Well, I am sitting in Rome's airport waiting for our flight home (actually London, Chicago, then home)
Recap of the week:
Monday- April 12
We got into Pisa and the baggage check was closed. Bummer because we didn't want to walk with our big poacks in the rain trying to find the Leaning Tower. We decided to take a taxi there (10 Euro) and then walked on a crowded street with our packs in the rain, but we did get to see the Leaning Tower- it does lean :)
It cost too much to go to the top and we didn't want to wait in line or lug our bags up so we just looked, took pictures (I hit some lady in the nose trying to pose for a picture) and then took a shuttle back to the train station- this time only 2.50 Euro each!
We had a 4+ hour train ride to Rome. Once we got to Rome Termini we braved through all the crowds, got week long Metro passes and got on to go to our stop.
The Metro was packed and weird guys in sunglasses (hello... it is 7:00pm and you are underground) kept starting at us. We freaked out a bit when they followed us at our stop, but it turned out fine. We then got on our bus and met some girls from Point Loma.
We stopped at our campground- Camping Roma- and looked around in awe... awed at the fact that they had the nerve to call this place a campground. It was just a bunch of gravel and dead trees. Oh well. We were told to set up our tent anywhere... well, there was no place to set up. We went back and found out that to rent on of their tents with 2 costs it was only 40 cents more! So crazy.
Tuesday- April 13
The next morning we took cold showers :( and off we went to Vatican City. The line for the Vatican Museum had to be at least 5 hours long so we went to St. Peter's Basilica instead. It was pretty cool. We saw where Peter was crucified and where he is buried. I am not sure if I believed it, but it was still neat. They have this huge altar over Peter's body and people stand there and pray to him... so sad.
Next, we got in line and managed to pass at least 50 people as we waited to go to the top of the dome. Michelangelo built it, I guess. The view was pretty cool, but there were a ton of people up there. I got so dizzy going down the small spiral staircase- Yuck!
After going back inside the church one more time (it had emptied out quite a bit) we figured we'd see how the line to the museum was. We walked and walked, but saw no line. Once we got to the entrance a security guard motioned to me to hurry and hump over the barrier he had put up. We did and were the last people they let into the museum for the day! We didn't care about too much in the museum, so we made a straight line for the Sistine Chapel. The room was packed with tourists shoulder to shoulder all staring at the ceiling. I feel bad that I was not as impressed as I should have been. It was huge and really cool, but I think the fact that we had already seen so much led me to think, "oh wow... just another painted ceiling..." We bought a poster of it though. It might be better if I can actually look at the pictures closely and without a thousand people on top of me :)
From the Vatican we decided to walk to the Trevi Fountain. It took a while, but we made it. It too was crowded, but we still managed to take pictures and toss in a few coins :)
From there we walked some more and made it to the Pantheon. I guess it is famous for its dome, but I was not too impressed, oh well.
Then we walked to the Forum and the Coliseum. Now that is impressive! We arrived just as the sun was setting and got some great pictures with it all lit up.
By this time we were tired and so we headed back to the campground.
Wednesday- April 14
The next morning we skipped the showers- cold showers just aren't our thing- and headed back to the Vatican. I forgot to mention that the day before we went to a church and got tickets to see the Pope!
We were now in the square in Vatican City with maybe 10,000 people waiting for the Pope to arrive. He came in his little "Pope-mobile" and drove around the crowd waving (we couldn't see him too well). Then he went to the front and sat down (we had a pretty good view but he was far away). He proceeded to give a blessing in like 9 languages. I guess he blessed us and our families through us. The funniest thing were the groups of high school kids chanting something like "Here we go John Paul, Here we go!" at him.
After our blessing we headed back to camp and took showers. Then we made our way back to the Coliseum. We were able to walk past the line and get our tickets- we made a reservation the day before :)
The Coliseum is exactly like what I thought it would be. The amazing thing is how old it is. It was weird to walk around and be excited to see it, but also in the back of your mind feel guilty for being excited. I mean, so many Christians were murdered here. You almost feel bad for visiting it as a tourist.
After the Coliseum, we walked through the Forum (a bunch of old ruins) and also through Palantine Hill (now just a garden). Then we tried to get into a big white building we thought was the Forum or Capitol or something. No luck. That night we found out that the building was a memorial to Italy's first king and also the tomb of the unknown soldier. We decided to try to take the back entrance that we read about the next day.
Thursday- April 15
The next day we did go see the memorial and got a great view of the city. We then jumped on the Metro and then a bus and made our way to see the Catacombs.
We got there when they were closed for lunch- Italy has this weird habit of taking siestas. It can be annoying sometimes when you are trying to find food and all the restaurants are closed!!!
