Roma

This past weekend, I went to Roma. I left Saturday afternoon after my morning lessons. I took the train from Acerra to Napoli and then took the Freccirossa (Fast train) to Roma. I arrived around 4p.m. As soon as I got off the train I headed for my hotel. Since, I had traveled the same area a year in half before with my aunt and uncle, I knew my way around. I had my iPod playing, my bags tightly gripped and I walked with much certainty and confidence that no one bothered me (street vendors that is). I arrived at the hotel. I was a little nervous prior to booking the room but was surprised by the spaciousness and cleanliness of the room. It had a nice view of the street, wifi and satellite TV. I was good to go! I dropped my backpack off and headed out! It starts getting dark around 5pm so I wanted to get a head start before I was in the dark. I walked down the main road, via Nazionale, and passed many shops. One particular store caught my eye so I went in and looked around. I ended up walking out of the store with a purse. Go figure. Then I headed down a road I had never been down before. I found myself at the Piazza Quirinale. It had some nice views.

Piazza Quirinale

 Then I pulled out the map! I don't like pulling out the maps in major cities because then I look like a tourist. Yes, I know I am a tourist, but I like to pretend I am a local :) Especially being a single female I like to blend in and not stand out. So I pulled out the map and found out that the Trevi Fountain (my favorite spot in Rome, well one of my favorite spots) was just a short walk away. I headed in that direction. I came from a different road than where I usually come from. I saw people on the right of me standing on steps and taking pictures. I thought that it was a good idea so I started up the steps. As soon as I got to the top and looked straight, I was looking at a church. I thought, "when did they build this?" I've never seen this before? So I decided to walk in and look around. It was beautiful. How did I not know there was a church right across from the Trevi Fountain? Anyways, I sat down and started to say my prayers ;) Yes, I have to say my prayers! I have to thank many people for keeping me safe! :) Then I pulled out my phone and started chatting with my mom. Yes, I know I shouldn't be texting while in church... :) I was telling my mom how I felt very happy. And, I was. It was a great feeling. I was in Roma! One of my favorite cities. The history, culture, and architecture is rich in beauty. I enjoy it all. And, now I was in this beautiful church across from my favorite fountain. I was enjoying my day immensely.

The Trevi Fountain

The inside of the church

After a period of time, I returned outside to take pictures of the fountain. Then I decided to get something to eat. I found this cute little pizzeria near the fountain. I ordered a glass of wine and a slice of zucchini and onion pizza. They were delicious. While, I was sitting and eating my dinner. I was listening to the people next to me speaking. I couldn't tell what language they were speaking but every now and then I heard them using Turkish numbers. I do know a little Turkish :) But nothing else was Turkish. Who knows! After they left, three girls came and they were speaking English. So I asked where they were from. They said Saudi Arabia. Then asked if I was from America. I said "How did you know!" She said because of my accent. But her accent sounded American to me! Hmm...Interesting. After I finished my wine, I left and went for dessert, not that I was hungry or anything but because it is tradition! I must always eat gelato from the corner gelateria on the right hand side of the fountain. I have been going there since I was 13 years old! I can't break tradition! So I ordered a small chocolate and mint gelato. Then I went to stand near the fountain and eat my gelato. I was happy :) I was still talking to my mom and she was asking what kind of gelato I had with the next sentence asking me about bills or bank cards...such things to think about while gazing at the beauty of the Fontana di Trevi. Anyways, after I finished my gelato I needed to throw the coin in the fountain. You must always throw a coin in the fountain to ensure that you will return to Roma! I threw in 20 cents compared to my normal 5 cents. I hope that it increases my chances of returning sooner rather than later. :) 

Gelato!

Throwing my coin in the fountain!

After my time at the fountain, I found my way back to my hotel. I didn't want to return to the room yet because it was still fairly early so I continued to walk down the street. I found a book store and saw "INTERNATIONAL" on the wall of the store as I was walking by. I stopped, turned around, and walked into the store. I went directly to the "INTERNATIONAL" section and saw many books in English. I thought, I should buy a book. Incase, I get bored at home I will have something to read. So I browsed but didn't know what to buy. I decided to instead look around at the rest of the store. I found another section of the store and saw classical novels written in Italian. But, decided against classical novels. So I turned my head and looked up. And I was instantaneously in a movie. In my head. I looked up and had the sensation that I was in heaven and excited because of how large the store was and all the books they had. I also kept envisioning Christmas decorations hanging from the ceilings. I felt like I was in either Elf or Home Alone. This may make no sense to any of you but just get from it that I was very happy! :) I stood there and let the happiness feeling sink in for a few minutes then continued to browse the Italian books. One caught my eye, although I don't remember the name in Italian, but they had the English name in the corner. I saw it and ran back to the International section to see if they had it in English. There were a lot of books in English. I felt hopeless because there was no alphabetical classification going on at all! I just scrolled over different titles and then Boom! There it was! Ok. I haven't seen the movie, just the trailers from this summer. The book is "One Day." I haven't started reading it but I hope I enjoy it! After I had the book in my hand, I thought "maybe they have a cd/music section." Of course they did! I walked in and went directly to the J section under the heading Jamiroquai and found my cd. Jamiroquai's newest (a year old) cd titled Rock Dust Light Star. I was excited! I had been wanting to listen to that cd ever since I knew there was such a thing which was only about a week or so ago. :) I made my purchase and decided to return to the room before I did any more damage to my debit card. I returned to the room, got comfortable and started flipping through the channels on TV. I watched the Cosby show in Italian, part of an Italian movie, and Italian game shows. I ended up going to bed fairly early because I was tired from traveling plus I would have to get up early to meet my cousin at her hotel in the morning. I woke up though, only after 2 hours. I actually thought it was 6am because I saw light through the curtains but then I looked and realized it was only the street light that I saw. I couldn't fall back to sleep, I don't know if it was the thunder or rain that woke me up or who knows what. But, I couldn't sleep. I finally put the TV's radio station on, channel 884 (the Vatican channel). It was playing jazz music although in the morning it was playing classical music. Anyways, I finally slept but had an awful night's rest. 

