I had to wake up at 4 a.m. to finish any last minute packing, and finish cleaning the apartment. At 6 a.m., the shuttle bus will hopefully be coming to pick us up and take us to the airport. I am really excited to be going home! Liv and I rushed around the room doing some last minute packing. I was really getting worried about Janelle, because her and Mike were still gone. They finally ran into the apartment at 5:30 a.m. to finish packing. They still had food in the refrigerator and stuff lying around. At 5:45 a.m., I was ready to go so I took my stuff downstairs and went outside to wait for the shuttle bus. The shuttle bus didn't arrive until about 6:10 a.m. When I saw it I went and buzzed the apartment so the rest of the girls and Mike would come down. It took us about 10 minutes to get everything downstairs and loaded into the shuttle. It was a really hectic morning. Then the shuttle bus went and picked up another guy from API, and it took us to the airport.
I was leaving from Terminal 3, so I was the first one to leave the van. Of course, since I was the first one ready at the apartment, all my stuff was at the bottom of the pile of suitcases. The driver had to dig it out, and then I was ready to go. I said my goodbyes to my roommates and went into the Terminal. I wondered around trying to find my airline for a while before I noticed that they were numbered. Once I matched up Lufthansa with a number, it was really easy to find. Then I got in the line. I spent an hour waiting in that line so I could check my suitcase. It wasn't even long, they just didn't have enough staff working it. While I was waiting in line, I got a text from Liv telling me that Laura, Mike, and Janelle were actually in Terminal 3, not Terminal 5. They left her at Terminal 5, and I have no idea how they got to Terminal 3 since the terminals are not connected. Good thing we got to the airport super early! There was another line right besides mine, but I didn't know if I could go in that line or if it was reserved. I didn't want to try it for fear of being sent to the end of my original line, which had grown a lot and now stretched beyond the control of the ropes. Finally, 3 more people showed up and started checking suitcases. My backpack was my carryon, but the flight attendant said I could check it for free. That would give me a lot less to carry, so I agreed and she checked my bag. In Rome, they don't assign the gate you are leaving out of until about 30 minutes before you board your flight. Since I was still 2 hours early, I didn't know what to do. Where could I sit so that I could make sure I didn't miss my flight. I tried to position myself in the middle of the gates, so I could go any direction. I made sure I was close to one of the electronic signs that tells you your gate number. Then I played on my laptop, read my book, etc., while occasionally getting up to check if they had posted my gate number. Once they posted the gate, I ran to the sitting area for that gate. Then I noticed that the sign that tells the airline was wrong. I was not flying out on a budget airline, but on Lufthansa. So I went back to the gate sign, and saw that there were two flights leaving at about the same time, both going to Munich. They still hadn't posted my gate number, so I returned to my seat while they did. When they finally posted it, I ran over to my actual gate and sat down to wait. Some people were already lining up, but I didn't see the point since I had checked my carryon and the seating was assigned. Only when the line died down did I get up and get in line to get on the plane. The plane ride was pretty short, about an hour. Then I had to go through Customs in Munich. The lines were long but they moved pretty fast. They were very strict about making sure you were supposed to be there. I had to show my passport to at least 3 different people, before I was allowed through. The first person looked at it and asked if I had a resident card from Italy. I told him I remembered paying for one, but I never got a card. He looked at me for a while, then back at my passport, then at me. I was worried that I was going to be stuck in Germany without a way to get home, but he finally sighed and stamped my passport and waved me through. After that I just followed the crowds through the other passport checks until I finally got to the terminal for my plane. There were these really cool seats in the airport that were like beds, because they leaned all the way back. So I laid there for a while, until it was time to board my plane. Then I boarded and got prepared for the long flight home. I was not happy with the plane. I was on a United flight again, and there were only 9 options available to watch for a 10 hour flight. I couldn't choose from a big list what I wanted, I only had 9 options. I am not flying United again! So I ended up watching Dolphin Tale 2, The November Man, and Die Hard, because those were the only options that looked interesting. The flight was long and I forced myself to stay awake so I could sleep when I got home. The flight hit some turbulence, but otherwise was fine. I finally landed in Chicago, and I had to go through Customs again. I made the mistake of going to the bathroom, so I was at the end of the line. But that didn't really matter. I waited in line for a long time. I was worried that I wouldn't get to the baggage claim before my bags came out. The Customs in Chicago has gone electronic. You just scan your passport, enter in your information, and take the printout to the stamping people. They barely looked at my passport before they stamped it and waived me through. Then I was in baggage claim. It took forever for my flights bags to come in, and as luck would have it my bags were the very last ones to come out. I didn't want to be weighed down by everything, so I grabbed a trolley and loaded everything on it. Since my bags were the last to come out, I was at the end of a very long line to get out of baggage claim. I finally got to the front of the line, where the guy asked if I was bringing back any food and then he waived me through. Then I had to stand in line again to check my baggage. I was also at the end of that line, which was also long. I was afraid that I was going to miss my flight. Luckily, the airlines realized that they were moving slow so they started pulling people out of line that had flights leaving soon and taking their bags. My bags already had the stickers telling it where to go, so I put my bags with everyone else's and started to travel to my gate. The Chicago airport is so huge that they have a train that goes in between the terminals, so I took the train to my terminal. Then I had to go through Security, which had a huge line. While I was waiting in line, Mom was texting me, asking if I had made it through yet. She was worried that I wasn't going to make it to my flight. I was looking at my ticket and telling her that I still had an hour to make it. She was looking at the confirmation email from the airlines. We finally figured out that I was on a different flight, a flight that left an hour later than it was supposed to. United had changed my flight without telling me. I was so upset! We had made dinner plans at Papa Nachos, and I was really looking forward to them. I barely ate lunch because I didn't like the airplane food and I didn't have enough time to grab something to eat at the airports. I also was running on no sleep. I almost started crying in the airport I was so upset. I finally made it through Security and to my gate, where I waited for my flight to come in. It took me about 3 hours to get through Customs and Security. I was sitting at my gate, texting Dad and talking to Mom when there was an announcement saying that my flight had switched gates. So I had 10 minutes to run to the other side of the terminal to get to my new gate. Luckily I made it and boarded my flight. I was originally supposed to land at 9 p.m., but the plane landed at 9:30 p.m., which was 30 minutes sooner than scheduled. I was finally back in San Antonio! I met Mom and Joe at the baggage claim (luckily they had arrived at the airport at 9 p.m.) and got my bags. We couldn't go to Papa Nachos because they closed at 10 p.m., so we went to Wendy's instead. We ate there for a while (it is so good to finally have some American food!) and then we went home. I finally got to go to bed!. By that time it was midnight. And then I woke up at 3 a.m., because my internal alarm clock was saying it was 10 a.m. Italy time. I hate jet lag! At least I wasn't the only one suffering it, because Liv was also up because of it, so we started texting.
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This is my last day in Rome, so I was determined to enjoy it. There are two main basilicas that I haven't seen yet, so I decided to see them both today. I hope they are worth it. I had a lazy morning, since I didn't have to be anywhere soon. But I got up and left the apartment around 11 a.m. My original plan was to take public transportation there (I saved my last pass) and then walk back. But just my luck, public transportation was striking again, on my last day in Rome. Usually if there is going to be a big strike, I stay in my apartment (you never know if a crowd will turn ugly), but this was my last day and I was determined to see more of Rome. On my way to the San Giovanni church I was walking with my headphones in, listening to music. A random guy stopped me and asked for directions in Italian. I didn't know Italian, which I told him. He got directions from the person next to me. We were heading in the same direction, so he started talking to me. He was from Argentina and worked in Italy at a grocery store. He spoke Italian, but very little English. So he used his broken English and I used my broken Spanish and we communicated. When we were about to part ways he asked me out for drinks, but I told him I already had plans. That and I wanted to go to bed early because I have an early flight tomorrow.
I finally got past all of the protestors, and walked by the Colosseum. They had their Christmas tree up, so of course I had to stop and take a picture of it. I walked past it and kept on walking until I finally got to the San Giovanni in Laterno basilica.
It took me a while, but I finally found the Scala Santa. The building they are housed in is small, and doesn't look like much. There are also very few tourists there. I finally found a small sign, which was the only reason I found it. The Scala Santa are said to be the stairs that Jesus walked up in Jerusalem. Emperor Constantine's (he changed the religion of Rome to Christianity) mother was Christian and brought them from Jerusalem to Rome. There are wooden boards on them, so the faithful don't touch the holy stairs. The faithful also must climb them on their knees. It is also a popular penance for priests in Rome. I didn't feel like climbing them on my knees, and there was a regular staircase right around the corner, so I took that one to the top. I looked around a little bit (there wasn't much up there) and then I left.
I wanted to find some leather boots that matched my leather jacket, so I walked along Nationale looking for a shop. I found a couple of shops, but there were no boots that I just fell in love with. I figure if I am going to pay over $100 for some boots, I had better love them. I didn't find any that were the same color as my jacket, there were a couple that were close, but they were too plain in design. I even tried walking a little ways up Via del Corso, but I still didn't find any. I gave up and decided to go see one more church before going back to my apartment and packing. It took me a while to find the church, because it was very well hidden. I could see a path to it on my map, but when I tried to go that way there was a wall there. I finally found some stairs that led up and took them. When I finally made it to the church, I discovered it was closed. It would be another hour before it opened again, so I just decided to head back to my apartment. I wanted to go to this church because it had the chains that Saint Paul wore when he was in prison. It also had the statue of David by Michelangelo. They had a poster of the statue outside, so I took a picture of it. When I got back to the apartment I started packing. I hadn't packed at all, so I was throwing everything into my suitcase and hoping it would all fit. I threw away a ton of papers from my classes, so I hope I don't need them later. Olivia was also frantically packing. We had a lot of things to throw away. I don't know how they expected us to sort out everything and put it on the curb on the specified days. That would take a week of planning, and we didn't think to do that. Olivia and I ended up taking our trash outside and wondered down some side streets before abandoning it outside an apartment building.
At about 4 p.m. I called the van service that would be picking us up to confirm we had a ride to the airport, which is what they told us to do. I called what I thought was the correct number (there were 3 on the print out), and the lady told me that she had no record of a reservation for us. First I had to overcome the language barrier and keep repeating my name and how to spell it. She didn't speak English very well. She just kept repeating that she had no reservation for us. I asked to speak to her manager, and her manager had already gone home and wouldn't be back until the next day. I asked if there was anything she could do or anyone she could call and she told me no. So I was freaking out and worried that we wouldn't have a ride to the airport. I called another number on the print out. This guy also didn't speak English very well, and he didn't have a reservation for us. I was on the phone with him for a long time before he transferred me to the customer service department. I was literally on the phone with that guy for about 2 minutes, and he said everything was fine and they had my reservation. He was so laid back about it that I was worried he was just telling me what I wanted to hear. Apparently the company I booked with has different departments, and they don't communicate. In my researching I found an email address for them. I was about to email them when Hartford called me for my phone interview. Olivia took over emailing them (we figured that would be easier since they could Google Translate the email) while I talked to Hartford. I think the interview went well, and Olivia thought my answers sounded good from my end. So hopefully it goes well. After that was all resolved, we went back to packing. I got an email from the van service saying they were confirming that I had a scheduled pick up at our apartment. Then Olivia, Laura, and I went out for a last roommates out dinner. Janelle didn't come because she and Mike had already eaten. We went to a little restaurant where the menu was only in Italian. Olivia and Laura picked it out because they didn't trust what I would select. On the way there, there was an African guy beating on some drums, saying "I have weed, cheap price" to us. We ran the opposite direction. Olivia told me she would kick my ass if she ever found out that I had bought weed from a guy beating on drums at night. The dinner was very nice and we had a great time. Afterwards we went back to the apartment and finished up packing and cleaning. I went to bed around midnight. I am worried about my bags because they are overweight.
