ROMA!

Buona serra a tutti!

We've been in Rome since Monday! I haven't posted in a while... it's been a little crazy between settling into our dorms at St. John's University and visiting St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums. Also, I just got the WiFi to work on my laptop (thanks Windows 8) so I can finally post things. There are so many people in this city, it is crazy. Both St. Peter's and the Vatican Museums were SO CROWDED with PEOPLE EVERYWHERE but the works and the buildings themselves were incredible! I went to the Vatican Museums with the group yesterday, so today I had a free day while the other group went. I mailed out some postcards at the Vatican post office (you have to lick the stamps here, I thought that was funny) and bought some things at the grocery store near our dorm (they were playing Dancing Queen very loudly and I was singing along, no shame), but for the rest of the day I didn't really do much besides exercise my very mediocre ability to heat up mushroom tortellini and red sauce on a stove and share it with my roommates. :)

But anyway, ROME. The Eternal City. On our first night here we ate as a group at a local Chinese restaurant (yes, Chinese in Italy, but it was actually really good!) and we got a walking orientation tour of St. Peter's Square. The next day, we went to St. Peter's Basilica, where we stood in the security line for like 45 minutes, got yelled at for not using the "authorized" listening devices (aka, the ones they make you pay for), and pushed our way through hordes of people who were apparently dying to take pictures of the beautiful art. (Side note: People, just enjoy the art. Do NOT push and shove to get pictures of the art. You will get them. You're just making everyone else angry.) But really, the basilica itself was beautiful. It literally took my breath away when I walked inside, it was so magnificent.

The facade of St. Peter's Basilica feat. members of my group looking derp

The interior of St. Peter's with the Baldacchino at the end

After we toured St. Peter's and even went underground to see the tombs of the saints, I climbed the St. Peter's Dome with two of my group-mates Christina and Katie. It's on top of the building, but you can't see it in the picture of the facade because of where it was built; it disappears as you move closer to the front of the building. It was not nearly as bad as the Duomo in Florence, but the stairs were not flat and the walls curved along with the shape of the dome, making the whole experience very claustrophobic. But the view was definitely worth it when we got to the top!

The view from the top of the St. Peter's Dome! We were just down there in the square (which is really an ellipse but ok)

The next day, we went to the Vatican Museums. That involved a lot of walking, a lot of people trying to sell you tours on the street on your way in, and a lot of people. We went into some of the less popular rooms, for example the Rafael rooms and the room with the only Leonardo in Rome, so those weren't as bad. But when it came to making our way to the Sistine Chapel, holy Moses there was literally a sea ten people wide moving down that hallway. I hardly looked up because I was so zoned in on not letting Dr. Murphy and the rest of my group leave my sight. Once we got in, of course we were not allowed to take pictures, but I must say it was a lot smaller and a lot less shiny and grandiose than I thought it would be. Nonetheless, the colors were so vibrant and it was incredible to see the Last Judgement on the front wall of the chapel and the Creation of Adam panel on the magnificent ceiling above me in person! Later that night after our crazy Vatican adventure we took the metro (with New York chorus trip subway ride flashbacks) to Spagna, where we saw the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. You're supposed to sit on the ledge of the fountain with your back to it, toss a coin over your shoulder, and make a wish. So of course I did that, and then we did some much-needed souvenir shopping in that part of the city on our way back since it wasn't so populated with tourists and no one was heckling me to buy their things. Then I went with Traci to Zen Sushi less than a block away from our dorm and had the best Japanese food ever. It was a full, eventful day!

The Trevi Fountain!

If I come across as being a little negative when it comes to the crowds, it's because I am. (#realtalk) That's the only thing I don't like about this city: all of the people. It's like Disney, the Atlanta airport, and New York had a baby multiplied by ten, but without the expert crowd control of a Disney park. I'm really enjoying myself and it's awesome that I'm here, but there's just too many people in this city for my taste, especially coming directly here from a small Tuscan hill town like Massa Marittima. I could live in Massa, I could not live here. You basically almost get hit by a Smart car every day trying to cross busy streets to get to your destination, and you are constantly haggled by street vendors trying to sell you selfie sticks or a pack of 20 postcards for one Euro. Today I'm pretty sure one of the vendors was talking smack about us "touristas" in Italian after we rejected his Vatican tour offer. But honestly buddy, if you're spending your time and energy hating on the tourists, you're in the wrong city. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, I've rambled enough. Tomorrow starts our first "free weekend" in Rome with optional activities. Some people have already left to travel to Ravenna this weekend. But traveling within Italy on trains and buses that I am unfamiliar with doesn't really appeal to me and I don't know if I want to spend money doing that, so I'm definitely going on the optional tour of Castel Sant' Angelo tomorrow. :)

Ciao! Buona notte! TTYL
~ Dani