Italy, part 2, Rome 2

Rome is crazy busy and HOT. it's so old and historic and very cool to see in person, but i'm exhausted and stressed and totally tired of the hectic life of thousands of people in my personal space.

we got up this morning and took a chartered bus (it's supposed to be Eelco's day off) to the metro stop. we all then had to fight a hundred other people to get on the metro train. impossible to do on the first one so we wait for the second one. when it finally arrives we are literally PUSHED into the train. there were so many people pushing me forward i didn't even have to use my feet. i'm serious. it was crazy. in one car was me and Dave, a guy from Salt Lake City. the rest of our group was someplace else. there was no way to keep up with everyone, so we just assumed we all got on this train and got off at the right stop.

when we got off, we made our way to the Vatican to join the line of thousands of other people. i went looking for our group in the line in front of us, but didn't find them. so a few minutes later i went behind us and finally found them and told them we were ahead of them. i talked with the girls about me and Eelco and then Rachel asked me about it. i told her how i was feeling awkward about it. she said it was ok to go for it if i wanted to, if i liked him, but if i felt uncomfortable and wanted her to talk to him for me, she would. so that was nice. but i still didn't know what to do about our 5 o'clock plan to meet.

anyways, we waited in the line for an hour and then got into the Vatican Museum. it cost 13 euros and was HUGE. lots of paintings, sculptures, gold, and people. too many things to look at. it was all amazing, but i was feeling really overwhelmed. finally got to the Sistine Chapel, but there were so many people in there, so many distractions, and so much paint to look at, i don't think i did it justice at all ... i could have stayed in there for hours and still not have looked at it all. and the people in there ... all of them were snapping pictures and all the cops would say was, "no foto!" there were chairs on the sides to sit in, but otherwise everyone was standing and it was hot and crowded and hearing "shhhhhh!" everyone 10 seconds was really getting to me. i finally just had to leave.

walked through the tombs of previous popes. not all that interesting, but i saw the last pope's tomb. went inside St. Peter's Basilica ... this place was huge too. everything in Rome is HUGE. but once again, a place that was just too overwhelming with stuff to look at inside that i just walked around feeling ... almost depressed ... and saying "wow". it was a lot darker inside than i expected, but beautiful and amazing. mosaics everywhere and a side chapel set apart for prayer. one of the girls said later that there wasn't any candles to light like in most churches, but i didn't notice. this was free to go in, by the way, but you could climb to the top for views of the city for a cost, but i didn't have time to do that.

took pictures and made my way to the meeting place at 12:30, grabbing a sandwich on the way. ate the sandwich while waiting for our group to rejoin and time to leave. we all walked to the bus stop and rode to the meeting place for our guided tour. i was so tired and hot and done, by this point, that i just wanted to get this tour over with and go back to the hotel to go swimming. as did several others of us. and believe me, this reaction was quite a surprise to me. but i think the heat and the crowds and the busyness were finally getting to me.

at the tour meeting point i asked Rachel to call Eelco and tell him i would be leaving town early and wouldn't meet him at 5. she said he was already in town, but that she would send him a message and for me not to worry about it or how he would feel. and so i left her to catch up with the guided tour and tried not to worry.

the tour was great, really, but so hot. we should have had it earlier in the day, but that was impossible since we did the Vatican in the morning. but our guide was a funny Roman lady who tried to find us shade to stop in to talk to us about what we were seeing. we walked around Imperial Rome, which is the ancient city, walking through the ruins that had been dug up of what the Romans of old saw every day. at the end we walked around the Colosseum and then our guide ran off without time to give her a tip. it was amazing and i was so glad i endured the heat for it. very well worth it indeed.

we formed our group of 9 who wanted to go back to the hotel and made our plan. we all got on the metro and rode up to the Spanish Steps, wanting to see it since it's supposed to be special, but when we got there and saw the steps we were all rather disappointed. they were just steps with a fountain in front. we took pictures and i decided i should climb up to at least the halfway point to make sure there wasn't something we were missing. there wasn't, so i went back down and we left. (had i walked up all the way i would have found a church to check out, but i counted 71 stairs and my legs were tired and i was only half way up, so i turned around and went back down so we could get on with it. oh well.)

we stopped at the pizzeria to get take-away and the gelateria to get something cold to help us make it the rest of the trip. some got gelato, some got an strawberry icy drink. then back on the metro to ride out to our bus stop. we found the bus stop with the bus we need to take to the hotel and wait 15 minutes for the bus to come. some of us were unsure if it was the right one, so we ask the driver. he says, "other side". so, we go to the other side to the other bus stop and wait another 15 minutes for another bus. we ask that driver and he, too, says, "other side". frustrated, tired, and hot, we all cross the street and wait at the original stop yet another 15 minutes for the final bus. i say to the group, "i'm getting on the bus, no matter what, and i'll figure it out later." and so, when the bus finally arrived, we all jump on and ride out of town, in the right direction, and finally get near the hotel. when the bus stops, Dave goes up to the front and asks the driver when we're supposed to get off to get to our hotel. this driver is actually helpful and says, "next stop." and so we all got off at the next stop and hurried to our hotel, all with high hopes of swimming.

we'd been told that there was a pool, but it closes at 6. it's now 5:30, so about four of us hurry into our suits and rush out there to jump in and cool off, only to find that they want four euros from hotel guests to go swimming for 20 minutes. what?! we were SO disappointed and irritated about that. after complaining a bit, we all dispersed to take cold showers and rest in our rooms. i couldn't believe it. all afternoon all we wanted to do was get back to the hotel, swim and relax by the pool doing nothing, but it took us nearly 2 hours to get homem and then we would have had to pay four euros to jump in the pool for only a few minutes. ridiculous.

a couple of hours later i went down to the bar to get a soda and sit with a couple of girls to just sit and chill. i took my book and read a little, but as time went by more people showed up and i ended up talking instead of reading. but while the three of us were sitting there drinking a soda a couple of Italian workers came in and talked with me in broken Italian and Spanish and then bought us all another soda. that was kinda cool. :-)

the next several hours were spent on the couch talking with our group and Eelco. he came in, i was nervous about us NOT meeting earlier, but once we came over and had the chance to actually talk to me personally, he said it was all ok and we talked just like normal the rest of the night. no alcohol and no affection.