Our last few days in Termoli were really nice. Boxing day we had to drive our rented car back to Rome on boxing day and exchange it for another one, and then drive all the way back to Termoli. It was about 9 hours. I know, it's a long day but it really wasn't that bad. As I told you when we arrived into Rome the first night our drive was done in the dark but we could tell how beautiful it was; this time it was during the day and we got to see everything! It was as beautiful as driving through New Zealand. There were mountains everywhere, some with their peaks covered in snow, I felt like we were driving through the Swiss Alps. There were green valleys, towns speckled all over the hills, ruins of castles, it was breathtaking. We did however see one of my dads mates from back home at one of the service stations on the motorway, lol how random.
Two nights before we left my mum and I were sitting out on the steps (drinking of course) talking and enjoying our evening. Everytime someone walked by I would say good evening in Italian. Well, one guy actually stopped to talk, though talking was on his translator on his phone as he didnt speak english and my Italian is less than basic. Him and I ended up going for a drink at the bar in our little castle town. It was interesting as we couldn't say much (there was no wifi so we couldn't use his translator - there were on the steps because we were outside the hotel). I kept asking him if he wanted a wine - meaning I was going to buy him one - I would point and say "vino" and he replied "ok" and drank from my wine. LOL. It's not what I meant but at least he had some wine. I was suppossed to meet up with him the next night but I was so exhausted from the drinks the night before, plus we had spent the afternoon in my dads town, and I still had to pack because we were leaving for Rome at 6am the next morning. I left him a message on FB before we left for dinner, but we ended up meeting him in town, so he walked me back. Our walk was so quiet as we couldn't use his translator lol, it's so difficult when two people want to have a conversation but they are lost in translator, though we used his translator to talk out the front of the hotel for almost an hour then I called it a night. He really wanted me to stay out for drinks but I had to decline, I wanted to be fresh to see Dan the next day.
The next morning (not bright) and early we drove, AGAIN, to Rome to pick up Dan. I was so excited. I missed him so much, plus this was the first time my paretns were going to be meeting him so it was a big day.
Rome driving is intense, my mum was white knuckled the whole time, her heart probably missing a few beats. My dad, cool as a cucumber. After we dropped our stuff off at our hotel we were off to the airport, my mum sitting in the backseat and adding up all her visa slips and humming to herself so she didnt have to look out the window, she is so silly.
I was so happy to see Dan!!! It was only 10 days but it seemed longer and it was the first time we had ever been in different countries so I am not used to being that far away from him. The rest of the day was filled with drinks and food, with plans of going to the Coliseum the next day.
We are not staying in the nicest part of Rome. It's really dingey and dirty but we are pretty central, the Coliseum is a 10 minute walk from us and the subway is less than five. Every shop or bakery has places to sit and eat or drink as almost every place sells wine beer and apertifs which we have no problems with. Our hotel is old, the elevator is the craziest thing I have seen. The shaft is pretty much a gate and the elevator itself literally looks like an old phone booth and it only take two people at a time. I walked up the stairs when he got here, with my backpack all 15 kilos of it. By the time I got to the third floor - or what I thought was the third floor as ground floor is considered 0 - it started getting really heavy, but I made it to the fifth floor, before my parents did in the elevator lol.
The Coliseum was awesome and it was packed with people. We kept having guys asking us if we wanted to skip the line but we just kept walking, but when we heard the lineup was 2 hours we decided skipping the line would be a good idea. Two of the guides started arguing over who gets us -commission- one guy even asked me something about the other guy coming up to us when I finally decided to say "this is not a good sales tactic, you are arguing about your sales and now I don't want to take a tour at all and, for your information the other guy talked to me before you. Learn some business manners." "this is between me and my colleauge, not you." "well you are arguing in front of us and questioning me on who talked to me first I am now involved. Go away I am going with your colleague." :) I am such a bitch. We had a 10 minute wait until the tour started. I scanned the crowd for my parents hopeful we could get them on our tour but no such luck. We had to go without them. Just before we left a couple came up and started bitching about a tour guide that had taken there money, claiming they didnt need any tickets, surprise surprise, they got ripped off, soo glad it wasn't us.
