My Roman Holiday

Lots to post today!  More museums, cathedrals, and a little trip to Italy...

Day Sixteen:
Monday, May 20th

Today marks the beginning of another week.  After class this morning, a few friends and I headed the the Musee de l'Orangerie.  This is the one with the big oval room full of Monet's water lily paintings.  It's amazing and a must-see for people visiting Paris!  They also had a really cool temporary exhibit about this group of Italian painters called the Macchiaioli.  I absolutely love their style and I honestly wanted to stay and look at their pictures all day.  Unfortunately, the museum eventually decided to close and that was the end of that.

Afterwards, we headed to La Defense, aka "Le Petit Manhattan."  I've been avoiding this place for weeks because I've felt like seeing skyscrapers in Paris would ruin the entire place for me.  When I finally saw it, I honestly felt so, so happy!  I hadn't realized how much I missed an American-looking city!  It was so fun to see this sort of thing again:

We all got super excited, ran around, and then ate some McDonald's.  I was starting to forget that I was even in Paris, until the woman working at McDonald's handed me my hot chocolate: 

I've got to admit.  They do everything classier here.  It was simply the most beautiful hot chocolate I've ever had.  I'm still not over it and it's been a week now.  After eating, we headed into the underground mall at La Defense, which is huge and awesome!  If you need any more evidence that the French are classier than us, look at what they've got in their public restrooms:

That, my friends, is a free shoe-shiner.  I used it and it worked like a charm too.  Honestly, I'm just in awe of Paris.  It's still hard to believe I'm here!

Day Seventeen:

Tuesday, May 21st

I had a midterm this morning and I don't think I did so hot.  Sometimes, I forget that I'm here for school.       Sigh.  But, c'est la vie.  I recovered quickly by eating a delicious lunch and then heading to the Musee de Marmottan, which features Monet and other Impressionists.  This was a pretty cool museum too.  Afterwards, we all went to this chocolate shop called Maison Larnicol and I bought some of the most delicious truffles on earth.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to come back to the states and try to put on my old jackets...and this is going to be the end result:  

Today, I also decided to buy a last-minute ticket to Rome.  It was super spontaneous, but seriously, who on earth would say no to Italy?!?  

Day Eighteen:

Wednesday, May 22nd

Today, I headed to La Motte Picquet Market again and checked out the goods there.  After that, the girls and I tried to go to the Catacombs of Paris, but they were closed due to a "technical difficulty."  I sure hope that technical difficulty has nothing to do with French dudes rising from the dead down there, because that's the last thing I need. 

After our failed catacomb party, we decided to visit Sainte-Chapelle.  This is such a beautiful cathedral. I have a weird love for stained glass windows, so this building is right up my alley.  It's really stunning though.  Check it out:  

After that, we went to the Conciergerie--a prison during the French Revolution where many nobles were held before they were killed.  The most famous of these was Marie Antoinette.  This was really interesting, but the whole set up inside the building was a little bizarre.  Here's an example for you: 

  This was Marie Antoinette's "cell" which is totally depressing and all....but I couldn't get past 1) the creepy wallpaper and 2) the weirdo hooded figure posing as Marie Antoinette.  Maybe I'm just a little heartless, but it's getting harder not to laugh the more I look at this picture.  I'm going to move on before I crack up and look like a total jerk.

Day Nineteen:

Thursday, May 23rd

Well, today is the big day!  I woke up super early and caught the 5 am train to make it to the airport on time.  I felt super grown up while I was running around a European airport all on my own.  We flew with Ryanair, which is super cheap...but also a little scary.  Luckily, everything went well and before I knew it, I was in Rome!  

We took a taxi to the "Welcome Home Hostel," which sounds a little creepy, I know.  We arrived and no one was there...and I started to panic a little bit, because we were stuck in a strange country with no idea what to do.  To my relief, the owner of the hostel/B&B eventually answered his phone and found us.  His name was Valerio and he was such a funny, cliche Italian man!  He then showed us to a cheap place to get pasta and I almost cried when I walked in.  The food was delicious, the sun was shining, and everyone around me was laughing and talking loudly.  It felt like home.  I love France and all...but it was good to be surrounded by people who were warm and welcoming for a change.  The Italians are just so adorable!

After lunch, we jumped on a bus with absolutely no idea where we were going.  After our first stop, we got a free tour of a beautiful cathedral.  We talked with the girl in charge of the tours for a little bit, and when she found out that we were LDS, she got really excited!  She and her friends are part of a really cool program called the Emmanuel School of Mission.  In this program, about 18 young adults, from all different countries, come and study in Rome to deepen their faith in Catholicism.  They were all so kind and honestly curious about my religion and we talked for about an hour.  They invited us to come to their Mass with them tomorrow and we all agreed.  We said goodbye to them and then continued to explore Rome.  We saw lots of cool street performers in all the little piazzas (even if they were totally fake). 

That guy's got a stick up his butt.  

And that's just a shot of some statue's butt.

We kept walking into random churches and every time we did, I would be amazed.  They never look like much from the outside, but on the inside, these chapels are huge and gorgeous!  Half the time, choirs would be singing inside.  This is such a cool city.  I can't get over it!  

We visited the Spanish Steps... 

We did some shopping...

We ate some pizza...

We ate gelato at the best place in town...

I found my happy place...

