In the last three days I've: eaten a cheeseburger, a medium fry, half a loaf of bread (as toast), half a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, and two 20 oz Dr. Pepper's.
So much for being a vegan and staying away from gluten.
It's been a rough week.
I hate hormones and PMS.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
pioneer day
We celebrated Pioneer Day a couple days early this week. Mom had everyone come to FHE on Monday dressed in pioneer clothes. Luckily we have some from the different treks that family members have been on over the years. We sang pioneer songs at FHE and Mom told a couple stories about some of our pioneer ancestors.
I am so grateful for all my pioneer ancestors! We sang a song on Sunday during Sacrament Mtg, and then we sang it again at FHE. I love this song, but this year especially it has really touched me. It's been in my head this week. I keep thinking about it, and I echo the words. I bless and honor the pioneers (past and present) in my family, and all those who followed the call of the prophet and the Lord and did whatever they were asked.
THEY THE BUILDERS OF THE NATION
They, the builders of the nation,
Blazing trails along the way;
Stepping-stones for generations
Were their deeds of ev'ry day.
Building new and firm foundations,
Pushing on the wild frontier,
Forging onward, ever onward,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
Service ever was their watch-cry;
Love became their guiding star;
Courage, their unfailing beacon,
Radiating near and far.
Ev'ry day some burden lifted,
Ev'ry day some heart to cheer,
Ev'ry day some hope the brighter,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
As an ensign to the nation,
They unfurled the flag of truth,
Pillar, guide, and inspiration
To the hosts of waiting youth.
Honor, praise, and veneration
To the founders we revere!
List our song of adoration,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
I am so grateful for all my pioneer ancestors! We sang a song on Sunday during Sacrament Mtg, and then we sang it again at FHE. I love this song, but this year especially it has really touched me. It's been in my head this week. I keep thinking about it, and I echo the words. I bless and honor the pioneers (past and present) in my family, and all those who followed the call of the prophet and the Lord and did whatever they were asked.
THEY THE BUILDERS OF THE NATION
They, the builders of the nation,
Blazing trails along the way;
Stepping-stones for generations
Were their deeds of ev'ry day.
Building new and firm foundations,
Pushing on the wild frontier,
Forging onward, ever onward,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
Service ever was their watch-cry;
Love became their guiding star;
Courage, their unfailing beacon,
Radiating near and far.
Ev'ry day some burden lifted,
Ev'ry day some heart to cheer,
Ev'ry day some hope the brighter,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
As an ensign to the nation,
They unfurled the flag of truth,
Pillar, guide, and inspiration
To the hosts of waiting youth.
Honor, praise, and veneration
To the founders we revere!
List our song of adoration,
Blessed, honored Pioneer!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
revised bucket list and new goals
Now that I'm back from my vacation, it's time to update and revise my bucket list (since I've now crossed some things off of it) and to make some new weight loss and fitness goals.
My Bucket List
Stand at the top of the Eiffel Tower
Learn to scuba dive
Visit the pyramids in Egypt
Learn a language
Visit the Colosseum
Own a BMW
Drive a 1968 red Corvette Stingray
Get a stamp in my passport
Lose 50 more pounds by 12/31/2013
Go to gym three days a week
Complete Color Run 5k in November
Do Slim in Six DVD three days a week
My Bucket List
Learn to scuba dive
Visit the pyramids in Egypt
Learn a language
Own a BMW
Drive a 1968 red Corvette Stingray
Lose 50 more pounds by 12/31/2013
Go to gym three days a week
Complete Color Run 5k in November
Do Slim in Six DVD three days a week
Thursday, July 18, 2013
home sweet home
Last leg of this fantastic journey I've been on the last two weeks!
I am so incredibly grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime experience I've been able to have. Even though not everything turned out exactly as I wanted it to, and we had a lot of...interesting experiences, I wouldn't trade a second of it. The things I've seen, the history I've experienced, the memories I now have are all priceless to me. I can't wait to get home and put together my scrapbook and blog about this trip so I can always remember!
Last night we finally went to bed about 11pm, Utah time. I was SO TIRED, but probably only slept about 5 hours. My body was achey from our travels, it was a new and unfamiliar bed, and Kristy had a really loud clock ticking in her room. But at least I got a few hours in. I'm going to try to stay up all day today and then probably go to bed early tonight so I can get back on my normal sleep schedule as soon as possible.
Luckily, I don't have to go back to work until Monday (which I planned on purpose), so I have the next few days to sleep and recover.
I woke up one time last night, it was still dark and I sat up in bed, still half asleep, and kind of freaked out because I didn't know where I was. Eventually my brain woke up enough for me to remember I was at Kristy's apartment and I went back to sleep for a little bit.
We got up about 7:15am, got ready, and left her apartment to get me to the Provo airport on time. We stopped at Carl's Jr. for a quick, unhealthy, non-vegan, non-gluten free, All American breakfast. I seriously need to go on a juice cleanse or something the next 3 days to detox from this trip and get back on track with my weight loss goals.
We got to the tiny Provo airport with plenty of time to spare. Just a couple more hours and I'll be home!
I wonder what amazing travel adventure I'll go on next...
Julia and I are planning a trip to Orlando, FL/Disneyworld next year sometime, and she's looking into doing a study abroad semester in Ireland next summer. Maybe I'll fly over and meet her when she's done. That would be so cool!
When we were planning this trip and bought our tickets, Kristy told me I would want to travel all the time once we were done. She was right. Granted, I don't want to travel anywhere right this second, but I definitely want to start planning my next trip. There were several things we didn't get to do in Paris that I would love to do = the Opera house, go back to the Louvre on a day when it's not a million and a half degrees and when there aren't so many tourists, etc. There was also a church called Sacre Coeur, or "the balcony of Paris" that several people told us to go to, but we ran out of time. Plus, our hotel was so awesome I want to go back. So, Paris is definitely on my list of places to go/go back to. Ireland is on the list, along with Scotland and England. I want to go to Australia, go on an Alaskan cruise, and Egypt (although this last one may have to wait until the Millennium when it's not so scary and unsafe...). There were things in Rome that we didn't get to see, but right now I don't care and don't think I'll ever go back. Maybe some other places in Italy - like Florence, or Venice, or into the Tuscan countryside. I'd also like to go to Switzerland and up into The Alps. There are so many beautiful and amazing placed in this world to visit and see!
The flight from Provo to Mesa was uneventful and quick (relatively speaking compared to the long flights yesterday). It was so good to finally be home!
I am so incredibly grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime experience I've been able to have. Even though not everything turned out exactly as I wanted it to, and we had a lot of...interesting experiences, I wouldn't trade a second of it. The things I've seen, the history I've experienced, the memories I now have are all priceless to me. I can't wait to get home and put together my scrapbook and blog about this trip so I can always remember!
Last night we finally went to bed about 11pm, Utah time. I was SO TIRED, but probably only slept about 5 hours. My body was achey from our travels, it was a new and unfamiliar bed, and Kristy had a really loud clock ticking in her room. But at least I got a few hours in. I'm going to try to stay up all day today and then probably go to bed early tonight so I can get back on my normal sleep schedule as soon as possible.
Luckily, I don't have to go back to work until Monday (which I planned on purpose), so I have the next few days to sleep and recover.
I woke up one time last night, it was still dark and I sat up in bed, still half asleep, and kind of freaked out because I didn't know where I was. Eventually my brain woke up enough for me to remember I was at Kristy's apartment and I went back to sleep for a little bit.
We got up about 7:15am, got ready, and left her apartment to get me to the Provo airport on time. We stopped at Carl's Jr. for a quick, unhealthy, non-vegan, non-gluten free, All American breakfast. I seriously need to go on a juice cleanse or something the next 3 days to detox from this trip and get back on track with my weight loss goals.
We got to the tiny Provo airport with plenty of time to spare. Just a couple more hours and I'll be home!
I wonder what amazing travel adventure I'll go on next...
Julia and I are planning a trip to Orlando, FL/Disneyworld next year sometime, and she's looking into doing a study abroad semester in Ireland next summer. Maybe I'll fly over and meet her when she's done. That would be so cool!
