Day 197 - Birthday in Rome!

Today was my birthday, and I turned 26, past what should have been a quarterlife crisis...which is what this whole trip was all about fighting right? I still think about all the uncertainty of life when I come back home, but am still enjoying every minute of my travels, savoring it before I have to go back home. And it's not that I'm reluctant to come back, I actually look forward to it as much as I look forward to the next few weeks in Spain. Fear has crossed my mind that I will be even more confused with which path to take in the next chapter in my life, but I think this trip has made me realize that I can do whatever the hell I want, as long as I made the effort to go the direction I want to go.

It was another tour of Rome today, with me playing tour guide for EJ, since I'm somewhat of an expert now...OK not really, but I tried my best to pretend like I knew random facts about everything we came across. We headed to Piazza Venezia first since it was so close to our hotel and took pictures in front of the Il Vittoriano, where two guards are on duty nonstop, 24 hours each day. We quickly browsed through the nearby museum inside the monument, which had an extensive collection of military paraphernalia on showcase.

Nearby, we visited the Chiesa di Santa Maria d'Aracoeli, which EJ decided was one of his favorite churches because they had elegant chandeliers hanging on the sides throughout the church. We made sort of a circle around the city, stopping by the Statue of Marcus Aurelius and Circo Massimo before heading to lunch, where we had Pizza, Bruschetta, and some french fries. It was decent food, but seemed more like a pub than anything else, and I figure that EJ needed to get some real Italian food soon!

Afterwards, we visited the Colosseum again, but this time it was during the daytime, and full of tourists! We headed towards Termini Station, stopping at random shops and the Santa Maria Maggiore Church that I visited yesterday. Secretly, I was in search of a beauty store so that I could buy scissors and get a haircut from EJ, since that's his profession. Luckily, we found a shop, even though almost every other shop was closed (Sunday, the holy day) and I finally got a haircut in our hotel room after almost 6 weeks. Woohoo!

In the evening, we headed out again to see some more sites, including the Pantheon, and the Piazza Naviona. There happened to be a carnival of some sort in the Piazza, with differerent games booths, a carousel, and some merchandise and food booths. I'm not too sure what the occasion was but I'm assuming it was Christmas-related. We walked around some more, and found a cool spot to grab a couple drinks during Aperitivo hour. I think I ate too much before dinner, because when we walked back to the Pantheon to celebrate my birthday, I was stuffed! Luckily, I had it in me to order a pasta dish and enjoy the view of the Pantheon and the Piazza della Rotonda at night. We got front row seats at the restaurant (not that it was crowded or anything) but it was a nice touch for my birthday dinner!

At the end of the night, we had another countdown towards midnight for EJ since it was his birthday at the strike of midnight (although everyone in the US was still celebrating my birthday...jk). We headed to the Fontana di Trevi this time around since it was close to the Pantheon and he wanted to see it at night. Again, everything at night is so much better! Less tourists and more time to just snap some awesome photos!

Aperitivo Hour

Il Vittoriano

Chiesa di Santa Maria d'Aracoeli

Piazza Naviona

Pantheon

Fontana di Trevi

Day 194 – Santa Maria Maggiore Church and the Trastevere

I've been in Rome way too long, and my friend is coming tomorrow, so I didn't want to sightsee anymore before he got here, or else I'd probably be seeing the same thing again and again, not that there isn't a plethora of different things to see and do here...

I headed out before noon to go for a walk and decide which direction I wanted to head towards. The good thing about booking a hostel or hotel for more than one night is that you can sleep in without having to adhere to the check out time policies.

The first stop was the Santa Maria Maggiore church, which was very close to Termini station. I'd passed by this church a couple times when I was on the Hop On Hop Off bus with my cousin a couple weeks ago, but never got the chance to walk around outside or see the inside. It was very bare for a large church, with a ton of walking space between the doors in the back and the altar at the front. What was interesting was that there were services going on in the adjacent rooms to the left and right of the main church. I guess the chuch is used to the large amounts of tourists visiting. There were a bunch of priests also in the confessional booths. I'm not sure what a typical confessional session looks like, but I always thought both the priest and the confesser were in private booths. Here, both of them could be easily seen!

Afterwards, I made my way towards the Colloseum and Circo Massimo. The weather was cloudy and it rained slightly in the morning, which might explain why there weren't as many tourists as when I first visited. It definitely made for better pictures today though. Once I was at the Circo Massimo, I decided to relax at a bench and read my books. It was a strange feeling, seeing everyone else around me come and go, taking pictures and being tourists. I almost felt like I was not doing the right thing by wasting away just reading a book when there was so much to see and do in Rome, but everyone needs a little break from discovering and exploring and observing.

The last stop for me for the day was to visit an area called the Trastevere, where people said there were many restaurants and bars to eat and drink, especially during the night. It was a nice place to see a slightly different Rome, away from all the ruins, but still a very touristic place. There happened to be some sort of a chocolate festival this weekend, and there were a bunch of chocolate vendor stalls selling their sweet merchandise.

At night, when I was relaxing at my hostel, I met a French girl and an Australian man. We got into a conversation about the French language because the man was going to Marseille after Rome and needed to refresh his French skills. He was an older man, who decided to travel for about a year, around the world. The girl was traveling for 4 months and participating in WOOFing, which is similar to couchsurfing but more about helping farming communities in exchange for lodging. We talked a little about tongue twisters and “faux amis,” or words that sound similar in English and French, but have entirely different meanings. The french lesson of the day for me was a tongue twister - “Un chasseur sachant chasser sans son chien est un bon chasseur” which means something like “A hunter who can hunt without his dog is a good hunter.” I think I should memorize it so that I can pretend to be fluent in French...

Santa Maria Maggiore

Trastevere

Rainclouds over Piazza Venezia