It must have been 15 minutes before the Pope finally passed by. Luckily, my camera has a continuous shoot mode so I just held down the shutter button while I savored the Pope’s presence with my own eyes. It was incredible. The Pope was literally 2 meters away from me. I could say that must have been one of the most important moments of my life. :P

After that whole pilgrimage, we were so spent. We decided to head back to the hostel. We got back and I took a long nap. I didn’t go with Shannon to go back out because I wanted to sleep more. I finally left the hostel around 5pm to walk around some more. I hit up a few plazas and went to the Pantheon but it had already closed. I didn’t care though. :P I was a happy trooper that day.

We went back to the hostel where we met 2 Mexican guys who were also backpacking. We went to a restaurant to watch the Eurocup 2008 Finals between Germany and Spain. I never doubted that Spain would win. And so we did, 1-0. Goal by Torres. It was such a shame we weren’t in Spain for that. I can only imagine how crazy things got in Spain. Pssh.

Anyway, we all went back to the hostel and we were a full house – 4 Mexican guys, 4 Argentinean girls, Shannon, and me. We talked in Spanish for the longest time and it was so much fun. The Argentinean girls definitely had so many stories to tell. Even though, I didn’t really understand it fully I still got the general gist of it. It was so much fun just talking to them.

Today was a good day. :)

Day 28 - Touring Rome

June 28 – Touring Rome

Laura, Breanna, and Amanda left at 6am for a 130 euro, 9-hour, ubercomprehensive tour. Liz and Courtney were still asleep because they went out with their friends from last night. Shannon swore I snored so badly that night. So weird coz no one has ever told me I snore. I’ve been on the tennis team for 3 years and trust me I would have gotten hell if I snored. LOL. Anyway, so Shannon and I were together. Since we had more days ( we had 3 full days; they only had 1.5), we opted out of the 130 euro tour.

We walked up to Stazione Termini to claim our Roma passes. The Roma Pass is actually a really good deal. It costs 20 euros and gives you 2 free entrances to places of your choice and discount to other places. It only makes perfect sense to pick the Colosseum as the first one because if you just buy the ticket at the Colosseum without the Roma pass, it costs 11 euros plus you have to fall in line for a long time. With the Roma pass, you can avoid the line and go straight to the entrance. Also, the Roma Pass gives you free access to public transportation for 3 days.

Anyway, after getting our Roma Passes, I convinced Shannon to do a Sightseeing Bus with me. I’ve never been on one and really wanted to experience it. We got a day tour for 13 euros. It was pretty cool. We hopped on one right outside Stazione Termini and got off at the Colosseum.

The Colosseum is enormous. Thus, it’s named so. Duh. Lol. Anyway, we rented an audio guide for 4.50 euros. We were there forever. It was a very cool place. Again, it’s one of those things I can’t really explain. :P Oh btw, have I mentioned it was burning hell in Rome? It was superrrrrhot! Anyway, it was so cool while we were up there, there were newlyweds taking pictures with the Colosseum as the background. How romantic eh?

After exiting the Colosseum, I was dying of thirst. I was parched like never before. So, of course they have these little mobile stores. I come up to the guy and ask how much. A 12 oz. bottle of water cost 2.50 euros! Ridiculous! In the words of Paco and Ma. Luz, “İQué barbaridad!” So I sucked it up and continued dying. We hopped back on the red bus and I told Shannon I was getting off at the next stop to get water. Luckily, the next stop had one of these things. I love it! The water was cold too! It was heaven! Anyway, right after we replenished our bottles, another red bus stopped. So we hopped back on. We finished the tour around the city and hopped off around Tritone to hit up Fontana de Trevi.

There were many shops near Fontana de Trevi and while we were walking down one of the alleys I hear “So Slow” by Freestyle (Filipino band). I got so excited! Hahaha. How weird was that. Walking down Rome and hearing Freestyle. Anyway, of course I had to enter the store and sing along and make little chika with the people there. All they had were glass and crystal stuff so I couldn’t really buy anything from there. Anyway, we proceeded to the Fountain. It was pretty much awesome. We took lots of pictures. Then, we walked back to the hostel. I swear this trip seemed more and more like Survivor by the minute. By this time, I was super-spent with all the walking and the heat. We got back to the hostel. I took a shower and took a short nap. We went to dinner. I had a 9 euro plate of 5 pieces of ricotta cheese and asparagus filled tortellinis. Cuh-razy. I ate it super slowly. Indeed, they’re right when they when you eat slower, your brain catches up and tells you you are getting full so you stop eating. Well, I wasn’t close to being full but that was the most I could do.

