A Final Blog - Part 2

So I left off at the end of our first day in Rome.

The next day we went back to Rome and traveled to quite a few places via the Metro including the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon. All of the architecture in Rome was just astounding and just standing before these structures that are centuries-old, older than any in America was very humbling. We also visited La bocca della verita, or the "mouth of truth." Legend says that if you stick your hand inside this rock-face's mouth and it bites your hand off, you are a liar. Well I didn't get my hand bit off nor did anyone else so I'm thinking it's either a lie in and of itself or that whoever came up with the legend has a love for irony.

At the end of the day we went back to our camp site as usual where we find them to be having a Dire Straights tribute band playing at the pool. So we went down there for the night and enjoyed a very awesome band. These four Italian guys (that made up the band) were great and they sounded just like Dire Straights.

The following day we spent the entirety of the day at the Vatican where I got to see the popes' tombs, St. Peter's basillica, St. Peter's tomb, the Vatican museums, and the Sistine Chapel. I never thought I'd ever get a chance to go to Europe and this thought was really hit home when I went inside the Vatican. Its such an amazing city. It is, essentially, the seat of Catholicism. That means it is the beating heart of a religion practiced by about a billion people on this planet. Even as a writer, I am at a loss of words as to describe the place and the feeling you get when you are there. I was with a group of 6 other people and only me and another are Catholic but even the 5 others were in awe at the place.

So at the end of the day we went back to our camp site and this particular time they were playing Madagascar 2 down at the people so we gathered up some snacks and enjoyed that.

The next day we went to the Spanish steps, experience our first and last Italian pasta (I had ravioli) and then headed to the airport where we flew to Paris. I also got screened by security there once we were passed main security and waiting for our plane to board. It wasn't anything dire, they just gathered me and one of my friends over, checked out passports on their computers, asked us where we were going, etc. It was a random screening because the G8 summit was being held in Italy and so they stepped up security. Speaking of, the Polizia (Italian police force) were everywhere.

And so we flew to Paris. When we got there, we realized our airport was way outside of Paris and so we had to take an hour bus ride to get to the city where the bus dropped us off near some random Metro stop. We walked with a couple other American students we met at the airport and eventually found the metro (where we then parted ways). So we hoped on the Metro and attempted to get to our host's house (because we were couch-surfing in Paris). All in all, that was in adventure. In short, we took one metro and on tram to get to a very ghetto-feeling stop. We could not find the address and our friend's cell phone died (she had service in Europe) and so we were very much stranded. We hailed a taxi and showed them the address but they didn't know where it was and their GPS couldn't find it either. So we attempted to stay at a Best Western down the road but they were full up (even though it was outside Paris and it was during the week). So we started walking, trying to find another hotel, when we decided to hail another taxi. This one found the place on the GPS and it turned out the address was right nearby.

So we started looking for it and can't find it still. Well, its around midnight or a little past. Then this older lady dressed in purple comes out of a taxi nearby and asks if we need help. So we explain our situation and she knows where the street is. She takes us to it and we find our host's apartment. She takes out her cell phone and lets us call him. So we get ahold of him and stay the night at his place, thanks to the kindness of strangers. By the way, anyone who has anything bad to say about the French can go...well, I don't need to finish the sentence but you know what I mean. Out of all the different nationalities I encountered, the French were by far the kindest.

So we stay the night and spend all the next day, from about 8 in the morning until 12:30 at night exploring all of Paris. We saw everything, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Arc de Triomphe, and the Louvre. After a long day we barely make it back in time to catch two trains and one tram back to our host's place. We stay the night, get up early, say goodbye, and make it to our flight on time. Then we headed back to Liverpool for a couple days for some R&R and then I made it back to the States Monday of this week.

Phew! What a long trip its been. A life-changing experience, not just traveling but being in the classroom as well. Something I will not soon forget.

A Final Blog - Part 1

So here it is: the final, penultimate post.

