Friday, 11/18 @ 8:15pm Rome, Italy
I woke up the next morning really ready to go, but I still was feeling bad, so instead of getting to the Vatican early, I ended up being a slow poke. I fianlyl got ready, but I met my new friends in the hall and they asked If I wanted to join them on their tour of Rome, so I decided I would do the Vatican Friday (today) and go with them on their tour. We started off great, but pretty soon after, it became clear that we had different ideas of touring Rome. They (there were three others) were walking slow, stopping at every corner to look at the guide book and maps, and arguing a little over where to go first. I, on the other hand (and even though I still felt horrible) was ready to GO. I always look at the map BEFORE I leave, find the streets I need to take, and I walk at a decent pace to get there. So, at one corner, I pointed them in their direction (which I knew without even looking at the map) and went on my merry way. I wanted to see the Spanish Steps first, and so within a few minutes, I was there. I walked in to the church at the top of them first (Trinita dei Monti) and looked around, and then I proceeded to walk down the steps. It's great to see them, but honestly, it's just a staircase and there were way too many tourists. So instead, I went BACK to the shopping street to find H&M. As I was walking up, there was a giant line to get in on the side of the store, and while you could still go in, all I was thinking was I had to be in line to get whatever they were getting. I blame my mother and Ellen for this. I didn't even know what I was getting in line for, but I did. It ended up being the first day of the new Versace line at H&M, which is apparently a huge deal. I waited for like 45 minutes and my group was finally let in... let me tell you, most of the stuff looks SO TRASHY. People were going crazy over the leggings that had palm tree print on them, and I was thinking the only time I would wear it is a costume party. But I pretended to be excited (and speak Italian) and I found a few inexpensive things so I can say that I now have something from the opening day of the line at H&M.
After my H&M detour, I went to the Piazza del Popolo, which is a huge plaza with three different churches facing it. I sat there for awhile, since I had barely gotten out of H&M alive, and then I was off again. I headed to the pantheon and walked around inside there for awhile. I saw the grave of the artist Rapheal, which was really interesting. After that, I found a bus to take me back to Termini, because I had a HUGE dinner to prepare for. And I was tired.
Around 6pm though, I was ready to meet the Traveling Aggies. I took the Metro over to their hotel and made it there around 7pm. I waited in the lobby a bit, but the tour director took me back to watch the lecture they were having on Rome food and wine. He was super nice and said he made sure there was a table for 9 (the 8 Aggies in the group and me). I wasn't sure how everything worked, but apparently there are more than just Aggies on the trip. I watched the end of the lecture and then he introduced me to everyone. I was mortified, but it only lasted 2 seconds, and then all the Aggies came over to greet themselves. Everyone was of course so nice, and one of the Aggies was traveling with her daughter, who was 27, so I was happy to see someone around my age there. The walked to dinner was litereally across the street, but in that time, I answered the same 5 questions like 100 different times. We sat down at our table, and they made me sit in the middle so they could all drill me, and for the first 30 minutes, it was just question after question. I had fun talking to everyone, so it wasn't so bad, but there were a lot of "future plans" questions, which scare me!
Dinner was ridiculous. After a few bottles of wine, the entire group (not just the Aggies) were getting loud and destructive. And when I say, not jsut the Aggies, our table was doing a pretty good job leading the charge. But in between all the wine, I actually did some networking (MOM). A lady who is a professor in the medical school at A&M kept asking me about what I like to do and what I have been doing. Not only did she tell me that she wanted my Resume to give to her two band director friends, but she told me to look at the jobs on the HSC website, and then let her know if I apply to any. She has been working there forever and she knows Bubba and Joe and everybody lol. She also asked me if I wanted to live in College Station and told me that if I do find a job there, she has a house on 10 acres of land that she would love to rent to me. I think she was impressed by Bella's life story and told me that she was sure Bella would love to run on all 10 acres. She is pretty big in advising student organizations, so now I have a great contact and maaaaaybe it will help in finding a job.
Buuuuut, after that, it was all vino, for everyone over 40. Me and Elena (who is 27) were embarressed to death of all the things everyone was talking about and how loud they were all being. And after we left the restaurant, they decided it was good idea to go to the hotel bar. It was a horrible idea, but I went because it was just hilarious at this point. Around midnight everyone was pretty much done, and of course, being Aggies, they had all collected money to make sure I had a taxi home instead of walking or taking the Metro, which I was grateful for and couldn't refuse them, even though I had enough money for my own taxi. They also told me that at 3pm tomorrow, they were heading out to see the sites and asked if I would join them again. I had grown fond of everyone, even some of their new non-Aggies friends (who are now honorary Aggies), so I said of course I would join them all tomorrow.
Well tomorrow was today, and today was fun! Since I wasn't meeting them until 3pm, I decided to hit up the Vatican and find the Pope. The latter didn't happen, and unfortunately, visiting the Vatican wasn't as much fun because I woke up feeling horrible again. I went inside St. Peter's, which was gorgeous and absolutely amazing, but I could barely breathe and my head/nose was hurting from what I can only assume is a sinus infection. I made myself spend time enjoying it though, but I decided it was too much to go through the Vatican Museum. I started wandering the streets around the Vatican to find any place were I could sit and have some water and I ended up at a Burger King like 2 miles away. I got Sprite, which I haven't had soft drinks in forever, and it was sooooo good, especially on my throat. After sitting there for awhile, I got my second wind and instead of going back to the hostel and not meeting them at 3pm, I was a trooper and kept on. I had two hours until I had to meet them, so I walked by the shopping area again, and what do you know, I found myself in H&M... again. I looked around for about an hour and only bought one thing and it made me feel a little better, so I slowly walked to the hotel and was able to sit there for about 45 minutes before they were back and ready to go. I didn't have a second wind, but they were all saying that I was going to be a great tour guide, so I couldn't let them down. It was 5 Aggies, a couple from South Carolina, and me and even though I only took them to places I had already been, it was fun seeing them with people. They all fought over who bought me gelato, even though I had 5 euros ready in my hand and then I also got dinner at a delicious pizza place. I kept telling them that they didn't have too, but I knew that any Aggie would have done it regardless of iif it was the Traveling Aggie group, so I let them lol. I also had left over money from their taxi fare last night, so I was able to get a taxi back to my hostel again (I definitely couldn't use it on anything else) and I was so happy to see my bed again.
Yesterday, I bought my train ticket to Cortona and I'm READY. Horses, horses, and more horses!! :)
