Literally immediately after our return from Paris, we began prepping for Rome. We packed up our things, got a quick 2 hour nap in, and then met at the GH at 3:30am to leave for Rotterdam. Along with all of the SPICE students, a few profs and random tech guys, and about 40 Dutch students, we boarded our plane and landed in Rome around 9:30am.
We were supposed to arrive at the hotel around 10, but Peter's time management, as well as his itinerary for the week, got left in Zwolle. The bus arrived about 45 minutes late, landing us at our hotel around 11. We put our stuff in the hotel and then walked through part of the city. We visited a church and then got our first glimpse of the Colosseum. We returned to the hotel and attempted to arrange our rooms, but ran into yet another struggle-- we were supposed to have 5 in our room but only had 4 beds. Normally on this semester that wouldn't be an issue. In fact, we usually plan on cramming 5 people in a 4 person room, but this was our extravagant trip-- we could check a bag and we were all supposed to get our own beds! Luckily we're all very flexible persons and after sorting it all out, we then headed back into the city to visit another church. If you ask me the names of all the churches I visited, I couldn't tell you, but I could give you a little bit of history about them: they're really old, some are loaded with gold, one had a giant marble slab made into a sculpture of Moses, and all of them are significant reminders of the history of the church back in the days of Peter and Paul. It's crazy to think that I was in churches they visited, churches that are referred to in the Bible.
On Monday night we ate dinner at a restaurant booked by some travel agency. Peter's time management skills also did not show up at dinner, but this time it wasn't completely his fault. We had reservations at 7pm, but because every school in the Netherlands seemed to be in Rome and at the same restaurant, we got in about 30 minutes late and were served mediocre food-- lasagna and wiener schnitzel. That's right, real Italian wiener schnitzel! However, with a sense of humor and some good company, we all pushed through dinner and made our way to the Trevi fountain. The story behind this: throw a coin in it and you'll come back to Rome someday. Oh yeah, and don't forget to make a wish! What could be better than being in Rome and throwing the money I don't have into a fountain? Answer: eating gelato immediately afterwards.
Tuesday we woke up early, ate breakfast, and then continued our tour de Roma. Here is where things get really interesting. We were walking passed the Colosseum when suddenly 3 students went darting after vendors with sunglasses. The other 60 of us continued to follow Peter (seemingly aimlessly) through the city. Suddenly, one of the Dutch boys realized the other 3 were not with us anymore. So, we stopped and waited...and waited... and waited... and got a phone call from one of them, and then waited some more. Then we walked a little bit... and then waited in front of a church for them. Finally they returned and we entered another church that had an underground pagan alter.
After the visit to the church we had devotions and worship outside in the courtyard. We then walked to the Colosseum where we waited for about an hour for Peter to purchase the tickets we all thought he already had. Then we walked to the entrance, only to find out that we couldn't get in for another 2 1/2 hours. Peter then led us to one of the other 2 attractions on our tickets. We visited the oldest known part of the Roman city as well as the Forum. We walked by Circus Maximus and made our way back to the Colosseum. Because of the lack of time management (surprise surprise) on the trip, we were limited to only half an hour in the Colosseum. From there, we hopped on a tram to visit one of the most famous museums in Rome. It's a two story museum, the first is filled with old sculptures and the second is mostly paintings, accompanied by beautiful gardens outside. However, before we could enter, we had to manage to get 65 souls onto the tram. This consisted of a lot of pushing, shoving, hand-holding, and touching strangers. Nothing brings people closer than rush hour on a metro... and I never want to be that close to anybody ever again. Unfortunately, getting to the museum also required cramming the same 65 humans on another mode of transportation: city bus. I really don't understand at what moment in Peter's life he decided fitting 65 people onto an already half-full mode of transportation would work out alright, but alas, we all got nice and cozy and claustrophobic and made it to the museum. From there, we went to the Pantheon, walking through the rain, and had dinner there. What a beautiful scene and of course delicious pizza, followed by another round of gelato by the Trevi Fountain.
Wednesday pretty much everything changed, in the best way possible. We got up, left on a bus at 8am for Pompeii. There were 2 seats short on the bus, but if that was the worst thing that happened that day, we would be golden. First we climbed up Mt Vesuvius, in flip flops, and saw the beautiful coast near Sorrento/Naples (see previous blogs if you don't remember these city names). It was a beautiful day and being back by my favorite vacation spot thus far felt amazing. We hiked back down the volcano and made our way to Pompeii. There, we had an English-mumbling tour guide but got to see one of the few things I remember learning about in history. Even though our tour guide was hard to understand, it was nice to take the tour at a slower pace, enjoy the amazing weather and beautiful landscaping, and to have a guide that actually knew where she was going, as opposed to the aimless wanderings of Peter. As much as we love the guy, he's really gotta get off the struggle bus and onto the Get Shit Done in an efficient way bus.
