Roma Update: Worlds 2009

Day off in Rome/Tour guide for anyone wanting to travel here on your own:

Apparently I like to hang out with the staff. I met in the lobby at 7 am with Alison, team manager, team trainer, USA water polo organizer, and 2 coaches (Brandon & Chaney). We didn’t actually leave until 7:30 because when traveling with the staff there’s always something more they need to do/grab before we leave. Anyway, we took the 98 bus to St. Peter’s Basilica (where the Pope hangs out) in Vatican City and it was essentially empty so early in the morning, which was very calming. It is beautiful inside and I was listening and watching an Asian mass going on as I wandered through. P.S. scene in Angels & Demons where the Priest or Pope burns himself alive….saw that spot in real life.

Next we followed the outside wall to the museums inside where we found the Sistine Chapel. It was already 10:30ish by then and the 2 coaches seemed ready for naps as they dozed off in the angled seats lining the walls of the Chapel. At first when I walked in, it seemed like a pretty large place but not really what I was expecting, but the more time I spent in there, the more details I saw and was awed by. The inside is completely painted with not only biblical scenes, but the walls really look like there are curtains even when you’re standing right in front of them….anyway, it is very cool. Don’t be fooled, there’s a LOT going on in that room.

Then we tried to go up to the top of the Dome of St. Peters, but we weren’t about to wait in line to get in there again….so we moved on to bus 98 again then switched to the 571 heading towards the Coliseum. By this point we were pretty tired and hungry and decided not to meet up with some of the girls at the Spanish steps because we needed lunch and wanted to get in all the sites we wanted to see. But we passed this huge white building and it seemed there were some fancy steps and we all thought they were THE SPANISH STEPS….as we frantically were jumping off the bus a woman called us back in and said no, those are not Spanish steps that is the cake….the building is called the wedding cake because it is white and huge and has statues…..strange, but true.

We made it to the Coliseum but the long line sent us towards the ancient Rome ruins where we could get into the Coliseum for free. This was cool. We saw buildings 20 centuries old that were partly still standing….we traded in the market, held court, and found ancient air conditioning in a dark room with a fountain. We continued on in the million degree heat towards the Coliseum where we staged a fight on the bottom level. That place is huge and they are beginning to reconstruct the sitting areas that were once there….but the stairs, think Great Wall! Yikes-o-rama

We were tired, but still wanted to make it to the touristy Trevie Fountain and eat delicious Gelato, which I did, then go to the Pantheon. We learned from our tour guide, coach Chaney (with his tour book), that it is really old and I think was the tallest free standing dome until the Superdome or some big football stadium was built somewhere….very specific. But also he told us that its diameter and its height are the same size….math people, check it out.

Lastly, we ended our day in Piaza Rumano for some pizza and people watching. One guitar man played an amazing acoustic rendition of Stairway to Heaven pretty sweet ending to a long, exhausting, yet wonderful day out.

Games start tomorrow…..Kazakstan, Russia, Greece

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