Dear Italian Public Transportion...

. ...you are not on my good side.

Suffice it to say that my first encounter with Public Transportation in a large city was not favorable. Apparently it didn't like me much either. Yesterday I spent 3 hours getting from the airport to Mary Louise's apartment in Rome. It should have taken 30 minutes. It ended with me crying in a train station and then again on a train to this American guy sitting across from me. That was cool... sort of. If you are ever in Rome, make sure you know which side of the city you are flying in to. And maybe knowing some Italian would be nice. And if you are looking for metro tickets, don't go to the ticket stations. Any of them. They're at the newspaper stand, obviously.

Rome. I arrived here yesterday, and it has been eventful, to say the least. My Roman adventures began with a less-than-favorable introduction to big city Public Transportation (noted above). But I decided to give it another chance this morning, and I feel like throughout the day I've greatly improved my public transportaion skills.

They say (they being my guide book) that "a lifetime is not enough".... clearly they don't know my traveling skillz. I went to just about every tourist attraction there is to see here today. I am exhausted. My feet hurt. But I did it... and it was absolutely amazing! I started off the day bright and early and headed for the Vatican Museums. I left for the train station at about 7:30, asked for help (key), and I think I may have gotten to the Vatican in the most direct way possible... amazing! I was on top of my game and got in line 15 minutes before it opened and was inside just 20 minutes later... definitely the best time to go, in case you were wondering. I went through all the rooms (I don't know what that section is called...) which lead to the Sistine Chapel, and then walked over to the Pinacoteca (painting gallery). It was all absolutely phenomenal. I do really like art, but I think anyone who has been there will agree that all of the art work is just so amazing, down to the last intricate details. I'm really glad Ellen told me to go into the Pinacoteca. I was the only person in the room with Raphael's Transfiguration... it was incredible! Sorry if the pictures all look the same to you... I tried to be selective.

So then, about 9:30 or so, I walked back to St. Peter's square (stopped on the way at Old Bridge Gelateria - another of Ellen's suggestions - and got coffee and nutella gelato). I got in line for what I thought was the Papal Audience, but what ended up just being to get into the church. But don't worry... I watched the pope speak on the big screen outside. I went into the church, wandered around with the hundreds of other people, gawked at people as they went into confession because that's what you do when you're a tourist in a church, went to the papal tombs, gawked at people as they prayed the rosary in front of tombs because that's what you do when you're a tourist in the papal tombs, etc. That, plus wandering around the square for a bit, lasted me about an hour or so, and then I was on my way once again.

After a few tries and with the help of the Americans trying to get me to buy a guided tour of the Vatican, I found the Metro station and went to meet Mary Louise and Kristin (her roommate) at the Spanish Steps for lunch. Well, they had similar problems with our friend public transportation as I did yesterday, so I was there for about 2 hours before they got there. It sounds not very fun, but actually it was really nice. I read for a while, took some pictures, people watched, took pictures for other people, and rested my eyes for a bit. I didn't see anywhere to eat around there, so when they got there we walked to Trevi Fountain, picked up a slice of pizza, and enjoyed it among the throngs of tourists doing the exact same thing.

For our next stop, we decided we had maybe been smothering Public Transportion and should give it a little space to cool off a bit. So we walked to Ancient Rome/the Colosseum. I was tired and questioning whether I wanted to go, but I'm so glad I did. We decided to spare the money and time and not actually go in the Colosseum, but we walked around and took pictures, looked in from the gates, and listened in on a few tours. It is always crazy to think about the things that went on in such old places like Ancient Rome and the Acropolis and who has walked the same steps you are.

From the Colosseum, we sucessfully took a metro to Termini, a train to Trastevere, then a bus to the grocery store and back to the apartment. It's been a rocky relationship, but I think I can say "hey, Public Transportation, you're alright after all."

Btw's... there are pictures up on Picasa from Rome, but I couldn't get them on the slideshow, so just click the link on the "keep in touch" section.