Day 2: Rome

Wednesday, June 27 2012

Woke up to a hot day. A real hot day. Probably didn't help that my bed wasn't made. We took care of that one quick, though. We have nicknamed the bathroom the sauna due to the fact that it is hot as balls in there every time we go in. Luckily, the shower is in a room adjacent to said sauna, so entry is not always necessary. 

Now I'm sure all hundreds of thousands of readers of this blog would loveeeee me to post everything we do, but my aunt wants to post stuff herself and she did create this. So I figured I'd give her the credit and allow her to.

There is a really funny story, however, about when we were visiting the Vatican today, which she will allow me to tell. While going through it, we were looking at all the stuff it had in the museum and, for the people who didn't know there was one, like me this morning, there is! In my opinion its not as great as the Louvre but decent.

Anyway we were going through and about halfway she asked if I had to use the bathroom and I didn't. I took that as "okay, she's going to," cause you know about traveling with women. Well, I waited, being a gentleman, for 20 minutes until she never came back. So I went down the hall which I thought the bathroom was down and discovered this was the way towards the end of the museum. WHOOPS. So I backpedaled past families who gave me weird looks, who were obviously thinking that I was going the wrong way but probably thought I was some stupid American and didn't care.

I got back to the room where I had waited beforehand and went down another hallway to where the bathroom actually was. I used it. But turns out my aunt wasn't there either so she must have not used the bathroom. At this point I just sat down and cried. A security guard came over and asked me for help in Italian but he touched me and I got scared, so I ran away. I ran through Vatican City balling my eyes out screaming "Aunt Jane!!!" and tackled a few swiss guards who looked like they were dragging her away. Turns out it was a terrorist and they thought I was involved with the plot. So they took me and the terrorist, Rick, in front of the Pope to be questioned. Why the Pope? I don't know. My theory is it was a plot like in the Da Vinci Code, but failed because they already had Tom Hanks before it even started. I thought I saw him behind a door. Anyway they escorted me back to the Sistine Chapel, which is beautiful by the by some sweet ceiling I think they said Michael J Fox did it..? But I found my auntie there so it all turned out a-okay. Don't know what happened to Rick though, disappointed he wasn't Obi-Wan Kenobi.

To those who actually think this happened…it did except for the crying part. Cause I'm 100% man.

Aunt Jane's take:

Well, Everett seems to have captured the highlights, as usual. Now, not sure if you were able to separate the fact from creative fiction, so I'll offer a few more "real" details of note. 

We spent the morning in our neighborhood. First, having a doppio espresso (for me) and a sweet treat for Everett. Our intent was to meet our venetian landlord (Ettore) to conduct a little business (fare il affari) and also get the lowdown on our next destination, but he had a small emergency and had to depart as soon as he got there, so Ev and I toured around -- bought some beautiful peaches and strawberries in the market, checked out the bakery, etc., until Ettore returned.


Our "affari" complete, we explored Trastevere. First stop was the Church of St. Cecilia, who lived sometime when Christianity was not yet widely accepted in Rome. The daughter of a wealthy family, she announced her religious orientation to her pagan husband on her wedding night and that she planned to remain chaste (must have been an interesting conversation). Ultimately, he converted, too. 

Both were persecuted by the Romans. They tried to kill Cecilia by steaming her in her bathroom (must have been a lot like the "sauna" Everett mentions in our flat), but after three days it still didn't take, so they chopped her head off. Her home was ultimately the site of the present day church you see below. It's quite lovely, and we especially enjoyed the expansive crypt that was cool on this hot, hot day.

Next stop was Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and the similarly named church, one of Rome's oldest and the first to be named after the Virgin Mary. Pix below.

We stopped for lunch and about 8 gallons of water (did we mention the heat?). I had a lovely seafood salad. Everett enjoyed a puffy pizza for his antipasta and spaghetti with a bunch of shellfish and seafood. I can vouch that his pasta was excellent. Dessert was some yummy fruit sorbet in the hollowed out fruits it came from. Refreshing.

On to the Vatican and St. Peter's. We were lucky to avoid long lines by purchasing our tix in advance online.

 

In addition to great art and the Sistine Chapel, we also had wonderful views of Roman rooftops from the Vatican Museum.

 And, of course, Everett has already regaled you with our little separation. Below is an almost exact replica of how I felt.

St. Peter's square and the basilica were also lovely.

 

Tomorrow, ancient Roma. Until then, Ciao!