Contiki Rome

EuroTrip Day 12- August 6, 2006

We make our way out of Florence in the morning on the journey to Rome; after all, all roads lead to Rome!Haha, sorry, I couldn’t resist.

We stop at a beautiful Italian village called San Giacomo.The town is famous for its wine, its gelato, and its torture museum.Molly and I decide to get off the beaten path and visit the torture museum.The tortures inflicted upon these poor people were truly undeserved.There were plenty descriptions of terror but one of the grossest ones had to be this: they would soak the victim’s feet in salt water and tie them to a tree, they would then release thirsty goats on them, and the goats would lick the feet of the victim until they reached the bone.That’s just wrong!After visiting the exhibit, I naturally decide to get some pizza and gelato.

We arrive in Rome later that day to a list mist of rain.After checking into the hotel, we get off the coach in the middle of the city and are given a guided tour of Rome by a professional tour guide.It is here that we first see “the wedding cake”, the Colliseum, the Parthenon, and the Trevi Fountain.At the Trevi Fountain we throw coins in for good luck.The good luck occurs only moments later when Pete gives us all gelato.

After the gelato we go grab some genuine Italian food at a local eatery.We head back to the hotel and rest for what will be our last day together.

My Unbelievable Journey

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Today Molly and I decide we are going to tackle Rome, to make it our bitch.We make grand plans to visit the Vatican, St. Peter’s Bascilla, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and to enter the Coliseum.

We start this grand journey at Vatican City, where the ground is concrete and the buildings are pretty.Luckily, the coach drops us off there early in the morning so we can get a good start.It’s around 10 a.m. and we have to meet back with everyone at 5 p.m.We stand in line to enter the Vatican museum for about an hour; thankfully, Pete greeted us in line with a variety of pizza from “Vatican Pizza-it’s a religious experience”.After chowing it down and waiting in line for another hour, we are finally let in.

The Vatican museum is huge and it would take days to properly appreciate all the works of art and architecture housed there.We want to see the Sistine Chapel more than anything else so we rush through the rest of the museum, though we don’t get to the Sistine Chapel quickly, it takes at least a half hour.We stare at the ceiling and appreciate Michelangelo’s masterpiece for a good while before we leave in search of another masterpiece, Vatican Pizza.

After searching different streets and asking for directions, we finally locate Vatican Pizza where I literally eat nine delicious slices.After lunch we head to St. Peter’s Bascilla, and thankfully, the line is not very long.St. Peter’s is one of the most impressive buildings that I have ever stepped foot in.Not only is it beautiful, but it is grand.We even got to see the Swiss guards who guard the Vatican while we were there.

Our next destination is a good walk: The Pantheon.It takes us about twenty minutes to walk from the Vatican to the Pantheon and we stop many times along the way in a quest to hydrate in the hot Roman sun. We reach the Pantheon and enter; though the history of the building is impressive, the structure itself is tiny compared to St. Peter’s Bascilla.There is not much to look at or do inside the Pantheon so we only spend a few minutes here before we make our journey to the Spanish Steps.

Locating the Spanish Steps proves to be a great challenge because it is not located on the map we have, while the other sights are.We head in the general direction of it and enter shops asking for directions along the way.Many people lead us the wrong way and we’re about to give up sitting on the street when we hear a group of Americans walking towards us.They help us out; telling us it’s located right around the corner.

The Spanish Steps are not as grandiose as I thought they were, they’re simply steps; cool-looking steps, but steps nonetheless.At the bottom of these steps is a huge fountain with a statue that lets out a stream of water.Being thirsty and dehydrated, Molly and I have a drink before making our way to the Coliseum.

When we reach the Coliseum, we are approached by a lady telling us that a guided tour is the only way to enter the Coliseum before it closes.I call her on her B.S. only to see the huge line that’s waiting to enter.I skip the line go up to customer service and find a loophole: if you rent a tour audio player for 4 more Euros, you can skip the line.I know a good deal when I see on, so I rent an audio player and save an hour and a half of waiting in line.

The Coliseum is awesome!Yes, a lot of it is in ruins but a lot of it has held up quite well.You can see the pit where the gladiators fought, the cell blocks in which they were held, and the surrounding area where the audience watched.Being a fan of “Gladiator”, I made Molly take some silly pictures of me and her.

We spent a good hour at The Coliseum before meeting up with the group and heading to dinner right next to The Coliseum.At our last supper, Ricky, Laura, Liz and I played “I’ve never”; we’re a classy bunch.We also enjoyed exquisite wine and Italian food.

Getting on the coach after dinner, everyone knows it’s all over-the unbelievable trip is coming to an end.We are told to meet in the lobby but before everyone does, we wrap ourselves in our bed sheets.That’s right, toga party baby!We start off the Toga Party in the lobby with speeches from the Contiki staff members such as Mark, Jason, Jessica, and Jaime thanking us for partaking in the amazing trip.We also reveal our Contiki Compadres by giving them a going-away present.I reveal myself to Laura and present her with three models of The Coliseum, The Vatican, and Trevi Fountain.Jodi reveals herself to me as my compadre, giving me a journal because I like to write, very nice of her.

We drink some wine provided by Contiki, take a group photograph in togas, and stay up most of the night spending quality time with one another.The California group, including me, Rebecca, Ricky, and Kelly, has a very early leaving time: 5 a.m.Being the first group to go, we decide to stay up all night with our fellow Contiki friends.We spend the night doing various activities: drinking, card playing, massaging, and laughing.

When it’s time to leave the hotel, some tears are shed and hugs are exchanged.Only about ten of us take the coach to the airport, a very weird feeling considering the coach has always been packed to this point.We say goodbye to our Arizona friends and make the long 15+ hour journey back to California via Germany and Chicago.

On the flight I think about all the amazing experiences I had with Contiki, and all the unbelievable places I’ve seen.I don’t want it to end but know that it has to, and that luckily, I’ll be going back on another Contiki trip to New Zealand next summer.

One word keeps popping into my head regarding the trip-

UNBELIEVABLE!

UNBELIEVABLE!

UNBELIEVABLE!