When we were planning this trip and bought our tickets, Kristy told me I would want to travel all the time once we were done. She was right. Granted, I don't want to travel anywhere right this second, but I definitely want to start planning my next trip. There were several things we didn't get to do in Paris that I would love to do = the Opera house, go back to the Louvre on a day when it's not a million and a half degrees and when there aren't so many tourists, etc. There was also a church called Sacre Coeur, or "the balcony of Paris" that several people told us to go to, but we ran out of time. Plus, our hotel was so awesome I want to go back. So, Paris is definitely on my list of places to go/go back to. Ireland is on the list, along with Scotland and England. I want to go to Australia, go on an Alaskan cruise, and Egypt (although this last one may have to wait until the Millennium when it's not so scary and unsafe...). There were things in Rome that we didn't get to see, but right now I don't care and don't think I'll ever go back. Maybe some other places in Italy - like Florence, or Venice, or into the Tuscan countryside. I'd also like to go to Switzerland and up into The Alps. There are so many beautiful and amazing placed in this world to visit and see!
The flight from Provo to Mesa was uneventful and quick (relatively speaking compared to the long flights yesterday). It was so good to finally be home!
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
endings are always sad
The adventure is coming to an end. I was really sad and didn't want to leave Paris last weekend, but today I am anxious to go home.
We had to get up really early this morning in order to check out and be ready for the driver that was coming to pick us up and take us to the airport. (The best money we spent on this trip was getting drivers to and from the airport in both cities!) The alarm wen toff at 6am. WAY too early! I drug myself out of bed and got dressed. We went down to get some breakfast then finally were all packed up. We checked out and found our driver was already waiting for us, even though we were ready before the 8am pick-up time. This morning's driver was much more personable and friendly than the one who picked us up at the airport on Saturday. He asked how our trip was and we talked about the things we'd seen. He showed us a few more sights on our way out of town and pointed our others. Very nice.
Once at the airport it took a little figuring out to find where we were supposed to check in. Eventually we found the right line then made our way to security. Holy long lines! The Rome airport is the craziest, most disorganized mess I've ever seen in my entire life!! But, we made it through even though they wanted to search Kristy's carry-on bag.
We made a pit stop at the bathroom, and then at a couple gift shops to make a few last minutes souvenir purchases then headed down to our gate. We got a really good panini at a sandwich place by our gate then stood in line with everyone else going to Boston today (we had a 3 hour layover in Boston before flying to Salt Lake).
Finally, they started letting us board...a bus.
Once again, we were on a bus, this time going to our plane out on the tarmac. We found our seat. Turns out we were not sitting next to each other, but we were the only two in our row of 4 seats. It was REALLY nice to have so much space and not feel crowded and squished up next to the person beside me. We both slept for a couple hours, after they fed us (an interesting veggie lasagna and some fruit...kind of good but mostly gross...). Then we watched the two movies they showed: "Jack Reacher" and "I Don't Know How She Does It." I liked the second one. I did not like the first one.
They fed us another meal about an hour after the second film (if you can call it a meal) of a small piece of yellow cake with apple pieces in it and powdered sugar on top and a BIG piece of foccia bread with some sort of shredded cheeses and veggies on top. It was fine, but at that point I was hungry for real food, since I hadn't eaten very much of the lasagna earlier. I played a couple games of Candy Crush on my Ipod then we finally landed in Boston.
Finally back in the U.S.A!!!
So glad to almost be home!
We went through customs and got our bags rechecked for our connecting flight to Salt Lake. While at customs the Boarder Control Agent was asking me different questions about my trip and I started freezing up and having a brain fart! He asked me how long our trip had been and I couldn't remember! I just kept thinking, "Don't ask me anything else. I'm not a criminal I swear! I'm just not a very good test taker!!" Finally, he let me through. Whew!
I've never been to Boston before. Now I can say I have.
We discovered, after going through all the customs stuff and rechecking of our bags that our flight from Rome had landed on one end of the airport and the terminal for our flight to Salt Lake was clear across at the other end. It felt like we walked across the entire city of Boston to get to our second flight! On the way we mad a pit stop, I bought a magnet to show I've been to Boston, and we got some dinner. We decided to go to Fuddruckers. It was nice to have such a long time between flights so we could take our time and not feel like we had to run from one gate to the other.
Something random and unique about the Boston airport: There is a big, white, wooden rocking chair at every gate by the other seats. Weird.
Our flight out got changed to a different gate down the terminal due to a weather delay with the flight that was at the gate before our flight. At this point, however, we were both more than a little punch drunk due to sleep deprivation and we were getting giggly at the gate. People were probably wondering if we were drunk. Our flight from Boston to Salt Lake was delayed about 20 minutes and was SUPER crowded! I felt like we were back on those trains going to Pompeii where we were squished in like sardines. Remember how we just had an entire row to ourselves on the way over here from Rome? That was nice. Once we were on the plane we taxied for a little bit, then were told over the intercom by the captain that we would be sitting for about 15 minutes due to traffic and waiting time for us to take off. UGH! Just let me go home!
At this point we'd been up for about 18.5 hours. I was exhausted. Next time I do this I am NOT having any layovers and I'm flying first class so I don't have to worry about being in someone's bubble and so I have one of those cool chairs that turns into a bed for overnight/cross-Atlantic flights. The plane was warm as we sat on the tarmac, but we've survived a week of places that were way hotter than it, so it wasn't that bad. I wanted to just close my eyes and sleep for about a week, but I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to sleep when we got to Salt Lake and back to Kristy's apartment. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to getting home tomorrow and being able to sleep in my own bed again!!
Things I will never take for granted again after this trip:
-Being some place where everyone speaks my language
-Never having to worry about someone pick pocketing me, or snatching my purse
I'm going to have to go through a serious detox once I'm home. I have eaten nothing but gluten and animal products for the last week and a half. It's been awesome! But, I need to get back to my usual routine which isn't going to be fun. I'm interested in seeing what the scale says when I finally get home. I wonder how much damage I did on this trip...
We finally took off but there was a SCREAMING baby in the row in front of us the ENTIRE time. Annoying. But, I tried to remain patient because I know how hard it can be to travel with little ones. Remind me never to fly when I have a baby.
Have I mentioned how tired I was at this point??
This was probably the WORST flight of my life! Five hours has never gone by so slowly, and the screaming child didn't help matters. They did show a movie, "Admission," which I wanted to see and started watching but I was SO TIRED, I couldn't keep my eyes opened and ended up falling asleep about halfway through. I slept for maybe 45 minutes, then was woken up again by the crying baby.
I've been awake now for 23 hours.
My restless legs are twitchy and being annoying.
My ankles are swollen.
I'm dirty.
And I wanted to strangle this screaming child.
Luckily, we eventually landed but then we still had to wait for our bags and Kristy's roommate to pick us up. Finally we made it back to Kristy's apartment in Pleasant Grove. I threw an outfit into the washer so I wouldn't totally stink everyone out on the plane to Mesa tomorrow and we both crashed. Finally get to sleep!!
We had to get up really early this morning in order to check out and be ready for the driver that was coming to pick us up and take us to the airport. (The best money we spent on this trip was getting drivers to and from the airport in both cities!) The alarm wen toff at 6am. WAY too early! I drug myself out of bed and got dressed. We went down to get some breakfast then finally were all packed up. We checked out and found our driver was already waiting for us, even though we were ready before the 8am pick-up time. This morning's driver was much more personable and friendly than the one who picked us up at the airport on Saturday. He asked how our trip was and we talked about the things we'd seen. He showed us a few more sights on our way out of town and pointed our others. Very nice.
Once at the airport it took a little figuring out to find where we were supposed to check in. Eventually we found the right line then made our way to security. Holy long lines! The Rome airport is the craziest, most disorganized mess I've ever seen in my entire life!! But, we made it through even though they wanted to search Kristy's carry-on bag.
We made a pit stop at the bathroom, and then at a couple gift shops to make a few last minutes souvenir purchases then headed down to our gate. We got a really good panini at a sandwich place by our gate then stood in line with everyone else going to Boston today (we had a 3 hour layover in Boston before flying to Salt Lake).
Finally, they started letting us board...a bus.
