I got up early cuz I hardly slept the night before, my internal clock is still off. So I woke at three am, it felt like hours later that I slept again, and then crappy.. I had to change rooms again because this place was pricey and full.. This place had breakfast included ..yey, coffee before I had to leave! ..and also had wifi in room I like that feature and will miss it. (wow I am on train right now while writing, and I have learned to type without looking just well enough so I can blog and look out window-thank you 'typing tutor software'! I could not even do that with hand written journals...i guess it's just another way to multi task...so bad for mindfulness training) anyway I got early start,then found a dorm room accommodation for half what I was paying, figured I could not sleep worse than last night. Then I went out again, and for lack of focus, I decided to try the Vatican Museum (separate from Vatican proper) I go by golden rule of mine..'what if this is the only time ever I will see rome and I have very limited time, what is it I need to see most.. having done the Colosseum and area, the other close to heart item, was 'Sistine chapel'..
I at first, got into wrong line, some irritated tour guide half yelled at us that the Vatican was now closed so why where we waiting in line..(it was good friday and therefore Vatican was closed to general public after noon to prepare for good friday mass). I asked about the museum and she just shrugged her shoulders... so this was a none answer... I was in a rather long line and wondered why it existed if indeed things were closed, turns out just cuz the line was long (which is usually the golden rule of it being the right line) turns out I was in fact in the wrong line.. I needed to get outside the walls of vatican to another line...which seemed long but moved fast... I am in awe at rome's ability to handle such constant swarm of tourists... I am curious at how many visitors on average enter the museum in a day... somehow they all fit... the Vatican is set up as a gauntlet of halls through which we visitors are driven like cattle following signs to the sistin chapel as carrot on stick to move us forward...
and almost by accident seeing all the other incidentals in the museum...it's set up so that the highlight of the museum is near the very end of this gauntlet.... so you are forced to look at other art! There were a lot of marbles initially to look at... copies of pagan gods, one room dedicated to animals (oh and in current time, beautiful country side whipping by, urban area has passed quickly.. pinch me, I am actually going to get to walk through this?) each room was it's own realms, no monotony in decor.. once or twice it opened up into little outdoor squares with more sculpture...eventually sculptures gave way to tapestries, a hall of maps, then painted fresco rooms... I am not remembering the sequence...
near final destination there was a section of modern religious paintings and sculptures......... at this point the herd surged with impatience...as if thinking collectively...when are we finally done looking at other art? When are we going to see the real deal?... and finally it did arrive... a sea of people bellow and Sistine chapel above.. crowed was continuous but lamely admonished to not use flash, and yet people did...and also to keep quiet...so there be waves of shhhh sounds going round... and yes it is as impressive and as unique as its been made out to be. Seeing it all in one piece like that and to scale is pretty impressive.. I of course, have the images edged in my brain from looking at photos of them repeatedly both in school and after. I had not expected the larger figures to be as large as they were in real life. And for some reason the range of scale change he used in the various figurative sections was more extreme and skillful than I had thought. Despite the restless crowd I tried to make myself stay for minutes at various corners of the room and absorbed it. Color infused in fresco seems more like dye than paint, which makes the colors look more magical to me.
Then I joined the stream of people again.. I tried to find the profane art but perhaps it was closed since I did notice a section roped off...too bad, it would have been fun. I grabbed an americano and panini with mozzarella and mushrooms at the cafe, I was surprised at how reasonable the prices where, but perhaps because it was part of the Vatican city it had no price gouging?
It was sunny out so now I wanted to do something more outdoorsy... according the the map there was a green hill near by... I thought I was clever cuz I figured out how to get there... but then once there, I realized it was walled off, and it seemed like an indefinite hike around it, so I gave up since it was not clear there was even public access to the hill... I found a bus stand and thought it clever to ride it to any metro spot to get from there to villa Borges another green hill with promising landscaped gardens ( quick note on transport: you can get a three day transportation pass that is good for all public transport or an all day pass, which pays off if you use it more than three times in a day, otherwise you can pay for individual ride tickets).... you know how they say to use a local bus to get a feel for local culture...well I experienced roman sardining... one surprising incident: there was a lady in wheel chair and the bus driver did not want to deal with her, since his ramp was broken or so I gather, people yelled at him because he keep trying to take off, the bus lurched forward several times as if to go...one passenger who had tried to help get the lady on, was even locked out of the bus... finally after the crowd persuaded bus driver to open door again, and the woman was carried on board... that was a bit crazy... the bus then proceeded to get fuller and fuller and fuller...it was good friday, I think people where getting off work early... there are also lots of visitors in town..anyway.. it was amazing... doors sometimes had probs closing... honestly I did not expect this in a modern city like rome, I have definitely seen it in places like india..some how despite being wedged in people had a milimeter of personal space between each other or so it seemed we were as close as could be and not really touching...Romans can handel crowds... again I am comparing to seattle which is still a young city that can not handle it's growing size, ...we have so much more space there and yet people seem unawares of each other and blunder into each other a lot- I have my biases coming from east coast, because in NYC people know how to avoid each other and know how to weave through crowds skillfully, seattle, not so much...anyway...i am impressed...
Not having had enough of public transport... I had to get on the metro for more squeezing during rush hour... I think some of these trains run every minute during rush hour and yet jam packed... it's fun on a lark...but I cant imagine this being my daily commute to and from work.. I would def use bicycle in rome..
oh speaking of, I had this image in my mind from impressions of other people's experience, that the traffic in Rome, is 'crazy' and you had to watch yourself as you cross since the lights are only moderately adhered to... perhaps after having negotiated much denser erratic traffic in places like Delhi and Vietnam's major towns and cities .. Roman traffic seemed almost spartan.. I guess it's all by comparison..
I found the park that housed Villa of Borges and museums and other villas, oh and zoo... I stopped for yet another cup of americano, (keep in mind I had three to four hours of sleep that day)..the cafe had a collection of cat rescues, some looked like they survived bad accidents. I like that in a lot of parks in Europe you can find a pleasant cafe or two with in it. I found the villa, I was at this point not interested really in checking out yet more insides of museums...but if they were still open I might as well, fortunately for me they were sold out of tickets till Monday, so I got to take a few photos outside and sit in a manicured park next to the building...and just veg...
At this point it was six, and most places close at seven. There was the Etruscan museum near by, but I had run out of steam...i had also got to see the Sistine chapel in real life so that was really enough... I found a metro back and grabbed more chinese and italian mixed cuisine.. it sounds strange, but usually it seems one gets the pasta as a starter and then the main dish is meat, well I dont eat meat..so I got penne pomadore for start and tofu bamboo mushroom as main dish.. almost italian, no?! Then to my dorm room to shower...and settle in for night.. who ever my roommate was going to be... judging from the state of her bed.. I was sure she'd be a hot mess, kinda looked like a teenagers room... stuff strewn everywhere , I braced myself for a late all night party arrival and a lot of noise... eventually she did appear not too late. I think she might have been Japanese..she hardly spoke english, she was both friendly sweet and noisy...she eventually fell asleep with her lap top in her lap...she actually traveled with her own wifi box!... she had a hacking cough as well, I put on my Ipod tuned it to static and did fall asleep.... Before I went to bed I told her the key was in the door and pointed to it, she said 'yes'....again I woke at three and took a while to sleep again..then, around 6;30 my roommate shook me awake in a panic, she scared the bejisses out of me....she needed to go to bathroom and did not know where key was...so her 'yes' had been that uncomprehending kind...lesson learned..next time I will do more pantomimes to make sure peeps understand me.. after that sleep... not so much...
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