When I was in Rome I had like NO time to blog, so first, I'd like to take this opportunity to apologize to Mesha, and my mother, who whined about my lack of blogging. (Sorry guys, I was out Rome-ing around) *Credit goes to Chris for that incredibly cheesey (fromaggio-y?) joke. Ok...I'll stop.
Soooooo I don't even know where to begin with telling what an amazing trip it was. I'm pretty sure I saw everything in Rome. And I mean EVERYTHING. Like, I think Dr. Schmunck (aka SchmunkeyMonkey) walked us into every church in Rome. Not that it's a bad thing, but I'll say that I was certainly glad to be back at frescoless Hope Point this morning. I haven't been to Hope Point in FOOOOREEVERR. Like two months. O_O So I was SUPER pumped about it this morning =)
Why you ask? Well! If you do not know Hope Point, they have an awesome band, an awesome pastor who REALLY cares about his church, and an awesome congregation. So, throw in some Jesus and its like a giant party of awesomeness. Hmm...my analogies are starting to sound almost Mesha-like....
Soooo....back to Rome.... On the plane ride over there, I woke up to an AMAZING view of the French Alps. And had the sudden urge to go skiing. (Hmm, wonder why?) And then....we landed, and my ears went CRAZY like they always do. (For those who don't know, I get REALLY bad ear aches on planes. Like I curl up in a ball and rock back and forth and its probably funny for the people around me. But really, its not.)
Sooo yeah, nothing new there...
And then we drove through the ancient walls and such and that was kinda cool, but THEN, we turned a corner and then BAM theres the Colosseum right in front of us! (That's when you know that you are, for serious, in Rome) (btw, i took like a GAZILLION pictures, of everything and about 1/5 of them are on facebook. so you should go check them out. =D)
And then we went over to the spanish steps and trevi fountain, aaaaannnnd I'm not going to get into everything because that would take about a year to tell it all... (I had to keep a journal so yeah, I DO know just how long it would be. and also that no one would take the time to read that much. except maybe my professors. but you know.) So I'm just going to do the highlights/downsides. [Yeah, I hate to say it. There were a few things that went wrong =( ]
Oh! And we saw a mummy! That was kinda cool. The ancient Romans didnt really do mummies, but apparently, there was at least one. I know. I saw it.
And there was also a pyramid. It was actually a tomb too. Interestingly tho, the mummy did not come from the pyramid.
but anyway.
I just want to point out that this is the first time that i've been hyper in a very long time. the trip was really draining (mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. basically in any and everyway possible) I mean, don't get me wrong, it was an AMAZING trip. But i was SO glad to get back! (more on that later)
saw the famous statues of the boxer and the discus thrower...
and a bunch of frescoes. you know, its absolutely incredible. these frescoes were painted like a bajillion (okay, 2000) years ago. and guess what? THEY'RE STILL HERE! Is that not amazing?!
oh, and old Roman coins that are still in pretty good shape, which i thought were cool (okay, i just showed my nerd side, go ahead, make fun. You'll see it again later too.)
And THEN i ate ALOT of gelato. and pizza.
But that was a reoccurring thing during the trip.
and then we toured the forum and palatine hill and the colosseum (all of which are outdoors.) It took 7 hours. Oh, did I mention it was raining this whole time?
{yeah, it rained. Alot. Like, alot alot. =( }
but they were still cool.
and then there was the day we went to Ostia, where i kinda got lost. Well, i thought i was lost, but i really wasnt.
Ostia was kinda like Pompeii, (minus the whole volcano thing...) there were ruins everywhere! But the thing that amazed me was that no one had done much to preserve them! So, basically, you'd be walking through the grass between two ruined buildings, and then you look down and you're standing on a mosaic! only, there's grass growing through the bits of marble! How ridiculous is that?! (again, i'm a nerd, i know)
And Ostia's near the mountains. I REALLY like mountains (I think i took eleventybillion pictures of just mountains while I was there.) But seriously, if there is any place on earth where I could be close to the beach AND the mountain, and it be 70 degrees year round, please tell me, because I want to live there!!
Annnnd we went to a bunch of churches that were absolutely beautiful, with crazy elaborated gold and marble decorations.
(My favorite was Saint Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Peter's)
And I saw the place where Caesar was killed. (ish) It's now a 'cat sanctuary'. (true story.)
Oh, and then there was this lady with a cat on a leash. That was funny.
And then Dr. Schmunk (Professor Peter?) said something about fitting a whole fraternity in a bathtub-shaped fountain. The boys reaction to that statement was also funny.
they had really pretty flower markets in Rome. Just throwin that out there I guess.
i was also really excited about eating me some pastries. they were pretty too.
Fast forward a few days to the Vatican. We saw several paintings by Raphael. Absolutely gorgeous. LOVE the colors! =)
And our AWESOME tour guide, Francesca, basically made us sprint through the modern art section of the Vatican museum so Dr. Schmunk wouldnt stop and talk about everything. (Frannie basically rocked, lol)
and the Sistine Chapel was absolutely woah. Michelangelo is basically my hero. Or something.
and THEN, guess what?! We climbed the dome of St. Peters. It was over 500 steps, but an incredible view of the city. it was funny, at this one point, when we were close to the top of the dome, the staircase was slanted from the curve of the dome, and you couldnt walk strait and had to bend over like a hunchback haha.
But the view was WOW. if you ever go to Rome, DO THIS.
lets see...and then there was the day that Dr. Schmunk took a nap on the sidewalk. lol. Just laid down on it. Like a bed or something. I mean thats normal, right?