Here's the thing about Wednesday-- it was the best day of the trip, in my book. Why? The weather, the scenery, and the company. Even though we had already spent 2 whole days with all these people, it wasn't until Wednesday that the Dutch and Americans really began integrating. By the time we were touring Pompeii, a few of the Dutch people were willing to join the English speaking tour guide, and by the bus ride home, almost every person was interacting with the other group of students. At the beginning of the week, I think we all had the mindset of only being there for a week, so what was the point of trying to interact? And besides, half the Americans were heading home right after the trip. But there's something about long bus rides that bond people. Not complaining though, this trip proved my thoughts exactly right: I love Dutch people. There's just something about them that Americans really don't have to offer. When we got back to Rome, some of the girls went for dinner (pizza and wine of course) and then got ourselves some of my favorite little Italian pastries. :)
Thursday we headed into the Vatican city to see St. Peter's church, climb it, and tour the Vatican museum. However, one thing stood between us and the Vatican: another metro ride. I always thought I loved public transportation until my metro experiences in Rome. Thankfully that was the last time I (knowingly) would have to experience it. In the city, the weather was incredible again, so I whipped out my tank and skirt, fully aware that there were restrictions about clothing for entering the church, but tanning my arms and legs was a priority this week... that Italian sun does wonders for a person. No worries, I brought a scarf to cover my shoulders and my short legs make almost any bottoms look appropriate for entering a church. This church was incredible. Remember earlier in the semester when I visited the Cologne cathedral? Well, the exterior of that one tops anything I've seen, but the interior of the St. Peter's was mind-blowing. Every square inch was so detailed, so intricate, so marvelous. It has to be one of the most beautiful things I've set my eyes on. From there, we climbed the dome, enjoyed the sun and 360 of Rome from the top, and then visited the museum, including the Sistine Chapel. We then took a 25 minute walk (which was actually more like 40 minutes) to a square that Peter loves. We found some dinner (you guessed it-- Pizza!) and then made our way back to the hotel. Thursday night we decided to hit up the nightlife of Rome with some of our new Dutch friends. We went to this little hole-in-the-wall disco. It felt just like Holland on a Friday night-- youngens everywhere! By the end of the night, it was just the Americans and a few Dutch people spinning around the dance floor. By far the best interactions I've had with Dutch people occurred this night: I got to teach one of them how to dance. And the Dutch boys said I was an excellent teacher. Nothing like combining my 3 passions into one career choice. My dance skills were challenged, though, when I got one of the workers of the club to dance with me and he showed me his best hip-hop moves. Let me give you an example to help you explain: picture Chris Brown dancing with Drew Carey. I imagine the pair of us looked something similar to that. Regardless, it was a great night.
Friday we went to the catacombs (also had to endure another metro chaos scene), I led some devotions in the park, and then we had a free day. Naturally the bulk of us headed to the beach for a few hours to soak up that Italian sun. We lounged on the beach, Sarah bought some coconuts, I yelled at a vendor, and I successfully avoided being dunked in the water by Sarah and Kaitlyn, and ended the time on the beach with a walk and rediscovered the shamelessness of European beach life. Afterwards, we met up with some of the others for dinner-- one last go at the Italian pizza/gelato combo, and stopped by the Trevi fountain one last time. To end the trip, a few of the Americans joined a bunch of the Dutch students at the Irish Pub and enjoyed a few beers and live music and even more great company. It's sad to think that we won't have the chance to really hang out with these students again. In fact, one of the professors approached me and asked what I thought about moving the trips like this to the beginning of the year and I said of course that was a great idea. If the SPICE program really wants us integrating ourselves with Dutch people, this is by far one of the best ways to do it.
Saying goodbye to Rome was really difficult, especially knowing we'd be returning to rainy weather, but the goodbyes to come in the next few days are going to be even more rough. I can honestly say that ending my semester with the entire group in a city like Rome couldn't have been any more perfect. It's been a wonderful 4 months, I can't imagine any other experience topping this, but all good things must come to an end. Unfortunately ours is so close, but I'll do my best to make the most of what I have left here in Europe.
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