We then went to Campo de Fiori to try this amazing wine Liz and Courtney were raving about. It’s called Moscato D’(something) Shoot! I’ll have to ask Amanda for the real name coz I told her to take a pic of it coz they say it’s sold in the States. Anyway, indeed it was ridiculously good and so was the price. Haha! A bottle was 25 euros. We split it 5 ways so it wasn’t all too bad. Anyway, we stayed there for the longest time. They wanted to go out but I couldn’t take any more. I wanted to just go home. After sitting there for about 3 hours, I was like, we gotta go. So, 3 of us went home. The rest wanted to check out the bars but I wasn’t up for it. Not my kinda company. :P Anyway, I was glad to be back at the hostel. Got ready for bed and I was out!

Day 27 - Hola Roma

June 27 – Ciao Roma

We all met at the internet café around 10:15am. Some of us had already checked in the night before and everyone else checked-in there. Shannon and I bought Roma passes which will give us discounts and stuff when we get to Rome. We had no idea what was ahead of us.

We intended to catch the 12noon bus for Málaga. We had talked about purchasing our tickets beforehand but Courtney insisted that we don’t and that we would be fine if we just got it on the day we leave. Honestly, I had planned on buying it anyway but then I guess I forgot about it what with exams and all. Anyway, it was a Friday so it was no surprise that the 12noon bus was full. Málaga was 1.45hrs by bus and our flight was at 3:30pm. We had no choice but to catch the 1:00 bus which meant that we’ll get there at 2:45 if we’re on time, then we need to make it to the airport in the next 30 minutes. The gates close 15 minutes prior to takeoff.

I’ve never been so anxious and tense in my life. Seriously. We were like little ducklings sitting there in the bus station waiting for our 1pm bus. It didn’t help our morale that the 12noon bus left 20 minutes late. I was emotionally freaking out. LOL. So, 1pm finally comes and we all pile in the bus. We were all seated towards the front of the bus which was good. I had suggested that we split up into two groups so when we get off in Málaga, that we’ll all just grab taxis by our groups. It was painfully excruciating to be in the bus and seeing if we were on time or not. Miraculously, the bus was on the dot. We had a divine intervention no doubt. As soon as the bus came to a halt, all 7 of us leapt out of the bus and dashed out of the bus station and grabbed a taxi. I swear we did all that in a matter of 20 seconds. We were all freaking out. By this time it was about 2:50pm. We were freaking out like crazies. Luckily, our taxi driver was calm and told us to calm down and that we will make it. He’ll make sure of it. It was the weekend, so of course there was traffic like no other. But he took other ways and made turns and stuff and avoided the heavy traffic. 3:10pm. We stop in front of the airport. We paid him 20 euros for the 12 euro charge. We couldn’t risk waiting for change and plus had he not known what he was doing and not known how to avoid traffic, we would have definitely missed our flight. So, we all dash inside the airport and read the huge screen like crazies. We find our gates and ran like our life depended on it. We fall in line for security. After security, we ran the last leg like we were competing for the final foot race in Amazing Race. 3:18pm. We finally made it to the gate. It was a miracle. The past 2.5 hours were hell. That whole time I thought it was near impossible for us to make our flight but we made it. It was crazy. Crazyyy. We settled into the plane and were on our way to Italia around 3:45pm.

A cool thing about travelling between Schengen countries is that you travel like you would between US states. They don’t check for passports and visas. Just like travelling between US states, they don’t have border control. Or at least that’s what it seemed to me. The only time my passport was checked was when I boarded the plane in Spain. Anyway, we landed in Fiumicino Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport around 6pm. We got a shuttle and paid 13 euros each to take us to the hostel. Getting on the train would have cost us 11 euros so paying 2 more was worthwhile.

We stayed at Ivanhoe Hostel in a 12-bed mixed bedroom. There were 6 bunkbeds. The hostel was ok. There were 3 computers for internet. The bathrooms weren’t that clean but what can you expect of a hostel anyway. For me, it was good enough. It was literally a 5-minute walk away from the Colosseum, and the main station, Stazione Termini.

After looking for this one place to eat at the other side of town for 1.5 hours, we finally got to eat. We met there with Liz and Court’s friends. Anyway, that was a pain to have walked and search for “Tony’s” for a long ass time and we didn’t even know if that was really Tony’s that we ate at. Anywayyyy, we went back to the hostel and slept. :)