I wanted to see the Pope, so I waited through his address and blessing. It was a little bit chilly, but not too bad. The Pope would say something in Italian (or it might have been Latin), and then the different Cardinals would translate his words into several different languages, like Spanish, French, German, and English. So the speeches took a long time.
St. Michael is considered to be the patron of Rome, because he is credited with stopping a plague there. A statue of him was was placed on top of the Castel, but 3 statues were destroyed. This is the last statue that was on top of the Castel, but it was removed and placed in another location in the Castel to protect it.
The Treasury Room is right next to the library. St. Michael and Hadrian are on opposite sides of the vault, showing that the Pope is sealing together the worlds of the classical tradition with the Christian faith.
I wanted to go to the Purgatory Museum, because it was free and is said to have items touched by the hands of souls trapped in purgatory. I have no idea what they collect, but it sounded interesting. Sadly, it was closed when I walked by and I didn't want to wait for it to open. Next I walked to the Basilica of Sant'Agostino, but it was also closed. By this time it was about 2 p.m., and it didn't open again until 4 p.m. I would have just continued to the next church, but all of the churches were closed.
I spent all morning studying for my final today. My final was for my Art History class. It was supposed to be hard, because we had to be able to look at a manuscript and identify the name, the date it was produced, and the artist/writer. We also had to be able to look at different writing styles and identify the script and the time periods it was used it. Finally, we had to write an essay about a topic. We got our topics before hand so we could prepare for them, but we couldn't use our notes on the final. When I got to class, I did some last minute studying before the final started. I think I did okay with the manuscript pictures and scripts. I know I missed two of them for sure, but it was my fault. Professor Yawn warned the class that she would pull some images from the student presentations that we had to give, but I didn't believe that she would actually do it because it would be unfair to the class. Those students would have an advantage because they knew everything. Well, she pulled two presentation pictures, and I knew nothing about them because I didn't study the presentations. That sucks. For the essay, she gave us two topics to study for. She said that she would choose one of them for the final. One of the topics covered everything that we had studied throughout the year, so I thought for sure she would choose that one, so that is the one I focused on. The other topic address how to use science in manuscript studies, which we kind of talked about when we went to the Conservation place. I, along with the rest of the class, didn't focus on that topic because I was so sure that the other topic was going to be chosen. Then, when she announced it was time to start the essay, she had us pick a piece of folded up paper. That way half the class got one topic, and the other half got the other topic. I got really lucky, because I chose the topic I had studied and knew a lot about. I feel bad for the half of the class that got the other topic, because we had discussed it before the final started, and no one knew what to talk about for that topic. After the final was finally over, I walked back to the apartment to put my laptop up. Then I left to go to Vatican City. It wasn't that far of a walk, only about 25 minutes from my apartment, and I had no trouble finding it. Then again, all I had to do was follow the Tiber River. When I got to Vatican City, I had to stand in a long line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. The line stretched across the square. I though the line was so long because there was a lot of people in the basilica, but it was really Security holding everyone up. There were only 2 stations open, so that caused a huge delay. But I finally got inside.
I asked one of the guards where to get tickets to see the Pope tomorrow, and he said to leave the basilica, take a right, and you get the tickets from the guard there. So I tried to follow his instructions, but that meant leaving the secure area, which the tickets were supposed to be inside, according to the Internet. So I went back inside the basilica and asked a different guard. He said to exit the basilica and take a left, and there would be guards by a door, and that is where you get the tickets. I followed his instructions, and the guard at the door asked if I had a reservation. I said no, and I almost panicked because I didn't know I need a reservation. The guard left and returned with my two tickets, so I got very lucky.
Usually the villas at Tivoli are closed on Monday, along with the rest of the tourist attractions in Italy, but since today was a holiday it was open. Today was the Feast of Immaculate Conception. So Olivia and I got up early and took the bus to the train station. Then we bought a ticket to Tivoli. We had a little bit of time before the train arrived, so we swung by McDonalds and got some breakfast. The train finally arrived and we got on. The train wasn't crowded and we each got our own row facing each other. Then the train took off. It took about an hour to get to Tivoli, and then we got off at the train station. So we were at the train station, and we didn't know where to go from there. There was supposed to be a bus that would take us to Villa d'Este, but we didn't see a bus stop. Luckily, Olivia has a data plan on her phone and she was able to look up directions. So we walked to Villa d'Este.
After we had explored Villa d'Este for a couple of hours, Olivia and I were ready to go to Villa Adrianna (Hadrian's Villa). It is the other villa that is famous in Tivoli. If you go to Tivoli, you go to Villa d'Este and Villa Adrianna. The only problem was that we didn't know how to get there. The villa is a 2-3 hour walk from Villa d'Este, but a 10-20 minute drive. Online it says that there is a bus stop in front of Villa d'Este that will take you to Villa Adrianna. We looked around and couldn't find a bus stop. So we wondered to a nearby courtyard, looking for this bus stop. We couldn't find it. We even looked on our phones for directions, and nothing. Once when we were trying to walk to where my phone said the bus stop was, Olivia tripped and went down hard because she wasn't paying attention to her feet, but she was okay. We finally found a tourist information point, and we were excited because they could help us. That lady was the most unhelpful guide I have met in Europe. I asked how to get to Hadrian's Villa, and she gave us a sheet with the bus times which she casually pointed to, and then said the bus stop was a couple of street that way (she pointed). She recommended that we buy a bus ticket at a tabacchi stand. So we start walking that way while I looked at the bus times, and I noticed that the bus didn't come for another 4 hours. So we went back to the Tourist Information point to confirm that I was reading the sheet right (it was all in Italian). I was, and she said there was no other way to get there, apart from calling a cab, which she didn't have the number to. She recommended we go to the taxi stand. We walked there, and there were no cabs. I guess the cab drivers were taking the day off since it was a national holiday. Since we couldn't figure out how to get there, we just gave up and went to Villa Gregoriana instead. Villa Gregoriana is not as well known as the other two, but Oliva found pictures of it online, and she really wanted to go. It was on the way back to the train station, so it wasn't that far.
By this time it was about 2pm, and we hadn't eaten since breakfast. So we stopped at a little restaurant to eat lunch. The hostess that seated us spoke a little bit of English, but our waiter did not. This was a problem when we tried to order pizza. I wanted a dessert pizza, while Olivia wanted a regular pizza. After I pointed out what I wanted on the menu, the waiter shook his head and said something in Italian that we couldn't understand. He realized this and left to get the hostess. She explained that they don't turn on their pizza ovens until dinner time, around 7 pm. She showed us what food we could order and left. There wasn't that many options, especially since the whole menu was in Italian, and we couldn't understand most of it. By this time, both of our phones were about to die, because had used up a lot of battery by taking photos all day, so we couldn't even use Google Translate.
I ended up getting Ravioli, since I knew what that was and Olivia got some fish. She paid with a card, and I took that off what she owed me from Villa d'Este and Villa Gregoriana. Then we went to the train station and discovered that our train didn't leave until after 5 pm. So we sat at the train station for over 2 hours waiting for our train. They had a snack machine and a hot chocolate maker, so I had something to occupy my time. When the train was about to arrive, the Tivoli station got really crowded. The platform was also crowded outside, and it was really cold. We almost froze while waiting for the train to get there (it was 15 minutes late). But we finally hopped on the train. There were very few open seats, so we didn't get to sit together. But we arrived safely back in Rome and took the bus back to the apartment. Liv and I had set our alarms for 8 a.m., so we woke up. I was ready to get up to go to Tivoli, but Liv said if I let her sleep another hour she would not complain about how early it was for the whole day, so I agreed. I set my alarm for 9 a.m., and let her and Laura sleep in. Then we got ready and left to go to Tivoli. We got to the bus stop and waited for the bus. And waited some more. Finally we gave us and decided to take the tram to the Victor Emaneule Monument, and a bus from there to Termini. We were standing on the tram at a red light, and here comes the H bus we were waiting for. We didn't think we would have enough time to get off the tram and jump on the bus, so we stayed on the tram. When we got to the Victor Emanule Monument we got on another bus to to Termini. When we got to Termini we went to buy our tickets for Tivoli. However, the next train didn't leave until 2 p.m. It was about 10:40 a.m., at this point. (I later found out that the last train to Tivoli left at 10:20 a.m. We missed it by 20 minutes). We didn't want to wait for 4 hours at the train station, only to get to Tivoli and have to turn around. So we went to McDonalds to discuss our options. I was really upset because I was looking forward to going to Tivoli. Liv decided that we would go to the zoo, because that is something she has been wanting to do. She also thought it would make me feel better. So we got on a bus to the zoo.
We left the zoo exhausted. Laura's knee really hurt her. We tried to text for a taxi, but it wasn't working. It didn't help that we didn't know the address for the zoo. While we were standing around trying to decide what to do a taxi came by to drop a passenger off at the zoo. So we jumped in and he took us to our apartment. Then we went in and rested. I was still really upset that I wasn't able to go to Tivoli. I would have gone tomorrow, but they are closed on Mondays. Pretty much all of the tourist attractions are closed on Monday in Europe. I was planning my route for tomorrow in Rome, when Liv got really excited. She had found out that Tivoli was going to be open tomorrow because it is a national holiday. So tomorrow we get to go to Tivoli! While we were talking, Liv asked how I pronounced lawyer. Some people pronounce it law-yer, and others pronounce it lore-yer. We got into a discussion about accents. She told me to take a test on nytimes.com called How Y'all, Youse, and You Guys Talk. It asks questions about how you pronounce words, and they tells you were you live. This was my result: It shows the top 3 cities for my accent. The cities are San Antonio, Irving, and Plano. My accent is dominantly from San Antonio. Irving and Plano was chosen based on answers to questions about college. Irving and Plano are about 30 minutes from my college in Denton. This was a very freaky test! Who know that people could pinpoint exactly where you lived based on expressions you say and the way you say things?