Last week was my last week in the schools. On Thursday we had an American culture day where we taught the students about the 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Native Americans. We also introduced them to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. (What we call 'jelly' is their 'jam.' And what they call 'jelly' is our 'jello'). Most of them wouldn't even try it but of those that did, most were repulsed by it but a few came back for seconds. Then in the afternoon we played American games: four square, kickball, and baseball. It was a lot of fun. The kids were sad to see us go and they gave us big, huge cards.

Then after school we pretty much came back here to Hope University to gather our things and left for the airport. We flew to Venice, or what was technically not Venice. We had to take a coach bus to some metro station and then a city bus from the metro station to our camp site. I have pictures of the tent/bungalow we stayed in there. So we got settled pretty late and decided to just sleep.

The following day (not last Friday but the one before) we spent all day traveling to different places in Venice. We didn't really go inside anywhere, we just walked around admiring the architecture. We eventually took a gondola ride as well, which was fun. We had to talk the guy down because they were expecting 100 euros (about 140 bucks) and we were like "No thanks!" Eventually we got them down to 60 for a bit shorter ride. It was fun but the guy was less than kind. No worries, though.

We ate margherita pizza which is basically cheese and sauce on a flat crust. A staple for Italian pizza and quite delicious. We also tried our hand at gelatti which tastes just like ice cream but still good. Then the following day we got to the airport by taking a shuttle and flew to Rome.

Once we arrived in Rome we took a bus to the metro station and attempted to figure out where to go next. The people at the information desk were not helpful and acted as though they didn't speak English. But eventually we figured out where to go. We thought we couldn't check into our hostel until 2 (and it was around 11 at this time) so we took the metro to the Colosseum. You see it pretty much as you're stepping out of the metro station. We walked over to get a closer look and got hassled by fifty different people offering all kinds of 4th of July pub crawls and whatnot. We eventually got hassled by a tour guide and we talked them down to giving us a tour for 18 euros a person which was a good deal. So we took a tour of the Colosseum which was okay. Our guide wasn't the best, just kind of matter-of-fact. Then we got 45 minutes to ourselves before the second part of the tour so we walked around the upper level and got some great photographs. Then when we were suppose to meet our second tour for the walk of the Palatine Hill, they never showed up. Luckily there was another tour going on from the same company or a similar company anyway and lady let us join.

So we toured Palatine Hill which is basically the hill that Rome started upon. There used to be a grand palace up there but now it is ruins. It overlooks all of Rome, including the Roman Forum where all the government buildings and temples were. That was essentially day 1 because we went back to our hostel and bought some food for our 4th of July party.

We attempted to buy a whole watermelon, even though we couldn't cut it because we didn't have anything to cut it with, but the label machine wasn't working. We tried to tell the cashier how much it costs after weighing but she was like "Impossible!" and just held the watermelon for a second, staring at it, then she set it on the ground and continued checking people out.

At this time as well, one of my traveling companions decided to purchase some sushi. The price said like 6.20 euros for a small thing of it which seemed like a little bit more than she wanted to spend but she was hungry and that was the only thing that looked appetizing. When she checked out it rang up as 11.70. She tried to explain to the cashier that she didn't want it then but the cashier just kind of ignored us. So we went to customer service. We tried speaking to the lady there but she claimed to not understand English and then tried to call someone over who could. So we waited and waited as her and the guy working there helped about a thousand Italian-speaking customers.

She ended up leaving and so we tried speaking to the guy who understood English quite well. He tried arguing with my friend for a long time and she was getting really frustrated. The sushi had no price tag on it and it was set out in the section where it said 6 euros 20 cents. There was no sign for 11 euros 70 cents anywhere. Eventually he finally gave in. But he made her take it back and then threw her money at the rest of us. We took it, left, and never went back to that place. Good riddance. All in the all, I was not impressed at all by the Italians. I was impressed with the French, however, and I will come back to that.

So that was essentially our first day in Rome. I will continue with our other days in Rome as well as the one in Paris in Part 2!