City from a Hill

Yes, this is the blog intruder, one last time. And this is us on a hill.

I have this really awesome book about Rome that my friend in Ireland gave to me at the beginning of our trip...and I am so glad she did. Usually I have a guidebook to give me a general idea about where things are, but this Europe extravaganza crept up on me so suddenly there was no time to plan for the first few weeks, much less the end.

So props to Dawn, because without her we would have not found Janiculum Hill. It had awesome views of the entire city, plus overpriced Coca-Cola sold from Indian vendors and the Finnish embassy (go figure).

I'll let Katie write something - it is her blog, after all. But first of all, here is a photo of my most favorite part of Rome:

No, it wasn't the Colosseum, nor the incredible Roman ruins that we seemed to stumble across at every corner. It wasn't even the daily dose of gelato (today: pistachio, vanilla caramel, white chocolate)...

Most of all, I liked the FREE WATER. Let me explain.

In the United States, I'm used to seeing a drinking fountain around every corner. In Europe, this isn't an option. They all are snooty and like to drink bottled water that costs 2 euros. With FIZZ. Yes, fizzy water. Fizzy water tastes like vomit.

Italy has public spigots everywhere, just like pictured here at St. Peter's Square...in case the pope gets thirsty while out for his daily stroll.

I need to write in my own journal now (the old-school variety, involving paper, pen and hand cramps)...it's been real. I thank Katie for letting me blog and for joining with me on this phase of my travels; next we are planning to journey to someplace more volatile and adventurous than Rome. I'm thinking sailboat journey cross the Pacific.

Beth, it's been grand. My blog and its readers will miss you. Oh, yeah, I will miss you, too. New places on today's agenda included a market, some churches, St. Peter's Square, and St. Peter's Basilica. I was highly disappointed with St. Peter's Basilica because we couldn't even go stand under the famous dome and look up. They had so much of it blocked off and ready for Easter. That's what we get for going duing Holy Week. Despite this greate let down, I still enjoyed it because there is just so much to see and to take in. While we were there, I asked Beth, "How do you take pictures of a place like this? " You just can't really capture it. So while my snapshots may be a nice reminder, the best images are in my head.

Beth's let down of the day was when she couldn't see the famous artwork mentioned in the book she's reading. We even went back to the Piazza del Popolo just to go to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo where it was just to check it out. Turns out that it was being cleaned or worked on or something because it was all blocked off.

Oh well. We had a great time anyway. On top of that hill Beth mentioned, there were busts of different influential men all along the road. We felt the need to either pose with them, mock their pose, or add to the whole scene. :) Aren't we creative?

Beth's flight leaves before lunch tomorrow, but mine doesn't leave until 9:50pm so I have the whole day yet to explore. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do besides buy postcards, but I do know that I won't be bored! I might go back to some places or I might try new places. Most likely, I'll do a combination.

The one other highlight of the day came very very early. Around 3am I woke up because I felt an earthquake. The town that's been getting hit hard had another aftershock last night and Rome could feel it to a lesser degree. I woke up because I thought I was too close to the edge of the bed, but then I realized I wasn't moving, the bed was. It was kind of weird. I woke up not sure if it really happened, but then once we turned on CNN, the lady said that about 6 hours ago there had been another aftershock. I checked the clock and lo and behold it was about 9am when that report came on, live. So I've now felt an earthquake. Strange. Very strange.

Over and out from here. We're tired, our faces are pink, I think I'm getting a heat rash (I'm itchy), and my feet are swollen from walking so much the last few days. And you know what? Every single minute has been absolutely spectacular. If you've never been to this city, get here, pronto! It's worth it! But don't skimp and stay for just two days. You need at the very least three days to see the biggest and best it has to offer.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, today's gelato flavors were Tartufo (chocolate truffle), strawberry, and vanilla caramel. Yummy!