I woke up feeling a lot better than I did yesterday. Liv and I had set our alarms for 8 a.m., because Liv, Laura, and I were going to go to Tivoli. But when we looked at the weather for Tivoli, it was supposed to rain all day. On a comment someone posted on TripAdvisor, they said that Villa d'Este was closed because of "extreme weather" when it was only cloudy. We didn't want to travel all the way over there to find out that it was closed. So we decided not to go, and stay in Rome. We still wanted to hang out and do something together, but we didn't know what. Liv wanted to go to the Colosseum, and Laura wanted to go the the Vatican Museums. Liv also wanted to go to the Vatican. I had already been to and paid for both places, so I didn't want to pay again. However, when I toured the Vatican Museums, we were rushed so I wanted to go back and enjoy it some more. I also wanted to see Raphael's School of Athens, so I agreed to go to the Vatican with them. Since we had more time, Laura and Liv went back to bed for a while. They woke up around noon, and Liv bought tickets for 2:30 p.m. at the Vatican Museums online. We left around 1:30 p.m. to walk to the museums. Laura new the way to the Vatican and she led the way. However, when we got there, Liv and Laura didn't know where the museums were. Luckily, I still remembered how to get there from when I went with Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall, so I led the way. No worries, we didn't get lost. I relied on my memory and the signs. Also, there were a ton of people trying to sell us tours for the museums, so we just had to look down the street at all of them and we knew we were on the right path. We finally made it to the museum for our appointment. It was a good thing that we bought the tickets online, because there was a long line to buy tickets. We got to skip it all. We went inside and up to the counter to get our actual tickets for the museum, and then we went in.
I finally found Raphael's School of Athens. I wanted to see this painting because I had learned about it in high school when I took Art. This painting depicts the idea of "Philosophy" and has almost all of the great Greek philosophers, like Socrates and Aristotle.
I set my alarm to wake up at 8 a.m. Liv and I had planned on going to Tivoli today. We both got up to get ready, and realized that it was raining. When we were reading the reviews of Tivoli last night, a guy was complaining about how they closed Villa d'Este because of "Severe Weather." There was no severe weather that day, it was just cloudy. That post was from 5 days again. If they shut down Tivoli 5 days ago because it was cloudy, we didn't want to risk traveling all the way over there when it was actually raining. After a while, the rain stopped. We still didn't want to chance it, so Liv and I agreed to move Tivoli to another day. So my plans opened up again. After yesterday's fiasco I couldn't decide whether I wanted to go exploring or not. I was debating on whether to try Cerverteri again, or go to Ostia Antica, or just stay in Rome and wander around. I finally decided to stay in Rome, and I told Liv. She was going to give me words of encouragement if I tried to venture out again, but since I was staying she decided to go back to sleep. Right after she fell asleep, I decided that I was going to take a risk and travel, so I looked up how to get to Ostia Antica and left. The directions to Ostia Antica were a lot easier than Cerverteri. All I had to do was walk to the Circus Maximus metro stop, which I did. While I was there I helped a couple figure out how to get to the Portese Market. Then I got on the metro for one stop, took the escalators up, took a left, and got on another metro line to Ostia Antica. Then I just rode that line until I got there. When I arrived I just walked out of the train station, and kept going straight, over the pedestrian bridge, and there were the Roman ruins. Easy!
All I had to do was follow the signs to the ruins. It was so easy! Then I bought a ticket and a map, so I wouldn't get lost. I walked through the doors into the ruins.
All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to the ruins, and was glad that I went. I loved the beautiful mosaics that have survived the test of time. These ruins were very similar to Pompeii. They are also on a smaller scale, so it is possible to see most of them, unlike Pompeii. There is so much to see in Pompeii, that I didn't know where to start. I still like Pompeii more, because it had more of a variety to see: place where the gladiators trained, different types of buildings, the bodies, Mt. Vesuvius, the Red Light District, etc. But Ostia Antica has its own charm, but in my opinion Pompeii is still better.
When I left the ruins, it was really easy to get back to the train station. I just had to keep going straight until I came to it. I got there and realized that I didn't have a ticket, so I had to stop and buy one. While I was buying the ticket, the train to Rome came and left. So then I had to wait another 30 minutes for the next train. When it finally came I got on it and rode to Rome. Then I took another train to Circus Maximus and walked to my apartment. I woke up around my usual time of 8 a.m. I had planned on going to Ostia Antica today, but when I started researching it I discovered that the castle at Ostia Antica is only open on Thursdays and Sundays, so I decided to wait for tomorrow. Since I couldn't go to Ostia Antica, I decided to go to Cerveteri and see the Etruscan Necopolis. The instructions made it sound easy: take the metro to Cornelia, get on the Cotral bus to Cerveteri, and then follow the signs to the ruins. Easy, right? Wrong. I looked everywhere for the Cotral bus station, and I couldn't find it. My instructions said to exit the station and follow the signs. There are 8 exits, and I couldn't find a sign anywhere. I used my data plan to Google it, I tried maps, I tried AroundMe. Nothing. Finally I tried to ask someone where it was. The first 2 guys I asked didn't speak English, and the third barely spoke it. He just kept telling me "2 stops down." I decided he must have meant 2 streets, so I walked down 2 streets while looking around, but I couldn't find it. (I later found out via Google that it was by the McDonalds, which was next to the place where I was asking directions, so he meant 2 buildings down, not 2 streets down. Cotral also doesn't have a building, it is just a tabacchi seller that sells Cotral tickets.) I finally gave up and decided to try the other Cotral station at the Lepanto stop. So I used another metro ticket and took the metro to Lepanto. The ticket station was supposed to be underground. I found an underground ticket seller, and I asked if they spoke English. She nodded so I asked for a ticket to Cerveteri. She sold me a ticket for the local Rome transportation. In other words, the wrong ticket. I gave up getting to Cerverteri by bus, so I decided to try to take the train. I used another metro ticket and took the metro to Termini. Then I bought a ticket to what I thought was Cerverteri. It wasn't. It was a ticket to the Ladispoli-Cerverteri train station, which is located in Ladispoli. Ladispoli is a town about 10 miles away from Cerverteri. I used my data plan again to find out how to get from Ladispoli to Cerverteri. I found a review that said to go to the bus station on Via Gaeta, which is 2 street over from the train station. So I walked to Via Gaeta, which was easy to find. Then I walked up and down the street, and I found no bus station. So I was stuck in another city with no idea how to go anywhere. I didn't want to keep using my data plan, so I called Mom and asked her to Google how to get to Cerverteri, because by that time I had been lost for about 4 hours. She called back with a number for calling a taxi. By that time I was done, I just wanted to go back to my apartment and pout. I was at the train station sitting on a bench. Across the street there was a taxi stand with no taxis. There was a sign on a pole with names and phone numbers of the taxi drivers. By this time it was 2:30 p.m., and sunset is at about 5 p.m., so by the time I got to the Etruscan Necropolis I would only have an hour or so to explore before having to return to Rome. Mom recommended that I just go back to Rome before it got dark. So I went and bought a train ticket to get back to Rome, and went and sat on a bench on the platform. This is me pouting on my bench. After waiting for 30 minutes, my train finally came. I hopped up from my bench and boarded the train. I found a seat and settled in for the trip back to Rome. I waited for the train to start moving. And waited, and waited. The train didn't move, and everyone was standing up looking out the window across from me. I finally gave into curiosity and went to look. There was a crowd around an old guy, and he had bandage that he was holding to his bleeding head. He was being interviewed by the police. I figured the police wouldn't show up for someone tripping and falling. The only thing that I could think of for the police to show up is if someone pushed him or someone mugged him, and then jumped on the train to get away. The crazy thing was that he was sitting on the same bench that I had just vacated. Since the train was being held up, I figured he got mugged. So I returned to my seat to wait for the matter to clear up.
After 15 minutes of the train not going anywhere, I decided to go to the door again and see what was happening. The 3 teenage boys that just sat across from me yelling helped my decision. I stood in the doorway looking out, and there were a ton of people on the platform. The guy next to me said something to me in Italian, and I just smiled blankly at him. He realized that I couldn't speak Italian and repeated himself in English. He said the train was too heavy so they were bringing another train. Right after he said that another train pulled up on the tracks across from us and everyone ran to the doors. I made the split second decision to board the other train and hope it took me to Rome. After all, what did I have to lose? The worst that could happen was that I would end up in another random city, lost, again. I don't know if the train being to heavy was the real reason for another train, and the guy bleeding was just a coincidence. The car that I was in on the first train was mostly empty, so I don't know how it could be overweight. But either way, the new train took me to Rome. Not as comfortably, because there were 2 kids fighting and screaming in the seats across the aisle from me. But I eventually made it. Then I had to take the H bus to my street. While I was waiting on the bus the sun finished setting and it was dark. Then I stopped to get some gelato and returned to my apartment. Liv wasn't there. She was inspired by my exploring and decided to go see the Pantheon. I got early this morning and took a shower, made breakfast, and left to meet up with my Art History class. I left my apartment almost an hour early so I would have plenty of time to walk over there. Then I saw the tram, and decided I would rather take that then walk. So I got to the meeting point about 40 minutes early. Since I had time, I decided to walk around a little bit. I started walking up Via Del Corso, but everything was closed. However, there was a little cafe open with a sign saying they sold hot chocolate. So I bought some. It was okay, but no where near as good as the one in Poland. Then I walked back to the Victor Emmanuele Monument to wait for everyone. Eventually other students started arriving. Of the 9 students in the class, only 5 of us showed up. We waited for the others a while, but no one else appeared, so we walked to the place. We were touring the Instituto Centrale per il Restauro e la Conservazione del Patrimonio Archivistico e Librario (ICPAL). ICPAL is the leading institute for the conservation and preservation of manuscripts. One of the girls in my class said that another student, Christina, was on her way but was running late. Professor Yawn told our guide, and she took us to a room to wait for Christina. We ended up waiting for about 10 minutes, and then continued on our tour. I was upset because one of the girls that didn't show up was the reason we didn't have this tour last Friday. This was the weekend I was supposed to go to Prague, but I didn't get to go because we rescheduled the event for today. The first place we went to was the place where they restore manuscripts. The workers were really nice, and wanted to show us everything. They only spoke Italian, so our professor kept translating it into English for us. The first manuscript they showed us was the Libro Rosso (the Red Book). This book has pages of all of the Italian coats of arms of the Italian nobility. A previous restorer had put an onion-skin-like paper on the images of the coats of arms, but it is acidic and it eating throughout the paper and destroying the images. So ICPAL has been tasked with removing the onion skin. The problem is that it is stuck to the page and cannot be removed, so they have chemists and other scientists working on how to remove it safely without destroying the manuscript. They are also restoring the book's binding, which is an original. They showed us how the book was bond and also showed us the damage that insects and bacteria have had on it. They had to take a sample of the bacteria to another lab in the complex to see if it is still active, or if it is dead. If it is still active, they will have to find a way to safely remove or kill it so it is not harmful to the page or to humans. They only spoke Italian, but I understood almost everything she was saying. She spoke slowly and clearly, and the words she used were similar enough to Spanish that I knew what she was saying. When I didn't know a word, she was usually pointing to something on the manuscript or binding, so I knew she was talking about that. I felt so proud of myself! They also showed us a way to flatten the manuscript without damaging it. They do this by putting the pages on a metal platform and putting magnets on top of it. They also showed us a small diary written by an Italian POW from WWI. They do not only work on manuscripts, but they also preserve recent materials as well. Modern works are harder to preserve, because they were not made to last. They were created to last for a couple of years, unlike manuscripts that last hundreds of years. Next they led us to another room that is working on cleaning a map on cloth. These workers were graduate students doing an internship. They were really prepared to receive us. They had pictures of how they removed the map from the wooden framing. They also discussed the methods that they were using in the cleaning of the cloth, because they don't want to damage the inked map. It was very interesting.
