Coincidences

“No one’s laughing at God when there’s a famine or fire or flood.  But God could be funny.”

--Regina Spektor Laughing With

I have mixed feelings about Rome.  Rome is the Eternal City, and it has so much to do and see.  Especially for a Catholic, Rome is a wonderful place.  The Vatican is amazing and full of so much history.  I do wish I would have had a few more hours in Rome to explore a little more of the Catholic heritage there.  It’s something that I didn’t realize how much in Rome I wanted to see until last night after everything closed and today on the train as I left Rome.  But Rome is still and probably will always be the city that took me away from Athens.

I started out Sunday with mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.  St. Peter’s is enormous!  I really wish that I could see St. Peter’s without all of the tourists and constant flashes of cameras.  If I could see everyone praying and reverent in the basilica at one time, filling the basilica completely, it would be beautiful, treasured, sacred, and blessed.  There would be enough people in the world willing to do it, but I don’t think it will ever happen; there are just too many tourists.  It was strange to go to mass at a church where the majority of the people in the church were not celebrating mass.  Guards did block an area off for those of us who were celebrating mass, but there were still people taking pictures of the area near the altar, which included us.  Of course, the church is so big and my sense of numbers is so skewed that there may have been many more people at mass than I thought.  The mass and building itself were beautiful and magnificent! 

I stayed with Brianna and her parents for the rest of the day.  That means my visits to some of the iconic sites in Rome include three to the Trevi Fountain, at least three to the Pantheon, three to the Spanish Steps, and four to the Colosseum.  I also found the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Italian guards there during my first night of adventuring, and it put a smile on my face.  They reminded me of my beloved Evzones guarding our Tomb, although I couldn’t get close to them and they did not have the same gravity about them.  The guards were not as rigid in their movements nor as choreographed.  At the time, I was feeling incredibly homesick for Athens, so the reminder that first night made me way too happy. 

The Capuchin Crypt was so cool!  The crypt had been decorated with human bones.  I was utterly fascinated and had a strong desire to study the bones.  I also quizzed myself as I walked through to try to name all of the bones that I saw.  I could identify at least a general location for almost every bone if not the exact name and location.  For someone who wants to study human skeletal remains, the crypt was among the most fascinating things I have seen while in Europe.  It honestly was probably my favorite thing I saw in Rome (and around the same level as the Vatican).  There was a child’s skeleton that had been decorated as a reaper and attached to the ceiling, which I felt was a little disrespectful and irreverent to the child and his or her family.  I just wanted to protect him or her and take the child down to a more protected position.  I understand that this is something that I will have to deal with if I pursue studying human skeletal remains, but for some reason that was the only skeleton that really upset me.  I understand that cultures are different.  I just feel bad for the souls and the loved ones that belong to the bones. 

I had my first Kosher meal (that I know of) for dinner in the Jewish Ghetto.  I learned a little about the rules associated with Kosher eating and can say that I definitely respect those who keep Kosher.  It must be a challenge, especially when traveling, to ensure that everything you eat is Kosher.  The food was delicious, and I am very curious how my dessert, which was Grandfather’s Cake and had a chocolate filling, was made without any dairy.  Then again, my high school Chemistry teacher had been apple pie out of tofu using some magical chemistry properties, so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

Yesterday was dedicated to the Vatican.  After waiting in a decently long line-1 ½ hours (because I kept putting off buying tickets online until it was too late), I made it into the Vatican Museum.  The line was totally worth it, because while I meet a group of older people from Greece.  I recognized the language and wanted to cry just because I was near Greek people and was hearing such a comforting language.  I tried to talk a little bit with them, but ended up listening to them talk while waiting near them more than anything.

The museum was filled with so many different rooms and artifacts.  Everything was amazing.  There were so many rooms and twists and turns.  A number of the rooms were closed to the public, which included a couple exhibits on ancient Greek and Roman sculpture.  The artwork all over the museum is so gorgeous and elaborate.  I think I probably took a full 200 pictures in the museum alone.  The frescoes in Sistene Chapel were incredibly elaborate and complex.  The first time I walked through the museum, I stood in Sistene Chapel for a good 20 minutes.  I left and started really looking at the exhibits.  I returned to the chapel again right before I left from the museum after looking at some boards about the chapel, and I was able to understand and see so many more parts of the fresco.  It really is among the most complex and ornate designs I have ever seen.  I was ushered into the Chapel by a guard who kept reminding you not to stop and to keep moving down the stairs.  They would come around and yell at you if you sat on steps that you weren’t supposed to or if you had your camera out.  Every minute or two a guard would shush everyone in the chapel and remind us that it was a place of worship that needed silence.  It would quiet down for a few seconds, but within a minute the noise level was back to before.  It wasn’t horrifically loud or anything, though.  Both the chapel and the museum were crowded with people.  The tour groups really clustered up the museum, especially when there was only one route through the museum and a tour group would occupy the entire way.  I was shocked by the usage of flash photography in the museum.  The light will severely damage the art, but there were no signs or reminders to turn off the flash.  Some of the art is among the most prestigious in the world, so it should be more protected than it is.  The Sistene Chapel isn’t the only important sight in the museum.  I was also surprised by the number of people posing with sculptures or other pieces of art.  In Greece, you would be flayed if you used flash or posed with anything.  The intent of the rule is to be respectful and to ensure that huge crowds don’t form waiting to pose with a piece of art.  After seeing the Vatican Museum, the rules make complete sense.

