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. Today was judgement day, or that is what it felt like. I had 3 finals to take.
My first final was from 9 am to 11:30. I spent the morning studying for it and looking over my notes. The teacher really didn't tell us what would be on it. All I know is that it is going to be a case study. When I finally got it, it was pretty easy. It was a case study about Google in China and another country. It mostly talked about privacy laws in those countries, since they have laws restraining freedom of speech. It also talked about how Google handled it. The questions took me awhile, so I only had about 30 minutes to spare to study for my next final. My next final was Marketing from noon to 2:30 p.m. Professor Signorini had told us exactly what would be on the final, so we could study. I used the full 30 minutes, and then wished I had studied more. The final only had 2 questions. The first was a definition that we should know from a list of 3 definitions. We pretty much had to tell everything we knew about this definition (all of which were processes). I saw the sheet and realized that I didn't know 2 of the 3 well enough to talk about them. So that left me the last definition, but I kept mixing the term up with another process to the point that I didn't know which was which. I finally gave up and went with my first thought, which I had the most confidence in. (I checked after class, and I made the right choice). The second question on the final was a scenario. He gave us two scenarios to choose from, and we had to create a marketing strategy for that product. We had to discuss things like who was our target market, where would we sell the product, etc. I think I did okay on that. My last final was in Microeconomics from 3 to 5:30 p.m. By that time I was tired of studying. My current grade in the class is a 100, but the final is worth 50% of my grade. I studied a little bit before the final. I blew through that final and finished in 30 minutes. I think I did something wrong, because I finished way too quickly. I was the first done and then I left. On the way back to my apartment I stopped for some gelato, because I really needed it by that point. My roommates and I were going to split a cab to the airport in the morning, because it was cheaper that way. Laura was going to pay on her card (she was out of euros and didn't want to take out more) and we would pay her back. I made the reservations, and for some reason the company wouldn't take her card, so I paid for it. It came out to 10 euros a person. Olivia paid me back in American dollars, while Janelle, Mike, and Laura paid me in euros.
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 was sick all day today. I woke up last night around 11 p.m. to have diarrhea. Then Liv and I talked for a while, about 3 hours. We talked about random things. She went to bed at 2 a.m., and I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading. Then I woke up again at 5 a.m., to have more diarrhea. I didn't go back to sleep because every 1.5 to 2 hours I was running to the toilet. My stomach was spasming. It felt like I was in labor, because I would have a wave of pain that built up until it hit a peak and then it would recede again for a little while. Finally, around 2 p.m. I fell asleep. I slept for 9 hours straight. I only woke up at 11 p.m. because my roommates woke me up so that I would drink water. They thought I had died. They didn't know what to do, and Google was no help. Finally they FaceTimed Laura's mom, and she told them to wake me up to make sure I was hydrated. We talked for a little bit, and then I went back to bed. I was still tired.
I woke up and I felt terrible today. My stomach kept cramping really badly, but it was my last day of classes so I had to go. I went to Art History and sat through the presentations. Then I went back to the apartment to eat. I had lost my ID somewhere, so I couldn't eat at the Tiber Cafe because I wasn't going to pay 25 euros to replace it.
While I was at the apartment I worked for 2 hours trying to fix my group paper for International Business. The two Italian girls in my group did not know how to cite their sources, they also had grammar issues. I understand the grammar issues, because they are writing in another language, but the citing issues were killer. I had to keep going in and recite their sources. Also, one of the girls who did the economic stability of Nigeria didn't know what to write about. So she would just write one sentence stating the GDP or another economic statistic. The point of the paper is to analyze if this is a stable country. So I had to go in and look up a comparison statistic and look at the progress of that statistic over the last 10 years. So I was rushing at the last minute trying to get the paper put together. I could see Maggie also working on it in the Google Doc. It was a mess. I worked on it in the computer lab until class was starting, then I printed it and ran to class. I was late, but the teacher didn't notice. I hadn't even had time to upload my part of the PowerPoint. We got lucky that our group was chosen to go last. So I worked on my part of the PowerPoint while the other groups were presenting. Another girl in my group had never opened the PowerPoint and found out that she couldn't, so she couldn't upload her slides. So I let her use my Mac to do her slides while the other groups were presenting. We presented last and ran out of time, so I had to wrap us up quickly. During this whole time my stomach was spasming and it hurt, a lot. Then I went to Marketing, so I could get the review for the final. I decided I couldn't sit through Microeconomics, so I decided to skip that class. I am already making a 100 in it, so as lost as I make a 70 on the final I will still get an A. Before I left I stopped at the Front Office to ask about my ID, and someone had turned it in! Then I went back to the apartment to go to bed. I hope when I wake up my stomach won't hurt anymore. I worked all day on my paper for Art History. It is not due until the Friday of finals week, but that just gives me plenty of time to write it. I got most of my rough draft done for it. When I wasn't writing, I was planning out the rest of my days in Rome:
Thursday: school Friday: Tivoli Saturday: Tarquinia Sunday: Viterbo Monday: Bagnoregio Tuesday: Art History final and St. Peter's Basilica Wednesday: See the Pope and explore Rome Thursday: 3 finals Friday: Shopping on Via del Conto Saturday: Travel home! I arranged to meet with my International Business group to discuss our project and the presentation that are due tomorrow. We first agreed to meet at 6 p.m. but one of the girls forgot that she has a class at the time. How can you forget when you have a class, especially in the last weeks of school? So we moved it to 5 p.m., but another girl had a class that didn't end until 5:45 p.m. We still decided to meet at 5 p.m. at the Tiber cafe. I was going to be early, but I decided to stop for a gelato on the way. I was 5 minutes late and I was still the first one to arrive. A couple of people in the group hadn't uploaded their part to the Google Docs. We agreed that everyone would have their part uploaded by the end of the night, so Maggie and I would have time to go over it. I also gave one of the other girls pointers on how to make her part better. I have 2 presentations today, one in Art History and the other in Marketing. I got up early to work on my first one. It was close, but I had it ready by the time I got to school. When she asked for volunteers to go, I volunteered to go first. I just wanted to get it over with. I rushed through the presentation, because I had a lot to talk about in the short 10 minutes that we had to talk. Then the other 3 girls went. I thought that my presentation was the best. Two of the girls didn't really look like they knew what they were talking about. I got confused just listening to them talk in circles.
After Art History I went back to the apartment. Usually I don't, but today my International Business class was canceled because the professor had a personal problem had home (in England) and had to leave. So I enjoyed the time off, until I had to leave for Marketing. In Marketing I had my other group presentation about the Amazon Fire TV Stick. I think that it went off a lot better than our first presentation. We also knew the answers to the questions the professor asked us. After Marketing I had Microeconomics, and we just reviewed for the final. I got up at 4:30 a.m., so I would have time to make it to the airport for my 7 a.m. flight. I had no problems getting up and out the door. When I got downstairs I could not find the receptionist and all of the lights were out. This was a problem because I needed to turn in my keys and get my 10 euro deposit back. I had asked the night before and they assured me that someone would be there. Finally I asked "Hello?" and I heard someone start like they had just woken up. The receptionist got up from the direction of the couches, where she had been sleeping. I turned in my keys, got my deposit, and she called a cab for me.
When I got to the Fiumicino Airport I found were my bag was supposed to come out and waited. While I was waiting, an airport worker was going around my lane asking if people had come from Lisbon. The Lisbon Airport was also striking, which included the person who was supposed to load the bags onto the plane. So all of the people from Lisbon didn't have bags. It got worse, because TAP (the airline) was striking the next day, which includes the pilot that flies from Lisbon to Rome so they can't get their bags the next day either. So in two days, if they still want their bags, they have to return to the Fiumicino Airport to collect them. The system of striking in Europe is crazy! I am so glad it is not that bad in the U.S.! Thankfully, my bag made it alright.
I took the train to Termini, and then the H bus to the apartment. In total, it was about a 2 hour trip. Usually the trip takes me 3 hours from Ciampino. I got back to the apartment and chilled for the rest of the day. I also had to work on my presentations for tomorrow. I have 2 of them. I also started a rough draft for my Art History paper, which isn't due for 2 weeks. I also had a meeting with my Marketing group about the presentation for tomorrow.
After the boat tour I was really hungry, so I went back to my little cafe on the square. I had an omelet and a piece of chocolate cake. It tasted coconutty to me, but it was still good. My first waiter was really bad, and pretty much ignored me the whole time. Then the waiter I had yesterday came and took over. He was much better.
After the market we walked to the Majestic Cafe. This is an important cafe in Portugal. This is where people would go to talk about politics, and these people gathered together and overthrew the monarchy and created a republic in its place. This was a favorite place of J.K. Rowling, and she was witnessed writing on paper there. The Portuguese people like to believe that she was writing the Harry Potter series while there, but at the time she worked as a teacher so she might have been grading papers.
At a lot of places in Portugal you see colored arrows on the walls of buildings, on the streets, and other random places. Our guide told us that they were directions to pilgrimage sites. I guess people still walk on pilgrimages, because those arrows weren't on streets. I know the Santiago pilgrimage site is in Spain, and is a long ways away by walk. It is a day trip from Porto by car though.