Next, we went upstairs to the Chemistry lab. The lady there spoke English, so Professor Yawn didn't have to translate. She showed us the work that she has been doing. Even in English, most of what she was saying went over my head. The bits I did understand was about the colors. One of the things she does is examine the different colored ink and plot it. When describing the colors of an image, they can't use subjective words because those are open to interpretation. So instead they use numbers based on the amount of red, yellow, and blue it has. She also bragged about the work she did with the Rossano Gospels. She was the one that verified that they used iron gall for dyeing the pages. She did this by buying some iron gall, and making up a batch of dye. Then she compared the results to the Rossano Gospels. When ICPAL presented its findings, a politician wanted an 'expert' to verify the work. When the 'expert' did it, they said it was another substance that dyed the pages, so she was very happy.
By the time we were finished with the chemistry lab it was about noon. Two of the girls had to leave. They happened to be the only other English speakers in the group. Everyone else knew Italian fluently except for me. Outside the chemistry lab was the digital department. They have been working on a project to put all of the notes and images that they have collected about all of the manuscripts they have worked with online for researchers to use. It is a huge project, and they still have over 4,000 files to do. The next place we went to was the Biology lab. Professor Yawn made sure she was close to me when we stopped, and then translated what the people were saying to me in a whisper, since I was the only one that didn't know Italian. Here, we learned about the different diseases and bacteria that attach itself to manuscripts. This department works at killing the bacteria without damaging the manuscript. They are also trying to develop a cost effective way to exterminate libraries without destroying the books. The last place we went to was the physicist lab. Here, they showed us how they find out the composition of paper. They have special light that takes a picture of it, which allows them to examine the paper under a high-powered microscope. From this, they can see what materials were used to make the paper. From this, they can find out the processes used to make a long time ago. They also make their own paper and test out chemicals on it, to see how it will react. We left ICPAL, which was sad. I really enjoyed this field trip. I was also really impressed with myself because I understood 50-60% of what everyone was saying while I was there. I understood more in the conservation department, but in the science departments I was lost. Probably because I hate science and don't even understand it in English. Professor Yawn walked us to Via Nazionale, and from there I knew how to get back to my apartment. I walked because I was hoping to find a mailbox for my postcard. Apparently I bought a special kind of stamp that can't be mailed from a regular mailbox. I looked for this special kind of mailbox, but I couldn't find one. I did find a gelato shop that sold cupcakes, so of course I had to buy one. The cake part was okay, but the icing was really good. When I got back to my apartment my roommate was mad at me. I didn't answer her texts or phone calls. She had called me 5 times and texted me 15. The power had gone out and she didn't know what to do. That meant the refrigerator was off, and destroyed all of our food stored there. Our other roommates had just left for Amsterdam when she discovered the power was off. Liv knew there was an emergency number to call, but didn't know what it was and couldn't go online to find out. She knew that I would have the number (which I did), but she couldn't get ahold of me. She finally found the number on the door, and they came over within 15 minutes. There was construction going on outside, and one of the workers had cut the power. We later found a note on our front door that we think was a notice saying the power was going to be cut off. But we can't read it because it is in Italian. But by the time I had returned the power was back on. I checked my food in the refrigerator . Luckily I didn't have much in there, but my milk had gone sour and my chicken (that I hadn't cooked yet) was bad. So I had to throw out both. Then Liv and I went to the store to re-purchase the things we had to throw out. I woke up around 8 a.m. and laid in bed for a while. Then Laura and I got up and went to breakfast. Janelle spent last night in Mike's room. Breakfast was a buffet with several options. We were the first people from API there, and we were convinced we were at the wrong place because no one was there. Then some more people started showing up. Around 8:45, we left and finished packing. Then I went down stairs to wait in the lobby. We were leaving our things at the hotel, so we could continue touring Florence. The hotel locked all of our stuff in a room, and then we left. Our directors led us to the city hall, which is also the Medici Musuem. We stood outside for a while, and then our tour guides from yesterday joined us again. One of the tour guides was really good, so she had a huge group. I joined one of the smaller groups. I saw my guide from yesterday heading for one of the groups, so I joined the other one. I didn't want her again. But then she came and joined my group, so she was my tour guide again. The big group got the whispers, but it was starting to rain again, so my tour guide took us inside without waiting for them.
This was a cool painting because this is where we were. It is celebrating an Italian national holiday with fireworks. The building on the left is the Medici castle.
After the City Hall, we had about 3 hours of free time before we had to meet up at the hotel again. I decided to look for a real leather purse for Mom for Christmas, so I went to one of the leather markets. I didn't find anything good there, so I went to the one by the Duomo. I walked along, and found a purse that I thought she would like. I asked how much it was, and the guy said 60 euros. I of course said no. He took me to his shop, which was located right behind his stand and we haggled over the purse. I finally agreed to pay 40 euros. The whole time we were haggling, he was flirting with me. Right after I agreed to the price, he offered to show me his workshop with some more purses, so I agreed, thinking it was at the shop. Then he started leading me upstairs, to what turned out to be his apartment. He showed me some more purses, and then showed me his bed. I immediately turned around and headed for the door. He was still in the room asking me if I wanted to take a selfie with his bed. I said no, but he still gave me a free small purse. We went back downstairs, and talked some more in his actual shop. He was still hitting on me, and asking questions. He asked if I had girlfriends, and I said yes, meaning friends that are girls. He meant girlfriends. Then he asked if I liked guys, and I said yes I like guys but I prefer hanging out with my girlfriends. So I think I told him I was bisexual. I then lied and said I had to go meet my tour group so I could leave. I didn't realized I had told him I was bi until I left, and then I just started laughing while walking down the street. I went ahead and headed back to the hotel, because I was done shopping. I got there an hour early and just hung out in the lobby playing on my phone until people from API started arriving. When everyone had arrived, we collected our stuff and headed to meet the tour bus. I was one of the last people to grab my stuff, so I was last in line while walking to the bus. I was sad because I was going to get a crappy seat. Then we got to the bus stop and our bus wasn't there, instead it was random tour bus. Our bus had to park farther down the street, so the end of the line became the beginning of the line, so I was one of the first people on the bus. I claimed my seat and stuffed all of my purchases in the overhead bin. I wanted to leave room for someone to sit next to me without all of my stuff over flowing the seat. Ryan came by and asked if he could sit with me because all of the seats up front were full of bags. Ryan was in my Finance study group.
We stayed up there for about 20 minutes, and then headed back down to the bus. On the way was a gelato shop, and a lot of people from API stopped there. I though about getting some gelato, but the scoops they gave were too small! In Rome when you get gelato, they scoop the gelato with a spatula. This shop had an actual scoop and it was tiny, but still cost the same price as in Rome. I wasn't wasting my money on someone who was going to gip me some gelato. We had to wait a little while for the bus. I talked to Alessio, one of the API guides, and told him I had bought an expensive leather jacket. He complemented me for getting such a bargain, because the one he was wearing cost 500 euros! In comparison, mine only cost 220 euros.
We got back on the bus and drove the 4 hour drive back to Rome. Right after we got on the bus it started pouring. But we made it safely back to Rome finally. We still had to walk back to our apartment in the rain, but I was glad to be off of that bus! I had to get up early today, because we had to meet at Piazza Trilussa at 7:15 a.m. We got there, waited for a little while, and then boarded the bus to go to Florence. I lot of people were missing (I found out later that several people went to Venice, and then joined us in Florence) so I got my own seat. It took about 4 hours to get to Florence, and we had a bathroom stop about half way through. After we got there, we went to the hotel and checked in. It was a nice hotel, but the only wifi was in the lobby. Then handed out the room assignments, but my room wasn't ready yet. The people who had the room last decided to check out late, so it wasn't clean when we got there. So I had to put my stuff in storage, until they cleaned the room. Everyone put their stuff in their rooms and then met back at the lobby, where Alessio led us to the Duomo. We agreed to meet back at the Duomo in an hour, and everyone left to find somewhere to eat. Alessio recommended that we go to the food market, because it was like Eatly, and it had cheap food. The only problem was that we couldn't find it. Instead, we found the leather market, so we looked around a little. I hate that the vendors keep trying to catch your attention. I just want to look at items in peace without them trying to bargain with me. I didn't want to buy anything because we still had a tour to do. I wandered around and found a lot of API students at a pizza shop, so I joined them in line. Everyone was getting pepperoni pizza, because the pepperonis were real pepperonis. So that is what I got, and it was pretty good, but they gave me a HUGE slice. I couldn't eat it all, so I ended up giving half to Ishmael.
We continued on, and she showed us some of the buildings that are left from the medieval times. The wealthy nobility built towers in Florence as a defensive fortification, which they building once was.
Next we went by one of the leather markets. Outside was this statue. If you touch the snout, it is supposed to bring you good luck. Also, you can put penny in its mouth, make a wish, and then let it drop into the grate below. I just touched the snout. There is no reason to waste money.
