2002-07-07 - 7:16 a.m.
Welcome to the birthplace of Western civilization. That's right folks, I've made it to Athens.
I left off in Rome though... One thing I forgot to mention about our first day in the Eternal City is that we found a lovely grassy valley to sit in. It was long, and oval shaped, and quite a bit lower than the area around, with brick steps going down to the bottom. There was a raised area in the middle, and it was very green and pleasant. We found out later that this was the Circus Maximus, where the ancient Romans held the chariot races. Most of Rome is like this- you find something nice, and find out later that it's ancient and famous. A most appealing trait in a city.
Anyway, our second day in Rome was a Saturday, and we decided to forgo any ancient sites, as things are generally more crowded on weekends, and we did have a whole week in the city. We took the time to go a little way out of the city center, to find the church where the Apostle Paul is buried. I had found out about this in Venice, when I did a little research into where some of the more influential Biblical characters are buried. Peter, of course, is under the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, and I found that Paul is in a church called "St. Paul's outside the walls". This is on the site of an ancient graveyard, and excavations under the church revealed a early Christian chapel, also dedicated to Paul. They've even found his gravestone. So, the place is considered historically accurate, and I was pretty excited.
We took the metro out in the morning. The church is located agreeably near the metro station, and we found it with no trouble. I was expecting a very nice church, of course, but nothing very big. I was wrong. The church is one of the biggest I've ever seen. It was in the shape of a T, rather than a cross, as many churches are. The short bar of the T has two small chapels, as well as three alters. The alter over Paul's tomb is right at the crossing. The long arm of the T is divided up into a nave and two aisles, separated by huge columns. The roof is amazingly high, and flat, fully decorated. There are portraits of all the Popes, starting with Peter and ending up with the present Pope, Benedict. The whole church is gorgeous, and has such a sense of size to it. You feel very small standing in the church. Among the many works of art, they have an ancient candle stick, that has been used in this church as far back as they can trace. Outside the church they have a little courtyard with gravestones that they have excavated displayed on the walls. It was quite interesting to see the early Christian symbols on some of the stones, including the PX symbol, and the fish.
We spent over an hour inside the church, and then walked back into the city. It was a nice walk, along parts of Rome that you would not otherwise see, and we met a guy who said he was from Nigeria, who tried to get us to give him money. The road back in to the city was easy to find- it was the one that ran straight to the old gates. Those Romans were efficient!
We wandered back to the center of the old city, near the Colosseum. Seeing that never got old! We were standing near some ancient ruins, looking at a map of the Roman empire (actually, four maps, one for each stage. Quite dramatic really- starts out as a city, and ends up with the world.) when we heard some noise. We looked over in time to see a giant protest march going on. What they were protesting I don't know, but there were a lot of them. It seemed to be mostly the communists, although I did see one sign for the Communist-Fascist club. Yeah. I didn't get it either. We stood there for over an hour, just watching it go by. It has everything that I've come to expect from a protest rally- people with megaphones, lots of noise, tons of younger people who look like they hardly know why they are there, but some one told them to come, the people who look just a little too dedicated, with the fire of crazy passion in thier eyes. There were also things that I never expected, like a mobile bar, set up on the back of a truck. There were flags, and whistles, and streamers, and anything that was red or made noise.
After a while we got tired of watching them, so we headed back up to see where the marchers came from. We walked for ten minutes before we came to the end of the protest, and there we found the cops. There were four lines of probably ten each there, along with dozens of police vehicles, not just cars, but trucks, and armoured trucks, and paddy wagons. It was sort of chilling. They just quietly marched behind the protesters, to make sure that nothing bad would happen.
It was another quiet night at the hostel that night. We had been hoping to go see a movie, but they were all in Italian, none in English with Italian subtitles.
The next day, I woke up none too early. As is fairly usual, I was up a bit before Jesse, so I showered, and sat down with some tea in the dining room. Heather, who is a very nice English girl staying in the hostel was sitting there, and we got to talking. Before long Jesse got up, and then we were joined by an American. He had been out the night before, and come home at five (he decided to make pasta at 5 a.m., much to Jesse's anger. We could hear everything in the kitchen.) and we were surprised to see him awake. It was not past ten in the morning, but this guy cracks a bottle of wine. I stuck with tea. Over the next two hours he finished his wine, had a drunken conversation with Jesse about German history, and got totally confused when the cord for the mouse on the computer got stuck under the mouse. Then he went back to bed.
Jesse and Heather and I stayed up, since it was noon, and kept talking. Ivano came by, and said that there was a soccer game that night, and wondered if we wanted to go. Of course we did, and he went to get tickets. Long story short, we spent the entire day sitting and talking around the table. It was quite nice, in a homey sort of way (the best kind of way!). I didn't leave the hostel until about five thirty, when Jesse and I went to find a snack before the game.
We left for the game at about seven. Ivano took us in his car in two loads, and that was an experience. See, there are no speed limits in Rome, and Ivano made the best of this delightful rule. Roaring down the roads, weaving in and out of traffic, screeching to a halt at the last minute, stopping between lanes at a red light, trying to squeeze in anywhere there looked like there may be space- this is Roman driving.