We walked through a pretty park, and this was one of the statues. There are a lot of statues throughout Porto with this theme: a man crushing an eagle. The eagle was the symbol of Napoleon, and he conquered Portugal. So these statues represent Portugal crushing Napoleon, even though that really didn't happen.
Here is some graffiti done by 3 artists. The new mayor of Porto is passionate about the arts and supporting local artists, so he supported them. Our guide warned us about the local beer customs. If you are ordering beer in Porto, always ask for Super Bock. Never ask for Sangria, which is a local beer produced in the south of Portugal. Lisbon and Porto have a rivalry going on. If you ask for Sangria, depending on where you are, you might get beaten up. Or the bartender will deny that he has it. Our guide pointed out some popular bars and then left us. I enjoyed this tour a lot more than the earlier one, probably because we weren't walking up and down hills this time. So this time I gave the guide 10 euros.
I was able to find the Duke's palace pretty easily, but by the time I got there I was starving, so I got some French Toast. French toast in Europe is different from American french toast. The European french toast is toasted bread with ham and cheese. It is no concoction of egg and milk. I like our version better. At the snack bar where I was buying food I found some Doritos, so I had to buy them too. I didn't think they would let me explore the Duke's palace with cheesy fingers, so I continued walking until I had finished them.
When I got to the train station I found out that I had an hour and 45 minute wait for the next train. So I waited in the train station for awhile, and then I decided I was hungry so I left to get something to eat. When I ordered a cheese omelet, I didn't expect to get sides of french fries and rice. I actually liked the sides better than the omelet, probably because I couldn't find any cheese in my omelet. I finished eating and went back to the train station to wait some more. My train finally arrived and I got on and made myself comfortable. I was sitting there reading when all of the lights on the train went off. So I'm like, okay, I'll just read off my phone while sitting in the dark and hope there wasn't a power outage or something. Then the intercom came on and said something in Portuguese and everyone in my car jumped up and exited the car. I decided this was a sign that I was not meant to be in that car, so I jumped up and grabbed my backpack. Then I followed a guy from my original car to the front of the train to a new car. I sat down and made myself comfortable again and the train left. I was really glad that I had decided not to play Dumb American and I got my ticket validated before I left because there was a Fare Validator on the train. He checked my ticket 3 times while making his rounds up and down the train.
It was dark by the time I got to my hostel, so I decided to stay inside. When I got to my hostel there was a big group of people checking in before me, so I sat down to wait. After the big group was shown to their room, a couple went before me. I felt really bad for them because their bank only lets them withdraw so much money from ATMs before cutting them off, and Portugal isn't a big user of cards, so they needed cash. The hostel doesn't have a card machine, so they would have to pay in cash for their 3 nights, which came to over 100 euros. They wanted to save their cash and got in a big argument with the receptionist about this. They kept saying over and over that this wasn't modern. They only paid for one night and are going to find another hostel/hotel that accepts cards for their other nights. Finally it was my turn, and I had just enough to pay for my room and the deposit of 10 euros. The deposit I had to pay in small change, because I didn't have enough bills and I didn't want to go to the ATM. I also had to pay a deposit for a lock, but I will get my money back.
Then I went to the Tourist Affairs office and waited for my guide to show up. And waited, and waited. Finally I went inside and asked if they could call the company, which they did. My guide, Jao, hurried over. Apparently he had emailed me asking if I wanted the 9:30 a.m. tour, or the 2:30 p.m. tour, but I never got the email. My emails have been acting up this last week. I was also the only person on the tour, but he went ahead and showed me around.
Jao also showed me this medieval street. Back then, people living inside the city had to pay a tax to the archbishop based on how wide the entrance to their house was. So people would building long, tall, skinny houses, but put the door on the skinniest part in order to pay less in taxes. This house shares a side with the remains of the old city wall.
Jao showed me a couple of other places and then left me back at the city square. I gave him a 10 euro tip. Usually I wouldn't give so much, especially for a 1 hour tour but I felt bad since I was the only person on the tour and Jao was so nice. This building is the Arcada, which overlooks the main square in Braga. It is part of Braga's Renaissance urban development. It was used to give evangelical sermons and other speeches. One of the places that I wanted to see was Bom Jesus, so I took a bus to the bottom on the hill that it is on. Then I took this funicular to the top of the hill. It cost 3 euros, but it was worth it. The only other way to get to the top is by the stairs, of which there is almost 700 steps. I'm cheap, but not that cheap. I will pay money not to have to climb 700 steps.