Our tour guide was okay. It was not the best tour that I have ever been on, but it wasn't the worst. She new her facts, and was somewhat funny. However, she didn't know anything about leather. I tried to ask her questions about how to tell the difference in quality, and she didn't really aster me. She just danced around the topic, and said to look at the price. After the tour she took us back to the hotel. My room was finally ready, so I picked up my backpack from Reception and went looking for it. I got lost in the hotel, because it was not a usual hotel layout. There were dead ends, and sections for employees only. I randomly turned a corner, and there was my room. The I couldn't figure out how to get the key to work. I kept turning it, and nothing would happen. I guess whoever was in the room before me double locked it, and that is what took me so long. When I got in the room, I claimed a bed and got my umbrella out of my backpack. I had heard some girls talking about how it was supposed to rain today. I'm glad that I did, because when I walked outside it started raining. The first place I went was to Michelangelo's Leather Shop. I had looked on Trip Advisor, and several people recommended his shop for cheap but high quality leather. When I walked in, the owner was talking with some of his workers, so I just looked around. Then he came and talked with me. I picked out a jacket. The original price was over 400 euros, but they were having a sale, so it was 245 euros. I talked Michelangelo down to 220 euros, which is about $280. The owner, Michelangelo, was very nice but very Italian. He kept kissing me on the cheek and talking to me. He wanted me to stay so we could talk. I agreed to stay a little while, just to be nice, but customers kept coming in. I finally got tired of waiting, and said I had to leave to go to a cooking class. Really, I still had 2 hours until my cooking class started, but I wanted to leave nicely. Michelangelo was upset. He wanted to take me out to dinner. He also wanted me to come back to Florence. He said he would pay for my train ticket, put me up at his apartment, and show me around. I told him maybe, when I had time. Then he asked what weekend could I come. I said next weekend I was going to Romania, the weekend after that I was going to Prague, and then it is finals, so I wouldn't have the opportunity to come back, sadly. Really, I am doing nothing next weekend, but I am going to Romania for Thanksgiving. Michelangelo then said that he would help pay for a plane ticket from the U.S. for me to come to Florence. I told him that I would email him with a time that worked for me (not). I don't know if it was the power of America or if it is just an Italian thing that make me irresistible to European guys. I really need to find another country to be from, because I get to much trouble from being American. My friend Ishmael tells everyone he is from Mexico, but then again he is actually Mexican. Maybe I will start saying that I am from Canada... I left the shop. My intention was to go back to the hotel and drop off my leather jacket, but I got lost. Surprise! It was such easy directions too. Go down the street, take a left, take the second right and the hotel was supposed to be there. I couldn't find it no matter where I went, so I eventually gave up and started walking around. I had another leather place marked on my map, Gioia Chiara, so I headed in that direction. I was able to find it easily. I walked in there and started looking around. The prices were a little bit more that I wanted to pay, but I knew it was a higher quality leather than other places. Two women from the U.S. were already there making all of their purchases for Christmas, so I had plenty of time to look around. They had a Buy 2 and Get the 3rd Item Half Off deal going on, so I decided to just buy everyone's Christmas presents there. I ended up leaving with 7 items. I am just sad that they didn't do monogramming. The only person I was missing for Christmas was Mom, so I tried to head back to the leather market, but I couldn't find it. The whole time I have been shopping it has been raining. I just got tired of it: it was dark and raining and I was lost. So I just went to a department store that was having a 30% off sale and bought Mom a purse there. I figure she will be more comfortable using it since it is not really leather. Then I headed back to the hotel once again, but this time with 3 huge bags in my arms and an umbrella, trying to stay dry. I found the street that the hotel was supposed to be on, but I couldn't find the hotel. I walked it twice before asking a waiter to a local restaurant where it was. He pointed at a building a couple of buildings down and said it was there. I had walked right past it several times today. I went up to my room, and relaxed on my bed for a little while. I had some time to kill, so I called Mom and Dad to talk for a little while. I couldn't talk long because I only have a limited amount of minutes. Then I went to the lobby to meet up with my group for the cooking class. Naike and Mateo led us to the class. It was still raining and dark, so I had no idea where we were. When we got to the place, they had a place for us to hang our jackets and purses. Then we put on aprons and washed our hands. We split into 6 groups of 6 people each, and started cooking. There was no recipe to follow, but there were 2 chefs that spoke English. So they would come to our table, show us what to do, and then move onto the next table.
The chef then had me and another girl peeling potatoes. After we finished peeling the potatoes, the chef handed us a hand masher contraption. You put the potato into the contraption, and then press down until the potato shoots out the bottom. Then we had to mash it some more with our hands (my picture). After it was completely mashed, we had to form it into a ball. Then the chef cut it into 6 pieces. We had to roll the individual pieces into balls, and then roll it into a worm. If it started to fall apart, we had to start over. After we had a thin mashed potato worm, we had to chop it into small pieces and put it into a pan. While we did that, other people in our group started rolling out some dough for pasta. They first had to put flour on the table. The chef asked Sarah to grab the flour, but she couldn't find it. The cooking supplies were labeled in Italian, and she didn't know the word for flour. The chef came around and grabbed the Farina (flour). Then he grabbed a couple of handfuls and tossed it on the table while singing "f-a-r-i-n-a" with each through. He was really funny. The other girls then rolled out the dough and put it through a contraction that flattened it into long strips. Then they folded it into thirds and put it through again. The final time they passed it through, they had to change the setting on the machine, and it sliced it up into fettuccine noodles. The chef took all of the items that we had made into the back, and brought back our cooked eggplant. We then plated them, and went downstairs to eat. Our group was the first one ready, so we got to choose our seats. We made the mistake of sitting way in the back, which means we were always the last to get our food.
After we ate, I had no idea how to get back to the hotel. Mateo, the guide from Tuscania, said that he would walk me back so I wouldn't get lost. But everyone from API was heading back to the hotel before heading out for the night, so I just followed them. Along the way we went over the Old Bridge again, which is really pretty at night. When we got back to the hotel, I went up to my room and relaxed a little. Laura and Janelle weren't there, so I waited. I had the only key to the room, and I knew I wouldn't wake up if they were banging on the door. But I didn't want to leave and leave the door open because all of my Christmas gifts were in the room, totaling over $400 plus my Mac. By the time 11 p.m. came and they were still not back at the room I decided to risk it. I propped the door open with my book and ran downstairs, where I gave the key to the receptionist. Down there I met some girls from API who were heading out. It was Maddie's (one of the girls) 21st birthday. They invited me, but I turned them down because I wanted to sleep. Then I ran back up to my room. Thankfully all of my stuff was still there untouched. The I went to bed. Today is the day we are doing Rome Up & Down with API. There is also supposed to be another public transportation strike today. Since there was supposed to be a strike, I left the apartment an hour early so I would be able to make it to the Spanish Steps on time. I decided to walk to Piazza Venezia, and then take Via del Corso all the way to the Spanish Steps. If there wasn't going to be a strike, I would have taken the H bus to Termini and then the Metro to the Spanish Steps. I start walking down my street and I see the tram pass me. I am happy, because they are not striking. So I get to the tram stop and wait for the next one. It comes and I get on. I decided to play Dumb American and not validate my ticket. The tram took me to Piazza Venezia with no ticket inspectors. I got off, found Via del Corso, and started walking up it towards the Spanish Steps. I took my time and looked in a couple of shops along the way. I finally got to the Spanish Steps and I started looking for Babington's Tea House, because that is where we were meeting. I found the Tea House and started walking towards it when a random guy talking on his phone tapped me from behind on the shoulder. I turned around, and it was Alessio, one of the API guides. He pointed me to where our group was standing, and I walked over. They were waving at me, because they were trying to get my attention but I was focused on the Tea House. Then I sat down and we waited. And waited some more. We didn't end up leaving the Spanish Steps until 20 minutes after we were supposed to be there. If I had known that would happen, I would have gotten some gelato while we waited. But finally it was time to go. We walked up the Spanish Steps and then Alessio led us somewhere. I have no idea where, I just followed the person in front of me. We eventually arrived at the Capuchin Crypts.
The crypts didn't take long. We reformed as a group outside. We were waiting on a few people so I went up some stairs to the church that is on top of the crypt. It was very pretty. When I walked in, the guy at the information table said no videos. I don't know if he meant no pictures, so I took this one as sneakily as possible. Then Alessio came in and waved me and some other people from API over. It was time to go to the next destination.
The next place we went to was the Victor Emmanuel Monument. This is the monument dedicated to the first King of Italy. On the way around the square, we had to stop because a movie was being filmed at the place we were crossing. I didn't recognize the actress, but her name was Sabrina and she is supposed to be a famous Italian actress. I have no idea what movie they were shooting. We got to the monument and had to walk up a lot of stairs to get to the point where we could take an elevator.
Along the way I decided to stop for gelato. I stopped at the alcohol gelato place because I remembered that they had a Snickers gelato, and I wanted a Snickers. I go inside and it has totally changed from when I went with Mom and Kendall. Half of the gelato flavors were gone and in their place was a candy bar. One of the flavors that was gone was my Snickers gelato. I also didn't see the Baileys flavor either. So I settled for the Mars, Frutta di Bosca, and chocolate flavors. Then I walked back to the apartment. By the time I got there, Laura and Janelle were already back. Olivia had found a cute trinket shop that she was going to show Laura and I. We waited until 4 p.m., and then went to find it. Olivia led us there. It was a cute shop, but didn't have anything that I had to have. We looked around for a couple of minutes and then left. We didn't want to head straight back to the apartment, so we just wondered around looking in random shops. Laura wanted to go to Old Bridge, and led us there. I have never been there, but it is supposed to be one of the best gelato shops in Rome. They also have frappe, which is the Italian version of a milk shake. We all got frappes. I thought it was just okay. I like my milkshakes to be really thick, and this one was really watery. Liv hadn't eaten in a while, and she was starving. She had tried a new Italian dish called barata, and become addicted to it. We found a little cafe that had it, so we ordered some. Barata is some kind of goat cheese, and you eat it on bread. Laura and Liv ordered a glass of wine with it, so they had wine and cheese. I thought it was good, but nothing to go crazy over. We ate, and then talked for a while before heading out. We roamed around Trastevere a little more, and then went back to the apartment. When we got to the apartment, I worked on submitting the Southwest Airlines summer internship application. I ended up applying for about 10 internships with them, so hopefully I can get one!
I hate my roommates at the hostel. I told both of them that I had to be up by 3 a.m. in order to go to the airport. I even apologized for waking them up so early. And what do they do? They decide to have a conversation about the different prices for train tickets from Budapest to other countries in Europe. The problem was that they were across the room from each other and I was in the between them. Instead of sharing a bed or one person sitting on a truck so they could talk quietly they decide to shout across the room at each other. They did this from about 1 a.m. to 2 a.m. I was so tired that I faded in and out of the conversation until they finally fell asleep.