The tour was really good, we learned heaps about the Coliseum. It only took 8 years to build, it collapsed due to an earthquake in the 1300's but they have barely had to do any restoration as the thing is solid and has crumbled since then. We learned all about the Gladiators which originates from the word Gladias meaning sword hence they were sword fighters. People sat in their seats by class, 1st on the bottom, then second, 3rd was for men, 4th was for women and children. The events there were an all day thing, from morning to night. Blood, sweat and dirt were cleaned from the stage with sand - the word sand comes from the Latin word Arena which means sand which is now what we call our Areana's :) The Coliseum is huge, and being able to stand in a place where the gladiators fought was so cool. We ended up bumping into my parents who were leaving as they had a really horrible tour guide and were quite tired. Dan and I wandered around for a bit and then went for lunch. We ended up with a big surprise on our lunch bill there was an euro 8 euro ($10) charge. "what is this?" I asked at the cash "fresh" he said making a twisting motion with his hands. Apparantly Dan's orange juice was fresh, he is still mad about that one. We had another part of the tour to do but Dan wasn't feeling well so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.
The day after (which was yesterday) I was so excited. We were going to the Vatican!!! Being the last sunday of the year it is free to enter. The Vatican opens at 9am which is about the time we got there. It took us 10 minutes just to walk to the end of the lineup, it was massive. After about 20 minutes my dad asked one of the security if we were in the right line up. We actually didn't have to wait in line, we could just walk in, the line was for the museum. So we hoped out of the line and walked into the Vatican City.
Saint Peters Square is pretty big all inclosed with pillared walls where past Popes stand atop them. The Cathedral is directly across from were you enter the city. There were people milling about taking pictures, and just sitting down in the middle of the square. We walked around snapping pictures of the fountains, the cathedral and the Swiss Guards. After about a half hour we decided to line up to go into the Cathedral. The lineup went all around the square, it was almost a two hour wait. Just as we got to the front of the line all these people started pushing their way in. Angrily I pointed to the otherside of the square and said thats the begining to an older guy he just kept saying "va benne, va benne." My parents got pushed back so far I couldn't see them. My dad said something to them in Italian and the women replied "it's because we are old." My father is over 70 and never once has used that as an excuse. There was no security at the line so nothing was done. I wonder if people had been budding the whole time.
There are absolutely no words to describe the beauty of Saint Peters Cathedral. The ceilings, the statues and the feeling of spirituality I felt in there is indescribable. "It feels like you are in the presence of such greatness doesnt honey," by dad leaned in and whispered to me. "It sure does daddy." I could feel tears at the back of my eyes trying to push their way through. Michael Angelo's statue The Pity ( Mary holding Jesus after he died) was absolutely beautiful. It is displayed behind glass. My heart fluttered as I looked at it, I felt even more emotional. I am not a religious person but I have high respect for religion and am very moved by the power of it.
My dad kept looking up at the ceiling saying, "this could be the Sistine Chapel" "No, daddy, its not done in little drawings it's one big drawing. This definitely isn't it." The Sistine Chapel was the main thing I wanted to see so I was keen on finding out where it was. Guess what...the lineup we started in when we got there in the morning, the line up for the museum, well that was the lineup for the Sistine Chapel and it was now closed. I was gutted but we ended up getting something better (or just as good). When we walked outside the square was absolutely packed. There were thousands of people and the stairs of the Cathedral were swamped with people as well, we could barely move. There was a voice over loud speakers, we had no idea what was going on. "The pope is making his New Years speech." we were told!!! The Pope? The Pope is here? I pushed my way through the swamp of people (many years in nightclubs has made me a pro), got down the steps, past the barricade and pretty much ran to the Square. Hi up in a window I could see a white speck waving his arms around as he said his speech in English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German and Polish. I stood there in awe. Of all the days we decided to go, we end up on the last Sunday of the year when the Pope makes his speech. We had joked "oh ya the Pope will be there, he knows we are coming." But we never actually thought he would be there. As we left the Vatican, I cried. Like I said I am not religious, but wow!!! What an experience. I was there! Amazing!
We went for a beautiful lunch at a little restaurant just down the street from the Vatican. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed pizza and two bottles of Vino Rossa (red wine) were we saluted "to the Pope" literally. The 4 of us had such a vibe, we were buzzing and smiling like we had just been cleansed, it was so great.
