Fall Break Part 5--When in Rome...Run!

"With less than a minute to spare, Dana and Ben are dashing through the crowd, running full steam ahead with St. Peters Cathedral looming in the background." This is how I imagine author, Dan Brown writing our final moments in Rome. But first let me back up a little in our story. 

Me on the Spanish Steps.

Ben with the Spanish Steps in the background.

We arrived in the Rome on the kind of day you see in the movies. Sunny, beautiful, warm, but not hot and a cool breeze at your back. At times I had to pinch myself that we were really there. We started our tour of "Renaissance Rome" at the Spanish Steps. They are called the Spanish Steps because the Spanish Embassy is located there. All around the steps were tourist vendors pushing the usual kitschy items that were probably made in China instead of Italy. From there we moved on to the Trevi Fountain, one of the most famous fountains in the world. 

Trevi Fountain.

Drinking from the fountains. They're safe!

While at the fountain we did the obligatory coin over your left shoulder. It is believed that if you throw one coin you will come back to Rome, two coins and you will have a new romance, and three coins and you will get either divorced or married. I threw just the one coin--since I already have Ben and don't want a divorce either. 

The Pantheon.

After the fountain we went to the Pantheon to see one of the best examples, if not the best example of Roman architecture. We were in awe of it's simplicity and beauty all at once. Even though I had been there before it still left me feeling impressed. 

The square outside of the Pantheon.

The next stop was the Piazza Navona, my favorite place in all of Rome! I first fell in love with this square (during a high school spring break trip) when I was 17 and came to it for an afternoon to sketch the fountains. It was the first place in Europe I felt like I fit in. The square swarms with artists painting and selling artwork--some of it is authentic, some of it isn't. The reason I love the Piazza Navona so much is that in a city full of hustle and bustle this square is one of the few places where you can really relax. 

Me looking at the artwork.

We were given a lunch break when we reached the Piazza, so we decided to grab some pizza (and gelato) and then sit and enjoy the sites. Plus, it was much cheaper to grab lunch and go than sit in the cafe. Hey, I did just buy an expensive purse in Florence (you need to cut corners somewhere right?). 

After lunch we toured the alleyways that connect to the Piazza and got some postcards. Then it was time to meet back with our group and go to St. Peter's Square and Cathedral. I was feeling anxious about us having enough time at St. Peter's especially when I saw the line just to get in! Plus, people in Rome like to cut in line! I wanted to shout, "Hey! Would Jesus cut me in line? Get behind me!" or "Ooooh...you are so in trouble now, the Pope is watching you!" or maybe just say, "Oh, you are so going to hell now!"  But I resisted the temptation to cuss-out my fellow man and turned the other cheek, but I did give a few good old fashioned glares. 

On our way to St. Peter's.

Once inside we walked briskly to the counter to get our tickets to go up to the top of the dome. However, the Vatican does not accept credit or debit card and we didn't have enough cash. They told us the gift shop could make change for us. We go to the gift shop, but we have to buy something to get change. So I pick out a 25 cent postcard, but that doesn't work. We have to spend $10 to get change says the nun behind the counter. Pardon my bad joke, but man, I knew the Catholic's were against change, but this was ridiculous! What on earth are we going to spend $10 on at the St. Peter's Cathedral gift shop? We're not even Catholic! So we hurriedly picked out a few more random items and finally got our change. Amen! 

St. Peter's Cathedral.

We race back to the ticket counter with our Euro's in hand and finally get our tickets to go up to the dome. We ride the elevator half way up, which I highly recommend. From half way up we still had around 250 stairs to climb! Yikes! I had done this climb before, so I knew how hard it can be especially on a time crunch. My least favorite part of the climb is when the stairs get really narrow and the dome is actually pressed sideways on you. When we reached the top we were out of breath and a little sweaty, but relieved to have made it, and the view more than made up for it! 

The wonderful view couldn't last forever, and we still hadn't seen the inside of the actual Cathedral...so down we went and fast! 

When we made it to the bottom of the Cathedral and looked backed up at the dome ceiling. It left Ben in awe. He's been to lots of Cathedrals, but as he said, "None of them compares to this!" 

Chairs for people to sit a listen to the Pope.

That awe inspiring moment was not to last...as we checked our watches from inside the Cathedral, we saw we only had a few minutes left before we had to meet our tour group. And our tour group meeting spot was on the complete other side of St. Peter's square. Our eyes met with mutual anxiety and we rapidly walked towards the exit. We continued to walk fast until we saw our group leaving from across the way. This is when we decided to break into our run--dodging old women and children along the way. But we couldn't help, but see the irony of the situation. We were both laughing and running and I said, "I think this is straight out of a Dan Brown book! All we need is for someone to be chasing us!" 

Well have no fear we made it! Our tour group did not leave without us and we were safely put back on our bus. Just like all Dan Brown books this ending was more hyped up than it needed to be...but didn't you have fun along the way?

Come back tomorrow for Part 6--We hike a volcano!