We arrived in the rain to a train station that was dark and in the process of closing. We couldn’t even purchase a map. We tried to ask a guard for directions to a place to buy a map and he basically told us to leave because they were closing. So we did. Thankfully, outside the station was a man commissioned to get travelers to stay at certain hotels and hostels. He had a map of the locations and was quite okay with telling us about them. Too bad we already had reservations. He was nice enough to let us have a map, after he painstakingly circled the hotels and hostels nearby and told us to check them out.
Nothing is more tiring than dragging heavy backpacks and a large suitcase through the rain attempting to find someplace with a tiny map and the rain drenching it. When we finally found where we needed to go, we were thoroughly soaked and very frustrated. We went down a long, dark, creepy side street and finally came upon the unmarked building that our hostel supposedly lived in. We rang a button and were instantly buzzed in. Once out of the rain and in the region of being able to sleep, a little tension was relieved. That is until we met Dane Cook’s evil doppelganger and were introduced to the hotel/hostel and the ick factor.
We checked in and this process was the first of many indications of something not quite right. while waiting for “Dane” to write our passport information, I was reading a sign on the wall about Rome’s hotel tax. The sign read something to the effect of: Any persons letting a room in Rome was to pay an additional tax of 2 Euro per person per night stayed. It went on to say that the only exclusion was for hostels. So, I was understandably confused when “Dane” told us we needed to pay for this tax. When I read off the sign, he replied with “This is not a hostel.” Maybe this is the time to mention that right above the Rome tax letter was a sign welcoming us to Two Ducks Hostel. Regardless, we paid so we could get on to the sleeping.
We informed him that instead of the three nights we had originally intended to stay, we would only be staying the one night and he said that would be fine and then he led us down to the first floor and introduced us to our room. On first glance, our room wasn’t bad. We set our stuff down and started to get ready for bed. We had decided to not stay at Two Ducks because their reviews online (which I hadn’t read) were horrible. Comments about stolen items, financial scamming, non lockable doors… all that along with the long dark creepy alley we had to go through to get there made it a very easy decision to not stay. Especially after we had met “Dane.”
I left our very preschool colored room (read royal blue walls) and went to the equally bright (Canary yellow and crayon red) hall and then into the restroom. Now, I don’t expect much when it comes to hostels, so this bathroom didn’t disappoint. I couldn’t find the light switch and it was dirty. Gross. So I went, brushed my teeth, and left.
The most abrasive thing about this place was the smell. You know that dirty, musty house smell? that’s what this was. The thing that made it really bad was the scent of pine-sol. This smell was in no way the lovely clean smell that pine-sol imbues. It was more like they had thrown mass quantities on the floor, swished it around with a dirty, musty mop and then didn’t rinse it. It was overwhelming and made the whole place seem even dirtier.
Needless to say we stayed our night and took off in the morning. Just today, Flor told me she had a blood drip stain on her blanket….EW!
After we checked out, we began the lengthy process of finding another hostel which took almost three hours, but was a raging success because we ended up at a convent hostel run by nuns. It was lovely, peaceful, and best of all we felt like we were in a safe, and clean environment.
After getting situated and taking a nap (SO NICE) we decided to locate some attractions to go to that night. We only found one. A popular museum was opening its door for free due to Three Colors Day. So we trudged along with our very large map (we got a new one) to the Piazza Venezia where the museum was located. When we got there, we were greeted with this massive monument and an amazing light display. Three large buildings were being lit by a laser light ensemble which changed the colors from red to green to white. It was very awesome.
Turns out that this year is the 150th anniversary of Italy being a cohesive country so we showed up in time for three days of extreme patriotism. Very cool. I even bought a flag. So we were completely drenched. I did mention we were in the middle of a cold downpour, right? We went up some crazy steep stairs to the center of the museum grounds which incidentally also housed the Senate building. When we got up there there was a band playing the national anthem and other rousing music. They were in full regalia with the cool hats and marching uniforms. People were standing around under umbrellas with Italian flags or wrapped in large Italian flags. It was inspiring, or would have been if I weren’t so sick.
