Always Look On the Bright Side of Life (do doo, do doo do doo de doo)

The final day of my great adventure was spent frolicking around the Borghese Gardens in Rome, Italy. Sarah, Morgan, Brad, Mel, Nate-aniel Spiderman, Maureen, Gustavo, and I spent the morning going from different outdoor markets to the grocery store, where we gathered appropriate picnic materials. Somehow, after more than an hour of this, we still ended up with mostly wine and only a bit of bread, cheese, fruit, and chocolate. This combination led to a very silly rowboat race in the Borghese pond, which Sarah and I would have won (we Bookers are serious about winning, and even had "code" words for the race), had Nate-aniel Spiderman and Morgan not sabatoged us. We still managed a respectable second behind Brad and Mel, an unlikely team who quietly took the lead by making the rather mature decision not to partake in the splashing fight at the beginning of the race.

The afternoon was concluded with a peek into the Borghese museum, where we gazed in wonder at Bernini's depiction of Apollo and Daphne and then spent an hour trying to find a painting that, in fact, was not in that particular museum. After a long walk back to the apartment by way of the Spanish Steps and Rome's most expensive and glamorous street of shops, we ate at a pizza restaurant known for its ambiance and had a quiet night of packing and farewells.

Traveling home today I feel I am at a happy medium of having loved my adventure but being ready to return HOME. My life is still up in the air, of course, and I haven't solved even one of my problems, much less gotten a job, but I do steadfastly believe that I've gotten some perspective and that this has been a perfect and necessary journey. My only real regret has been staying awake to watch the crappy in-flight movies rather than catching a few desperately needed moments of sleep every once in a while.

So this ends my Great Escape blog, as all of you reading it will now be able to communicate with me in the normal (and marginably more desireable) fashion. I hope I have balanced out the faux-philosophy and romantic bullshitting with lively play-by-plays of my adventures and that I have kept you interested enough to want to see the hundreds of pictures I strained my camera's memory card with. For now, thanks and au revoir, goodbye, and ciao!

TOGA TOGA TOGA

Tonight I wore a toga through the streets of Rome. I was on my way to a party themed "Famous Romans" and Sarah and I were Romulus and Remus. All the real Romans I passed on the street stared and pointed and laughed. Overall, it felt pretty awesome. The party wasn't bad, either.

The Vatican Rag

After a long night of aperitivos* (Americans love free food), Sarah and I decided against going to Florence today.  Instead, we slept in a bit and headed back to Vatican City to climb to the top of the Basilica of St. Peter's with Mel.  We endured a surprisingly long line under a surprisingly hot sun to get into the cathedral, so by the time we'd bought our tickets we were already sweating, and since you aren't allowed in if you're showing any skin at all (read: pants and shirts up to your neck, down over your belt, and covering every inch of shoulder are required), the climb proved a bit less enjoyable than we'd hoped.  The experience at the top was worth it, though.  Mel and I scampered around, climbing up on little columns on the side of the dome's top and taking pictures of each other striking model poses with Rome as an ant-sized backdrop, while Sarah clung white-faced to the bannisters and begged us to be more careful.  We eventually convinced her to get up on one of the columns, which she hugged for dear life (to the point of refusing to turn around and actually see the city spread out beneath her).  Of course, the shot we snapped of Sarah glued to a column was by far the most model-esque of any of ours.  I guess short people just don't have a chance.

On that note, I have to say that one of my favorite things about having Mel around is that she's actually shorter than I am.  I haven't been the brunt of any short jokes since she's arrived.  It's a bit unnerving, but also kind of nice to feel mildly normal-sized.

Brad (of the Wilson variety) met us up at the top and proceeded to take much better pictures with a much more sophisticated camera than our little digital Best Buys, and the three girls just smiled and posed for him as he made us look like beautiful angels flying above Rome.  At least, that's what he said we looked like.  I was a little skeptical about the angel part, as I'd been looking over my shoulder for lightening or locusts or something since Wednesday afternoon.  I guess two days of taking my birth control while inside Vatican City gave me the willies a bit.  In the face of all that Christian glamor, I was reminded of what great lengths those Catholics sometimes go to in order to enforce their god's will.  I'm pretty sure the bottle openers with the pope's face on them that I bought doesn't help me in their eyes, either.