After the last drop in our wine bottles was finished we hoped back on the subway and made our way to La Fontana di Trivi. Now I don't know anything about it but when I travel I usually end up or want to go to places that I have seen a picture of and one was this fountain. What a fountain it was. Now I am not good with desicriptions so I figured this photo would probably give you a better idea then anywords I could write.
This wasn't the fountain I was thinking of but I didn't care. It was fantastic. And the people, there were so many, standing around taking pictures having a coffee, sitting on the ledge, talking. It was almost impossible to find a spot to get a picture, the Piazza was packed. We just stood there going "wow. wow. wow." My dad says "Rome just keeps on impressing me."
We had to take the subway back and the subway is jammed pack. When the doors open people are literally spilling out the doors either trying to stay on, get off, or push their way on. My dad not wasting anytime squeezes in meaning we have to follow. We were body to body with everyone on the train. My mum got pickpocketed. Yup, when in Rome...it happens. A girl got on just after my mum and was squshed against the door. The girl handed my mum her smokes as if she had fallen out of her purse and when my mum looked down her case for her glasses was halfway out of her purse. When the doors opened the girl hopped off. My mum always zips everything up so the girl had unzipped it, but not knowing that my mums wallet was burried deep in another pocket in another zipper within another pocket...she's so smart. The girl though, must've just got on in another door because we saw her on the train again. Thank god nothing was stolen. Then an older woman yelled at Dan. She was letting him know that she was getting off at the next stop and he was trying to move out of the way which was difficult when there is nowhere to move and the train was in motion. Dan said ok hold on and she starts screaming at him in Italian and basically pushed him out of the way, it told her not to be such a bitch. Yes I know, I have a short fuse. But ever since we landed in Greece and then flew to Italy the woman (mostly the older ones) have been so rude to us, and it's always woman. I must say, us North American's have strict laws and we might be more uptight but we definitely have manners and it's really starting to irritate me. These people that think they can bud the line and yell at others for no reason, it's not always easy being in someone elses culture.
Now, today is New Years Eve and Dan and I have tickets for the Ice Club. A bar where everything is made out of ice, even the glasses. It's going to be a cool experience - literally lol. Anyways this is my last post...no not ever...just of 2012. It's been a great year, I got married in Bali, spent the summer in France, living in the UK and now 3 weeks in the Mediteranian. Next year is going to bring more adventures and more blogs :) Take care and be safe and I will talk to you in the New Year...next stop Venice.
Two nights before we left my mum and I were sitting out on the steps (drinking of course) talking and enjoying our evening. Everytime someone walked by I would say good evening in Italian. Well, one guy actually stopped to talk, though talking was on his translator on his phone as he didnt speak english and my Italian is less than basic. Him and I ended up going for a drink at the bar in our little castle town. It was interesting as we couldn't say much (there was no wifi so we couldn't use his translator - there were on the steps because we were outside the hotel). I kept asking him if he wanted a wine - meaning I was going to buy him one - I would point and say "vino" and he replied "ok" and drank from my wine. LOL. It's not what I meant but at least he had some wine. I was suppossed to meet up with him the next night but I was so exhausted from the drinks the night before, plus we had spent the afternoon in my dads town, and I still had to pack because we were leaving for Rome at 6am the next morning. I left him a message on FB before we left for dinner, but we ended up meeting him in town, so he walked me back. Our walk was so quiet as we couldn't use his translator lol, it's so difficult when two people want to have a conversation but they are lost in translator, though we used his translator to talk out the front of the hotel for almost an hour then I called it a night. He really wanted me to stay out for drinks but I had to decline, I wanted to be fresh to see Dan the next day.
The next morning (not bright) and early we drove, AGAIN, to Rome to pick up Dan. I was so excited. I missed him so much, plus this was the first time my paretns were going to be meeting him so it was a big day.
Rome driving is intense, my mum was white knuckled the whole time, her heart probably missing a few beats. My dad, cool as a cucumber. After we dropped our stuff off at our hotel we were off to the airport, my mum sitting in the backseat and adding up all her visa slips and humming to herself so she didnt have to look out the window, she is so silly.
I was so happy to see Dan!!! It was only 10 days but it seemed longer and it was the first time we had ever been in different countries so I am not used to being that far away from him. The rest of the day was filled with drinks and food, with plans of going to the Coliseum the next day.