View from my hotel

In the morning, I got ready and headed across the street to another hotel. The hotel where my cousin and her friends would be staying. I didn't know exactly what time they would arrive so I sat and planned the day. I also had enough time to people watch. :) They arrived and got checked in. We dropped all the bags and then headed out for a day of sightseeing. I was the tour guide. Our first stop was the Colosseum. Then we headed towards the Pantheon but along the way we passed by a museum that I went to with my aunt and uncle last year. I told them that they had really good views of Rome from the terrace where the cafe is if they wanted to see it. They asked if we had to pay, I said no. So we went up, walked past all the people eating their food and headed for the terrace. We looked around, took pictures then continued on our way. (Little secret for those of you who are interested in getting a great view for a cheap price!)

The view

Then we passed by the area where Julius Caesar was killed. 

We made it to the Pantheon and saw Raphael's tomb. Then we headed for Piazza Navona. 

Raphael's tomb

Piazza Navona

After the Piazza Navona, we continued walking towards the Vatican. We crossed the Tiber River and arrived at St. Peter's Basilica. The museums were closed on Sunday but we had planned to go inside the church. We saw the line and freaked out! It had been a long day already that we were tired and the idea of standing in that long line we decided against it. Instead we went shopping and bought rosaries. Then we were smart and took the metro to our next stop on the tour. As soon as we got out to go to the Trevi Fountain, it was down pouring. We unfortunately didn't account for the rain so we didn't have any jackets or umbrellas. Well I had mine but I was still soaking wet so I don't know how much good it actually did. We walked in the rain to the Trevi Fountain. We went to a restaurant nearby to get something warm to warm us up before tackling the wet outdoors again. We sat inside and drank our hot chocolates for as long as we could then we braced ourselves for what laid ahead. We ran to the fountain. I got out some coins then we took turns throwing the coin in the fountain in the pouring rain. We had decided to take a taxi to the restaurant where we were supposed to eat dinner and meet the rest of the group. We walked to wear the taxis usually are all waiting but none were there. So then we kept walking looking for taxis. We made it to the main road and saw a taxi stand. But first, we spotted a church and mass was just ending. We looked around, I said my prayers, and ran outside in the rain to the taxi stand. But, there were no taxis! So we stood there waiting for a taxi. No taxis ever came. Finally, we saw a taxi a few feet away stopping and letting someone out. My cousin was in front of me and I said RUN Jamie RUN! So she ran and we asked if we could get in the taxi. The guy said yes so we climbed in as fast as we could! He took us to the Colosseum where we were supposed to meet the other group. It just so happened we were worried that we wouldn't find them but after about 5 minutes of sitting in one restaurant trying to get warm they appeared! We had dinner. Then returned to the hotel to sleep! The others fell asleep almost immediately since they were still on Pacific time. I stayed up and watched Charlies Angel's in Italian. Then I fell asleep. 

The Bridge on the way to the Vatican

Castel Sant'Angelo

The Vatican

The next morning, we got up and got ready to leave. We went to an interesting little Irish/Italian pub that served American breakfast. The place was called or associated with a place called Bed and American Breakfast. We ended up just getting sandwiches from the bar area. By the time we finished eating and talking it was time to go. I said goodbye as my cousin and her friends headed for the cruise ship that will take them across the Mediterranean for the next week or so. I headed for the train station so I could catch my train back home. 

The train ride was fine. I got to Napoli and my train to Acerra was cancelled or delayed. Apparently there was a problem with the final destination of the train. Not sure what but I ended up waiting an hour for the train back home. I arrived at the train station in Acerra with a few minutes to spare before my class began! I was racing but luckily my boss was near the train station and picked me up! 

Overall, I had a great weekend. I was very happy and was reminded of how much Italy makes me happy. I love the history, the quaint streets, the buildings and the culture of Italy. I am very glad I decided to come and live here ;)