Once again, we were on a bus, this time going to our plane out on the tarmac. We found our seat. Turns out we were not sitting next to each other, but we were the only two in our row of 4 seats. It was REALLY nice to have so much space and not feel crowded and squished up next to the person beside me. We both slept for a couple hours, after they fed us (an interesting veggie lasagna and some fruit...kind of good but mostly gross...). Then we watched the two movies they showed: "Jack Reacher" and "I Don't Know How She Does It." I liked the second one. I did not like the first one.
They fed us another meal about an hour after the second film (if you can call it a meal) of a small piece of yellow cake with apple pieces in it and powdered sugar on top and a BIG piece of foccia bread with some sort of shredded cheeses and veggies on top. It was fine, but at that point I was hungry for real food, since I hadn't eaten very much of the lasagna earlier. I played a couple games of Candy Crush on my Ipod then we finally landed in Boston.
Finally back in the U.S.A!!!
So glad to almost be home!
We went through customs and got our bags rechecked for our connecting flight to Salt Lake. While at customs the Boarder Control Agent was asking me different questions about my trip and I started freezing up and having a brain fart! He asked me how long our trip had been and I couldn't remember! I just kept thinking, "Don't ask me anything else. I'm not a criminal I swear! I'm just not a very good test taker!!" Finally, he let me through. Whew!
I've never been to Boston before. Now I can say I have.
We discovered, after going through all the customs stuff and rechecking of our bags that our flight from Rome had landed on one end of the airport and the terminal for our flight to Salt Lake was clear across at the other end. It felt like we walked across the entire city of Boston to get to our second flight! On the way we mad a pit stop, I bought a magnet to show I've been to Boston, and we got some dinner. We decided to go to Fuddruckers. It was nice to have such a long time between flights so we could take our time and not feel like we had to run from one gate to the other.
Something random and unique about the Boston airport: There is a big, white, wooden rocking chair at every gate by the other seats. Weird.
Our flight out got changed to a different gate down the terminal due to a weather delay with the flight that was at the gate before our flight. At this point, however, we were both more than a little punch drunk due to sleep deprivation and we were getting giggly at the gate. People were probably wondering if we were drunk. Our flight from Boston to Salt Lake was delayed about 20 minutes and was SUPER crowded! I felt like we were back on those trains going to Pompeii where we were squished in like sardines. Remember how we just had an entire row to ourselves on the way over here from Rome? That was nice. Once we were on the plane we taxied for a little bit, then were told over the intercom by the captain that we would be sitting for about 15 minutes due to traffic and waiting time for us to take off. UGH! Just let me go home!
At this point we'd been up for about 18.5 hours. I was exhausted. Next time I do this I am NOT having any layovers and I'm flying first class so I don't have to worry about being in someone's bubble and so I have one of those cool chairs that turns into a bed for overnight/cross-Atlantic flights. The plane was warm as we sat on the tarmac, but we've survived a week of places that were way hotter than it, so it wasn't that bad. I wanted to just close my eyes and sleep for about a week, but I knew if I did I wouldn't be able to sleep when we got to Salt Lake and back to Kristy's apartment. I can't tell you how much I was looking forward to getting home tomorrow and being able to sleep in my own bed again!!
Things I will never take for granted again after this trip:
-Being some place where everyone speaks my language
-Never having to worry about someone pick pocketing me, or snatching my purse
I'm going to have to go through a serious detox once I'm home. I have eaten nothing but gluten and animal products for the last week and a half. It's been awesome! But, I need to get back to my usual routine which isn't going to be fun. I'm interested in seeing what the scale says when I finally get home. I wonder how much damage I did on this trip...
We finally took off but there was a SCREAMING baby in the row in front of us the ENTIRE time. Annoying. But, I tried to remain patient because I know how hard it can be to travel with little ones. Remind me never to fly when I have a baby.
Have I mentioned how tired I was at this point??
This was probably the WORST flight of my life! Five hours has never gone by so slowly, and the screaming child didn't help matters. They did show a movie, "Admission," which I wanted to see and started watching but I was SO TIRED, I couldn't keep my eyes opened and ended up falling asleep about halfway through. I slept for maybe 45 minutes, then was woken up again by the crying baby.
I've been awake now for 23 hours.
My restless legs are twitchy and being annoying.
My ankles are swollen.
I'm dirty.
And I wanted to strangle this screaming child.
Luckily, we eventually landed but then we still had to wait for our bags and Kristy's roommate to pick us up. Finally we made it back to Kristy's apartment in Pleasant Grove. I threw an outfit into the washer so I wouldn't totally stink everyone out on the plane to Mesa tomorrow and we both crashed. Finally get to sleep!!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
the vatican
We had plans to be up at 8:30am this morning, but when the alarm went off, we hit the snooze for another half hour. I tried to go back to sleep for a little bit, but someone was doing some sort of maintenance work right outside our door--drilling something. It was annoying. So, I just got up. We got dressed - sans make-up--and went down to breakfast so we didn't miss it. After we ate, we went back up to our room to finish getting ready for the day.
Finally, we headed out with the plan that we were only going to go to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel, then come back and take it easy for the rest of the day. Here's how things went down:
We took the bus from our hotel to the train terminal then got on the hop on/hop off bus to take us to St. Peter's Square. Once there, we ran the gauntlet of street peddlers trying to get us to buy their wares: sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, purses, and almost any other touristy knick-knacks you can think of. We got our passes to be part of the next group going to the Vatican Museum. While we waited we went into the souvenir shop next door to the tour group office. I got a magnet and we bought fans because it is so freakishly hot here!
Finally our tour group assembled and we followed the guide clear around the entire complex to the museum entrance which, turns out, is located at the back of the basilica. Ugh. I was not prepared for that kind of hike today. There was a group of American teenagers in line behind us that were SUPER annoying. They were being typical teenagers: loud and obnoxious, and were complaining loudly about everything.
Dear American Teenagers Traveling in Foreign Countries,
Stop it. You're making the rest of us look bad.
We finally made it into the museum and past the security check.
We made a pit stop at the bathroom then headed up stairs, thinking we would just head to the chapel, marvel at the beauty and wonder of it, and call it good. Turns out, you can't do that. They have the whole thing set up in such a way that you HAVE to walk through the ENTIRE museum before getting to see the chapel which is at the very end.
Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of really cool statues, tapestries, and paintings that we saw, but at this point I am so beyond museumed out that I couldn't really take the time to stop and appreciate everything like I should have. Plus, we were hot, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry! By this point it was almost 2pm and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Eventually we made our way through the seemingly never-ending maze that is the Vatican Museum, and made it to the Sistine Chapel. Gotta say...kind of underwhelming.
It wasn't as awe-inspiring as I thought it would, or should, have been. Part of that was probably because of the aforementioned hunger, thirst, and fatigue. It is an impressive sight, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting to LOVE it. And I didn't. That's how I've felt about a lot of the things here in Italy. This part of the trip has been kind of a let down. I LOVED the Colosseum and would have spent the whole time we were here there, if I could have, and Pompeii was really cool, but everything else has been underwhelming. I LOVED Paris and would go back in a heartbeat. Rome and Italy...I'm not sure I'll ever come back. Which is sad.
It was also interesting to me that at this "holy" place, they allow any and everyone to walk through it. There were little gift kiosks all over the place, and a giant cafeteria and pizzeria where people can eat. Very different from the holy places of worship we have.
After we spent a few moments among the crowds in the chapel, we tired to exit the museum--through more of a maze. Finally we found the pizzeria and stopped to get a slice. We ate then left. As we were walking back to the tour bus that would take us back to the train terminal, we stopped and bought a couple souvenirs from a corner booth. I got a really cool gladiator helmet key chain that I LOVE. We also stopped and got some ice cream. Not as good as the gelato from the other night, but cold and good nonetheless.
While we were walking, a Scottish guy asked us if we wanted a guided tour. "Ladies! Do you speak English? Scottish? Irish? Welsh? New Zealand? Australian?"
We had been ignoring the panhandlers all day and just walked past the guy, but as he continue listing English speaking countries we laughed and looked back at him. Then he kept trying to get us to stop.
"I'm rich and single!"
We kept laughing and walking.
We finally got back to the tour bus, but they wouldn't let us on with our ice cream so we had to quickly eat it while standing on the sidewalk. While doing so, we noticed the bus driver and tour guide were both dressed professionally in suits (something they haven't been in all the time we've been here and been riding the bus), and there were two guys with camera equipment.
