I Know Where They Keep the Italian Military

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Today we had a lazier morning because Meghan was upset she wasn't getting to sleep in enough during her spring break. I look at traveling as something new to see and do. You sleep after you're dead. I really hope Erika and Paul like that mentality...

Once we got our butts in gear, we got to Rome and walked up to the Piazza Navona so I could get my watercolor set from Diago. He remembered me from the day before and thanked me for coming back. I love those water colors. I think I'm either going to design my living room or my bedroom around them in my first house. The colors are just so vibrant, and they really are pretty.

Then we walked up to the Piazza dell Popolo to catch the metro and go to the Termini. We had wanted to go to Pisa for the afternoon, but it take about two hours to get there, and because we got such a late start to the day, it would have made it ridiculous to go. So we decided to stay in Rome. I didn't really mind since I had planned on going there with Erika and Paul when they came. Meghan really couldn't mind since she was the one that wanted to sleep in. So we chilled out at the Termini for a while because they had airconditioning and then we walked over to Santa Maria Maggiore, which Meghan didn't go in on our first day in Rome.

We toured that for a bit and took some pictures. There was a bunch of altar servers practicing for the upcoming ceremonies, so of course, they got their picture taken too.

Then we walked to San Giovanni in Laterno, which was high up on the lists of churches to see. On the way there, we hit up a gelato stand and I got melon and stracciatella. I thought I was ordering peach, but melon was okay too. Our walk took us through the non-touristy parts of Rome, which was kind of cool. It was nice to not be crowded. But when we got to San Giovanni, the church was closed because they were preparing for the Pope. That's where he was holding his "Last Supper" service. It was a prime event, but for some reason we didn't get tickets for it even though we were told they were on reserve for us. That's okay I guess. It was good to have some time off from trying to be religious. And I decided that I'd go back to visit it before we left.

So we continued on. This is where we found the Italian military. They hide behind high stone walls on the south end of Rome. It was very impressive. And now I can say that I know where they keep the Italian Military. How cool is that?

From there, we walked to Maria in Cosmedin, which houses the Hand Eater. It's actually called Bocca della Verita, which actually means "Mouth of Truth." You're supposed to put your right hand in the mouth and if you tell a lie, then it bites you. I wanted to see it because it was in the movie "Roman Holiday." So we got our picture there and then we got to see the skull of St. Valentine which was also housed in that church. It wasn't particularly romantic.

Since we had pretty much circumnavigated Rome, it was time for another gelato stop. This one was near the Piazza Venetiza (sp?). I got pear and dark chocolate. The pear was kind of good, except that it didn't feel like gelato. It acutally had the consistency or something of pears. So that was kind of cool. And the dark chocolate was good too. I think this might have been the one that was so chocolaty that it was almost black, but I'm not sure.

After a somewhat long break, we walked over to the Pantheon again for dinner at what had become our regular restaurant. That night, I got the lasagna again. It was just so good. And it came in a little copper pot. After dinner, I still had a bit of room, so we had another gelato stop before we went home. This time, I got mint chocolate chip and almond. The almond was fantastic. I think it was my favorite of all kinds I tried. And it was this time that the guy remembered us. That's just so cool.

On the walk back to the metro, we saw a cop risk his life by directing traffic. I really think he wanted to die. But I was also reminded of the cop in "Frosty the Snowman." It would have been perfect if this guy swallowed his whistle or a random snowman just started beboppin' along the Via Corso. Hey, it could happen.

I'm also pretty convinced they fly the Pope to where he needs to go. There was a lot of helicopter activity that evening, which would be about right since he was conducting the "Last Supper" mass in San Giovanni in Laterno. I mean, think about it. There's no traffic when you're flying, and you don't have to worry about assassins as much because I'd imagine that a helicopter would be harder to shoot down with your standard assassination rifle than taking out a carfull of people would be. I thought it made sense. Guess who didn't agree.

On the bus back to CFab, I entertained myself by eye flirting with a boy. Once it got awkward actually looking at each other, I looked out the window, but he caught my eye in there too. It was nice to just play and know that I'd never have to see him again. Kind of like the frats freshman year. And even better, once we got to CFab, it turned out that there weren't any roommates to share the room with. Yay.