|
Day 2, March 21, 2005
By Meghan Frey (Committed to UCONN)
Today was a day full of fun and full of walking. We toured all over the city. After a late wake up this morning (we neglected to realize that without an alarm it's hard to get up) we resolved that next trip we should all pack alarm clocks. However, that seemed to be the only rough spot in our whole day.
We learned how to use Rome’s Metro system and jumped on the train to head to Vatican City. The architecture there was absolutely amazing. St. Peter's Basilica was full of beautiful carvings that had so much detail that it gave me goose bumps. After seeing inside it's much more understandable why the line was about a mile long in order to see the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. No one on our team decided to wait in line because we all knew that there would be many more amazing buildings to see.
Up above the Roman Forum
We then split into groups and decided to walk the streets and try to find some deals. About half our team stopped at the man selling fake Prada purses. Let's just say we make pretty good barterers. The prices seemed to drop very quickly when we began to walk away.
Next we headed to Piazza Navona, then to the Pantheon and Fontana di Trevi. Each place was filled with more extravagant architecture. Some girls bought t-shirts, some sunglasses, and even a hat. Me, I choose to take pictures (about 72 of them to be exact).
The Spanish Steps
At around 5:00pm we met up with Tim at the Spanish Steps (Piazza Spagna), jumped back on the Metro, and headed to the Coliseum. Although we didn't get to go inside, the site outside was just as intense. It was hard to believe that so much of the stuff we have learned in History Class the last 12 years was right in front of us.
Constantine’s Arch, near the Roman Forum
After the Coliseum we split once again into those that felt like 5 miles of walking for the day was enough and those that wanted to walk a little more. Being one of those that felt like more than five miles was needed, we headed up the streets to check out more parts of the city. We stopped in a small cafe and watched one of our teammates struggle in ordering a coffee. She wanted a mocha and ended up with a shot of espresso. It was quite funny. Some of the streets were decorated with lights and it felt like we were in a scene straight out of a romantic movie.
“Il Coloseo”
We met back up with the rest of a team and went out for dinner at a cute little restaurant. They even had a man who played the accordion while we ate. The food was great. I think it's cool that all the food is served family style in the sense that we get to try a little bit of everything.
Then we had some ice cream at the same shop as last night. It was good once again. Next we headed over to do some shopping. Standing outside a store we found that it was difficult to hold a conversation with Italian boys. We even tried pulling out a pamphlet on "How To Speak Italian" but it didn't seem to help much.
The day is coming to an ending but I can easily recall my two highlights and I'm sure many of my teammates would agree. The first would have to be reuniting with our coaches after Vatican City only to find that two of them had been pooped on by low flying pigeon (those birds aren't afraid of anything!). The second highlight would have to be when our other coach and a chaperone both got caught in the closing doors of the metro. The jacket of our chaperone was hanging outside the train even as it pulled away. Next time we got on we made sure that all limbs and articles of clothing were inside.
Northern Lights 18s on Rome’s Metro
Now we head back to the hotel to get a good night's rest before we head to Pesaro tomorrow. We're excited as it will be the first time we get to play volleyball since we've left for Italy. The coaches even tried to convince me that the balls were oval, but I soon figured out that they are the same shape all over the world.
It was a great start to the tour, and we are looking forward to the next 8 days being filled with the same amount of fun and adventure!
|