I decided to explore Braga a little bit before I left. So I walked to the Convento do Populo. This was created at the end of the 16th century by Carlos Amarante. This is where he introduced the first daring neoclassical designs.
I found this little shop selling souvenirs cheaply. So I bought a shot glass and a pitcher for myself for 9 euros. I'm glad I calculated how much it was going to cost before I paid. I gave the guy a 50 euro bill, and he tried to give me back 11 euros in change. I don't know if he thought I gave him a 20 euro bill or what. I just looked at him, and started to say something. Then he spouted off something in Portuguese and gave me 30 more euros. I'm glad I decided to check this time, because usually I don't. I just assume they are giving me the correct amount. Of course, I usually don't pay in 50 euro bills, I just wanted to get some small change. One of the places I went to was the Chapel of Saint Benedict of the Hospital. This is an important chapel where many supplicants stand before the railing hoping for divine intervention. While I was there, several people were leaning against the railing and praying. I felt awkward about going in there to take a picture. I also stopped by the Igreja de Santa Cruz. This building was constructed in the early 1600s. My last church to see was the Igreja do Hospital de Saint Marcos. This church has several different architectural styles, including rococo, Baroque, and classical motifs. It was built in the 18th century. By the time that I had seen everything that I wanted to see, I was getting tired of walking and lugging around my heavy backpack. So I walked to the train station, which a little ways outside of the city gates. The guy I tried to buy my ticket from didn't speak much English, so he wrote out instructions. If I wanted to take the train to Guimaraes (pronounced Guim-a-rye-sh), I would have to wait 40 minutes for the train to another city, catch a connection and take that train to Guimaraes. All told, it would take about 3 hours. He communicated this by writing down places and times. Then he said "autobus 50 minutes." So I thanked him and started walking to the bus station. It, of course, was on the opposite side of the city by my hostel. It took me about 20 minutes to get there. When I got there, I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next bus out. So I sat and waited, and then got on the bus. I thought it would be a nonstop bus. It wasn't. So the whole time I was worried that I was going to miss my stop, because I didn't know what my stop was. Luckily, the last stop was the bus station, which is where I got off at (because everyone else was getting off). From there my hostel wasn't that far away and I was able to walk.
I talked to the lady that owns the hostel with her husband. She was very proud of Guimaraes, and told me all about the history of the place. It is a UNESCO World Hertiage Site and was named Capital of Culture in 2012. Every year a city in Europe is named Capital of Culture, so it is a big deal. It is from Guimaraes that Portugal as a nation was founded. Portugal's first king was born here, and they were the first city to rise up in revolt against Spain. She was very nice. They didn't have many guests, because it is the winter and considered off season. I had originally booked a 8-bed dorm, and she mentioned that there were 2 women from Malaysia there. Then she offered to switch me to the 6-bed dorm, where I would be alone, for no extra charge. I jumped on the opportunity, so I got my own room again. I went up to my room, got settled in, and then called Mom and Dad to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving. Then I relaxed, read my book, and went to bed. I got up and left the apartment around 8 a.m. I wanted to get to Termini early so I would have enough time to return the purse I bought from Accessorize in Florence. They have a store in Termini, and I wanted to return it and get my money back since I don't need it anymore. I waited about 15 minutes for the H bus, then took it to Termini. I started to wander around Termini, realized I had no idea where I was going and decided to Google it. I was going the wrong way, of course. When I got off the escalators I turned right instead of left. So I turned around and found the store. It was out of business. The sign was there, but it was dark inside and there was nothing inside. So, it looks like I got a new purse. Right across from the store was McDonalds, so I got some breakfast to go. Then I went and bought a ticket to take the train to Fiumicino. I got the train leaving in 30 minutes, because I didn't think that I could make the train that was leaving in 5 minutes. I still hurried to try to hop on that train, because my ticket didn't specify a time. As I am running up to the platform, the train is pulling away. So I have another 30 minutes to wait for the next train, and I eat my breakfast while I wait. Finally the train came and I took it to the airport. At the airport I didn't know where the TAP airlines was located, and I needed to print my ticket. I had been having problems with my email, so I couldn't print my boarding pass ahead of time like I usually do. Then I found a little kiosk and I was able to print my ticket there. Then I just had to get through Security and find my gate. I was 2 hours early, so I pulled out my laptop and started working on my Art History presentation. I also used the free time to figure out how to get from the Porto Airport to Braga. My original plan was to take the train, but while I was researching I found that there was a bus that goes there. I boarded the plane with no problems, and flew to Portugal. I really like that airlines. They gave us lunch, which was actually pretty good considering it was airplane food. It was a simple meal, just spanish rice, bread, and apples, but I enjoyed it. When I landed I followed the signs for a shuttle bus and found GetBus, the bus that would take me to Braga. The bus to Braga didn't come for another 40 minutes, so I sat down and waited. Then I paid 8 euros, and rode there. There was only 1 other person on the bus, besides me.