I still woke up before my alarm, and rather than letting it go off and waking them up, I turned it off. I should have let it ring for a while to they could get as much sleep as I did. One of my roommates had mentioned that a couple in the hostel was leaving on the same flight as me. I heard them moving around in my room and go downstairs, so I rushed to get ready. I was hoping that we could share a taxi, but they were taking a bus to the airport. One of my tour guides had given me a number of a reputable taxi company, so I called them. The first person I got only spoke Hungarian, so she transferred me to another lady who spoke English. I tried telling her my address, but she couldn't understand me so she transferred me to a guy. He couldn't understand me either so I started spelling out the street name. "V as in Victor, etc." He went "Oh! V." I guess my V sounded like a B. After I hung up I went outside to wait. While I was waiting the receptionist came back from showing the other people how to get to their bus. I told him that I had already called a taxi, and he was like "you know how to do that?" We talked for a little while and he waited with me for my cab. It took about 5 minutes, and then my cab came and picked me up. The guy only spoke a little bit of English, but we were able to communicate. He took me to the airport and it only cost about $25. It was worth it. I got to the airport at about 3:45 a.m. There were a lot of people standing in the Wizz Air line, but I didn't see where the line for Ryanair was. My flight was supposed to leave at 6:20 a.m., so I had plenty of time to figure it out. I found the information station, but it didn't open until 5 a.m., so I sat on some stairs and read Lost in Shri-Lanka. At 5 a.m., I still couldn't find the Ryanair line, so I went to information and they told me which station was Ryanair. It still wasn't open, so I sat on some more stairs to wait. Ryanair finally opened at 5:15 a.m., and I was one of the first people in line. They only had 1 station open, and they were going really slow. Another Ryanair employee came up and pulled people out of line who weren't checking a bag. So I got my visa checked and went to Security. Security only took a couple of minutes, and I got out quickly. Then I checked the message board to find out my gate number and it said "46 minutes until gate announced." So I went and sat on one of the couches for 40 minutes reading my book. Then I got up to check the announcement board again, figuring that I would stand there for 6 minutes for my gate. Right beside my gate was the number and the word "boarding." I bolted toward my gate, worried that I was going to miss my flight. I got to where my gate was, and they were not boarding. I waited about 3 more minutes and they let us through the gate. Then we had to walk to another building and wait about 15-20 minutes. Then we finally got to board the plane. The flight back to Rome was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of turbulence, but we landed safely. I went and bought a Terravision bus ticket to take me to Termini. It was supposed to leave at 9, so I was like okay only a 30 minute wait. It was a 45 minute wait because the bus was late. Something must have happened to that bus, because I think they called up a new bus. Usually a bus comes from Termini, it unloads passengers and then the people waiting get on and the bus goes back to Termini. The bus that came had no passengers on it. Anyways, we filled up the bus and went to Termini. Then I had to wait for the H bus to come to finally take me to my apartment. It took about 2.5 hours. When I got back, Olivia and Marella were at the apartment. We talked for a little bit, and then Olivia went to class. Marella stayed at the apartment. After a while I went to the school library where I was supposed to study for my Art History test, but I ended up just working on my blog. Then I walked 30 minutes to MADE cupcake shop. Olivia has been having a lot of family issues lately, so I wanted to surprise her with cupcakes. The cupcake shop was located by Piazza Navona and little pricey, but I bought 4 cupcakes. Then I walked all the way back to the apartment, carefully balancing the cupcakes. I really needed to go to the store, so I walked to Conad still balancing the cupcakes. I bought the ingredients for my meat sauce, then went back to the apartment and made it. Everyone was out when I got to the apartment, so I was able to hide the cupcakes. Laura was the first one back. Eventually Olivia and Marella came back, and then Marella left to return to London. I let Liv vent about Marella for a while, and then brought out the cupcakes. Laura, Liv, and I ate the cupcakes while Liv told us about her weekend. I didn't think the cupcakes were that good, mostly because the frosting wasn't buttercream. She and Marella went to Venice, San Marino, Bologna, and a couple of other places. Liv spent a lot of money, and Marella told her that she would pay her back. Marella gave Liv 50 euros. 1 of the many train tickets cost 56 euros. In total, it was about 400 euros, and Marella gave Liv 50. Liv didn't know what to say, so she just took the 50. We told her that she had to email Marella and tell her how much it really was. Liv just felt bad because she was supposed to study abroad with Marella in Copenhagen, but because of family issues Liv is going to stay in the U.S. But she hadn't told Marella yet because she knew Marella would freak out. She is going to email her sometime this week and break both bits of news to her. After talking for a while I went to bed. I got up around 8 a.m., and left the hostel at 9. Then I walked to the Palace of Culture and Science to buy a bus ticket on the Modlin Bus to take me to the airport. I found the building and the booth, but I had to wait for them to open. I had planned on taking the 10:30 bus, but it was already full so I paid for the 10:55 bus. I had time to kill, so I went to KFC and had a chicken sandwich and fries. I can't get that in Rome. It was good. I enjoyed it, then went to the bus stop and got on the bus. I got to Modlin, and got through Security. Then I had 2 hours of free time. I still had some zlotsky left, so I went to the Duty Free shop and bought some water and 2 Snickers bars. Then I waited for the plane. The plane was delayed again, but it was only about 10 minutes late.
I got on and flew back to Rome. When I got to Rome I bought a Terravision bus ticket and waited for it to come. It was supposed to come in 20 minutes, but it was 15 minutes late. It finally arrived, and we went to Termini. At Termini I hopped on a bus to my apartment. I got to the street, but I had to go to the Guarini Campus first to scan the required reading for my Art History class. That didn't take long, and I walked back to my apartment. My only thought was to get something to eat, take a shower, do my homework for tomorrow, and then go to bed. I get to the apartment and Liv and her friend Marella was there. So then I had to be sociable, so no shower or homework. Marella seemed nice, but she was very hyper. We talked for a while, and then she went back to her hotel. Also, Liv cut off all of her hair! She chopped off 15 inches! It looks great! After all of the strikes this weekend, I just decided to stay at my apartment and relax for a day. I really enjoyed myself, and gave myself a break from all of this crazy traveling. Olivia has been having a bad week. She found out that her best friend's mom has cancer again, and will be undergoing surgery. She is like a second mom to Olivia. Olivia's dad is paying for her to fly back to the U.S. be with her friend and her mom. So she is going to leave on Tuesday, and come back next Monday. Olivia is also getting sick and has been coughing a lot. We were talking and she was saying that she had no food because she just came back from Munich and she doesn't want to buy anything because she doesn't want it to go bad while she is gone. I decided to make her French Toast so that she could feel better. While I was making it, Laura came in. She has been having boyfriend troubles with her boyfriend back in the U.S. and was also having a bad morning, so I made her some as well. I made the French Toast, Olivia made some tea, and we all talked for a couple of hours. We talked about troubles back home and future travel plans. I am traveling to Warsaw, Poland this weekend. Next weekend I am planning on going to Budapest. Laura also really wanted to go to Budapest but she didn't have anyone to go with, so we are going to travel together. So I finally have a travel buddy for one weekend, that should make everyone back home happy. After Budapest I am traveling to Florence with API. I was researching Florence and I found that it has an escape room. In an escape room you are locked in for 1 hour and you have to solve the clues to find the key and escape. I have wanted to try this since I came to Europe, but none of them allow only 1 person, I had to be in a group of 2-6 people. Laura thought that it sounded awesome, so she is willing to do it with me while we are all in Florence. We will ask our other roommate Janelle and her boyfriend Mike, and then some other people in API if they want to join. So I am really excited about that! After Florence I have a weekend off because of my Art History make up day, so I will probably travel to Tivoli and Ostia Antica, which are close to Rome. The week after that is Thanksgiving and I will be going to Romania. Then it is the weekend before finals so I won't be traveling, and then we go home. So sad :(. I have bought my plane ticket to Warsaw and booked my room in a hostel, so that is all ready. I also looked up free tours. There is a company that offers free tours and they are a lot of fun. The tour guide has to be really good because they work off of tips. They have 4 tours going on in Warsaw, so I am going to attend them all. They have tours of Old Warsaw, Communist Warsaw, Jewish Warsaw, and Alternative Warsaw. Now all I have to look up is things to do in Warsaw that are not covered by the tours, and plan my route. At 2 I walked to the Guarini Campus and met some people in Finance group for a study session. We worked through a couple of problems, and then I left to go back to the apartment. It was only 5pm, and it was already starting to get dark. Olivia noticed that the time went back an hour today. It freaked her out originally because she looked at the clock, and then looked a couple of minutes later and she had lost an hour. I met Olivia at the apartment and we went to the store together. She bought some chicken so she has something to eat for today and tomorrow, and I bought the last ingredients that I needed for my meat sauce. My recipe for meat sauce is the most complicated recipe that I have attempted so far. It took me 2 hours to make. I had to chop up an onion, and cook it with some ground meat. Then I had to chop up a green pepper (which I have never done before, I had to google how to do it) and add it to the pan with stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, rosemary, thyme, and some other seasonings. Then I had to let it simmer for an hour and half, occasionally stirring it. When it was almost done I had to cook the pasta. It is the best thing that I have made so far! I love it, but I probably won't make it often because it takes too long. I was able to finish a big chunk of my homework while it was simmering.
Today I was going to go to Ostia Antica. I woke up around 8 a.m., and took my time getting ready. I left around 10 a.m., and caught the H bus to Termini. The problem was that the bus didn't get to Termini. The bus stopped at a random stop on Nationale and everyone had to get off. I new the direction to Termini, but when I started walking that way I found a huge group of people striking. I didn't want to join their mob, so I decided this was fate saying that I shouldn't go to Ostia Antica.
Today is the day of the big strike that is causing so many conflicts in my schedule. My Art History class and the API event were both postponed because of it. I stayed in my apartment most of the day because I didn't want to get hurt by an angry mob. I finally finished my family's travel book with the pictures they took while they were here. That took me almost all day to finish, so they had better like it.
Then I went to the Guarini Campus to scan my Finance textbook. I didn't want to sit at the library and read it, so I decided to scan the 3 chapters I needed and read them at my leisure at the apartment. The problem was that the scanner in the library wasn't working. I played with it for a while, then told the student assistant. She played with it, then called in another assistant. That one couldn't fix it either, and she recommended that I use the copier. The problem with using the copier is that I have to pay for it, and everyone knows I am too cheap for that. Finally I asked if I could restart the computer and see if that helped. It worked! So I copied the 3 chapters that I needed and left. I was going to go to the grocery store, but since I am planning on traveling tomorrow I thought it would be pointless. I went back to my apartment and started researching where I wanted to travel to. I looked at places farther from Rome that I could make a weekend of, and I looked at places that are Day Trips so I wouldn't have to pay for a hostel. I decided to do a day trip because it was cheaper, and I settled on the Ruins of Ostia Antica. So tomorrow I will go to the ruins and then come back to Rome. The ruins are close enough that I don't have to get up super early to catch the train, it is a part of Rome so I can take the metro. We had to get up at 6:30 this morning. Mom and I woke up earlier, so we carried their leftover food to my apartment and then returned. When we got to the apartment we realized that we had forgotten the cold food in the fridge, so I cleaned out my backpack and took it back with us. We were trying to be quiet so we wouldn't wake up my roommates. We got back to the apartment and woke up Kendall and Aunt Carolyn. They got ready, and we did a last minute run through the apartment. I texted the cab company the address, and they sent a cab really quick. By the time we got downstairs, he was waiting on us. They got their things loaded and then left. I walked back to my apartment all by myself. I will really miss them, but I am ready for some peace and quiet. When I got back to the apartment, Olivia was there. She was awake and we started talking about our families' visit. She told me about her Mom's adventures here, and I told her about my family's travels. We talked for several hours. In the course of talking I told her that I had never posted a picture of her on my blog, so now she is upset with me. She threatened not to talk to me, but she wanted to hear about my family, so that didn't last long. She is also very disappointed that she didn't get to meet my family while they were here. Here is a picture of Olivia, my awesome roommate. All in all, I have had a very relaxing day. I have laid in bed all day, not moving except to get food. I researched grad school some, and narrowed down my choices to 11 schools. I will have to narrow it down further, but I will save that for later. Now I am going to start working on a travel book of all of the pictures for Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall. Maybe tomorrow I will start working on all of the homework I haven't done while they were here.