Progressively as the day went on, I had gotten sicker and sicker. So, by the time we were in the courtyard listening to the band and waiting until the museum opened, I was frozen, miserable, and really couldn’t handle much more. I climbed the stairs to what I later learned was the senate building but what I had been told would be where the exhibit would be, and I spoke to a guard and in broken English, he welcomed me inside took me to the security office, asked me if I needed a doctor, offered me a blanket, and offered me tea. It was very sweet. I must have looked and sounded terrible, which is how I felt, for them to be so sweet.
It was surreal to be in the senate building of Rome and seeing first hand the Capitoline Wolf. She is the symbol of Rome and is one of the first pieces you study in every Art Appreciation class. It was very cool.
After the Senate building, we headed back to the hostel. I was so happy to sleep.
Our second day in Rome (also freaking rainy) was monument day. We wandered around looking for fountains, ruins, the Coliseum, the Pantheon and we found them all. I was in the freaking Pantheon!!
When we got to the Pantheon, a ceremony of some sort was happening and we had to
shove through a HUGE crowd to get in. I am so glad we did though. It was so beautiful. I am still in awe of it being 2000 years old without ever having been renovated. I was walking on the original 2000 year old marble floor. EEEEEEEEE!
After the Pantheon, we wandered all over, randomly looking for the Coliseum. We wandered forever. We came upon the Roman Forum which was seriously cool. It was everything that you imagine Roman ruins to be. There were crumbling columns, beautiful arches, grown over remnants of an ancient time. It was very lovely. We looked up from the Forum and saw the Coliseum. It appeared almost magically in front of us. I have to say that after seeing it so many times in movies, art history classes, and just pictures, it was crazy to see it in real life. I almost expected it to be a poster when I came up to it. I actually walked up to the side of this iconic amazing thing and touched it with my hands.
So many things in Italy looked just like the movies. Venice was exactly like every movie I’d ever seen that took place in it. Milan’s Duomo was as stunning as it is proclaimed to be, and Rome especially didn’t disappoint.
We entered into the Coliseum through one of it’s big beautiful arches and I think I stood in frozen, drenched, sick awe. I was in the Coliseum. EEEEEEEEEEE! Due again to the Three Colors Celebration, all monuments were free that day so we grabbed our tickets and entered into the massive stadium. There is something about climbing stairs that Ceasar climbed that made me feel the need to whisper. I don’t believe in ghosts or spirits, but if anywhere would have them, the Coliseum would be the place. Such an awesome spectacle of architecture and technological advance in that time, but a place of such horrendous death and disregard for human life. It is at once a marvel and something gruesome.
We took lots of pictures but once again, the intensity of my cold got the better of me and I had to go into the bookstore to get warm. I was having trouble breathing and I couldn’t stop hurting. Every joint was in pain. Still we powered on. We went in search of the mythical Trevi fountain.
Have I mentioned that everything in Rome is uphill. This is literally the only place where you could walk uphill to school both ways. My grandparents should have lived there. I would have no choice but to believe them when they tell me about their trips to elementary school.
We found what we thought was the fountain up a really really really steep hill followed by a really really really steep staircase. We tossed the requisite coins, made the requisite wishes (mine was for wellness and sunshine) and then we went back to the hostel where I gave up the ghost and covered myself in four blankets and tried to sleep off my cold. I woke up four hours later and was still sick but made myself get up and go downstairs to have tea and check my email, which turned out to be a very good thing because my car was in danger of repossession due to some signature issue. Also, I found out that some hotel called Hotel Magnifico had taken $116 out of my bank account without authorization so I had to send out emails. By the time I was done with that, Flor and Zach came back and it was time for sleep. I wanted to be done with this freaking cold and ready for a great day at the Vatican.
I went back upstairs, crawled back under my layers of warm blankets and slept. At 3 AM, I woke up drenched in sweat and in need of a drink. I had finally burnt off my fever. THANK GOD!!! After getting a drink, shedding a few blankets, and running a cool cloth over my face and neck, I crawled back into bed and slept a few more hours broken only by coughing.
