p a p e r d o l l

So the plan to finish the last paper by tonight fell through. (Like I have nothing to do with it, eh?) I went for a run in the late afternoon and then went grocery shopping for the third time this week and then cooked dinner and then had dinner and then watched The Island (what a disappointing ending) and then hand-washed my running gear and then packed for my weekend trip (I’m going away for a petit vacance this weekend, I am) and am now talking to Shu and typing this too, so SCREW IT. I will have a slight panic attack on Sunday evening and finish the paper then.

Now then. Shall we get on with mes vacances?

First stop: Rome.

Day 1: After a morning of classes and an early afternoon of mad last-minute things, met Hui at the CDG airport. She brought with her slices of chocolate-and-pear cake that Celine had made, which was yum. Boarded our Air France flight, yakked away and captured a picture (naughtily) of a man sleeping with his mouth opened- it was a hilarious sight and begged to be captured. Arrived in Rome and took the train from the airport to the termini station, from which we walked to our hostel. Bought the yummiest thin-crust pizza nearby and ate them hot and crispy. Fell into bed for much wanted sleep.

Day 2: Got up, got ready, got out. For our guided tour of the Vatican Museums that we’d booked on viator.com . Entered the Vatican Museums after a spot of walking with our rather big tour group. The museums were FILLED with amazing things to see. Everywhere one turned. Man. Statues of men, to begin with. In styles both classic and hellenistic (the more muscular of the two). And painting after painting, in frames, on tapestry, on the walls, on the ceilings. It was insane. Our guide, a British who spoke fluent Italian (we heard her go off in Italian to the security guards and to her fellow guide) was excellent. Learnt a lot from her and it was all so interesting. Particularly about Michelangelo and how he didn’t really want to paint the Sistine Chapel, and how he suffered for it because it was fresco painting (wet plaster- think about it) and how he added impish touches to the added painting on the wall. The Sistine Chapel was the highlight of the Vatican Museums for me. There’s just something about standing in it and looking above you and around you and feeling complete awe. Sent a postcard to the brother from the Vatican City post office, which was pretty cool. Emerged into the sun, had delicious gelato at Old Bridge Gelateria quite near the entrance of the Vatican Museums. Checked into our next hostel, after which we did some grocery shopping, went back to our previous hostel to grab our stuff and finally made it back to the new hostel to settle in for the night, only to realize that we were now in a place which shared a courtyard with a club. So the music thumped through the weekend nights (and mornings) and I realized to my surprise and delight (in equal parts) that I could sleep through it all with nary a stir.

Day 3: Awoke early to go to Galleria Borghese by myself. Had to walk through the park to go to it and it was so beautiful and peaceful that time of the morning. The museum was wonderful, if only for the four Bernini marble sculptures. They were breathtaking. Really enjoyed Pluto and Proserpina. It looked like his fingers were sinking into her soft thigh. Imagine that. Since the museum only allowed a number of people to be in the museum in any 2-hour period, there was a long moment when I was alone in the room with Pluto and his prisoner. I really enjoyed that. Thereafter, I walked the park a little, and then hopped on a train to go to the Colosseum. Went in with a tour guide, who wasn’t very good, but being in the Colosseum was pretty great. Too many tourists, though… they kinda took away a little bit of the grandeur. After that, as an added bonus for paying for the Colosseum tour, there was a university student who served as a guide to the Palatino grounds. That was really interesting- the guy was knowledgeable and entertaining. After this second tour, I was pooped from listening+looking+walking, so I sat myself down on a flat rock in a grassy part of the grounds, and just basked in the sun. Met Hui after for a spot of dinner, and then we went back to thumping music and fitful sleep.

Day 4: Awoke (early again!) to catch our train to Naples, en route to Pompeii. Naples was a little dodgy, from what we saw at the train station, as well as out of the windows on the train to Pompeii from there. Glad we weren’t staying. Did you know Naples was where pizza was purportedly invented? Did you know too that I had the worst pizza I’d ever had there? ‘Tis true. Pompeii was wonderful. We were greeted by the biggest fattest juiciest lemons and oranges at the entrance to Pompeii and we couldn’t resist buying cups of them juices. With our thirsts quenched, we entered the ancient city. You know it’s well-preserved, but still, it amazes you. It was really something else. There was, for example, a room that had a near-complete mural. It was just wow. It was at the same time sad to think of the volcano eruption that ended off what appeared to be prosperous happy lives in Pompeii. There’s a sad sort of feeling hanging about there. Waiting for our train back to Naples, we got to rest our feet on an unused train track overgrown with grass and flowers while sitting on the platform enjoying the sun. Very cool indeed.

Day 5: Today, like Saturday, was our be-in-Rome-alone days. I walked and walked and walked. Nuts. This was a really hot sun-beat-down-on-one’s-back-mercilessly day, but boy was it a good change for a girl who was sick sick sick of the winter cold. So I walked everywhere! From Piazza Barberini where there was the Fontana del Tritone, I walked to the Spanish Steps, then the Tempio Adriano, the Pantheon, Fontana di Trevi (the best gelato there I ate while looking at the sparkling fountain water. After my feet were well-rested here, I walked past all the ruins leading to the Colosseum and took a train from the train station there to the other side of the river, where I then walked more than half (I kid you not) of the border of the Vatican City, to arrive at the Basilica S. Pietro, where the chairs for the Pope’s Easter Sunday Speech were still in the square. It was a beautiful sight, the square. Did my walking end here? Nope. I walked on past Castel Sant’ Angelo and Palazzo di Giustizia to (wrong direction but I was blissfully unaware, awed was I by all the sights that I was passing by) Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori, before asking for directions (I had had enough of wandering around for the day and now wanted clear instructions for getting to a train station) to go to the nearest train station, which was Spagna. I walked back through Campo de Fiori, through Piazza Navona, then through narrow streets with short buildings and beautiful purple flowers, past Mausoleo Augusoto, where I should have turned right for Spagna but for some stupid reason did not, and so through Piazza del Popolo to finally reach the train station Flamingo. And here I gladly boarded a train and gladly took a seat and rested my dirty feet (was wearing my Havianas and the dirt had inevitably collected from my day’s worth of walking). Hui and I sat down to a nice pasta meal at a restaurant before heading back to pack and have a last chat with our nice room-mates (loved the two Canadians amongst them).

Day 6: I left early for my train bound for Florence.

A continuer! See you again after the weekend, my friends. I promise the rest of the story by the end of Tuesday night (my time). Plenty more to tell- Florence, Athens, Santorini and Prague. Goodnight for now. Am too sleepy to type anymore and I have to get up early for the drive to my weekend destination. Bon weekend!