Olivia said she would kill for Thai food, so I looked up a Thai restaurant and we went for dinner. The place is called Kuriya, and it was very good. It was pricey, but better than Ci Lin. It was also dead, we were the only people there. Olivia said that every time she walks by, she has never seen anyone there. We had a good time, and then returned to the apartment. We were talking about her traveling, and I told her about the Tripomatic app. This is one of my favorite apps, because it shows you where the attractions are and maps it out for you. Apparently I have neglected to tell Olivia about it. I have recommended it to other people, but not her. Oops! So now she is upset at me again. I just can't win today. I really need to stop talking. We got to sleep in till 9 a.m. this morning. Then we started getting ready for our day. Mom and Aunt Carolyn were going to go to Pompeii to tour the ruins. Kendall and I were going to go to Capri to see the Blue Grotto. We agreed to meet up at the train station at 2 p.m. to go back to Rome. Our hostel gave us a complimentary breakfast, so we all had breakfast before we left. Then we went our separate ways. Mom and Aunt Carolyn started their journey, and Kendall and I went back to our room to finish packing. We finished a little after 10, and checked out. We were able to store our bags at the hostel while we went to Capri. The lady at reception showed us how to get to the harbor. We got there and bought a ticket to Capri. The guy pointed where to go but we got a little lost. Luckily we were able to find our way and made it to the boat in time. We were toward the back of the line, so we didn't think we would be able to get a window seat, but I was able to find on. The boat took off, and the gentle rocking put most people to sleep. I stayed awake but Kendall took a nap. The boat ride lasted about 40 minutes. The boat didn't leave until 11:10, so I new we wouldn't have enough time to make it to the train station by 2. I texted Mom and asked if we could meet later. She agreed because she and Aunt Carolyn were lost. I later got a text saying that they were taking a train back to Rome. When we got to Capri we walked down the docks to buy tickets for a tour of the island. There were 2 tours, the Yellow Line and the Blue Line. The Blue Line only takes people to the Blue Grotto and it is an hour long, while the Yellow Line gives everyone a tour around the island and the Blue Grotto, for 2 hours. We decided to take the Yellow Line. I told Kendall that we need to get on the right side of the boat, because when I had my boat tour I made the mistake of sitting on the left side. We had turn awkwardly on the boat, but at least we didn't get any people in our pictures. We sat next to a couple from West Virginia, and they were very nice.
After the Blue Grotto we went back to the docks. Kendall and I bought some gelato, and then bought our tickets back to Naples. We got on the ferry, but this time we didn't have a window seat. Kendall slept on the way back as well. When we got to Naples we went back to the hostel and picked up our bags. We asked the lady at reception where we could buy some nice leather boots. For Kendall's birthday I was going to buy her some boots, but she had a limit of $25. I told Mom and we agreed to go in together, so Kendall's budget was $125. I was going to buy them before she came, but I wanted to make sure they fit first.
The shopping street was on our way to the train station, so we just walked down it. At first, there were very few shops, but then more came. We were able to find a shoe shop quickly. Kendall found a really cute pair and tried them on. They fit and since they are leather they stretch. The ladies at the store were very nice, one spoke a little English and the other spoke none. We were able to communicate through my basic Italian and a lot of hand gestures. Kendall got lucky and the boots were 50 cents under budget. I paid for them, and Mom paid me back. We finished walking to the train station and bought a ticket for Naples. There were no tickets in Economy, so we had to buy 2nd class. It cost 7 euros more. At first we couldn't find the platform number, but we stumbled onto it while buy Dad a souvenir. We found our seats and took the train to Termini. When we got to Termini we got on the H bus. By this time it was 8 p.m., so it was dark outside. The bus was crowded and we were pressed against the window. I watched for our stop, but the bus went a different route. It was very strange. We were on the H bus, but it wasn't H bus route. I told Kendall, and we just decided to get off. We walked towards the river, because I could recognize things there so we could get home. We were taking a break when I remembered that I have the international plan which includes 3G, which means I have Maps. I looked it up, and realized that we were not far from the apartment but we were going the wrong way, so we had to backtrack. We finally made it to the apartment safely. Mom had made tuna fish sandwiches, so we had that for dinner. We found out about Aunt Carolyn and Mom's day. Somehow they missed the entrance to the metro station and just kept walking. They walked on the same road for 2 hours, when it should have taken them only 10 minutes. They kept asking for directions, but few people spoke English. Finally, they were able to wave down a cab and he took them to the train station. It only cost them 5 euros, so they were close but walking around in circles. Since they had been walking for a long time, they decided not to go to Pompeii and just returned to Rome. I felt really bad! I should have lead them to the metro station before going to Capri. While in Rome, they were able to finish souvenir shopping and packing. We all got up around 6 a.m. to get ready to go to Naples today. Mom was up all night, because her face was burning. Her face was all red. We think that she had an allergic reaction to the detergent on the sheets. I felt really bad for her, because she didn't feel well at all. We got ready and went to the bus station. From there we went to Termini and bought the tickets. When we were buying the tickets, a message popped up saying that there was a delay of 5'. I didn't know if that was a delay of 5 minutes or 5 hours. We were discussing it when a lady came up and helped us. I thought she might be one of the Indians looking for change. She helped us and then walked off, so I couldn't tip her. We got to the platform okay. While we were waiting for the train I saw the McDonalds across the isle. I was going to run over there to get some food because I hadn't had breakfast when the train showed up. I decided to forgo the food in favor of getting on the train. We picked an empty seat, and put all of our stuff in an overhead bin. We were just waiting for the train to get going. While we were waiting, an Australian sounding lady came up and said that we were in her seat. She showed us on our ticket where the assigned seating is located. We got up and ran down the train to the 7th car. We found our seats and got settled in. We had 3 seats of a 4 seat section. Kendall sat in another section. After the train started moving, the guy in our section got up and moved to another section. Mom and Aunt Carolyn caught a nap on the train. It was about 1 hour and 10 minutes. When we arrived at the train station, we got off and went looking for the metro. The hostel instructions said to go outside and get on the metro. The problem was that there was a lot of construction outside, so it took us awhile to find the metro station. Mom found a pharmacy, and went in looking for some allergy medication. She tried to pay with her debit card, but their card machine was broken. We left and got on the metro. We had some issues finding where to get on the correct train, but we did eventually find it. We got on and got off 1 stop later. Then we just had to walk up the street to the hostel. The hostel was located on the 5-7 floors of a random building. We tried to get on the elevator, but it charged us in cents. I thought we had to pay 50 cents in 5-cent coins. It took us awhile, but we finally dug out enough change. Kendall thought we were taking too long, so she went up the stairs. When we got to the top, Kendall was waiting on us. We went in to the reception area, and the lady at the desk was really nice. She welcomed us in and gave us our keys. Mom and Aunt Carolyn just wanted a nap, so she escorted us to our room. She told us to come talk to her before we left so she can show us some places to see. We got settled in our room, and Kendall and I took a 10-minute break. We decided to go to Mount Vesuvius, and then swing back to the hostel and pick up Mom and Aunt Carolyn to go to Capri. We went to the reception, and the lady told us how to get to Mount Vesuvius. She told us that we wouldn't have enough time to go see Capri, but that we should go on to Pompeii. We went back to the room and told Mom. Then we left. We walked to the metro station, and took the metro to the train station. At the train station we followed the signs pointing us to the Circumvesuviana Railway. We bought our tickets and started walking toward the train. When we got to the place where we validate our tickets, one of the gates was open and everyone was going through, so we just followed the crowd. When we got to the platform, our train was already there so we got on. It was crowded and there were no seats available, so we stood by the door. Suddenly another train pulled up on the platform next to ours and there was an announcement on the intercom in Italian. Everyone jumped out of their seats and started racing for the other train. We had no idea what was going on so we followed them. We got our own seats. The train we were on was broken, so they had sent another train. The train started moving and I tracked our route. The lady at the hostel said to get off at Pompeii Scavi, and catch a bus from there to Mount Vesuvius. When I had researched getting to Mount Vesuvius from Naples, the instructions said to get off at Ercolano Scavi. The map that we got at the train station said the same thing. We decided to chance it and get off. When we walked out of the Ercolano station, there was a lady there pointing to a building and saying they take people to the volcano. We went in and bought our tickets. The guy at the desk originally told us that the bus left at 2, but then later he came out and said 1:30. When it hit 1:30 p.m., the bus still wasn't there. Two of the people waiting left because they thought the guy was lying to them. At 1:45, the "bus" came. It was really an 8-seater van. The problem was that there were 9 of us. So Kendall and I were smushed in the back seat with another couple. There were 4 of us in a seat made for 3, so I was on the edge of my seat the whole ride up. Luckily it only took about 30 minutes to get to the top. At the top, a van was trying to back down the mountain. It was scary because it was in front of us, so our driver had to back up as well. Our driver kept honking and cussing the guy out. However, we finally made it to the top safely. The driver got our tickets, gave us a 90 minute time limit, and we started our treck up. Kendall was moving way too fast. She kept wanting to go faster, while I was dragging my feet. Where are Mom and Aunt Carolyn when you need them? They could have slowed us down enough that I wouldn't have to gasp my way up the mountain. On the treck we met some nice people from Indiana. They were funny. Kendall made a comment about burning off the burger she ate for lunch, and the guy said that we was burning off his whole week's food. Up ahead we could see a stop station, and they thought it was the top of the volcano. They were making comments about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It wasn't. It was just the first station. We took a little break and then continued on around the crater. The good news is that it was relatively flat from that point on. The bad news was that we were in a cloud, so we couldn't see any of the beautiful scenery. That was disappointing. We finally got to the end of the line and took a short break. Kendall bought a rosary, thinking that it cost 5 euros. It cost 15. She also bought a necklace, and then we headed down the volcano. Going down is way easier than going up. We got to the bottom with plenty of time. Our group was all down there, so the driver took us back early. Kendall and I were smushed in the back seat again, but this time with 2 guys in our group. We got to the bottom safely and went back to the train station. Everyone else in our group had to buy a ticket, but Kendall and I used the ticket we had bought previously. We waited about 10 minutes and caught the train to Pompeii. When we got to Pompeii, we had no idea where to go. We asked for directions and the guy pointed right. So we started walking and the entrance to Pompeii was right around the corner. We paid the entrance fee and then started wandering around. We had no map, so we just took whichever path looked good. After a while I started recognizing some of the surroundings from my tour. I showed Kendall the sights that I remembered. We visited the Red Light district, some nice fountains, the old baths, and the market places. Kendall's battery on her phone ran out about halfway through, but luckily we still had my battery. I liked this trip to Pompeii a lot better than my last one. With API our tour was so rushed that we didn't get to see anything. Kendall and I walked around Pompeii for about 2 hours. We only left then because it was getting dark outside, and the sight was closing.