Anyway, we waited for an hour or so and then got to take the English (well, at least he claimed to speak English) tour of the Catacombs. It was pretty cool. The old Christian symbols they carved could still be seen. The bummer thing is that they built a basilica over the Catacombs, so pretty much all of the info is so tainted with myth and Catholicism. I wish I could have taken a Christian tour or something. It is really hard to separate Christianity from Catholicism. I think a lot of the religious relics are fakes. My thought is that once Constantine legalized Christianity, many people tried to rise as a church/cult leader and to do this they claimed to have items that might draw a crowd- dead saints bones, the arrow that killed a martyr, Peter's chains... There is actually a church we saw that day that has this huge altar that housed what they say are the actual chains that held Peter when he was in jail. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I just had a hard time believing it.
We did go see the prison where Peter and Paul were held. I guess it was real, but that too is so shrouded in myths that it makes it hard to believe. I guess that would happen with anything over 2,000 years old.
Anyway, after the Catacombs we headed back to camp, got cleaned up and went back to Cipro/ Vatican area and bought Kenny a suit. He needed one for Jamie & David's wedding anyway and really wanted one from Italy. It is nice.
Friday- April 16
The next morning we packed up all our stuff and checked out. It was starting to drizzle as we waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport. At about 10 minutes after the hour we figured we had missed the bus so we started to try to get a pastry or two from a shop. All of a sudden I saw the bus. We grabbed our packs and ran back to the stop. Luckily we made it, but we didn't have the tickets the driver said we needed (it was a private, charter bus- very nice). Once we got to the airport- maybe a 20 minute drive- the driver took us to where we could get the tickets... only 5 Euro a price!!! A taxi would have cost us at least 50 Euro.
We got a hotel info book at the airport and Kenny began making phone calls. The bummer thing was that none of the hotels had a shuttle running at that time.
So, Kenny went to the info booth wher they will book hotels for you for a fee. They told him we should stay at the Airport Hilton- well the book said the Hilton was 400 Euro a night! So, Keny said it would probably be too much, but then... surprise! The lady said she could get us a room for 185 Euro. Kenny being the smarty that he is :), said thanks and then called the hotel directly. The lady on the phone told him it would be 240 Euro. Kenny flat out said, "No, that is too much. Do you have anything cheaper?" She then said, "How about 140 Euro!!!" Yeah!!! The Hilton was only a 5 minute walk through the terminal. The room was so nice and we even had heated towels. The TV even had our names on it when we arrived. I took a bath and shaved my very hairy legs :)
About this time we were getting hungry. We asked the hotel how much for the buffet in their restaurant... 45 Euro a person! No way! We decided to take the free hotel shuttle back into Rome (took 1 hour) and went back to the Vatican City area to eat our last Italian meal of pizza. Then we hit our favorite gelateria- Gelateria Millennium. It is soo good! We had it every day we were in Rome. I had chocolate and banana and Kenny had banana and Millennium (chocolate, vanilla and other stuff) So Good!
A few other flavors we tried while we were in Italy:
Cookies-n- Cream
Cherry
Chocolate
Millennium
Banana
Coconut
Melon
Orange-lemon
Mocha
Fruit cake
Saturday- April 17
Didn't sleep too well waiting to wake up. Made it to the plane in plenty of time. The plane ride from Rome to London was pretty uneventful, but we did get a great breakfast. It was huge- yogurt, fruit, a muffin, and this great breakfast sandwich. Yummy!
It was crazy arriving in London. We had a 2 hour layover so I figured we would get a chance to shop or whatever... nope. It took us the full 2 hours pretty much to go through two security check points and get from one terminal to another. We actually had to ride on busses. It was weird.
Once we got to our gate they did another security check and wouldn't let you leave the gate area. No bathroom or food. It was dumb. They at least should warn you before you leave the shopping area.
Anyway, we had to take another bus to the plane. We watched three movies while on the flight and still had time to burn... yes, it was a LONG flight.
I did get to see Greenland and the Great Lakes. Pretty cool.
After forever ion the plane we landed in Chicago. We had to take a train thing to switch terminals and had to go through two different customs checks as well as more metal detectors. This was all just for transferring.
We had to uncheck our bags, go through another inspection where he cut a hole in the bags and tested it for drugs or weapons or whatever. Then we had to re-check our bags. After all that I was glad we had a 2 hour layover because it took us that long again. Have I mentioned that airport security/ customs people are so rude and unhappy?!? Well they all are!
The plane we got on for the last 4 hour ride was an MD-80. Stupid plane. After being spoiled with the 777's leg room and personal video screens. The MD-80 was torture. Small spaces, no video, no music and not even real food! You had to grab this "Bistro Bag" that contained a sandwich that had been sitting for who knows how long before boarding the plane.
Anyway, I was so happy when we got below the clouds and I saw beautiful San Diego! It actually is a very pretty place- especially after over 24 hours of travel time. I was even more happy to see Danny & Tonita pull up and wave to us. I am sad to be off vacation, but happy to see and talk to the people I love. I am ready to go back soon though :)
Overall, a perfect trip. We are blessed so much. Thank you Lord!!!