Day 6

Jenna:
As the days go by here in Rome, they seem to become more and more low key for us. We have actually managed to see all of the really big sights (Coliseum, Forum, Vatican, Pantheon, Trevi, Spanish Steps), and by far my favorite things to do is just to wander around and take pictures of random things and find people to talk to.

We of course got up and had breakfast, which is actually much better than the other breakfast we had, with a little more protein and a lot more choices. I am going to get some photos of how yummy it is so you all can understand what you are missing out on. Not that I want to rub this trip in your face or anything.

We decided that Monday would be the day that we visit the Vatican, and I think that both of us were hoping we would be the only people in Rome to have that idea. This was sadly not the case, and the line to get inside the museum stretched out the doors and wound for what seemed like forever around the wall. When we were shooting the dress at the Trevi fountain we met this couple who told us they had arranged to get a tour by going in the second door (instead of the first door which everyone was lining up for) and so we walked around trying to figure out how to go in the door that was marked as the exit. We found this policeman who could have passed for the stunt double for Matthew Fox, and he told us to go in the exit and ask there.

He seriously looked JUST LIKE THIS!

I spoke my sweetest Italian to the guards inside the door, and they were very eager to help us find a way to get inside. They walked us out the door and started yelling a name, and finally this older gentleman walked over. The guards smiled at us and left, and the man, Felix (or Felice?) asked if we were friends of the guards. I guess that the guards had told him that we were :)

Either way, we think we ended up with a guide who knew his way around the vatican quite well, as he often waved himself through various entrances blocked off by guards. We are both so happy we ended up doing this tour because we learned so much about the history of Italy, and it brought so much meaning to all of the statues and pieces that we were looking at. His English was a little hard to understand at times, but he was very nice and open to explaining himself when we didn't understand. We learned from him, that all of these white marble statues were actually painted when they were originally made. Statues were not meant to look like statues, they were meant to look like people with dark hair and colored skin and red lips. We also learned that all of the fig leaves stuck over the private parts were actually added later, when the church began to label such nudity as indecency. Sometimes they worked hard to match up the exact colors of the marble and granite, sometimes not. Using nude models was enough reason to have someone killed, and Michaelangelo was almost publicly castrated for painting so much nudity on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

A word of caution. You shouldn't believe everything your tour guide tells you, no matter how smart he may seem though, because he was walking around telling us that the devil is really a woman with a snakes tail. We do NOT agree with this. Apparently Michaelangelo thought this as well, because he painted it on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

After the Sistine, we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica. That place is so big, I think you could fit all of Royal City inside. not just the people, but the houses and schools and cars and everything. We stood back and took pictures of people filing by and rubbing the foot of Peter. I am not sure if they thought we were waiting for a friend of ours to go through or what, but no one seemed too freaked out by the two random strangers zooming in on them as they underwent the ritual that millions before them had done. One of my Mom's shots shows really clearly how worn down his feet are from all of the hands that have ran across his feet. My Mom found a dead Pope laying out for all to see, I was lucky enough to miss out on that one.

After we got out of the Basilica it was about 4, and we still hadn't eaten yet, other than the delicious breakfast at the hotel. We stopped by this little market to get some water and I randomly decided that I really wanted to eat a carrot. Random I know, and the guys inside the store kept trying to convince me that what I really wanted was pickled carrots inside of a jar. We couldn't find a fountain or sink anywhere nearby, so I ended up washing the carrot using my water bottle in the middle. I got some strange looks walking around the metro munching on a carrot. My Mom and I realized that this is probably because Italian's don't seem to eat on the run like we do.

We stumbled around trying to find something to eat, and ended up at this little place eating all by ourselves. Italian's eat late, so I am sure as soon as we walked in that the server knew that we were American tourists, but they were nice enough to serve us up some delicious dinner anyways. My pork and mushroom steak was nice, but Mom really did well with her tuna. The tiramisu we had for dessert was gone within seconds, but I made sure to save enough room for gelato, where I ended up with my favorite combination yet black cherry with cream and caramel with cream. Mom found a soy sugar free milk free flavor that she loved enough to wake up this morning and turn to me and say "I dreamt about that gelato last night."

I guess we will be going back for more this afternoon :)