When I woke in the morning I felt so much better. I wasn’t feverish and my throat had tempered itself down to mildly irritated. The only thing in full force was the cough. I was so happy. I actually spoke without my voice vanishing. It was lovely. Even better, when we walked outside to go catch a bus to the Vatican, it was SUNNY!!!! Seriously, this was so great!
We jumped on a bus and headed to the Vatican. I think I was the only one as excited about it as I was. I think I may be a complete anomaly when it comes to art and religion. I can separate the two. I can walk into a completely beautiful place designed to be a house of prayer and regardless of my faith and the faith of the location, I can see the beauty. I can be in awe of the lovely face of the Virgin and feel her pain. I can take in with breathless amazement the soaring architecture, ornate windows, and intricate tile work and look beyond what they portray, (saints, martyrs, or scenes from mythology) which I also enjoy greatly because there is always a story and an underlying meaning, and see the work and the care used in creating them and love them because of these things. I don’t look at them with the eyes of a religion, I look at them with the eyes of appreciation and awe.
So many times on this trip I have met with an inability in people to comprehend what a lot of the things and places we are seeing mean. How they show a marked timetable in human comprehension and human innovation. I have been met with both the argument that these places are disgusting shows of wealth that should be liquidated or no longer focused on and the money be spent on the poor. This also comes with the argument that all the things we see are built by slaves who were forced to create and pay for creating them. Which is entirely inaccurate in most cases. The other side can’t look upon a statue of the Virgin and see the skill and feel the emotion portrayed, only that it is an icon in a faith not agreed with. I don’t know what this means. Maybe it means nothing. I know that it makes me sad. I wish that I could make the connections for people but it is impossible to make people see what they don’t want to and I am hoping that with age will come the eyes needed to truly see. The world will one day hear these voices because they belong to brilliant, observant individuals and I hope that if not love, an appreciation for the things seen here will be what the world hears.
That said, the Vatican was incredible. Saint Peter’s Basilica was quite possibly the
most opulent, rich church I have ever seen. Michelangelo's Pieta was six feet in front of me. Hundreds of sculptured pieces were everywhere. There wasn’t a single surface that didn’t have some sort of ornamentation. The floors were gorgeous the ceiling even more so. Almost the most impressive thing about the basilica is that it doesn’t look very big from the outside. I really wasn’t expecting the richly embellished cavern of art and faith that I found
inside. It blew me away. By far the most impressive thing to me was the feeling of intense respect. This was a tourist destination and millions of people came every year to see it’s art, but it was treated as a place of faith and given immeasurable respect. People walked in a still awe of the place, but no voices were raised, no disrespectful words were uttered. I truly happy to see it.
We waited around forty-five minutes in line to go into the Vatican museum which included the Sistine chapel. We toured several galleries of sculpture. It was incredible. I was a little surprised to see all the work in the Vatican portraying ancient Roman and Greek mythological imagery. It was pleasant surprise. There were rooms and room and rooms of sculpture. I was in awe but at the same time, I was very 
overwhelmed. I can easily see why someone might want to take three or four days to tour the galleries. It actually gets to the point of being numbing. After a lot of it, my mind and eyes weren’t processing everything the same as it had been when we began.
The Sistine Chapel was GORGEOUS. I have to say that I expected it to be much larger. I don’t really know why, when I had heard chapel so many times, that I was expecting the ceiling of some massive church, but I was. I wasn’t disappointed though, rather I was pleased because it made it much easier to take in. The room was not at all large
and SOOOOO many people were in it that time for true appreciation wasn’t available, but I took in what I could in 15 minutes and we got out to make room for others. Someday, when I am rich and famous, I hope to be able to go into the chapel by myself, light it with the same lighting as would have been used during its creation, and then lie on my back in the center of the floor and stare at it. It is such a beautiful and amazing piece of work. Just the construction of it, let alone the complete beauty is awe inspiring.
After the Vatican we went out to our daily gelato indulgence. I really do love gelato. It is just better than ice cream. I can’t explain how, but it is. We then were going to catch a bus, but instead ended up walking back to the hostel. It was so sunny and so warm that even I, in my illness, had taken off my jacket and just enjoyed our first completely beautiful Italian day.
