The next morning was a Wednesday and the pope does a blessing every morning in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. So naturally we wanted to get blessed by the big guy. Trying to navigate Rome for the first time was hilarious and it took us 2 hours to figure out how to get to the Vatican, but once we made it we were golden. There were thousands and thousands of people there and we heard Pope Francis give a short speech. The blessing takes 90 min and we found out it is because each cardinal translates the blessing into a bunch of different languages. Good thing English was second so we could be blessed and head. The blessing is for all my families and friends as well so if you are reading this, congrats your blessed!!!
After the Vatican we headed to the Ancient downtown area of Rome called the Roma Forum and Palatine Hill. It was not was I was expecting at all and cannot believe that right around this busy metropolis of Rome is this ancient cluster of ruins that once was Rome. I'm glad that we did Greece and Rome back to back because it was interesting to see two ancient cities that are unlike anything we have in Germany or this part of Europe. We had a very good looking tour guide at the Forum and he gave us a ton of info in the old downtown.
When we were done exploring the ruins we headed across the street to the Coliseum and went into the gladiator stadium. It is so hard imagining this monster being filled with people cheering on men fighting for their lives or wild animals running around the mazes below ground. There is a large cross right at the entrance overlooking the arena to commemorate all who lost their lives there. Every year on Good Friday the Pope does the stations of the cross in the coliseum using that cross.
We tried some real Italian pizza for a little midday snack right next to all of the ruins. We decided to kind of wander after that and walked into a gorgeous church as well as saw some monumental government buildings. We found a grocery store after that and got some groceries for the rest of the stay in Rome. That night we headed back to the apartment and rested after so much trekking around.
The next day was packed full. We went to the Trevi Fountain in the morning, which was gorgeous and probably one of my favorite spots in Rome. We found some gelato and a spot to park it while we could eat our gelato and just watch the fountain and all the families and couples posing by it. We reluctantly finished our gelato and found the Spanish Steps that look like they extend to the heavens. One of the biggest surprises was when we tried to find the Opera house and stumbled upon a huge piazza with a gigantic fountain and St. Mary's Basilica. Of course the Opera House was cool but it was nothing compared to the shock that we had when we exited the metro and saw that area.
Vatican city and the Sistine Chapel was next on our to do list and we had booked a tour of the museum and the chapel because the tickets were sold out. The tour ended up being pretty awesome because there is so much to see and an overwhelming amount of info at the Vatican Museum. We saw some priceless art and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo's masterpiece right above my head. Wow there isn't much more to say other than that. It is a magnificent sight to see and no picture does it justice. We exited and walked right into St. Peter's Basilica with its statue of Mary with Jesus and the large twisting pillars that adorn the pillar. It is also an overwhelming sight to take in.
When the sun set we found the Parthenon and Piazza Navona. The Piazza was bustling and all light up. There were art vendors and a huge fountain of course. The Parthenon was also spectacular because first you aren't really expecting it when you walk around the corner and its more of a church than I was expecting. We headed back the Trevi Fountain afterwards to see it lit up at night and it was much more busy than when we had been there earlier that morning. We headed home after that to find that our water in our apartment had been turned off because the landlord thought there was a leak in the apt. So we had no water to make dinner or shower or even drink. Thank goodness for the guardian angel that was our neighbor. She spoke great English and explained everything that was going on. She even let us come into her house and get water to boil noodles and fill water bottles to drink. A couple hours later her and her husband along with Marcello somehow figured out how to turn the water back on.
The last day we were in Italy we wanted to see something outside of Rome so we strolled around Rome a little bit more and then around noon took a train to Pisa. We were enjoying a relaxing trip when all of a sudden our car on the train started to fill with smoke. The train made a stop and we got off because our train had started on fire. We were put on a different train but had to stand the rest of the way because the train was packed.
Tuscany was gorgeous and we had a lovely time shopping in the craft fair and grabbing gelato by the bridge. We found the Leaning Tower of Pisa and of course took all the touristy pictures we could think of. We loved laying on the grass and just looking at everyone around us and enjoying a gorgeous evening. When we finally got up we stumbled into the Cathedral and sat down a little bit of the All Saint's Day mass. This was one of the best and most extravagant cathedrals we have been in. On the way back to the train station we finally had an Italian meal.
We arrived back to our apartment in one piece and started packing and getting ready to go to bed and leave for Vienna in the morning. We were crawling into bed when all of a sudden there was knocking on our door and someone shouting police. We looked out the peephole and saw 6 armed Italian police officers. After much deliberation we opened the door and they started speaking to us in Italian until a lady came running down the stairs and telling us that everyone was going to be alright if we just cooperated. Turns out Marcello, the guy that we rented the apt from, was illegally renting out the apartment to people and this lady was the real owner of the apt. We had to give the police our passport info as well as all the receipts and documentation we had for paying for the apartment. We were allowed to stay there that night but the police left and came back in an hour with a locksmith and changed the locks on the doors. We did not go to bed until they left at 3 am.
Who would have known that these crazy things would ever happen to us......but next time you think u have bad travel luck just remember you didn't almost go to Italian jail.....ok well neither did I but I sure felt like it.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Chels
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