We made it back from our fabulous trip to Rome and now I'm here to give all the good details! First off, this trip was amazing. We had such an awesome time and some great mother/daughter conversations. Hands down- best mother/daughter trip we could have taken.
So, we left the States last Saturday afternoon and arrived in Rome around 9:30 a.m. Sunday. We found our way to the train terminal that would take us from the airport to the main train station in Rome, Termini Station, which was about three blocks from our hotel. We were successful in boarding and getting off the train. Our first major adventure was finding our hotel with a small map that I had printed off before we left for Rome. Unfortunately, that map was not very intuitive given the fact that we came out of Termini Station at the wrong exit, it took us a little while to find our way. So, we walked around for a while and made some guesses on which way to walk before finally seeing an American couple that had a map for us to look at. They were super sweet Atlanta natives and they actually gave us one of their maps so we could find our way to our hotel. So, about 7 blocks later, we arrived at our little boutique hotel. This was around noon. We weren't actually able to check-in until 2 p.m. so as we were in the process of putting our luggage in their luggage room, the man at the counter said there was a message for me and handed me a slip of paper. I immediately noticed Christian's hand-writing on the outside of the note that simply said "Christina Jenkins". My stomach sank and my excitement rose! I opened the note to read, "Hey babe, I was here at 11:35. I will come back @ 12 and will continue to return here until I find you here so don't leave! Love you, me". (yes, I kept the note for a scrapbook) Now, if that doesn't excite me, I don't think anything in the world can! I was sooooo happy! About 10 minutes later, he walked in! We had talked about him meeting me over there but I wasn't getting my hopes up at all. So, that was absolutely awesome!
Once we got situated at the hotel and changed out of our travel clothes, me, Mom, Christian and two of his fellow pilots, Tim & Jeff, headed off to grab lunch. We had some great pizza and red wine right away! Then, we walked to one church right near our hotel and then caught the metro to the Colosseum. As soon as we stepped onto the street from the metro station, the Colosseum was in our face. It was amazing! It's huge and if you really stop to think about how old that piece of work is and what has happened inside those walls, it almost blows your mind. We toured the Colosseum a little before exiting and visiting the Roman Forum. This is where the majority of Ancient Rome is and again, it was mind blowing. We spent almost the whole day touring this area and walking our rear ends off but it was well worth the aching knees and feet! Around 6 or 7 that evening, we headed back to the hotel and checked into our room. We then went to the hotel restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, after dinner, Christian had to leave to head back to the base so we had a little teary goodbye and that was that. I missed him so bad (and still do). Mom and I finally hit the hay and woke up around 10 a.m. the next day since we were worn out from the travel and walking! So, it was Monday and we planned on heading to the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. We were able to see all three that day and that was one of the best days we had in Rome. It was so much fun and we came across so many neat, beautiful streets, churches, fountains, statues, people, shops, etc. One church we stumbled upon was so beautiful that Mom and I both were wiping away the small tears that the sheer magnificence brought on. Breathtaking, really. We stopped for food, wine and/or coffee about four or five times that day and just took leisurely strolls and made the whole day really relaxing. We ran into little spots of rain but all-in-all, the day was perfect. We had dinner at a restaurant in Piazza Navona overlooking the fabulous fountains in the center of the Piazza. Our waiter was hilarious and another waiter made me keep saying everything in Italian. It was hilarious. He asked if we wanted salt for our oil and bread and I thought he said salad so from then on, he pestered me to say everything in Italian. By the end of the night, I got a high-five from him! haha Good times.
The next day was the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. We were a bit underwhelmed with the Spanish Steps just because we expected it to be covered with beautiful flowers like all the pictures we've seen but Spring was just coming around so no flowers yet. All in all, it was a really neat thing to see. Right in front of the Spanish Steps is Via Condotti. Via Condotti is a street in Rome which is like NYC's Fifth Avenue. We saw Gucci, Armani, Dolce Gabbana, etc. Of course, we didn't even step foot inside any of those stores because that would have been a little out of our league. So, we window shopped. :) We came across another beautiful church on our way to Piazza del Popolo and also some antique shops and art galleries. Piazza del Popolo is basically a large open area where Romans used to socialize. It has a huge statue/fountain full of Egyptian-style sculptures in the middle and is surrounded by other statues, arches and two beautiful domed buildings but we aren't quite sure of their purpose. After seeing this, we walked a few more blocks to see the Tiber River. It's just a river.... aside from the fact that it's one of the longest in the world. After this, we were so pooped that we headed back over towards our hotel and walked to one more church that was just as beautiful as the others. Grabbed some dinner and were off to bed rather early.