Curiouser and curiouser...
We finished our ice cream and got on board. We sat in the very back and ended up sitting by a very nice, older couple from India. We were sitting and fanning ourselves with our new fans we had bought when the camera guy came up to us and filmed us for a few seconds. It was weird. He didn't say anything to us, so we have no idea what it was for. Maybe the tour company is doing some new advertisements? *shrugs*
We laughed about it then started talking to the Indian couple. They were in Rome with some of their children and grandchildren. They were in London, now Rome, then were headed to Amsterdam, then back to London before flying back to India. The man kept telling Kristy how pretty she was and they both told us we needed to come to India to visit. He talked all about his career as a pilot in the Indian Air Force and all the languages he knows. It was fascinating. I think that has been one of my favorite things about this trip - all the people we've met from all over. This morning, while we were waiting for our tour, we met a lady from Sydney, Australia. We talked about some of the places we've been around town and commiserated about the heat and humidity. We asked her if it was humid in Australia. She said only in February. Apparently that's when it's the most humid. Good to know!
Everyone we've met has been so nice and it always seems that when we're tired, or cranky, or something hasn't worked out quite like we hope it would, we meet somebody that makes us laugh and we forget about what went wrong. It's been so great!
We finally got back to the train terminal after a much longer than normal ride on the tour bus (I think the guys with the cameras were taking a lot of extra shots of the sights as we drove by), and found we had just missed our bus back to the hotel. So...we decided to go into the terminal to see if they had a gelato shop since what we'd gotten earlier was not the real thing. We didn't find one so instead decided to get a McFlurry from McDonald's. I got the brownie one and Kristy got one with Smarties (which are not the same thing as Smarties in the US...they're like M&Ms but have flavors to them). Once again the McDonald's over here is weird. They just filled up a cup with ice cream and sprinkled the brownies (which were itty-bitty little freeze dried fake chocolate things) and some cocoa powder on top.
Dear McDonald's in Italy,
You're doing it wrong. Stop it.
We ate our ice cream as we walked back out to the bus stop. Finally, our bus came and we rode it for the last time to our hotel. We decompressed in our room for a few hours - Kristy took a shower, and I repacked my stuff. Then we went down to dinner for the last time at the hotel restaurant. We told our waiter that it was our last night and he stopped and looked at us funny then said, "You haven't watched the news? Turn on the TV. The airport is closed. There's supposed to be 4 meters of snow tomorrow. No good."
We laughed.
Then he said, "You have to stay for 6 more months. Call your bank!"
LOL!!
We ate another amazing dinner of authentic pasta and then decided to splurge and get dessert. We each ordered a piece of chocolate cake.
Here's the thing with the desserts we've tried on this trip...they've all been disappointing except for the gelato and the cake we got in Versailles. Sigh...
Tomorrow we've got to be up and packed, ready to be picked up for our transfer to the airport early. I'm said this vacation is almost over. It's been AMAZING and so incredible, but I'm ready to be home in my own bed, and not living out of a suitcase!
Steps walked: 11,092
Finally, we headed out with the plan that we were only going to go to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel, then come back and take it easy for the rest of the day. Here's how things went down:
We took the bus from our hotel to the train terminal then got on the hop on/hop off bus to take us to St. Peter's Square. Once there, we ran the gauntlet of street peddlers trying to get us to buy their wares: sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, purses, and almost any other touristy knick-knacks you can think of. We got our passes to be part of the next group going to the Vatican Museum. While we waited we went into the souvenir shop next door to the tour group office. I got a magnet and we bought fans because it is so freakishly hot here!
Finally our tour group assembled and we followed the guide clear around the entire complex to the museum entrance which, turns out, is located at the back of the basilica. Ugh. I was not prepared for that kind of hike today. There was a group of American teenagers in line behind us that were SUPER annoying. They were being typical teenagers: loud and obnoxious, and were complaining loudly about everything.
Dear American Teenagers Traveling in Foreign Countries,
Stop it. You're making the rest of us look bad.
We finally made it into the museum and past the security check.
We made a pit stop at the bathroom then headed up stairs, thinking we would just head to the chapel, marvel at the beauty and wonder of it, and call it good. Turns out, you can't do that. They have the whole thing set up in such a way that you HAVE to walk through the ENTIRE museum before getting to see the chapel which is at the very end.
Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of really cool statues, tapestries, and paintings that we saw, but at this point I am so beyond museumed out that I couldn't really take the time to stop and appreciate everything like I should have. Plus, we were hot, sweaty, thirsty, and hungry! By this point it was almost 2pm and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Eventually we made our way through the seemingly never-ending maze that is the Vatican Museum, and made it to the Sistine Chapel. Gotta say...kind of underwhelming.
It wasn't as awe-inspiring as I thought it would, or should, have been. Part of that was probably because of the aforementioned hunger, thirst, and fatigue. It is an impressive sight, don't get me wrong, but I was expecting to LOVE it. And I didn't. That's how I've felt about a lot of the things here in Italy. This part of the trip has been kind of a let down. I LOVED the Colosseum and would have spent the whole time we were here there, if I could have, and Pompeii was really cool, but everything else has been underwhelming. I LOVED Paris and would go back in a heartbeat. Rome and Italy...I'm not sure I'll ever come back. Which is sad.
It was also interesting to me that at this "holy" place, they allow any and everyone to walk through it. There were little gift kiosks all over the place, and a giant cafeteria and pizzeria where people can eat. Very different from the holy places of worship we have.
After we spent a few moments among the crowds in the chapel, we tired to exit the museum--through more of a maze. Finally we found the pizzeria and stopped to get a slice. We ate then left. As we were walking back to the tour bus that would take us back to the train terminal, we stopped and bought a couple souvenirs from a corner booth. I got a really cool gladiator helmet key chain that I LOVE. We also stopped and got some ice cream. Not as good as the gelato from the other night, but cold and good nonetheless.
While we were walking, a Scottish guy asked us if we wanted a guided tour. "Ladies! Do you speak English? Scottish? Irish? Welsh? New Zealand? Australian?"
We had been ignoring the panhandlers all day and just walked past the guy, but as he continue listing English speaking countries we laughed and looked back at him. Then he kept trying to get us to stop.
"I'm rich and single!"
We kept laughing and walking.
We finally got back to the tour bus, but they wouldn't let us on with our ice cream so we had to quickly eat it while standing on the sidewalk. While doing so, we noticed the bus driver and tour guide were both dressed professionally in suits (something they haven't been in all the time we've been here and been riding the bus), and there were two guys with camera equipment.
Curiouser and curiouser...
We finished our ice cream and got on board. We sat in the very back and ended up sitting by a very nice, older couple from India. We were sitting and fanning ourselves with our new fans we had bought when the camera guy came up to us and filmed us for a few seconds. It was weird. He didn't say anything to us, so we have no idea what it was for. Maybe the tour company is doing some new advertisements? *shrugs*
We laughed about it then started talking to the Indian couple. They were in Rome with some of their children and grandchildren. They were in London, now Rome, then were headed to Amsterdam, then back to London before flying back to India. The man kept telling Kristy how pretty she was and they both told us we needed to come to India to visit. He talked all about his career as a pilot in the Indian Air Force and all the languages he knows. It was fascinating. I think that has been one of my favorite things about this trip - all the people we've met from all over. This morning, while we were waiting for our tour, we met a lady from Sydney, Australia. We talked about some of the places we've been around town and commiserated about the heat and humidity. We asked her if it was humid in Australia. She said only in February. Apparently that's when it's the most humid. Good to know!
Everyone we've met has been so nice and it always seems that when we're tired, or cranky, or something hasn't worked out quite like we hope it would, we meet somebody that makes us laugh and we forget about what went wrong. It's been so great!
We finally got back to the train terminal after a much longer than normal ride on the tour bus (I think the guys with the cameras were taking a lot of extra shots of the sights as we drove by), and found we had just missed our bus back to the hotel. So...we decided to go into the terminal to see if they had a gelato shop since what we'd gotten earlier was not the real thing. We didn't find one so instead decided to get a McFlurry from McDonald's. I got the brownie one and Kristy got one with Smarties (which are not the same thing as Smarties in the US...they're like M&Ms but have flavors to them). Once again the McDonald's over here is weird. They just filled up a cup with ice cream and sprinkled the brownies (which were itty-bitty little freeze dried fake chocolate things) and some cocoa powder on top.