I got up and tried to take a shower this morning. Guess what? It didn't work. So we don't have hot water again, which means no shower for Cory. So I got out, submitted another ticket for them, and got ready for Art History class. In Art History we went over our project and assigned Thank You letters. We are writing thank you letters to all of the libraries we have visited, as well as to ICPAL and the authors of the 2 textbooks we have been using. Then I went to lunch, and found out that I only have 19,10 euros left on my account. Finally, it is almost gone. During my free time, I started to research Portugal. I figured out which cities I wanted to go to, and what I wanted to do in each city. Then I looked for hostels and booked them. Then it was time for International Business. We all worked on our group project, which I had already finished yesterday. Since I was already done, I worked on my blog and did some other things. Our professor has to return to England for some family issues and won't be in class on Tuesday, so no class for us! He will have a make up class on Friday to review for the final, so I might go or I might not. It depends on what I am doing that day. After International Business I had Marketing, where people were presenting their group projects. So I worked on my blog some more. Then I had Microeconomics. We started out with 7 students, including me. So he started reviewing past materials and I almost left. Then a whole group of people came in and we moved on to new material. Sadly, someone had fixed the clock, so we didn't get out early.
So I wake up and start making breakfast. Liv goes to get in the shower, and discovers that the hot water isn't working. So we have to submit a ticket to request that YPR come and fix our hot water. So no showers for either of us today.
I also found out today that Dad is in the hospital with pancreatitis again. So I Facetimed him and we talked for a bit. Since I didn't have school today, and I am leaving Wednesday for my trip to Portugal, I decided I had better finish my part of my 2 group projects. So I worked on those today. They really didn't take that long to finish. My original plan had been to finish the projects and then explore Rome, but I had to wait for YPR so I could let them in to fix the hot water. They have a key, but I don't feel comfortable with people being in the apartment without one of us here. They didn't come until about 2 p.m., and with sunset at 5:30 p.m., that didn't leave me with much time to explore so I just stayed in. My roommates came back from Amsterdam safely, and Liv's sister and bother-in-law landed. 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. My Art History class was canceled today because our teacher had a personal emergency. Yippee for me! Sad for my teacher. So I didn't have to go to class until 3 p.m. again. Not that I accomplished anything at my apartment, but I enjoyed the time off from class.
At 1 p.m., Naike came to the apartment to see how we were doing. She was supposed to come at 1:30, because that was when Janelle was coming back, but Alessio didn't tell Naike that. So Liv and I were still in our PJs. While we were waiting for Janelle, we all complained about John Cabot because none of us like our classes here. She also showed us that our oven is a gas oven, so you can light a fire at the bottom to help it cook better. Who knew? It does explain a lot, like how when we put food in the oven it doesn't cook all of the way. Finally Janelle came back, Naike asked a few more questions and left. I left around 2 p.m. so I would have enough time to copy the chapter that I need to read for Friday for Art History. Then I went to International Business, and Marketing. We continued with the case study in Marketing, so I spent half of the time working on my part of the group project. The highlight of my day was Microeconomics. When we got to class, he handed out a survey that we have to take. It pretty much just asked how he was as a teacher, and it is required by the school. He excused himself from the classroom while we did it, and then another student turned it into the office. She looked for him to tell him we were done, but he had disappeared. None of us knew where he went. After we had waited awhile 2 guys had a brilliant idea. They had one of the girls in the class act as a look-out, and then took down the wall clock and moved it forward by about 7 minutes. Then hung it back up and we were all sitting in our seats when the teacher finally came back in. Then he lectured to us the same thing he did last time when half the class was gone. I, of course, was there and got the first lecture. I played on my computer while he lectured, because I had already heard it all before. He ended up letting us out early, because he didn't realize that the clock was fast. Yippee! Another lazy day today. I had to get out of bed to go to Guarini to meet up with my International Business group for our project. My group was really disorganized. They wanted to talk about information they had found out, when I thought we were assigning tasks. So we ended up being there for quite a while. Then I started walking back to my apartment and realized that I didn't have my purse. My purse has my money, all my debit cards, and my passport. I ran back to the school and thank God it was still there and untouched. I had met Liv on the way to the school and she waited for me because she had forgotten her keys to the apartment. Then we walked back together.
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June 2022
AuthorThese are details from my adventures around the world. |