The next day (Wednesday) was the day we reserved for the Vatican. Now, before we went to Rome, neither of us had any idea that the Pope was actually going to be in town. We came across a poster somewhere in the city that was in Italian and all we could read were the words "Pope" and the date, March 20, 2011. So, we decided to make that the day we would go to the Vatican just on a wild hope that we could actually see the Pope. Yeah, right.... I know, sounds far fetched. But, WE ACTUALLY SAW THE POPE!!!! At first, we couldn't figure out how to get one of the bright green tickets that all the other people were holding. Then, I asked one of the fancy Vatican guards and he gave us two of them. We stood in line, went through security scanners and were directed to the seating area for the Papal Audience. Holy crap, that was insane. So, after waiting for about an hour, we finally see the crowd getting excited and realize the Pope was arriving in his little Pope-mobile. He rode down the aisles of the audience and waved at everyone. It was a really neat and surreal experience seeing one of the most influential people in the world within 100 yards of you. After he did his waving ride, he was taken to the stage and then the service began. Of course, most of it was in Italian so we weren't totally sure of what was going on. There were about seven different men that took the stage to speak the welcoming messages in different languages. Then, the Pope spoke his own message in each of those seven languages. SEVEN LANGUAGES! Insane. His voice is so soothing. He seems like such a calm person. Now, I know nothing, absolutely nothing, about Catholicism but this was extremely interesting. The service eventually ended and the crowd began to disburse. Mom and I then stood in line to get into St. Peter's Basilica. That place is HUGEEEE! The architecture and the talent that was used to build such an elaborate building is just astonishing! The Vatican was a big overwhelming because there's just so much to it. After the Basilica, we walked about a mile to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. I'm not really into museums so I wasn't thoroughly intrigued by this one but I think ever person in the world needs to see the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel holds one of the most amazing, beautiful, eye-popping pieces of art history in the world. To sit there staring at a ceiling that was painted by one man over four years back in the 1500s and realizing how that kind of stuff just doesn't happen anymore, anywhere is crazy. No picture I took could ever capture the beauty of this place. It's absolutely crazy. The ceiling is flat and I swear it looks like the columns that Michelangelo painted are real columns and the people in each of the scenes looks like they're about to come down and talk to you. To see such an iconic work of art is something that words can never describe. Crazy, crazy, crazy.
After the Vatican, we hopped the Metro back to our side of town and did a little more souvenir shopping and then grabbed dinner w/ plenty-o-wine. Mom and I had one of the best dinners that night simply due to our great conversations about life, things that have happened in our lives, big picture issues, etc. It was so nice and I love my momma so much. This was our last night in Rome and we spent it in a great way! I'm so happy we took this trip and I know neither of us will ever forget the fantastical time we had!
So, the next morning, it was time to head to the airport to fly back to the States. To make a long story short, we were on the train and as it began to move away from Termini Station, I realized I no longer had by iPhone in my possession- it was on the bed in the hotel room we had just checked out of. I freaked out. The train was moving, there wasn't enough time to go back and get it and I had no idea what to do. Nervous breakdown was ensuing. We got to the airport, I was able to call the hotel and they had my phone in their "safebox". Phew... no I just had to figure out how I was going to get it. I could either pay 60 euro to have them ship it to me and have no idea when I 'd actually receive it or I could have Christian go back to Rome and get it for me. Or, of course, consider it long gone and hate my life. haha Before I could make any decision, I had to wait until I talked to Christian because i wasn't sure if he'd be able to go back. So, meanwhile, we're on the flight heading back to Philadelphia when I thought about my car keys and tried to remember where I put them or the last time I'd seen them since we left. Well, turns out, I lost them. Not sure when I lost them or where but they are long gone. Needless to say, my nervous breakdown was full-force by then. No keys, no phone, we were screwed. I didn't know anyone's number in Philly b/c all my contacts are in my phone. So, when we landed, we had to get a $70 cab ride to my house and hope to all heavens that I was able to get in contact with the owner of our house to come open the door because I had no house key either! Luckily, all of that worked out and I was able to use Christian's truck here to take an old phone up to Verizon and have it activated so I could actually have some kind of contact with the world. I finally spoke to Christian and a few guys from his squadron were actually going to Rome the next day and they picked up my phone from the hotel so I will have it when Christian gets back! YAAY! I took Mom to the airport Friday morning and she made it home safely. Then, later that day, my friend, Paige, took me to the airport to get my car since I luckily had a spare car key. Now, the only thing left to do is pay about $250 for a new key for my car. Yikes. Oh well. That day was the worst travel day I've ever had in my life and I pray I'll never be that stressed again. I also now realize that it wasn't that big of a deal and I shouldn't have beat myself up so badly but man, I hated myself so bad at the time.
But, with the crappy ending aside, our trip was FABULOUS!!!! I highly recommend Rome to ANYONE wanting to travel to Europe. It's amazing and really makes you appreciate the history of this world. Amazing! Don't forget to look at the pictures!!! Love y'all!
Oh, by the way, I'll be in Pensacola this coming Wednesday and can't wait to see you Pensacola folks!
xoxo,
Chrissi
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