All in all, it was a pretty successful day.  We also visited the Trevi Fountain, which is super touristy, but also one of my favorite things about Rome: 

Legend has it, if you throw a coin in this fountain, you are destined to return to Rome.

I was totally not going to pass that opportunity up.  I'm in love with this place and I'd love to come back here someday.  

We finally returned home that night to our hostel.  I was pleased to see that Mona Lisa would be watching me while I slept.  I just feel safer when she's around.  

That's Rachel, successfully impersonating Da Vinci's work.  And Greta is passed out next to her.

Day Twenty:

Friday, May 24th

Today, Valerio brought us breakfast in bed.  I thought that was very sweet.  He also called me a foxy lady.  I'm not sure what to think about that.  This morning, we had to meet with Dark Rome Tours at the Vatican.  This tour was super awesome--our tour guide took us through the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica with no lines at all!  She also provided us with so many interesting facts about the history of those places.  I definitely would recommend a tour for a place like that.  It was so, so cool!  Here are some of the pictures:

Everything was so gorgeous...

Here's the famous Pieta:

This guy is awesome.  Touching his left foot is said to bring you luck.  I totally touched it: 

This guy, on the other hand, is not so awesome.  He's a decomposing pope covered in bronze.  There's no way I'm touching his foot:

Anyway, the Vatican was amazing.  I loved every bit of it!

Later that evening, we went to Mass together in a famous cathedral by Vatican City.  This was a really, really cool experience for me.  First of all, the music was gorgeous.  The acoustics in that place made everyone's singing sound so beautiful.  I didn't feel the Spirit at all, but it was really nice to be in a room with lots of people who love Christ just as much as I do.  It was really neat.  

Afterwards, we talked with a few of our new friends who'd invited us to Mass. We all had lots of questions for each other, so we sat on the steps of the Vatican and discussed religion for hours.  It was sooooo cool and I feel like I understand a lot more about Catholicism.  Everybody there, whether Catholic or LDS, was very firm in their faith.  So, I knew that no one was going to be converted or anything.  However, I think we left them with a really good impression of Mormons, which made me really happy.  There are so many misunderstandings about us.  We also referred our friends to Mormon.org and encouraged them to check it out for any more of their questions.  

That whole experience was so unexpected and so wonderful and I'm so grateful that we happened to run into them within our first few minutes in Rome.  Here's us with a couple of them:

We said goodbye to our friends and then wandered some more.  This city is really at its most beautiful late at night with no people around.  We walked through Rome under a full moon and I honestly can't think of anything more perfect.  

Day Twenty-One:

Saturday, May 25th

Today, we took off into the city and made our first stop in a little Italian market full of delicious fresh food and handmade items.  I wish we had more things like this in the states.  

After that, we were off to the Colosseum.  I've always loved ancient Roman history, so this was especially fun for me.  It would have also been fun for me if Russell Crowe had showed up...but I guess we can't have it all....

But, the Colosseum really was amazing.  It was so cool to think about the history of that place as I stood inside that huge ruin.

Here I am, trying to be a gladiator.  Trying is the key word here.

So hardcore...

I also found this Roman guy who bears an uncanny resemblance to a friend of mine...

Must be the nose...

After that, we took a quick lunch break.  It started to rain while we were inside and when we came out, most of the tourists had left.  Best. Day. Ever.  So, we had the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill practically to ourselves that afternoon and we spent a few hours exploring the ruins.  It was the coolest thing ever!!!

And probably my favorite picture of all time... *drum roll please* It's me trying to act all sexy up against a Roman wall.  Again, trying is a good word for this situation....

Then, after some more gelato, we headed home.  On that note, I'm a bit frightened over how much gelato we've been eating on this trip.  I can't escape it and it's all I think about...It is precious to me...

That picture pretty much accurately describes my relationship with gelato right now.

Day Twenty-Two:

Sunday, May 26th

We woke up this morning with all the intentions of going to church.  Unfortunately, the bus never came.  We waited for a long time, but eventually it was too late.  So, we ended up going to a really cool McDonald's by the Spanish Steps instead.  This place was huge and had a sweet Italian vibe.  After that, we went to this random cat sanctuary.  These people care for 250 cats and they crawl around in the Roman ruins.  Check it out:

I was laughing so hard, but it's awfully nice of them. I guess you can find crazy cat ladies all over the world...

After the cat party, we did some last minute shopping, ate our final gelato, and then transferred to a hostel closer to the airport in Ciampino.  It was called Amarcord B&B and it was the cutest place I've ever stayed in.  I loved it!!!

 

We finished the night by eating pizza and watching some Italian TV.  Bella notte.  

Day Twenty-Three:

Monday, May 27th

Well, we woke up at 3:45 am and got on our taxi to the airport.  It was so, so early but I regret nothing. Italy was everything I dreamt it would be and more.  I want so badly to come back here some day!  

I'm also so happy to be coming home to Paris.  This vacation away from my vacation has reminded me of all the little things I love about France that aren't available to me in Italy.  It's also helped me realize that I know a lot more French than I thought I did.  After struggling in Rome so badly with the language, I'm grateful to be headed to a place where I can actually communicate.  I mean, this is what I was doing to get by in Italy:  

Haha so anyway, it's good to be back in good ol' Paris.  Home sweet home.