And the dinner at the last night was hilarious. there was this opera singer guy who kept making the guys go up front and sing with him. (props to Madison for his awesome pasta song haha)
oh! i forgot about my trip to Florence.
Sooooo We took the train to Florence. Ummm went shopping, saw the Ponte Vecchio, Duomo, and David, AND they were having a chocolate fair while we were there! There was like 30 chocolate vendors set up in a piazza and it was basically incredible (and delicious)
and then on the ride back, we definitely thought we were being smart by taking the intercity train instead of the Eurostar, because it was only 35 euro to go first class on the intercity train and 38 euro for 2nd class Eurostar, when the ride was basically the same amount of time.
False!! Our train had an hour delay, and then too another 3 hours to reach Rome! (Like Joseph, the doorman at our hotel said, "Eurostar, every time." Lesson learned, Joseph.)
But whatever, we made the best of it, and we got there (eventually) so it wasnt that bad.
Ok, now for all the sad things about my trip. Hopefully this section wont be very long..
It rained. Alot. When there's rain, there's also complaints I learned. In my opinion, you really shouldnt complain about the rain. Just grab an umbrella, suck it up and deal with it. I mean, if you KNOW its going to rain, because it has every other day, you should know to bring an umbrella. And don't wear nice shoes. Complaining about something resulting from your own stupidity is just LAME. Plus, its not like anyone can do anything to change the fact that its raining. geez. and another thing. listening to some of the girls complain about the cobblestones messing up their heels.... well...WHY ARE YOU WEARING YOUR NEW STILETTOS ON COBBLESTONES THEN?! It was really frustrating listening to all the complaints. I mean, yeah, it was raining, and we walked alot, and we went to waaaaay too many churches, but dude, how often are you in Rome? I mean seriously.
And I got sick, and I got an ear ache. (of course). luckily, i had some antibiotics, so i didnt die. =P So that was a bummer, but I only had to miss one day of touring, and I was able to go back to most of the places that I had missed, so it turned out alright.
Annnnd the maid lost my teddy bear that i have had since I was four. I never got him back. ...I miss him =( {For the record, the only reason i took it was because i sleep with my arm around something. So it was kinda hard to fall asleep for a while...} But my mom brought one of my stuffed animals from home. The only one not in the attic actually. Because i got it this summer. We wont get into the story of who what or why. moving on. (haha, that phrase could be taken in several ways.) I'm pretty sure Lauren is the ONLY one who can understand this. So everyone else, either disregard that statement or ask me about it; whatever.
Oh, and then there were sketchy Italians. And Creepers. Creepy creepers, too.
My camera died. So I had to buy a new one. It was waaay over priced, but I was really just glad to have one. (I take pictures like a crazy person.)
ummm and my cell phone quit working for several days. but then they fixed it, which basically made my life. I dont like not having a cell phone, i feel cut off from people. plus, what if i got lost or something. how would i get in touch with anyone?
oh, and then there was the time that somebody got my debit card number and spent all the money in my bank account, and the bank cut off my card. luckily, i had 300 euro cash, and we only had a few days left. And the bank's going to get my money back and send me a new card soon (yay) When you're so used to using a debit card, it's kindof a hassle not to have one. =(
But mainly, i REALLY missed my friends. Like SOOOO much. Yall have no idea. I was SO excited to see the four of you (Amanda, Mesha, Allison, and Philip) when I got off that plane!! I mean, its not like i really disliked anyone on the trip; i got along with most of them just fine, but none of my really good friends were on the trip. So, i spent alot of time by myself, which i really didnt mind, because, when you're in a group its hard to see everything you want to see and do, because you cant make everyone happy all the time. But at night it was kinda lame, because all everyone would do was go to the bars. I'd go and hang out for a little bit, but, as yall probably know, not really big on the drinking thing, and i certainly didnt want to go out and get drunk. i dont find that appealing in anyway, and i dont understand why people do. (will someone please explain this? ) The drinking age there is like 3 or something, so all of us were legal.
but i missed the crazy nights where we would play manhunt or rockband, or extreme pingpong, or go exploring on the roofs of various buildings, (or sardines in milliken anyone? we should do that again soon!) You can have some great fun when you're sober =P
So, i guess what I'm trying to say is that being away from my friends really made me appreciate yall more. I love yall!!
So that’s it for my fun list of things that went wrong. Obviously, everything turned out okay in the end tho =)
Something else I want to say:
God is ridiculously awesome (As if you didn’t know that already? I don’t know, maybe you didn’t. If not, now you do) Anyway, here’s why: I’m on the plane back to Greenville curled up in a ball because I just know that my ears are going to hurt SO bad and blah blah --booooo. Anyway, I’m listening to Needtobreathe and Signature of Divine comes on. And so like yeah, I had been praying that my ears wouldn’t hurt, but I was still like freaking out about it. Buuuut I basically love that song, btw, and the more I listened to it, the more I started to relax, and then something made me think about Jesus and Peter walking on the water, and how Peter was all good until he started to doubt, and then he started sinking. So I was all “dude! Here I am curled up in a ball freaking out about my ears, when I’ve already been praying about it a lot. Why am I doing this?!” So THEN, I didn’t worry about it anymore. =) And guess what else?! THEY DIDN’T HURT!!!!!!!!!! Like they had pressure in them or whatever, but THEY DIDN’T HURT!!!!! First time I’ve EVER gotten off the plane with a smile on my face.
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