Even though I was completely exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel, I needed to go to talk to the people at Hotel Magnifico about my bank account so I grabbed the address, dropped off my souvenirs, grabbed my wallet and took off. I walked for around 20 minutes to get there and when I did, I tried to calmly explain myself and my situation to them. When no mutual understanding was achieved, I asked to use their computer and got onto Google translate and explained myself. I told them that I had been charged a large amount of money and had never stayed there. He typed back that they owned several hotels and hostels in the area. They owned the hostel run by “Dane.”
Evidently when we canceled our last two nights with them, they had some small print that stated we gave them the right to charge us for 72 hours of residency. So, we paid cash for the first night and they took two addition days for each of us on my credit card. Of course, considering this left me with quite literally no money, I was livid. We weren’t told by “Dane” when we left the hostel that we would be accruing fees or that we would be penalized for leaving. Instead we were told it was okay. I actually started tearing up because I was so frustrated and mad. I tried reasoning with them and all four of them started yelling at me in Italian. At one point I pointed to the computer and asked them to use translate and the owner slammed the screen down and told me to sit. Finally it was too much. One too many Italians in my face yelling at me and in no way allowing me to communicate so I stood up, slamming the door on my way out. I hadn’t even taken a step away from the door when it opened and the owner kicked me in the ass, hard. It didn’t hurt, but it made me even more angry. I threw the tissue in my hand at him (I hope he gets this plague) and I walked out. I was crying in frustration part of the way home and then to add insult to injury, the sky opened up in flash. I was instantly drenched….again. It sucked.
Later that night, we were packing up and I was flipping through my postcards, I came across one with a photo of the Trevi fountain on it. this was not the Trevi fountain that we had seen. the fountain we had seen wasn’t the Trevi fountain at all. (thankfully, because it wasn’t at all impressive.) So, we decided to go find the actual Trevi fountain and to have Flor’s big Italian dinner out. We started walking 
and came upon the restaurant. We ate delicious food. I tried Zach’s mussels and they were really good. After eating, it was after 11PM. we kept on though. This was our last night in Rome and we hadn’t seen this fountain. I am really glad we did. This fountain is GORGEOUS. I am not certain of the history, but there is some story about tossing a coin over your shoulder while making a wish. So we all did it. Since my wish at the other “Trevi” fountain, for warmth and wellness, had come true, I wished for something even more important to me. It was a good night.
The next morning we had a long train ride to deal with so we were up early and to the train station. We got there and got on the train only to find out literally 8 minutes before it was supposed to leave, that the date on mine was wrong and that I had to go get it fixed. I ran like hell. I jumped a line of twenty people and went to the counter where the lady, fully aware of my problem, asked me why I had skipped the line…um I have 5 minutes?!? Regardless, she fixed my ticket and I ran all the way back and we got in the right places for our really long train ride. I think we were all really grateful that we had plane tickets after that ride. It felt really long.
We stayed the night at the Hotel Panizza (the hostel we had stayed at in Milan on the way to Rome) and met up with Jacob. We all went to dinner and then I came back to the hostel and they went out.
The next morning we got up and set about to get to the airport to catch our plane. We missed our plane. Between trains and the charter bus, we ran out of time. We probably should have woken up an hour earlier, but we thought that would put us there too early. Needless to say, that left us with only one option, a train ride home.
This was an easy thing for Flor, Zach, and Jacob. They had EuRail tickets. I had to buy mine individually. In order to do that, I had to borrow nearly $300 American dollars from Jacob to buy mine. I am so grateful he was there. I have no idea what I would have done.
So, we got on a train home. 12 hours later we found us in Braunschwieg, Germany. Our train had run a half hour late and this meant that if we took the train leaving Braunschwieg to Magdeburg (the town we catch the train to Quedlinburg in) we would be stranded overnight in the train station. By opting to stay in the Braunschwieg we were comp-ed four hotel rooms across the street from the station and we would catch the first morning train. We chose this option. It was the only one to get us to Quedlinburg in time for class at 9AM.
Needless to say, our Italian adventure was incredible and exhausting, and filled with crazy happenstance. We were very glad to be home at 8:30 this morning, even though we hadn’t slept and we had class in thirty minutes.
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