Dear McDonald's in Italy,
You're doing it wrong. Stop it.
We ate our ice cream as we walked back out to the bus stop. Finally, our bus came and we rode it for the last time to our hotel. We decompressed in our room for a few hours - Kristy took a shower, and I repacked my stuff. Then we went down to dinner for the last time at the hotel restaurant. We told our waiter that it was our last night and he stopped and looked at us funny then said, "You haven't watched the news? Turn on the TV. The airport is closed. There's supposed to be 4 meters of snow tomorrow. No good."
We laughed.
Then he said, "You have to stay for 6 more months. Call your bank!"
LOL!!
We ate another amazing dinner of authentic pasta and then decided to splurge and get dessert. We each ordered a piece of chocolate cake.
Here's the thing with the desserts we've tried on this trip...they've all been disappointing except for the gelato and the cake we got in Versailles. Sigh...
Tomorrow we've got to be up and packed, ready to be picked up for our transfer to the airport early. I'm said this vacation is almost over. It's been AMAZING and so incredible, but I'm ready to be home in my own bed, and not living out of a suitcase!
Steps walked: 11,092
Monday, July 15, 2013
pompeii
Today's episode is called...
...the one where Kristy got molested on the train.
...the one where it took us 4 hours to get to Pompeii.
...the one where we ran into a group of BYU students (Mormons!) at Pompeii.
...the one where the train conductor didn't fine us when he should have.
...the one where we took a bus and two trains, and spent 4 hours traveling to a brothel.
...the one where the archaeologists let us walk through but not the guys behind us.
...the one where we both stole rock from a national archaeological site.
...the one where the info desk guy upgraded our tickets when our original train was delayed.
...the one where we went grocery shopping in the train station.
...the one where Kristy can't find any super plus tampons in Italy.
...the one where we ate (really bad) American food for dinner.
I don't even know where to start!
Today has been a day. We woke up and got going this morning about 8:30am. Kristy wasn't feeling good but we eventually left the room and headed down to breakfast in the dining room. Afterwards we went across the street to the little pharmacy so Kristy could get some tampons and pads for the day. Then we walked up to the bus stop. We rode the bus to the train terminal and that's where everything started to go downhill and I really began to question the wisdom of our decision to come to Rome. The goal was Pompeii. We finally figured out the self-service ticket kiosks, and the Italian that was on the ticket once it was printed (thanks partly to "Uncle Rick" - we started referring to Rick Steves as Uncle Rick last week because we used is book ALL THE TIME! He saved us many a time!).
While we were at the kiosk, though, this pushy Italian lady came up and was getting all up in our business trying to "help" us. She kept pushing buttons on our screen. We told her no multiple times and that we were fine and didn't need any help. When we were done she tried to get money from us. We just walked away. We found the train and platform we needed to get to Naples - step one in our journey today. The train was CROWDED! The ride from Rome to Naples (which is only about an hour and a half) took us 2 hours and 40 minutes. We ended up standing for the first hour, until some people got off and seats opened up. While we were still standing, however, we realized (by reading more in Uncle Rick's book) that we were supposed to have gotten our ticket validated back at the station in Rome before we got on the train. Oops! Having an un-validated ticket means we can be fined. There was nothing to do about it at that point, so we just had to wait for the conductor to come through and hope he was understanding and/or that the fine wasn't more than the combined cash we had between us. Luckily, he was nice. We tried to explain that we didn't know we were supposed to validate the ticket. He told us where the validation machine was at the station, then wrote something in Italian on the back of the ticket, punched it, and went on his way. Thank goodness!
In between stops (while we were still standing up), a man walked through the car we were on and stopped where we were standing by one of the doors. He proceeded to yell and make noises and gesture at everyone for about 10 minutes, until the next stop came and he got off. Pretty sure he had turrets or something. It was uncomfortable.
We finally sat down and rode the rest of the way in to Naples. According to Uncle Rick, and others we had talked to before we left on our trip, we were warned that Naples wasn't a safe place to be. It's still mostly run by the mafia and, if you're going to get robbed or pick pocketed anywhere in Italy, it's going to be in Naples. Crime is very high there. Our goal was to not loose our purses or money while we made the transfer to get on the train going from Naples to Sorrento, which stops in Pompeii. What we were NOT warned about was how crowded the trains were, and how confusing the Napoli (Naples) Centrale Station would be. Or how ghetto and dirty the train cars are. You look at them and seriously wonder if they still work, or if they should be working still at all...
We got our tickets, then stopped at a little newspaper shop to get a drink and some Pringles because it was now 2pm and I was starving. We followed the signs down to platform 3, which was supposedly where the Sorrento train would be. There was a crowd of people and I was starting to get grumpy due to not having anything to eat since 9am. Also, everything was in Italian, so we weren't 100% sure we were even on the right platform. A train soon came and we got on, only to realize at the last second that it was the wrong train because a lady already on the train was yelling at some other guy, "No Sorrento! No Sorrento!" So we quickly got off and waited for the next on which was supposed to be the right one to go to Sorrento. This train was 10 minutes late. Eventually it came, and about a bajillion people got on. Seriously, I've never had that many people touching me all at the same time before. I hate public transportation! I am a big, loud, greedy, obnoxious American. I need my space, damn it!
Kristy and I were jammed into the back of the row of seats in front of the door where we were once again standing, packed in like sardines. There was a guy crammed up behind Kristy, who kept trying to reach his hand through between us to grab onto one of the bars to hold onto. In the process he kept grazing my left book repeatedly and, what I didn't know at the time but Kristy told me later after boob-graze guy got off and we were finally able to sit down, was that there was some definite thrusting going on as he was standing behind her. *shudders* So gross!!
While we had been standing, and publicly molested, we noticed a girl sitting a few rows up from us wearing a BYU T-shirt. Mormons! It made us happy to run into someone we knew was from home and who we had an immediate connection with. When we were in line buying our tickets at Pompeii was stopped and talked with them for a few moments.
Our traumatic 40 minute train ride to Pompeii finally ended.
Kristy made a pit stop at the WC at the station and I needed a minute to just sit and recover from the ordeal of getting down here. After a little while we headed down the street to the entrance of the archaeological area. We bought our tickets and headed up the hill. So cool!
Despite the frustration and trauma of the trip getting there, I'm glad we came. It was really cool to walk down the streets of this ancient town and get a peek into daily Roman life. We walked around the forum, and down lots of the streets. We saw where the baths were, where "fast food" vendors had their stalls, the ancient lead pipes that carried the water from the aqueducts throughout the whole city, and where they had stepping stones or "crosswalks" across from one side of the street to the other for when they would flood the streets daily to clean them. We saw where chariot wheels had worn grooves into the stones paving the roads. We saw a couple of the bigger houses that have been excavated, and we walked through a current excavation area where the archaeologists doing some survey work let us walk through their area, but wouldn't let the guys behind us through. Ha!
We each picked up a rock to keep, even though we were probably not supposed to, and we saw the famous brothel with the painted "menu" of acts available with it's little rooms with stone beds. Very interesting.
We had lunch at the modern cafeteria they have here - pizza! Our first since being in Italy. Then we continued our tour. It was interesting to me the difference in feeling between this place and the Colosseum yesterday. I didn't feel the same spiritual connection with Pompeii that I did with the Colosseum. It was still really cool for the history/archaeological aspect, but I didn't love it like I did the Colosseum. (Yesterday Kristy and I were talking about our connection with the Eiffel Tower for her, and the Colosseum for me. Maybe we were some of the angels assigned to help in building them? Or, maybe I'm going to marry a Roman or gladiator in the Millenium and that's why I love it! I must have spent time watching him--knowing we would be apart for a long time until we'd be able to be together. Probably not very likely, but it makes a good story!)
After a couple hours we both decided we were done. Kind of sad, considering what we went through, and how much time was spent getting there today. But, we had both had enough and were anxious to get back to our hotel where we could shower and feel safe back in our room. So we bough our tickets back (after making a quick stop in the bookstore where Kristy bought a charm for her charm bracelet, and I bought a magnet from a vendor in the train station) and waited for the train back to Naples.