I also climbed the steps of St. Peter's to reach the cupola.  550 steps total on the way up and 499 steps down.  There were a few times when I realized just how high I was and how dangerous it coud be at the top of the dome or on the outside of the cupola.  I can't imagine how Michelangelo lived through the massive heights.  The scariest part of my entire climb was some of the stairs.  The stairs got really narrow at parts and were not always straight.  We were on a dome after all.  I was also wearing a skirt, so I was trying to ensure that I didn't flash anyone and protect my purse.  Amidst all of those distractions, it would be so easy to fall down a set of steep spiral stairs and take out part of the crowd behind me.  I just prayed that I wouldn’t lose my balance.  The stairs and the cupola were cramped but well worth it.  At the top of the dome, I ended up asking a random guy from New York if he could take a picture of me.  He was really sweet about it and even yelled at people who tried to walk in the picture.  His friend then took pictures of the two of us together.  Maybe I will get them through my e-mail, but we never exchanged names…  It was a really strange interaction but really sweet halfway across the world.

I suddenly realized how long I had been on my feet (6 hours with only a short, less than 10 minute break) but decided to walk to my hostel from the night before to pick up a bag and then move to my new hostel.  Big mistake.  I recognized that my two hostels were on opposite sides of the map but figured I had been walking everywhere anyways.  I had to take multiple breaks to sit and let my feet recover before I made it to our hostel.  When I finally showed up, Brianna was talking to a random guy, J-F from Canadia.  (I know it’s really called Canada, but I like to be stupid and call it Canadia.)  He’s traveling through Europe on his own, which I am still amazed by.  He joined us in this wonderful little pizza place for dinner.  Italian pizza Is wonderful, although I took about twice as long to eat my pizza than Brianna and J-F.  But, hey.  It was a full pizza.  And I was savoring.  We finished up dinner with a chocolate shot.  The shot glass was edible and made of chocolate.  It was delicious, although I still hold that my mouth isn’t that big and that was the main reason I failed (and made a bit of a mess) of my shot.

Later, Bri and I walked along the river and talked about our lives back in Indiana and for the summer.  She realized how much she would miss Rome, and I completely understand.  I definitely miss Athens.  Anytime I think I hear Greek, I get really excited.

This morning, we went to the train station to catch our train to Venice.  We tried to get on an earlier train, but it was full.  After waiting in the station for a solid 45 minutes, 10 minutes before our train was set to depart, a sign on the board said something in Italian.  One of the train personnel told us that meant we needed to get to a different station in Rome, so we raced onto a train.  We made it to the train a few minutes before it left.  While the train went to the next station, we found out one of the women (who spoke some pretty decent English) was supposed to be on our same train.  We left the train at our stop and raced to a board, only to see absolutely NO information.  Our helpful guide started asking anyone and everyone, including passers-by, and no one knew anything.  We just continued following her around the station like lost puppy dogs.  Eventually we found ourselves with a group of people all waiting for the same train.

About half an hour later, we found a conductor who said he had our train.  We continued following the group until we made it to the train.  We grabbed a seat and collapsed, although I am pretty sure (later confirmed) that Brianna was still terrified it was the wrong train.  She was worried about making it to Milan in time for our Barcelona train in the worst case scenario, even though we had a full 24 hours for that.

Suddenly, we see a kid with an “I’m backpacking through Europe” bag and a Ravens football cap.  Who else would it be but our good friend from Canadia, J-F.  We got the chance to hang out with our hostel buddy for a few more hours.  However, we found out that he probably was not on the right train.  He was trying to make it to the port to catch a cruise to Croatia that he had missed the day earlier.  Hopefully the trains took him to his cruise on time without any more difficulties.  He left us in Florence to try to catch a faster train.  Until then, we chilled and played cards for a little while.  I figured it was a sign that we were supposed to get to know each other for a little longer.  It was such a strange coincidence, but then again, I also saw kids from Athens by chance at the Colosseum.  It was a coincidence that we couldn’t get seats on the earlier train, it was a coincidence that we ended up on that train, and it was a coincidence that J-F was told to go to the train at Platform 7.

Basically, our day was filled by the train.  We went to the station super early, waited for a train, rushed to a different stop, waited again, and sat on a train for quite some time.  Our train was 140 minutes late!  Over two hours!  There had been a fire at one of the big Rome stations two mornings before we left, so it makes sense that the trains are a little bit of a mess.  We literally spent today sitting on a train, although my feet did enjoy it.  We only have two more days that could be like this.  The rest will involve night trains, which will probably result in less time lost to travel, although a break every once in a while is nice.

The day involved a lot of instances of God laughing at us and our attempts to plan things, but it was nice to spend a day relaxing and doing nothing.