And here’s the side of Queen you didn’t ask for, as a Romano busker sang in the streets our hearts filled with nostalgia, because we knew we were close to the end of the trip.
Non c’è Tempo per Morire (James Bond’s latest cinematic adventure)
We wanted to have an authentic Roman theatrical experience, and I don’t mean Julius Ceasar. Since the new James Bond movie had just released early in Europe, we got into a preview showing. However, we mistakenly bought tickets for the wrong theatre online which happened to be far away in Tuscany! Fortunately for us, the Romanas exercised extreme kindness and let us go into the local theater we intended anyway. However, as the movie started, we realized the whole thing was dubbed in Italian. It was interesting to hear voice actors I didn’t recognize in a language I also didn’t recognize all too well in a typical James Bond movie. I was surprised at how much I understood. And I liked the trailers before the movie of Italian films that were coming soon.
The Vatican-Pretty Much the Italian Louvre
Andn then…Ronan took illegal photos in the Sistine Chapel. We ‘re lucky we didn’t go to Catholic Cardinal jail! Here are a few of the ones we liked and commented on:
There was also a room with all the Pope’s preferred methods of transportation, starting with a golden chariot and then everything in between, moving on to something like a Jeep. At one point Ronan and I made a joke about why all the fuss–Francis is supposed to be this man from simple Argentinian means–perhaps the Pope would rather have a Ford Focus or Honda Civic be his vehicle of transportation sometimes?
Sushi in Rome
If you know anything about me, you should know some of my favorite foods are sushi and miso soup. Sushi is like Japanese pizza, it has the same array of versatility, and always has the same base ingredients, being rice and seaweed (and usually raw fish although I am a vegetarian, so vegetables). Since I hadn’t had sushi, let alone Japanese food, in over two weeks, when I saw this place after our Vatican escapades, I was adamant we would be eating there and nowhere else. Sushi in Roma is as far from Italian cuisine as one can imagine. But of course, even with the chef’s caveats and apologies, I found it absolutely delicious. The hilarious thing is that we asked for a vegetable roll, and the chef walks out and says, “I’m still learning with this one, so it might just be okay” and literally when I swallow the first piece, it secured its spot for the highest marks on my personal tier list of sushi rolls of all time. What the heck is he talking about, this is amazing! It also had a mango puree on the top, and that added to the overall texture and flavors. The miso was great too, and that’s exactly why this paragraph is longer than most because it was literally SO GOOD. And my favorite food.
The Trevi Fountain
This would be one of the first places we visited, see below. Apparently, around 700,000 euros of wishes are thrown into this waterwork every year! Where does all that money go? It was a spectacular site to behold, especially at night.
In fact, we witnessed many people throwing euros into the fountain, closing their eyes, and wishing for various things (see above fun fact). I myself joined the party and threw in a euro and wished that we would remember this trip for a good long while.
Departure and A Journey’s End
Our way back home was a real doozy, about 24 hours of travel ahead of us. First off we had to wake up at 3 am, or if you’re me, stay up until 3 am, fly to Amsterdam, then take another long flight to Dallas, and then, finally back to New Mexico. So at the crack of dawn that morning, a driver picks us up after we had everything packed and ready. When we got to the airport, we had a bit of a problem with the baggage, as my dad had to pay extra because his bag was too big. After the bag drama was over, we sat in the lounge waiting for our flight. Here was another aspect of Italy that I wish we had in American airports and that is they literally had 2 pianos in the lobby of the airport. We watched someone play a classical piece beautifully. I am woeful I didn’t get a video of this, but it sounded great, and I have to admit, I was so moved by it, it kind of pushed me to discover piano a bit more when I got back home. The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful, except for a phone charging station where you had to pedal on a bicycle to get an electronic device to charge–I felt like I was in the Matrix again. I can now definitively say I’ve been to 4 European countries counting Monaco, and Amsterdam.
Now it was time for the big stretch, it wasn’t as bad the 2nd time around, and with this flight, it meant we would be back in America. I was glad my wifi worked, as the final smash DLC character was out at the time and I wanted to see who it was. And then next thing I know, finally, we were on the pretty short flight to Albuquerque and driving back to Santa Fe. I could have never imagined that fateful day before I left for this trip how much of an impact this experience would be for me, emotionally, intellectually, and physically. That being said, it was good to be home. It took me 2 days to recover.
Lo sapevate? (Did you know?)
The Roman Empire at its height spanned from Syria to Scotland. And I believe lasted about 3000 years. There is much to learn about and from the Ancient Romans. I spent many years at my beloved elementary school dressing in togas and reciting speeches about famous inventors and scientists and philosophers. To have visited this incredible city, taste its food, experience the sights and sounds, take in the people and history and art and architecture and language, to say it was breathtaking and wonderful and wild is an understatement. I absolutely loved it.
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