The train back to Naples was crowded. As usual. We stood for a while until a few stops, then finally were able to sit, just not together. Which was fine. Kristy ended up sitting by the group from BYU and talking to them. Turns out they're doing an International Business study abroad program where they're going to a million different countries in only a few weeks. Sounds exhausting but fun!
When we got back to the central station in Naples we then had to figure out where to buy tickets back to Rome. By this time I was tired, and cranky, and just wanted to be done traveling and go home! We got our tickets - deciding to upgrade to first class so we had actual assigned seats, then wen to find out what platform the train was on. When we got to the departure monitors I wanted to cry. Our train was delayed 75 minutes!! I wanted to throw a tantrum right there in the train terminal. Instead I told Kristy I had to sit somewhere because I wans't going to just stand around for more than an hour waiting. We found an unoccupied bench and sat. Then Kristy went to find an information desk to make sure the train really was delayed and we had tickets to the right one.
After her being gone for 30 minutes, I started to worry that maybe something had happened and I should be concerned. Had she gotten kidnapped?? But then she came back and said she got our tickets switched to another train. The guy she talked to upgraded our tickets to the express train, which was fast and WAY nicer, free of charge! Our original train was now delayed 95 minutes. Gross. We found the platform for the express train we were now going to be on and got on. It was so nice!
Note to self: next time your in Italy, spend the extra money to get on the nicer, super fast train from Rome to Naples. Trust me. It's worth it.
The train was actually going from Naples to Florence, but it stopped at our train terminal in Rome. The trip only took just over an hour. The train was really booking it: 270 km/hour, which I think we figured out was 160 miles/hour. It was fun. When we got back to Rome we stopped at the grocery store (in the terminal!) and picked up some cookies, a couple candy bars, and a giant jar of Nutella for Kristy's roommate back home.
Our dinner plans for the evening changed. We had talked about eating again at the hotel restaurant, but by the time we got back into town it was too late for that. They had already closed up. So, we decided to eat at the McDonald's located in the terminal. Probably the worst McDonald's I've ever had. The fries tasted weird, plus there was no salt or seasoning on them. They don't believe in ketchup over here apparently, and the burger was SO dry! Blech.
After dinner we came back to the hotel on our little bus. I took a shower and wrote in my journal for a bit then went to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here. We're going to go to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel, then take it easy and rest the rest of the afternoon/evening since we're both exhausted and ready to go home.
Steps walked: 12,389
...the one where Kristy got molested on the train.
...the one where it took us 4 hours to get to Pompeii.
...the one where we ran into a group of BYU students (Mormons!) at Pompeii.
...the one where the train conductor didn't fine us when he should have.
...the one where we took a bus and two trains, and spent 4 hours traveling to a brothel.
...the one where the archaeologists let us walk through but not the guys behind us.
...the one where we both stole rock from a national archaeological site.
...the one where the info desk guy upgraded our tickets when our original train was delayed.
...the one where we went grocery shopping in the train station.
...the one where Kristy can't find any super plus tampons in Italy.
...the one where we ate (really bad) American food for dinner.
I don't even know where to start!
Today has been a day. We woke up and got going this morning about 8:30am. Kristy wasn't feeling good but we eventually left the room and headed down to breakfast in the dining room. Afterwards we went across the street to the little pharmacy so Kristy could get some tampons and pads for the day. Then we walked up to the bus stop. We rode the bus to the train terminal and that's where everything started to go downhill and I really began to question the wisdom of our decision to come to Rome. The goal was Pompeii. We finally figured out the self-service ticket kiosks, and the Italian that was on the ticket once it was printed (thanks partly to "Uncle Rick" - we started referring to Rick Steves as Uncle Rick last week because we used is book ALL THE TIME! He saved us many a time!).
While we were at the kiosk, though, this pushy Italian lady came up and was getting all up in our business trying to "help" us. She kept pushing buttons on our screen. We told her no multiple times and that we were fine and didn't need any help. When we were done she tried to get money from us. We just walked away. We found the train and platform we needed to get to Naples - step one in our journey today. The train was CROWDED! The ride from Rome to Naples (which is only about an hour and a half) took us 2 hours and 40 minutes. We ended up standing for the first hour, until some people got off and seats opened up. While we were still standing, however, we realized (by reading more in Uncle Rick's book) that we were supposed to have gotten our ticket validated back at the station in Rome before we got on the train. Oops! Having an un-validated ticket means we can be fined. There was nothing to do about it at that point, so we just had to wait for the conductor to come through and hope he was understanding and/or that the fine wasn't more than the combined cash we had between us. Luckily, he was nice. We tried to explain that we didn't know we were supposed to validate the ticket. He told us where the validation machine was at the station, then wrote something in Italian on the back of the ticket, punched it, and went on his way. Thank goodness!
In between stops (while we were still standing up), a man walked through the car we were on and stopped where we were standing by one of the doors. He proceeded to yell and make noises and gesture at everyone for about 10 minutes, until the next stop came and he got off. Pretty sure he had turrets or something. It was uncomfortable.
We finally sat down and rode the rest of the way in to Naples. According to Uncle Rick, and others we had talked to before we left on our trip, we were warned that Naples wasn't a safe place to be. It's still mostly run by the mafia and, if you're going to get robbed or pick pocketed anywhere in Italy, it's going to be in Naples. Crime is very high there. Our goal was to not loose our purses or money while we made the transfer to get on the train going from Naples to Sorrento, which stops in Pompeii. What we were NOT warned about was how crowded the trains were, and how confusing the Napoli (Naples) Centrale Station would be. Or how ghetto and dirty the train cars are. You look at them and seriously wonder if they still work, or if they should be working still at all...
We got our tickets, then stopped at a little newspaper shop to get a drink and some Pringles because it was now 2pm and I was starving. We followed the signs down to platform 3, which was supposedly where the Sorrento train would be. There was a crowd of people and I was starting to get grumpy due to not having anything to eat since 9am. Also, everything was in Italian, so we weren't 100% sure we were even on the right platform. A train soon came and we got on, only to realize at the last second that it was the wrong train because a lady already on the train was yelling at some other guy, "No Sorrento! No Sorrento!" So we quickly got off and waited for the next on which was supposed to be the right one to go to Sorrento. This train was 10 minutes late. Eventually it came, and about a bajillion people got on. Seriously, I've never had that many people touching me all at the same time before. I hate public transportation! I am a big, loud, greedy, obnoxious American. I need my space, damn it!
Kristy and I were jammed into the back of the row of seats in front of the door where we were once again standing, packed in like sardines. There was a guy crammed up behind Kristy, who kept trying to reach his hand through between us to grab onto one of the bars to hold onto. In the process he kept grazing my left book repeatedly and, what I didn't know at the time but Kristy told me later after boob-graze guy got off and we were finally able to sit down, was that there was some definite thrusting going on as he was standing behind her. *shudders* So gross!!
While we had been standing, and publicly molested, we noticed a girl sitting a few rows up from us wearing a BYU T-shirt. Mormons! It made us happy to run into someone we knew was from home and who we had an immediate connection with. When we were in line buying our tickets at Pompeii was stopped and talked with them for a few moments.
Our traumatic 40 minute train ride to Pompeii finally ended.
Kristy made a pit stop at the WC at the station and I needed a minute to just sit and recover from the ordeal of getting down here. After a little while we headed down the street to the entrance of the archaeological area. We bought our tickets and headed up the hill. So cool!
Despite the frustration and trauma of the trip getting there, I'm glad we came. It was really cool to walk down the streets of this ancient town and get a peek into daily Roman life. We walked around the forum, and down lots of the streets. We saw where the baths were, where "fast food" vendors had their stalls, the ancient lead pipes that carried the water from the aqueducts throughout the whole city, and where they had stepping stones or "crosswalks" across from one side of the street to the other for when they would flood the streets daily to clean them. We saw where chariot wheels had worn grooves into the stones paving the roads. We saw a couple of the bigger houses that have been excavated, and we walked through a current excavation area where the archaeologists doing some survey work let us walk through their area, but wouldn't let the guys behind us through. Ha!
a bath house
"fast food" places
can you see the wheel ruts in the road?