It's tough to be a sinner, but some gelato took my mind off of my transgressions and I spent the afternoon lounging in the Art Cafe and reading a book that Morgan's roommate Pat lent me for the week.  I'm still jumping a little at loud noises, and I've begun to wonder if last night's hail was some sort of sign, but Mel says that's all bullcrap and Morgan has assured me that tomorrow's agenda of wine and Jimmy Buffett at the Borguese gardens will deliver me back unto my own personal spirituality.

Tonight we're making pesto and garlic bread (when asked by Morgan whether we wanted garlic bread for supper, Nate responded, "Um, are leather jackets cool?"  I was pretty sure that meant yes) before heading to the most awesome themed party possible: Famous Romans.  I'm Remus, Sarah is Romulus, and Morgan is the she-wolf.  I think we'll be the best-costumed kids there.

*At an aperitivo bar, you buy a drink and then make your way to a huge buffet of appetizers, which you scarf down from a tiny plastic plate while trying to maintain the image that you are in fact at the bar for the drinks and will be headed to supper afterwards.  At least, that's the way we did it.  It was like a 7 Euro supper, except that the aperitivos weren't all that substantive and the drinks were.

The Pope's Crib

Today is Vatican day, and let me tell you: the Pope has sweet digs.  In addition to being able to check out St. Peter's Basilica, which is pretty much a Catholic's Mecca, we feasted our eyes on the Rafael Rooms (think School of Athens) and the Sistine Chapel (think the Sistine Chapel) as well as about a bajillion other awesome pieces of art.  Vatican City and I may not agree on international relations or politics, but we sure are on the same page when it comes to art.

Sarah and I had the good fortune of touring these lovely areas with two of Cornell's most adorable art students, Morgan and Brad Wilson (okay, technically he already graduated), and Morgan's ex-roommate Mel came along for the ride (she made Sarah and me feel much less stupid by being a non-artie like us).  As we entered the Vatican museums, Brad spurred us on by crying, "Let's go to the museums and see some [male genitalia]*!" 

Hopefully there will be more time for writing later tonight, but if not: tomorrow we go to Florence to see David.  Eek!

*actual phraseology was bleeped out as it was considered too delicate for the internet

Adventures in Wonderland

It's currently hailing in Rome. Sarah and I are sitting on the floor of Morgan's apartment with three other girls looking through tour books and generally having girl time - something I definitely didn't realize it was possible to miss. The apartment is made for four people to live closely in, and over this week there are eight of us sleeping here. It's definitely cozy.

The flea market on Sunday proved to be a lot of fun and actually rather fruitful. I picked up an adorable hoody dress and Sarah got a scarf, and we had a good time trying to avoid all the merchants screaming "Speak English?" We'd planned to see the Colluseum, Arco di Constantino, and Roman Forum afterwards, but there turned out to be a marathon that wrapped around those particular tourist attractions, so we viewed them from afar and headed up a hill to look through a keyhole that showed three countries - Malta, Italy, and the Vatican. It was a wonderful day, so we strolled through an orange garden trying to avoid little kids picnicking nearby before heading back for an early supper and a re-watching of Gladiator.

Monday we slept in before wandering through the Campo di Fiori and spending the afternoon shopping with Morgan. It was a day of rest that was sorely needed at least by me, and it contributed heavily to my being able to get over a pesky cold that followed me from Scotland. Compared to Italy, it's a somewhat chilly, dusky, foggy country, and while the cold was appropriate there, it was a bit out of place here. I'm so ready to shed it that I've even been drinking some vile natural-remedy tea that Morgan claims fixes anything. I guess she's right, because it seems to be working.

Today was a bit more productive in the sight-seeing department. We actually went in to the Colluseum and hiked around the Palatino and the Roman Forum, which were beautiful in the late spring - little dandelines were poking up from carpets of short green grass that covered the floors of the ancient ruins. I could not help but think it would have been a beautiful place to live, but both Sarah and I wondered what the vegetation would have been like 2000 years ago. Would there have been the dandelines that made the whole place look so peaceful and pretty? I'm sure it was beautiful.

Morgan and Nate (another Cornellian) had to leave us while we were wandering around the Forum, so Sarah and I had to find our way back to Morgan's apartment. We climbed on the Victor Emanuel monument, which is affectionately known as the wedding cake, and somehow eventually ended up back at the Via Saint-Guiliano and climbed up the stairs to Morgan's apartment. Project Runway and gelato were on the agenda during the hailstorm, and now it's time to head to the grocery store and buy whatever mess we're cooking for supper tonight. Thankfully the hail has stopped, and I think the rain is mostly over. After supper we're planning the next few days...more later!