Now, you've all heard about some trouble that they can have in Europe over soccer games. Occasionally there are fights, and to mitigate this, they have quite strict security. Like the genius that I am, I never even thought about this. I waltz in, with my pocketknife and my bearing in my pocket. The bearing is from an electric motor, and I have had it since high school. I was given it by Don, who was my boss, and I've always liked to have it in my pocket. Well, I go through the gates, and a cop pats me down. He finds my keys first, which he lets me keep, but then he finds my knife. He starts questioning me in Italian, to which I reply "only English" like the good dumb tourist that I am at heart. He calls over another cop, and his supervisor, all of whom are giving me dirty looks. They make me half take off my jacket, and question me. In reply to their questions, I explain that the knife is for food only, for cheese mostly, and I just forgot that I had it. I honestly just forgot!!! The bearing? It's a good luck piece. That's all. Just a good luck piece. Of course you can take them officer. I won't get them back? That's ok! Just don't arrest me.
I was pretty worried, but more that I wouldn't see the game. I couldn't quite see them arresting me. Anyway, I was quite shaken, as was Jesse, who I fingered as my traveling companion (resulting in him getting searched as well).
The game though, was awesome. We were in the Rome section, of the Rome vs. Florence game. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. The fans were just nuts, and had smoke, and flares to show their support. Seriously. They were throwing red (Rome's colour) flares onto the track at the end of the stadium, and there was yellow red and white smoke everywhere. There was a theme song that I cheerfully and incompetently sang along to (Roma, Roma, Roma). The game was great, my first live soccer (watching Tim play in the Rocky home league doesn't count). Rome won, of course, three to one. Every time Rome scored the place exploded, with people screaming, hugging, shouting, clapping, and anything you can think of, including more flares.
After the game we went for supper with Ivano. He does this a few times a week with anyone who wants to from the hostel. For twenty euros, you get a four course Italian dinner at a little restaurant, along with all the wine you can drink. That night we had bruschetta, then Fried Italian (which is a bunch of random vegetables deep fried) then two pasta (gnocchi and penne, with the penne in an aribiati, or angry, sauce-slightly spicy) and a veal cutlet after. It was very, very good. Ivano talked Jesse, Heather, Kohe and one other guy, Chad into eating a pepper. He told them that it was like a jalapeno, but apparently it was much hotter. None of them could taste the meal, and Kohe, who is a little Japanese fellow broke out into a sweat. It was pretty amusing to one smart enough to forgo the pepper.
After dinner we went to a bar for a drink, and I had a very interesting discussion with Chad and Heather about God.
The next day, Monday, we were finally going to see the famous sites. With that in mind we didn't get out of the hostel till nearly noon. We eventually made it across town to the Colosseum, getting there at the perfect time to avoid the lines. It was pretty cool on the inside, the floor is gone, and you can see the passages and rooms that were in the basement. We didn't take a tour, mostly because it cost money, but did get a good sense of what it would have been like. They also had a very interesting display about the "Illiad" on the inside.
Our ticket for the Colosseum were also good for Palatine Hill. This is the hill where Rome was first settled, and was later the home of the Roman emperors. Now it's the ruins of the abodes of emperors. Again we had no guide, so it was a bit hard to tell what we were looking at. That, and we were very tired. We looked around for a bit, and then went to the Circus Maximus to read.
The next day we got up super early to see the Vatican museums. The line for these is always huge, and we, along with two very nice Americans, Jeremy and Rebecca, got there at 7:30. We stood in line for an hour and quarter, and it was not warm!! Not warm at all. I won't quite say cold, but a guy begins to feel it after that long. Anyway, we finally went in, and split up from the Americans. We saw a very nice art museum first, with a cool Da Vinci piece. Then we saw some lovely statues, and, of all thing, a museum of Egyptian antiquities, including a mummy. So that was neat. As we went on, we got to the Raphael rooms, which are room decorated by Raphael. The crowds there were horrendous- just people packed in, mostly old men in hats, and their wives. I hate crowds, and I hate not being able to go at my own speed. We ditched the crowds and went to see some modern religious art. It was interesting, some cool, some terrible, but it got us away from the crowds. We eventually made it to the Sistine Chapel, which was worth the crowds. If you've never seen it, you should go. The art is unbelievable, the ceiling is gorgeous, and indescribable. I loved it.
After that we had had enough of crowds, so we left St. Peter's, and went back to ancient Rome. At the foot of the Palatine hill is the remains of ancient Rome, the remnant of the Forum, some temples, all the important bits. I had looked through a book Tim loaned me about that part of the city, and managed to figure out what some things were. Forgot to bring it with me, of course, so had to check it again when I got back. After that, we went back the Circus Maximus, and I had a nap.