"blessings to you" - an ancient door mat :)
a bakery
We each picked up a rock to keep, even though we were probably not supposed to, and we saw the famous brothel with the painted "menu" of acts available with it's little rooms with stone beds. Very interesting.
We had lunch at the modern cafeteria they have here - pizza! Our first since being in Italy. Then we continued our tour. It was interesting to me the difference in feeling between this place and the Colosseum yesterday. I didn't feel the same spiritual connection with Pompeii that I did with the Colosseum. It was still really cool for the history/archaeological aspect, but I didn't love it like I did the Colosseum. (Yesterday Kristy and I were talking about our connection with the Eiffel Tower for her, and the Colosseum for me. Maybe we were some of the angels assigned to help in building them? Or, maybe I'm going to marry a Roman or gladiator in the Millenium and that's why I love it! I must have spent time watching him--knowing we would be apart for a long time until we'd be able to be together. Probably not very likely, but it makes a good story!)
Kristy saw this sign and said, "Scary Spaceman says do not enter!"
After a couple hours we both decided we were done. Kind of sad, considering what we went through, and how much time was spent getting there today. But, we had both had enough and were anxious to get back to our hotel where we could shower and feel safe back in our room. So we bough our tickets back (after making a quick stop in the bookstore where Kristy bought a charm for her charm bracelet, and I bought a magnet from a vendor in the train station) and waited for the train back to Naples.
The train back to Naples was crowded. As usual. We stood for a while until a few stops, then finally were able to sit, just not together. Which was fine. Kristy ended up sitting by the group from BYU and talking to them. Turns out they're doing an International Business study abroad program where they're going to a million different countries in only a few weeks. Sounds exhausting but fun!
When we got back to the central station in Naples we then had to figure out where to buy tickets back to Rome. By this time I was tired, and cranky, and just wanted to be done traveling and go home! We got our tickets - deciding to upgrade to first class so we had actual assigned seats, then wen to find out what platform the train was on. When we got to the departure monitors I wanted to cry. Our train was delayed 75 minutes!! I wanted to throw a tantrum right there in the train terminal. Instead I told Kristy I had to sit somewhere because I wans't going to just stand around for more than an hour waiting. We found an unoccupied bench and sat. Then Kristy went to find an information desk to make sure the train really was delayed and we had tickets to the right one.
After her being gone for 30 minutes, I started to worry that maybe something had happened and I should be concerned. Had she gotten kidnapped?? But then she came back and said she got our tickets switched to another train. The guy she talked to upgraded our tickets to the express train, which was fast and WAY nicer, free of charge! Our original train was now delayed 95 minutes. Gross. We found the platform for the express train we were now going to be on and got on. It was so nice!
how we felt at the end of our crazy day
Note to self: next time your in Italy, spend the extra money to get on the nicer, super fast train from Rome to Naples. Trust me. It's worth it.
The train was actually going from Naples to Florence, but it stopped at our train terminal in Rome. The trip only took just over an hour. The train was really booking it: 270 km/hour, which I think we figured out was 160 miles/hour. It was fun. When we got back to Rome we stopped at the grocery store (in the terminal!) and picked up some cookies, a couple candy bars, and a giant jar of Nutella for Kristy's roommate back home.
Our dinner plans for the evening changed. We had talked about eating again at the hotel restaurant, but by the time we got back into town it was too late for that. They had already closed up. So, we decided to eat at the McDonald's located in the terminal. Probably the worst McDonald's I've ever had. The fries tasted weird, plus there was no salt or seasoning on them. They don't believe in ketchup over here apparently, and the burger was SO dry! Blech.
After dinner we came back to the hotel on our little bus. I took a shower and wrote in my journal for a bit then went to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here. We're going to go to the Vatican to see the Sistine Chapel, then take it easy and rest the rest of the afternoon/evening since we're both exhausted and ready to go home.
Steps walked: 12,389
Sunday, July 14, 2013
how i spent my 31st birthday in rome
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
We got up this morning at 8am with plans to head to the train station and go to Pompeii. Our plans, however, changed.
We had breakfast at the hotel (which is complimentary), and then walked up to a newspaper stand a few blocks from the hotel to buy bus passes. We had purchased the Roma Pass before coming (like the Paris Pass we had) but they don't mail these ones to you. Once you're in Rome you have to go and physically pick it up at the tour company office. The pass includes a metro card, but we had to buy our first bus pass to go pick it up. Lame.
Anywho, we got the passes, then walked a few more blocks up to the bus stop. Once on the bus we couldn't figure out how to put our passes in the little machine to have them stamped and validated. I felt like an idiot. Luckily, a nice little Italian woman finally showed us what to do.
We took the bus to the train station where the information we had printed off at home about where to pick up our Roma Passes said we could pick them up. We found the tour bus that the company does (it's a hop on/hop off tour of the city that is part of what the pass covers) and asked where we get the pass. The guy told us we had to get on the tour bus right now and at stop #1 we get off and pick them up at the office. So, we got on and took the tour around town. So cool!
There is so much to see here. The history is just amazing and breathtaking. I know we're only going to be able to see a fraction of a percent, but what we've seen so far has been amazing. We finally got to stop #1 and ended up following a German family who was trying to get their passes too, up the street toward St. Peter's Basilica.
We found the tour company office and finally got our passes. By this time it was after 11am. Since we knew it took at least a couple hours by train to get down to Pompeii, and the site closes at 7pm, we decided to change plans and do Pompeii tomorrow and just stay in town today and do the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
There was a money exchange place in the square, so I changed some of my US dollars into Euros and we went back and got back on the tour bus. We rode it around to the Colosseum stop and then got off. Our passes let us bypass the insane line to buy tickets and then we were inside!
I don't think I can acurately describe what it felt like to be standing inside the Colosseum and to touch the stones that have been standing for thousands of years and seen so much history! I couldn't stop touching the stones as we walked around. It was actually a very spiritual experience for me. I don't know why I love it so much, or why I feel such a connection to this place. If I believed in reincarnation I'd say I was a Roman in another life.
We walked around the arena level and the upper level. I was speechless and completely in awe. I've spent so many years reading and studying about this place and the Roman Empire, that to actually be standing in the Colosseum was a bit surreal.
After we walked where we could we found a bookstore/gift shop. Kristy got a few postcards and I got a really cool magnet. Then we headed out to go over across the street to the Forum. We stopped first and bought a couple sandwiches for lunch from a street vendor. The bread is not as good here as it was in Paris, but the ham and whatever kind of cheese it had on it were really good. Before coming on this trip Anna-Lisa (former roommate) told me about the guys dressed up like gladiators outside the Colosseum that you can take a picture with. I was excited and thought it would be really cool to do that.
However.
The gladiators we saw today were all kind of skeezy looking. So...we bypassed the photo-op.
We walked over to the Forum. Oh my goodness! So cool!! Except it was 80 bajillion degrees outside today and about 8000% humidity. We were both ROASTING as we walked around. (In reality it was only 86 degrees and 55% humidity. We looked it up when we got back to our hotel.)
Note to self: don't come to Rome in July, but if you do, bring an umbrella and some kind of fan to help combat the heat.
We walked through the Forum, marveling at the ruins and dying of heatstroke. Luckly, the Romans were master engineers and understood the necessity of running water and water fountains. There were a couple different fountains available for us to fill up our water bottles as we walked and cooked alive.
My tan is really darkening now. I'm turning brown. I've never been this tan before in my life!
We exited the Forum (sad to leave!) and walked to where the closest tour bus stop was. We rode the tour bus back to the train station, where we got on first this morning, then got off the tour bus.
We went to get gelato! I got the triple chocolate and Kristy got coconut. It was really yummy! Seriously. The food has been one of the best things about this whole trip.
We couldn't find where to catch the bus back to our hotel, so instead we got on the one going the opposite direction. We rode it to the end of the line, stayed on, and rode it all the way back to our hotel (which is at the other end of the line on the opposite side). I'm sure the bus driver thought we were crazy. We decided to come back to our room for a siesta. We rested for a bit, then had dinner (NOT a multiple course one again) and headed out again once it cooled down a little.