I had class today, so I had to get up early. I had to take a shower and read my Art History textbook. While I was looking at the 8-minute question for the day, I realized that I was supposed to have turned in my topic for my manuscript essay on Tuesday. I hadn't even looked for which manuscript I was going to write about. I read the assigned chapter and took notes on it for the essay. Then I looked for a manuscript. I found one that I wanted to write about. It is "The Hours of Queen Elizabeth." The illustrations are beautiful. It was once the book of Queen Elizabeth of York, consort to Henry VII. It is also rumored to have belonged to Mary, Queen of Scots. I emailed my selection to my teacher and then went to school. I had to return the Art History textbook to the library before my Finance class. I sat through Finance, and then went to my Art History class. At the end of class I talked to my professor about submitting it late, and she told me that no one in the class had submitted theirs yet. In other words, I am good.
We got off the bus and Mom, Kendall, and Aunt Carolyn bought another day ticket. I had already finished the transaction in ordering and paying for the train ticket at Termini and was just waiting for the tickets to print when one of the Indians came to "help" me. They "help" tourist in exchange for money. The ticket system is self explanatory and I don't need any help. All he did was hold open the slot while I took out the printed ticket. Then he expected me to pay him for his "help," which I didn't. If I don't have a problem, I don't need any help and I not going to pay for help that I don't need. We went over towards to subway to the Spanish Steps, which is close to Via del Corso. On the way there was a pillar with a mirror on it. Kendall was busy admiring herself in the mirror, and walked into the edge of the pillar.
While we were at the Spanish Steps, I gave Aunt Carolyn detailed directions on how to get back to the apartment. Mom and Kendall have no sense of direction, so Aunt Carolyn was the best bet to get them back. Then I took them to Via del Corso and left to get back to my class. I got back at around 2 p.m., so I had an hour before my class started. I went back to my apartment to pick up my stuff, and I remembered to grab the box of Twinkies for Microeconomics. Then I went to the school and printed the review for Microeconomics and some information for our trip to Naples tomorrow. The Microeconomics review was really long. I printed 2 to a page and it was still 11 pages for the first chapter, and there were 4 chapters. I sent them to the printer, but it wouldn't print. So I sent them to another printer, and they started to print. While I was there researching how to get to Pompeii, Mt. Vesuvius, and Capri a guy came and fixed the printer. So all the pages that I had accidentally printed, started to print. So now I have 2 copies of my review. I usually wouldn't mind having 2 copies, but we only get to print so many free pages at John Cabot. Once we hit the limit we have to start paying .07 euro cents per page, which I don't want to do. Then I went to International Business. He gave us back our case study, and I got another B on it. No matter what I do I can't seem to make an A on that. The last case study I also got a B and I started working on it a week in advance. This case study I did the day before, and I still got a B. I was apparently missing an example in one question to explain something, and wasn't descriptive enough in another question, but that is really hard to do when you have a word limit. I talked to other people in the class and they also got Bs.
After International Business I went to Marketing. We had one group presentation, and I thought they did really well. Of course, I wasn't really paying attention because I was working on my Microeconomics Review. The first chapter alone had over 100 questions to review. Luckily, we only had one presentation today. We also got back our grades on the mid-term, and I got a 87. Not bad, but not great. I should be able to bring it up on the final. We only had one presentation today, so we got to leave early. So I continued working on my review. I was able to finish 2 chapters, so I knew which questions to ask about. I went to Microeconomics, and sat through the lecture. I tried to show the teacher that I had brought Twinkies at the beginning of class, but he was deep in his laptop and didn't here me. So I waited. After the lecture, he let us ask questions about the test from the review. When I asked my question, I held up the box of Twinkies. He got really excited because he had never seen them before, they don't sell Twinkies in Italy. He took the box and talked about how the whole class would eat them later. I had actually intended to give him 1 and keep the other 9 for myself, but I couldn't say that after his announcement. He answered my review questions, and then he gave out the Twinkies. There were 10 Twinkies and 19 people. So everyone split a Twinkie, and the professor took the whole one. A lot of people thanked me for sharing. Since it might have been the first time for some of them to eat them, I guess it was okay that they ate my food. I went back to my apartment and packed an overnight bag for the Amalfi Coast. I also grabbed all of the souvenirs that I had collected so far. Mom is going to take them home for me, so I can collect more. Then I lugged all the stuff to their apartment. They did not have as nice a day as me. They only went to a few shops and got really lost on the way back because they missed their bus stop. They didn't know exactly where it was, so they didn't hit the Request Stop button. If no one hits the button and no one is at the stop, the bus driver will keep going. So they wondered around Rome, lost. They didn't know where their apartment was because they were using the new map. They also didn't have the address, so they couldn't ask for directions. Somehow they stumbled onto to it. By that time they were too tired to go to the grocery store, so they just had left-overs. I looked up train tickets from Rome to Naples (Napoli in Italian). There was a train leaving at 7:30 a.m. and one at 8:45 a.m. I wanted to be on the 7:30 train, but no one liked my idea. We decided to shoot for the 7:30 train, but be prepared to accept the 8:45 train. I had today off of school, so more time to spend with my family. I had slept at my apartment the previous night because Kendall wanted to go out with my roommates. She came back at about 2 a.m. She woke me up long enough to tell me that Mike and Janelle were walking her back to her apartment. She also took the keys. Right after she left I fell back asleep. When I woke up later, I texted Mom to let her know I was awake and to find out when to come over. I wanted to make sure someone was awake before I headed over because I didn't have any keys. She texted me asking to meet at the grocery store. We went there and shopped for breakfast and dinner. Tonight for dinner we are going to make the Italian version of tuna helper. I have made it before and it is good. Then we headed back to the apartment. Of course everyone else was still asleep. We made breakfast again, eggs and potatoes. We had spices this time so it wasn't bland. After breakfast Mom woke up Aunt Carolyn and Kendall. I knew the Pope does a public blessing at noon, but I didn't know that it started at 10:30 a.m., and you had to get there at 8 a.m. to get a spot. In other words, we missed the Pope. We finally left around 12:30. On the way to the bus station, Mom, Aunt Carolyn, and Kendall were discussing ways to kill me for the insurance money. If I die in Rome, Kendall gets $100,000, and Mom also has death insurance on me. I told them that the Italian justice system is different from the American one, and they didn't want to be Amanda Knox.
We arrived at Piazza Venecia, and went to the bus station. I couldn't find a bus heading to Termini directly. I saw a bus that should have circled back to Termini, so we got on it. It led us outside the city to some area. By this time we were the last people on the bus, and the bus driver was leaving. It would have eventually circled back to Termini, in a couple of hours and our bus ticket would have expired by that time. Aunt Carolyn asked the bus driver and he said to take the metro (subway) to Termini. Then we couldn't find the subway station. Mom and Kendall just wanted to hop on another bus and see where it took us. They hopped on and Aunt Carolyn asked the bus driver how to get to Vatican City. He didn't really speak English and had no idea what she was asking. I clarified by asking how to get to Termini. He pointed toward the subway and we went that way. We bought each bought a day ticket for 6 euros a piece. This allowed us to hop on and hop off any form of public transportation. We took the metro all the way to Vatican City.
We rested a while. While Kendall and Aunt Carolyn slept, I made dinner. When it was ready, Mom woke them up, but Kendall didn't feel like getting up or she didn't wake up enough to understand Mom. So we ate without her and then Aunt Carolyn woke her up and she joined us. Everyone was a lot less cranky after they had rested/napped a bit. The original plan was for them to travel to Florence tomorrow. However, they would have to get up around 5 a.m. to catch the first train out. That would have them in Florence by 8 a.m., and give them time to explore. The wine tour was from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., which would have them back in Rome around 9 p.m. They didn't really want to do that. Kendall really wanted to do the wine tour, but decided to wait and do it in the Hill Country area. There are a lot of wine tours around New Braunfels or Frederricksburg. Instead, they decided to stay in Rome and go shopping. I have class tomorrow, so I can't go. After all of that was decided, I had to run to the Guarini Campus to copy Ch.8 of my Art History textbook. Everyday in Art History we have a 8-minute essay, which counts as a portion of our mid-term and final grade. In order to do the essay, I have to read the chapter first. There is no BS these essays. So I walked all the way over to the Guarini Campus in the dark. When I got there, the lady said I could check it out, I just had to return it by 9:30 a.m. the next morning. So I checked it out, walked back to my apartment, and went to bed. My family is wearing me out.
I had to stop at my apartment to get some things for school, so I sent Mom and Kendall on ahead to go to their apartment. Then I went to school for my International Business class. When I got to class, I rushed through reading the case study and did the assignment. Then I went to my Marketing class. I had a presentation over United Airlines Economy class. Our group presented first. I don't think our presentation was that great. I was the last one to present in my group, so I was waiting my turn. Then I noticed that no on was speaking and realized it was my turn, so I jumped in to present. I forgot that it was my turn. Oops! After Marketing I sat through my Microeconomics class. When I got there I realized that I had forgotten my box of Twinkies. Since my professor has never had a Twinkie, I was going to give him one. I thought about going back to my apartment, but I decided to wait for Thursday. It was good that I didn't skip class because I found out that next week we have a test, so the review days are Thursday and next Tuesday.
Then I went to my family's apartment and we, meaning me, cooked dinner. I made my lemon sauté chicken. As a side we had left-over pasta from Sunday's lunch. Everyone liked it, but it was a little too lemony. For dessert we had gelato. Then Kendall and I went back to my apartment. Kendall wanted to go out dancing with my roommates. I had forgotten that Janelle's birthday is tomorrow. I introduced them and stayed awake until they left around 10:30 p.m. Then I went to bed.
We found some stairs that people were heading down and thought that it might be a cut through. Kendall and I went down it first and looked around. It wasn't a cut through. However, Carcere Mamertino was there. This was the prison where St. Peter was imprisoned in before he was killed. Another famous person that was killed there was Vercingetorix. Kendall thought that Aunt Carolyn would like it, so we went back up the stairs to tell them about the tour. They thought it sounded interesting, so we bought tickets. The tour was really weird, not what we expected. It talked more about water than it did St. Peter. It went on and on about how water gives life, but prisoners were also drowned in it, so it killed people. It was definitely different. After we left we finally found a cut through to the street that the Colosseum was on.
I met with my marketing group. It took about an hour, and everything still wasn't completed when I left. Since the presentation is tomorrow, I hope everything gets done. After the meeting was over I hurried back to my apartment to get some spices we would need for dinner tonight. I hurried as fast as I could and packed everything into my backpack. When I got to my family's apartment, Mom gave me a slice of pizza. I was upset because I had stopped to bring everything over. The pizza had sun-dried tomatoes on it and it was very strong. Aunt Carolyn and I didn't like it, so we peeled the tomatoes off. I was really pouty because they had ruined my schedule. I had spent days working on that schedule, and they weren't following it. Mom sucked up to me by making gelato. I forgave them and then went back to my apartment. I have to get up early tomorrow for class.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |