yesterday i went to the vatican. my mother is not a traveler and she is kinda whatevs about where i go..but she insisted i must go to the vatican. so i did. although, i would have gone anyways.
it was a wednesday, therefore the pope gave an "audience". there were thousands of people there from all over the world. it was a really neat experience. a marching band performed music that sounded like circus music, not very papal in my opinion, but maybe they are trying to soften the view of the vatican since the scandal?
so after the marching band, the pope comes out in his popemobile and drives around waving to people. everyone who had a chair (the people who prepared and got tickets) all stood on their chairs, so i wasnt able to get a good view.
he sits down on his chair in front of st. peters cathedral and some priests give readings, the same reading, in various languages. then the pope spoke, in latin, then a priest announced various pilgrim groups and people cheered and the pope waved. it was a really interesting experience. also i am pleased to report that the pope does not look creepy in real life! he is no jp2, but he is no sith lord.
i went to the vatican museum afterwards. the guy didnt charge me for my audio tour because he told me a silly joke about his friend learning chinese. i didnt really understand how that all worked in my favor, but i just added him to my list of people who are way too kind to me!! my goodness the museum is amazing! so many epic works. i was in awe! the skill and dedication these artists had blows my mind. i cant even really comprehend it. also! they have a really extensive collection of eqyptian artifacts, which i thought was interesting.
i went to st. peters basilica, which also, is mind blowing. it is huge and ostentatious and i dont really agree with a church having all this wealth while people are starving and blah blah, but i was able to quite easily put that aside and stand in awe of it all. also! the next time the jubilee doors (special doors that only open every 25 years so people make a pilgrimage?) open is 2012. add it to my list of conspiracy theories on 2012...
btw..sorry this post is a jumble of whatever. i need to leave the hostel in like 5 minutes!
after the basilica and sending POPEcards from the vatican i went to get some GELATOOOOO. it was pretty good. i saw a pigeon eating gelato from a bowl and laughed.
i returned to the hostel to do laundry and take a shower as i was a stinky chick. i talked to my italian friend, luca, who i met in kilkenny. he invited me out to a discotheque at 11pm. i went to that it was called i hate 80's. a lot of fun. no il imparo italian, so i didnt talk to thaaat many people, but i talked to some. and i got a free kanye west mask, so i am going to be kanye for halloween!
i took a taxi back to the train station, and got LOST, whoa, what a surprise! luckily since i was wearing my kanye mask on the back of my head, the street people thought i was just as crazy as they were so they were really nice to me. there were A LOT of people sleeping on the street. it was really heartbreaking.
so thats my roma update. i am going to the colosseum today and other great roman ruins after i go drink an italian cappuccino!
CIAO BELLAS!!
(me with my trusty pack in venice!)
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