Dinner was really good. Again. I had rigatoni tonight, with tomato sauce and bacon. SO GOOD! I also got a green salad since I have had very little fruit and veggies on this trip and kind of feel like I'm going through withdrawals. We sat and ate and talked for a while. It was very nice and relaxing. After we finished, we decided to go on an adventure to find the Trevi Fountain. This was the first time we attempted the metro here in Rome. Surprisingly, it was really easy! Such a difference from Paris. I think the difference is they only have 2 metro line, instead of 20. We got on the metro, rode it for a couple stops, then got off. We kind of kne where we were going from looking at the map, but mostly we just followed the crowd.
Halfway there we stopped and got gelato again. Because it's my birthday. This time I tried pistachio, chocolate, and a vanilla/chocolate/coconut mixture. They were all amazing but the pistachio is my new favorite thing in the whole world! We ate our gelato as we continued to walk towards where we thought the fountain was. When we got there, there were SO MANY people! Good grief!! I guess we naively thought, since it was late at night, there wouldn't be as many people there. Wrong. It seemed like everyone had the same idea we did.
We made our way down through the crowds to the fountain. We each made a wish, then threw a coin in. Here's hoping it comes true! We found an empty spot to sit and just sat for a few minutes trying to soak it all in. Breathtaking!
After a few minutes we brave the throngs of people and made our way back up the stairs to the street. Next, we tried to find the Spanish Steps. We got a little lost, but eventually found them. Again, they were crowded with people. So weird, since it was so late at night.
Neither of us wanted to climb the steps since we were both tired and our feet hurt, so we took a few pictures then headed to the metro station, which was just up the street.
We successfully made our way back to the terminal station on the metro, caught the bus back to our hotel, and to our room. I took a shower - washing off the layers of sweat, dirt, and sunscreen from the day, and went to bed.
What. A. Day!
Seriously, the best birthday ever!! This has been an amazing adventure and I'm so glad I'm able to do it with one of my besties.
Things we knew when we started out this morning: Nothing
Things we knew after day: Everything
Steps walked: 16,737
We got up this morning at 8am with plans to head to the train station and go to Pompeii. Our plans, however, changed.
We had breakfast at the hotel (which is complimentary), and then walked up to a newspaper stand a few blocks from the hotel to buy bus passes. We had purchased the Roma Pass before coming (like the Paris Pass we had) but they don't mail these ones to you. Once you're in Rome you have to go and physically pick it up at the tour company office. The pass includes a metro card, but we had to buy our first bus pass to go pick it up. Lame.
Anywho, we got the passes, then walked a few more blocks up to the bus stop. Once on the bus we couldn't figure out how to put our passes in the little machine to have them stamped and validated. I felt like an idiot. Luckily, a nice little Italian woman finally showed us what to do.
We took the bus to the train station where the information we had printed off at home about where to pick up our Roma Passes said we could pick them up. We found the tour bus that the company does (it's a hop on/hop off tour of the city that is part of what the pass covers) and asked where we get the pass. The guy told us we had to get on the tour bus right now and at stop #1 we get off and pick them up at the office. So, we got on and took the tour around town. So cool!
There is so much to see here. The history is just amazing and breathtaking. I know we're only going to be able to see a fraction of a percent, but what we've seen so far has been amazing. We finally got to stop #1 and ended up following a German family who was trying to get their passes too, up the street toward St. Peter's Basilica.
We found the tour company office and finally got our passes. By this time it was after 11am. Since we knew it took at least a couple hours by train to get down to Pompeii, and the site closes at 7pm, we decided to change plans and do Pompeii tomorrow and just stay in town today and do the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
There was a money exchange place in the square, so I changed some of my US dollars into Euros and we went back and got back on the tour bus. We rode it around to the Colosseum stop and then got off. Our passes let us bypass the insane line to buy tickets and then we were inside!
I don't think I can acurately describe what it felt like to be standing inside the Colosseum and to touch the stones that have been standing for thousands of years and seen so much history! I couldn't stop touching the stones as we walked around. It was actually a very spiritual experience for me. I don't know why I love it so much, or why I feel such a connection to this place. If I believed in reincarnation I'd say I was a Roman in another life.
We walked around the arena level and the upper level. I was speechless and completely in awe. I've spent so many years reading and studying about this place and the Roman Empire, that to actually be standing in the Colosseum was a bit surreal.
After we walked where we could we found a bookstore/gift shop. Kristy got a few postcards and I got a really cool magnet. Then we headed out to go over across the street to the Forum. We stopped first and bought a couple sandwiches for lunch from a street vendor. The bread is not as good here as it was in Paris, but the ham and whatever kind of cheese it had on it were really good. Before coming on this trip Anna-Lisa (former roommate) told me about the guys dressed up like gladiators outside the Colosseum that you can take a picture with. I was excited and thought it would be really cool to do that.
However.
The gladiators we saw today were all kind of skeezy looking. So...we bypassed the photo-op.
We walked over to the Forum. Oh my goodness! So cool!! Except it was 80 bajillion degrees outside today and about 8000% humidity. We were both ROASTING as we walked around. (In reality it was only 86 degrees and 55% humidity. We looked it up when we got back to our hotel.)
Note to self: don't come to Rome in July, but if you do, bring an umbrella and some kind of fan to help combat the heat.
We walked through the Forum, marveling at the ruins and dying of heatstroke. Luckly, the Romans were master engineers and understood the necessity of running water and water fountains. There were a couple different fountains available for us to fill up our water bottles as we walked and cooked alive.
My tan is really darkening now. I'm turning brown. I've never been this tan before in my life!
We exited the Forum (sad to leave!) and walked to where the closest tour bus stop was. We rode the tour bus back to the train station, where we got on first this morning, then got off the tour bus.
We went to get gelato! I got the triple chocolate and Kristy got coconut. It was really yummy! Seriously. The food has been one of the best things about this whole trip.
We couldn't find where to catch the bus back to our hotel, so instead we got on the one going the opposite direction. We rode it to the end of the line, stayed on, and rode it all the way back to our hotel (which is at the other end of the line on the opposite side). I'm sure the bus driver thought we were crazy. We decided to come back to our room for a siesta. We rested for a bit, then had dinner (NOT a multiple course one again) and headed out again once it cooled down a little.
The TINY elevator at our hotel. It was literally the size of a postage stamp.
Dinner was really good. Again. I had rigatoni tonight, with tomato sauce and bacon. SO GOOD! I also got a green salad since I have had very little fruit and veggies on this trip and kind of feel like I'm going through withdrawals. We sat and ate and talked for a while. It was very nice and relaxing. After we finished, we decided to go on an adventure to find the Trevi Fountain. This was the first time we attempted the metro here in Rome. Surprisingly, it was really easy! Such a difference from Paris. I think the difference is they only have 2 metro line, instead of 20. We got on the metro, rode it for a couple stops, then got off. We kind of kne where we were going from looking at the map, but mostly we just followed the crowd.
Halfway there we stopped and got gelato again. Because it's my birthday. This time I tried pistachio, chocolate, and a vanilla/chocolate/coconut mixture. They were all amazing but the pistachio is my new favorite thing in the whole world! We ate our gelato as we continued to walk towards where we thought the fountain was. When we got there, there were SO MANY people! Good grief!! I guess we naively thought, since it was late at night, there wouldn't be as many people there. Wrong. It seemed like everyone had the same idea we did.
We made our way down through the crowds to the fountain. We each made a wish, then threw a coin in. Here's hoping it comes true! We found an empty spot to sit and just sat for a few minutes trying to soak it all in. Breathtaking!
After a few minutes we brave the throngs of people and made our way back up the stairs to the street. Next, we tried to find the Spanish Steps. We got a little lost, but eventually found them. Again, they were crowded with people. So weird, since it was so late at night.
Neither of us wanted to climb the steps since we were both tired and our feet hurt, so we took a few pictures then headed to the metro station, which was just up the street.
No dancing when exiting the train!
We successfully made our way back to the terminal station on the metro, caught the bus back to our hotel, and to our room. I took a shower - washing off the layers of sweat, dirt, and sunscreen from the day, and went to bed.
What. A. Day!
Seriously, the best birthday ever!! This has been an amazing adventure and I'm so glad I'm able to do it with one of my besties.
Things we knew when we started out this morning: Nothing
Things we knew after day: Everything
Steps walked: 16,737
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