I Finally Made It to The Big City of Rome!

My sister is here!!! I can’t believe she is finally here and gets to see my second home right here in Sansepolcro. Her arrival promises an amazing week, and a few nights of little rest as I still have work to do in these final weeks. Moments such as having her in this amazing place with me, make me so incredible happy that I can’t even describe it. It is the simple and beautiful joy which I have found many times here in Italy, and I am so happy to share that joy with my sister now. I had to share my excitement on her arrival, but now I can share my weekend in Rome!

Saturday we got up to take the bus to Arezzo and catch a train somewhere around 12. I inconveniently read the bus schedule wrong, assuming that on Saturday there was a bus at 9:56 when really that bus only runs Monday through Friday. We chose to wait for Bekah and take a later bus at 12:45. This allowed me to get a little more work done before my sister’s arrival but also allowed me to walk around the market. I forgot how much I enjoyed walking around the market and Vi and I had a very successful walk through it all. We bought clementines for the weekend and I got to do a little bit of shopping for people I love back home (who happen to read my blog, and can’t find out their surprises yet). Once we finally left Sansepolcro, made a train to Rome, and arrived in Rome it was getting dark. We headed straight for our hostel, which I am happy to say was only about 4 blocks away from Termini (Rome’s main station for just about every type of public transportation in Rome). Our goal for the night was to make it to the Trevi Fountain, throw our coins in, and then find a good Italian restaurant for dinner, which seems to be harder when you are in larger cities. We found a good restaurant and all joined one another’s company, but I am sad to say that Saturday night we failed to find the Trevi Fountain. What we found was a small, disappointing fountain in one of the many piazzas of Rome. We threw in coins to represent quick return to Rome, finding love, or finding wedding bells soon. I am sad to say that Bekah, who really was excited to throw in her three for marriage threw them in the wrong fountain and went home having thrown them in a not so famous fountain close to the Trevi. I have no doubts we will all still attend her wedding soon, but it is quite funny we looked like crazy American tourists in front of the wrong fountain.

Sunday we set our alarms to get up at a decent hour. After being awoken at 6am from our neighbors, and then again to say goodbye to Bekah around 7am, we finally dragged ourselves up and out the door by ten after a little more rest. We headed off to see the Spanish steps and I was encountered by a man holding some string on the Spanish steps. He literally made a bracelet using my finger as the holder for his string, and then put it on my wrist. Of course after talking to me and making this bracelet for me he wanted money. I finally told him that I was going to give him a euro to get away from me. It seems that people will often give you things for “free” in Rome, but quickly turn around wondering why you haven’t given them any money for it. This happened again that same night at the Trevi Fountain. It seems one of my biggest down falls is that my blonde hair screams “American tourist” to all the people on the streets of Rome. After seeing the Spanish steps we decided to see what looked to be interesting places on our map. We couldn’t get to any of the places we wanted to go on the metro, so we had to figure out how the bus system worked. I am proud to say we utilized Rome public transportation, and took the bus to a few beautiful places off the normal Rome destinations. We saw Castel Di St. Angelo and a beautiful fountain that had stunning views of Rome in many directions. We decided to play “guess the building” from this point as we looked onto much of the cities buildings. After venturing off the beaten path it was time to find the Pantheon. This required another bus, but this time we got spilled off the bus close to where we were headed. We saw the Pantheon and then I made it to Termini to wait for my sister’s arrival. I stared at every person getting off of the Leonardo Express, and when I finally saw my sister’s familiar face and blonde hair from a distance I ran straight to her. I couldn’t believe my sister was really in Italy with me! My sister, Vi, Sam, and I all went to dinner at a restaurant close to our hostel which was nothing like the amazing food we get here, but it was priced well. After dinner we all went to the REAL Trevi Fountain, which I am sad Bekah missed but happy that my sister did not miss. It was gorgeous and when I arrived I knew that I had to be at the right fountain because I was speechless. The people crowded all around it also indicated we had found the right spot. Rome is one of those cities where you must constantly remind yourself how awesome all the things you are seeing are. This next day in Rome, I did that a lot.

On Monday Patricia, Sam, Vi and I rolled out of bed a little earlier than the day before and got ready for our most touristy day yet. Our plan was to make it to the Vatican and then the Colosseum all before catching the train back to Arezzo. This made for a very hectic, but productive day in Rome. We made it to the Vatican around 10 Monday morning, and I quickly became overwhelmed by all the tourists around us. As our tour guide would later put it, “there are two types of pedestrians here, the quick and the dead.” We found a good student deal for an official tour of the museum and the Sistine Chapel which lasted a couple of hours. My back began to kill me, but I was happy we decided to take the entire tour. Our tour guide made the journey through the many rooms of the museum entertaining for everyone with the “spot the celebrity” and “where’s Rafael?” Thanks to our guide’s games we found Sylvester Stallone and Johnny Depp, who I spotted and called out in the middle of the museum. We also found all of the Ninja Turtles except for one in the Rafael rooms. Rafael hid Leonardo (Da Vinci), Michelangelo, and himself in a painting that covered one of the walls. After making it through the museum and the magnificently painted Sistine chapel, we ran to the metro and headed back to Termini in order to go to the Colosseum. We could use our RomaPASS there to get skip the lines, and it also covered our admission in. My sister and I were alone at this point and decided it was ok to be touristy and get the audio tour. It was amazing to hear how old everything was or how much happened in the same place I was standing. It was great to finally see Rome, but even better to see it with my sister. We returned home on a 5 o’clock train to Arezzo and took the last bus to Sansepolcro, so needless to say we were both very excited to see our beds. I could finally feel the blood circulated through my feet once again as I fell asleep far past my bedtime.