Europe Day 13: Getting into Rome

Short drive ahead
We got to have a pretty late (for our trip standards) start for once! It’s only three hours to Rome from Florence apparently so we didn’t have to rush. Once on our way – there wasn’t anything much to note on the drive – probably more so because we’re so tired now on bus days that we’ve even stopped looking out the window so much.

Rome in the evening
We got into Rome fairly quickly and decided to sightsee in the city before checking into our hotel, so as to get as much time in the city as possible. Leona led us on a small walking tour, and we started in Piazza Navona, which is a central square with three sculpture, tower and fountains in the middle. We got time to catch a snack, “trick” our way into a café bathroom and then gather again before we headed off.


Pantheon
From the square, we then went to see the Pantheon, which was quite magnificent; the domed ceiling, opening for light, the beautiful sculptures, frescos on the wall, and mosaics on the ground. We also got to see Raphaelo’s tomb, which is inside. There's actually nothing tangible in the middle of the Pantheon. The space is wide open and only lends to the expansive beauty of the artwork inside. It was an unexpected favourite, but I'll definitely list this site as one to see in Rome.

Trevi Fountain
From the Pantheon, we then headed to another site that was on my must-see list. We worked though the streets and alleys to the Trevi Fountain. This visit was definitely one of my absolute favourites on the trip. The detail, largeness and beauty of the fountain were magnificent to me. H-Rabbit and I made our lucky tosses – twice to make sure we would be back one day as well as get our extra wish – we’ll now have to see what the future brings.

Spanish Steps
After the fountain, we made our way to the Spanish steps – which really – Leona couldn’t tell us much about so I’ll have to look that up as well. I’m realizing now that there is SO much I’m going to have to look up, but it might be nice – getting to live through my trip twice as I go through the pictures and find out more about the places we visited.

We didn’t really spend too much time there as it was a bit chaotic and I really wasn’t up to walking up all of those steps – especially since all there was to do was come right back down again. So, at that point we were released from the group for some free time before our dinner in the city.

The Cave of Skulls
We ran off with Chris and Liz to find the church of the capuchin monks who had created a unique and eerie tomb of their fellow brothers… with their own bones! It took us awhile to find it, as Leona’s instructions weren’t exactly on the mark – but after utilizing Liz’s Italian skills, we managed to work our way to the right location. It was a sombre and electric experience, mingling my own feelings of fear about death and the comprehension of the Catholic beliefs that these monks followed and believed in, where once the soul has departed, the body is but a physical material that is left behind. I know some will disagree, saying that true Catholic belief has nothing to do with "desecrating" these bodies for art - but I don't really believe it was desecration. I'll have to do much more research to understand it better.

We weren’t allowed to take pictures, and while I did manage to sneak one – H-Rabbit asked if I could please erase it, as it made her a bit freaked out. After having been to see it in real life and understanding the reality of the bones and lives that existed in order to create it, I agreed with her in the end so I erased the picture. However, Chris bought a postcard, which I photographed so you guys could get some idea of the how each tomb was decorated and why it was so wild and crazy to see. The postcard also nicely explained why things were the way they were in each room, which was cool.

I loved best the quote that was contained in the last tomb: “What you are now, we once were. What we are now, you will be.”

Off to dinner
Because we hadn’t found the church right away, we only just had time to get back for dinner at the meeting place. We met in a fairly nondescript piazza that a lot of people passed over twice before realizing it was the one we needed. We had also lost Doug again as well – so we took a group “Where’s Doug?” picture on the steps if the piazza.

NOTE: Doug was one of our group members who always managed to wander off by himself. It had become a tour staple to ask, “Where’s Doug?” no matter where we met because 9 times out of 10 he hadn’t made the meeting time. Good thing he was great at taking care of himself – props to him for never missing the bus even if he did miss out on a few side excursions.

Roman dinner
We then went for a buffet dinner that was really quite good – sans the water bottles that were refilled with local water throughout the night and were not bottled water at all. However, no one got sick, so we were good. From dinner, we then headed to our hotel – but somehow we managed to get lost along the way, and it took much longer than we thought.

Home!
When we finally got there we were so happy though, since for the first time ever on the trip – we were booked at a 4-star hotel! We had a pretty amazing stay for the night – fell right to sleep in prep for the huge day we had ahead in Rome.

Side Story!
At rest stop earlier in the day, our friends Belinda and Natasha actually met musician Shaggy. His peeps and him invited the girls to their show that night in Rome. The girls went and said they had an amazing time. Leona said it’d be one of those Contiki stories that she’ll tell for ages. So random!