We are not staying in the nicest part of Rome. It's really dingey and dirty but we are pretty central, the Coliseum is a 10 minute walk from us and the subway is less than five. Every shop or bakery has places to sit and eat or drink as almost every place sells wine beer and apertifs which we have no problems with. Our hotel is old, the elevator is the craziest thing I have seen. The shaft is pretty much a gate and the elevator itself literally looks like an old phone booth and it only take two people at a time. I walked up the stairs when he got here, with my backpack all 15 kilos of it. By the time I got to the third floor - or what I thought was the third floor as ground floor is considered 0 - it started getting really heavy, but I made it to the fifth floor, before my parents did in the elevator lol.
The Coliseum was awesome and it was packed with people. We kept having guys asking us if we wanted to skip the line but we just kept walking, but when we heard the lineup was 2 hours we decided skipping the line would be a good idea. Two of the guides started arguing over who gets us -commission- one guy even asked me something about the other guy coming up to us when I finally decided to say "this is not a good sales tactic, you are arguing about your sales and now I don't want to take a tour at all and, for your information the other guy talked to me before you. Learn some business manners." "this is between me and my colleauge, not you." "well you are arguing in front of us and questioning me on who talked to me first I am now involved. Go away I am going with your colleague." :) I am such a bitch. We had a 10 minute wait until the tour started. I scanned the crowd for my parents hopeful we could get them on our tour but no such luck. We had to go without them. Just before we left a couple came up and started bitching about a tour guide that had taken there money, claiming they didnt need any tickets, surprise surprise, they got ripped off, soo glad it wasn't us.
The tour was really good, we learned heaps about the Coliseum. It only took 8 years to build, it collapsed due to an earthquake in the 1300's but they have barely had to do any restoration as the thing is solid and has crumbled since then. We learned all about the Gladiators which originates from the word Gladias meaning sword hence they were sword fighters. People sat in their seats by class, 1st on the bottom, then second, 3rd was for men, 4th was for women and children. The events there were an all day thing, from morning to night. Blood, sweat and dirt were cleaned from the stage with sand - the word sand comes from the Latin word Arena which means sand which is now what we call our Areana's :) The Coliseum is huge, and being able to stand in a place where the gladiators fought was so cool. We ended up bumping into my parents who were leaving as they had a really horrible tour guide and were quite tired. Dan and I wandered around for a bit and then went for lunch. We ended up with a big surprise on our lunch bill there was an euro 8 euro ($10) charge. "what is this?" I asked at the cash "fresh" he said making a twisting motion with his hands. Apparantly Dan's orange juice was fresh, he is still mad about that one. We had another part of the tour to do but Dan wasn't feeling well so we went back to the hotel to relax before dinner.
The day after (which was yesterday) I was so excited. We were going to the Vatican!!! Being the last sunday of the year it is free to enter. The Vatican opens at 9am which is about the time we got there. It took us 10 minutes just to walk to the end of the lineup, it was massive. After about 20 minutes my dad asked one of the security if we were in the right line up. We actually didn't have to wait in line, we could just walk in, the line was for the museum. So we hoped out of the line and walked into the Vatican City.
Saint Peters Square is pretty big all inclosed with pillared walls where past Popes stand atop them. The Cathedral is directly across from were you enter the city. There were people milling about taking pictures, and just sitting down in the middle of the square. We walked around snapping pictures of the fountains, the cathedral and the Swiss Guards. After about a half hour we decided to line up to go into the Cathedral. The lineup went all around the square, it was almost a two hour wait. Just as we got to the front of the line all these people started pushing their way in. Angrily I pointed to the otherside of the square and said thats the begining to an older guy he just kept saying "va benne, va benne." My parents got pushed back so far I couldn't see them. My dad said something to them in Italian and the women replied "it's because we are old." My father is over 70 and never once has used that as an excuse. There was no security at the line so nothing was done. I wonder if people had been budding the whole time.