Wome (Welease Bwian)

Friday was a travel day.  I was up at 6:30am UK time and took a rapid succession of cabs, buses, trains, and planes (as the last post's title suggests) until I arrived with Morgan in Italy.  It was dark as we rode through Rome to her apartment, and I squinted tiredly out the taxi window to try to catch a glimpse of whatever had been deemed important enough to be lit up (there wasn't much).  We sat outside at a little restaurant down her street and sipped Chianti Classico while eating risotto and ravioli, and I was reminded again of how easy it is to romanticize European cities.

At 4:30 the next morning, a few hours after a halfhearted attempt to go to sleep early, Morgan and I stumbled out of bed and made our way back to the airport to retrieve Sarah, who had made the ungodly decision to arrive in Rome at 7am.  We were picking her up under strict instructions from Judge Booker, who was extremely concerned about Sarah's ability to make her way from the airport to Morgan's apartment.  Judge Booker was also worried about Sarah's lack of working cell phone and how we would find each other in the airport.  Luckily, we made a foolproof plan to meet at baggage claim.  I promised Sarah that I would be there, even if I was a little late, and she promised not to wander off.  We were very confident that no problems could possibly arise from such a scenario.

Not surprisingly, we were wrong.  Baggage claim, as it turned out, was actually inside security, and from 6:52 until 8:oo Morgan and I stood just out of sight of Sarah, trying everything we could to get word to her that we were there (including asking people coming out of security to go back in and tell a girl who looked a little like me that her sister was there, and imploring the police to please just go find her).  As I was planning a mad dash past security (I had decided that it would be easier to explain to my parents that I had been arrested and detained in the Rome airport than that I had lost my little sister), the girl in question stepped cautiously into view and looked around carefully.  Morgan and I were somewhat ecstatic and found ourselves jumping up and down and screaming Sarah's name.  I should say that some of that excitement may have come from the two cappucinos each of us had already downed.

Despite a total of about five hours of sleep in two nights, Sarah, Morgan, and I rallied and took a walking tour of Rome.  After successfully buying towels (more difficult than anticipated, since we had to first find a shop that sold cloth and then figure out how to buy the things), we hit the Piazza Navona, the Parthenon, the Fountain di Trevi, and Santa Maria della Concezione; we ate pizza Rome-style for lunch and had an early supper (more pasta, of course) before crashing back at the apartment.

All in all, I'd have to say that my first day in Rome was a whirlwind of success.  Today we plan on a flea market (really), the Piazza del Popolo, Colluseum, Arco di Constantino, and Roman Forum.  Sarah and Morgan have been asleep for 12 hours, so I'll probably be attempting to wake them soon to start our adventure.

Regarding this post's title: if you haven't seen Life of Brian, watch it ASAP.

Cabs, Buses, Trains, and Planes

Why did I ever think these things were so cool and pretty in their miniature versions? I've been wondering if parents make sure to fill their childrens' rooms with shiny transportation toys in order to try to make the experience or actually transporting oneself more paletable. I've been wondering if it worked on me, and how much worse traveling would be if it hadn't.

These are the thoughts so much time crammed between bleary-eyed sneezing grumblers in cabs, buses, trains, and planes (as well as their terminals and platforms and stations) generate in me. I spent an hour on a train ride to Edinburgh feeling generally sorry for my lack of a private jet, then, in an attempt to focus on something more productive (if not more enjoyable), I began debating over whether to check my bag on my flight to Rome. I still haven't decided.

I do love Scotland. I adore afternoon tea and am hatching a plan to continue it in the US, and everyone is extremely kind and helpful. When I arrived at the airport this morning, sniffling from some vile infection no doubt spread to me by one of the sneezing masses, I quickly bought the first pack of Sudafed I found from a little stand. The cashier, instead of just ringing me up, began to question me abou my symptoms and recommended a different decongestant - and threw in a free bottle of Vitamin C. She should work in every transportation station.

I have to say that a few days of relaxation and fun with Bradshaw were just what I needed. We spent yesterday running around St. Andrew's making his campaign video (he's running for president of his student union), which was hilarious - I'll find a way to post it for those of you who"d like to watch. Now I'm headed ot for SPRING BREAK: ROME with Sarah and Morgan -