Our last day in Rome we slept in for a decent amount of time, to compensate for the day before. We planned to see St. Peter's, but when we got there, the Pope was out in front, along with the crowds that surround this sort of thing. I don't know what he was doing- I think he has a public audience every Wednesday, and it had something to do with that. Anyway, even after the Pope had left there was a huge line, so we ditched, and walked over to the Piazza de Popolo, which is a very nice square in anther part of the city. From there we caught a metro and a bus out to St. Sebastian's catacombs.
The catacombs were very neat. You have to take a guided tour, and the tour was quite good. We heard about how the Christians dug these out of the rock, and how they buried people in the fetal position (said to be more natural, since that is how we are born). We also learned that Roman law said that cemeteries were places of sanctuary, so that is why the Christians would hide there when persecuted.
We saw some ancient Christian tombstones, with Christian imagery on them, including the PX, and a dove. It was really neat. Then we saw some ancient Roman mausoleums that are nearby. Apparently, at one point in history, the Christians took the ashes of Peter and Paul and put them here for a while.
Above this is the church of St. Sebastian, who is the most immediately recognizable figure in religious art. He's the one you see with all the arrows in him. He was a Christian Roman soldier, who was sentenced to death. He survived the execution (hence the arrows) and preached to the emperor, who had him killed. They had his tomb, as well as one of the arrows that the Romans shot him with.
We got back into the city as fast as we could, so that we could see St. Peter's. At first we thought that it would be closed, but we made it just in time.
St. Peter's is beyond a doubt most impressive church that I've ever been to. It is so big that the area past the alter is in itself big enough for another cathedral. HUGE. Also, very beautiful, and not a big over done. I loved it very much, and wished I had more time. The upside to going late is that it was nearly empty, so we could wander at will, discovering new works of art, and tombs of Popes around every corner.
That night, our last in Rome, we went for dinner with Ivano again. Once again the food was wonderful. Over supper the conversation turned to gelatto, the wonderful Italian ice cream. Ivano told us he knew the best place for gelatto, and took us there after supper.
The guy behind the counter was hilarious. Jesse asks for chocolate
"just chocolate? We have dozens of flavors!"
"Well, what's best?"
"I'm the best"
"So what's second best?"
"I'm the best"
Jesse ended up with a cone that had whipped cream, chocolate, cinnamon and berry, topped by more whipped cream.
I was similarly informed that I couldn't have the simple cream and mint that I wanted. He insisted on adding Grand Mariner and whipped cream. He was right though- it was pretty good.
With our ice cream, Ivano took us on a tour of Rome, pointing out the interesting sites. Nothing like a 2 a.m. personalized tour of a city to endear you to it.
We got back to the hostel at about 3, and since Jesse and I were due to get up at 5 to catch our train, we didn't bother going to bed. We sat in the garden talking to Heather and Ivano, and then to each other when they left.
Five comes around, and we go int to get our stuff. This is when I realize I have a problem. My wallet with my Eurail pass has disappeared. I can't find it anywhere. I empty my backpack as quietly as I can, but it's no where to be found. This is bad. I look several times, but it is gone.
With this in mind, we had a quick change of plans. We were going to go to Pompei for the day, and then to Bari to catch the ferry to Greece. Since I will now be paying my own way, we go straight to Bari. Luckily, this would have been the last leg with the passes anyway, and rail in Italy is cheap. We get to the station, feeling horrible, tired and angry about the pass. I have no idea what happened to it, if someone took it, or if it is still at the hostel. We catch the train to Bari, but it turns out that the ticket agent had given Jesse a seat in one car, and me in another, a complication that we didn't need.
I slept most of the way to Bari, and felt nearly human by the time we got there. Getting off the train we ate the lunch we had intelligently brought with us. Then we tried to get to the port. We were both tired, and that didn't help. We started to walk, and realized just in time that it was the wrong direction. Then we figured out the bus, and took twenty minutes to find it.
We eventually made it to the port, whereupon we wandered around some more, looking for the right one. We finally found very nice and helpful Kiwi girl who gave us directions.
The boat left at eight, and get got on at 5. Disregarding everything my mother ever told me about napping in the evening, we slept until the boat left.
The ferry was pretty comfortable. It was a long ride, from 8 p.m. to 11:30 a.m. There was a restaurant, and lots of seats. We of course couldn't afford a cabin, so we were on the reclining seats. Luckily, the boat was mostly empty, so we each stretched out over two. I slept surprisingly well, considering the vibrations of the boat, and the noise. They even turned the lights on at 5:30, as this was the first stop. I managed to nearly sleep through this though.
We finally got to Patros, and found our train. The trouble here was that it was only three cars for a lot of people. In the crush I could find nowhere to put my bag, and so I had to leave it by the door, keeping a very sharp eye on it the whole time. After that long hot ride, we got to Corinthos, only to find that we had to switch there, and take another train. I was pretty exhausted by now, and of course, there were no seats on this train. It was another hour. Great scenery though. Eventually, we made it to the city, and, joining forces with the Kiwi girl and her friend who gave us directions before, found the metro. A short metro ride later, and we came up in the city.