There are absolutely no words to describe the beauty of Saint Peters Cathedral. The ceilings, the statues and the feeling of spirituality I felt in there is indescribable. "It feels like you are in the presence of such greatness doesnt honey," by dad leaned in and whispered to me. "It sure does daddy." I could feel tears at the back of my eyes trying to push their way through. Michael Angelo's statue The Pity ( Mary holding Jesus after he died) was absolutely beautiful. It is displayed behind glass. My heart fluttered as I looked at it, I felt even more emotional. I am not a religious person but I have high respect for religion and am very moved by the power of it. My dad kept looking up at the ceiling saying, "this could be the Sistine Chapel" "No, daddy, its not done in little drawings it's one big drawing. This definitely isn't it." The Sistine Chapel was the main thing I wanted to see so I was keen on finding out where it was. Guess what...the lineup we started in when we got there in the morning, the line up for the museum, well that was the lineup for the Sistine Chapel and it was now closed. I was gutted but we ended up getting something better (or just as good). When we walked outside the square was absolutely packed. There were thousands of people and the stairs of the Cathedral were swamped with people as well, we could barely move. There was a voice over loud speakers, we had no idea what was going on. "The pope is making his New Years speech." we were told!!! The Pope? The Pope is here? I pushed my way through the swamp of people (many years in nightclubs has made me a pro), got down the steps, past the barricade and pretty much ran to the Square. Hi up in a window I could see a white speck waving his arms around as he said his speech in English, Latin, Italian, Spanish, German and Polish. I stood there in awe. Of all the days we decided to go, we end up on the last Sunday of the year when the Pope makes his speech. We had joked "oh ya the Pope will be there, he knows we are coming." But we never actually thought he would be there. As we left the Vatican, I cried. Like I said I am not religious, but wow!!! What an experience. I was there! Amazing!
(This video is shot badly, but; I really just wanted to get the feel of all the people there to see the Pope. You Can see him as a little speck in the window for a few seconds and you can hear his speech.)
We went for a beautiful lunch at a little restaurant just down the street from the Vatican. We sat out on the patio and enjoyed pizza and two bottles of Vino Rossa (red wine) were we saluted "to the Pope" literally. The 4 of us had such a vibe, we were buzzing and smiling like we had just been cleansed, it was so great.
After the last drop in our wine bottles was finished we hoped back on the subway and made our way to La Fontana di Trivi. Now I don't know anything about it but when I travel I usually end up or want to go to places that I have seen a picture of and one was this fountain. What a fountain it was. Now I am not good with desicriptions so I figured this photo would probably give you a better idea then anywords I could write.
This wasn't the fountain I was thinking of but I didn't care. It was fantastic. And the people, there were so many, standing around taking pictures having a coffee, sitting on the ledge, talking. It was almost impossible to find a spot to get a picture, the Piazza was packed. We just stood there going "wow. wow. wow." My dad says "Rome just keeps on impressing me."
We had to take the subway back and the subway is jammed pack. When the doors open people are literally spilling out the doors either trying to stay on, get off, or push their way on. My dad not wasting anytime squeezes in meaning we have to follow. We were body to body with everyone on the train. My mum got pickpocketed. Yup, when in Rome...it happens. A girl got on just after my mum and was squshed against the door. The girl handed my mum her smokes as if she had fallen out of her purse and when my mum looked down her case for her glasses was halfway out of her purse. When the doors opened the girl hopped off. My mum always zips everything up so the girl had unzipped it, but not knowing that my mums wallet was burried deep in another pocket in another zipper within another pocket...she's so smart. The girl though, must've just got on in another door because we saw her on the train again. Thank god nothing was stolen. Then an older woman yelled at Dan. She was letting him know that she was getting off at the next stop and he was trying to move out of the way which was difficult when there is nowhere to move and the train was in motion. Dan said ok hold on and she starts screaming at him in Italian and basically pushed him out of the way, it told her not to be such a bitch. Yes I know, I have a short fuse. But ever since we landed in Greece and then flew to Italy the woman (mostly the older ones) have been so rude to us, and it's always woman. I must say, us North American's have strict laws and we might be more uptight but we definitely have manners and it's really starting to irritate me. These people that think they can bud the line and yell at others for no reason, it's not always easy being in someone elses culture.
Now, today is New Years Eve and Dan and I have tickets for the Ice Club. A bar where everything is made out of ice, even the glasses. It's going to be a cool experience - literally lol. Anyways this is my last post...no not ever...just of 2012. It's been a great year, I got married in Bali, spent the summer in France, living in the UK and now 3 weeks in the Mediteranian. Next year is going to bring more adventures and more blogs :) Take care and be safe and I will talk to you in the New Year...next stop Venice.
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