Where dreams do come true

So our last full day in Rome started early again. Being out last full day in Rome, I didn't want to waste a second. I got the other girls up at 8am, and we were gone by 9ish. Actually, since I passed out at 9:30pm, I woke up around 6ish, fell back asleep, and got up around 7:45am. I showered, and had a nice HOT shower... it was so sweet. The girls took showers the night before, and there was no hot water. Greg took one too, and he also had cold water. I had the pleasure of listening to everyone complain about the cold shower during breakfast after I had a nice hot shower. Heheh, so evil. Kathleen though fell asleep with my MP3 Player, two books, a pen, and a few other items in her bed. I made fun of her for awhile about this, she did the same thing in Oslo... oh Kathleen. Anyway, after breakfast, we first went down past the Colosseum, it was on the way to the Circus Maximus, which was our first stop of the day. I was determined to see everything left on my list, and I would accomplish this if I had to drag Kathleen and Danielle around Rome. I almost did.

Hill to be so large, from the Colosseum it's about a 5-8 minute walk to the Circus Anyway, we walked the Circus Maximus. I was a little surprised at it's location, it's right across the street from the back of the Palantine Hill. I'm not sure where I thought it would be, just maybe not so close to the hill where all the emperors lived. I also did not imagine the PalentineMaximus, and the whole time the Palentine Hill is on your right. The Circus Maximus now is just a big field of grass, with a dirt track going around it, and a ruin here or there... so basically nothing. I still liked it. I mean how can I not like anything that is Roman??? Unless of course it's something that Commodus or Nero did. We saw some cool puppies playing tag on the grass in the field... it was so cute. There is just something about puppies playing around ruins... adorable.

After the Circus Maximus, we tried to go to the Aventine. Danielle hit me for wanting to see it, but come on Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo lived in the Aventine in HBO Rome. They aren't fictional characters either, they are mentioned in some book of Julius Caesar's. Since I really like both the characters, I thought, hey since we are in Rome we should see where they lived. Also the Aventine can be thought of as one of the first mobs, HBO Rome is somewhat real, and the Aventine is really important, and very mob like. But on the map it looks like a park, but really it's something with a gate around it. Argh, oh well, so I just took a picture in front of the gate, and pretended it was the Aventine.

I also suggested, well more like pushed for the Capitoline Museum. The other two had no idea why I would want to go there, but I mean it's the best museum in the world. I tried to tell them this, but all I really knew that was there was the Marcus Aurelius statue and the she-wolf statue. Of course if Marcus Aurelius is involved, do I need another reason??? Kathleen was up for anything, so we started to make our way there. On the way, we passed the island in the Tiber. I remember from Rome class hearing about the island, and there was a hospital on it once. We went onto the island, and just looked around. There was nothing really special about it, there are a few shops, a statue, a church... um nothing of great importance. We didn't really spend a lot of time there, so we probably missed a lot, but oh well. We crossed back over the river, and kept going to the museum. We passed the Baths of Caracalla along the way, and went through the Jewish section of Rome. On that street, there was a group of gentlemen sitting in the shade, dressed in suits just sitting, and talking. Only in Italy have I seen this, and I love it. The ability to sit around, and do nothing for a few hours really boggles the mind. I cannot imagine doing that.

To the museum... this was so exciting. I saw the museum from down the street. There was two buildings, and in front of both is a man on a horse. I pointed ahead, and said that Marcus Aurelius is in front of the museum on his horse. I didn't realize that both buildings have a man on a horse in front of it, but I knew which one was Marcus Aurelius. I never mistake him. It was great, walking up to the museum, and looking at the statue. I know, of course, that it is not the original statue, but I stare at any statue of Marcus Aurelius. I couldn't wait to see the original. We quickly got tickets, and started our way through the museum. Danielle did not come with us, she was still having money problems. Kathleen and I basically predicted it, but we figured that her bank saw the card being used abroad, and shut it off thinking that it was stolen. Not only did that happen, but her job didn't put her checks in her account... so we were half right. Danielle would not hear of either explanation. Oh well.

Kathleen and I went through the museum... what a great museum. We didn't follow the correct path we think, a big school group was going through, so we first went up some stairs, and saw who you ask.. oh Marcus Aurelius. There was a bust of him and Hadrian, and then some wall carvings of him coming back to Rome from Germania, and him with the people. What a way to start the museum. We then went through some rooms with a lot of paintings, and boring stuff, but found our way to the room with the statue of the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus. I stood back, and just looked at this statue, the figures in this statue are what founded Rome... or so says the myth. If it's true or not, I was taken back by it, it's a very cool statue. Kathleen, in all her wisdom said that if you think about it, Rome, one of the greatest empires EVER was founded on a lie, a rumor you could say. Empires are nothing without a good story for the founding, and a she-wolf raising it's founder is a pretty good story. Just about as good as Rome being founded by the cousin of Hector, and a survivor of the Trojan War. It was just so cool to see it.

orders... um might have to put aside my dislike for a moment or two. I mean without Marcus Aurelius would not have been made a god... Not far from that room, was a hall of statues. I was looking at one of a boy, who resembled Caracalla, or so the sign said. He did look mean. I was looking at that though, when I just got that feeling that I was close to something... something really important. I ventured into the next room, and there it was... the big statue, the one I have waited to see for a very long time. The original Marcus Aurelius statue, the one with him on the horse. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I walked into the room ever so slowly, my eyes never left the face, the horse, the face... the whole thing. I just couldn't believe that I was looking at the original statue of Marcus Aurelius. I was reading something about the statue, and the sign said it took them awhile to figure out who it was... um it's pretty obvious to me. He looks the same in every statue, well expect the ones where he is a younger man, but give him the beard, and he looks the same. Oh well. Even today, I still cannot believe that I actually saw the statue, I mean it was created just a few years after his death (they think). Of course this thought just came to me that it was probably on Commodus's orders. Ummm okay dislike aside for about 5 seconds. Anyway, I took my picture with the statue too, I felt like a geek, but Kathleen was just waiting for me to hand over my camera.

After the statue, we saw the remains of the Temple of Jupiter, and then a few statues of Hercules. This museum was so confusing, all the signs were in Latin, so I just looked for Augusto, or Marco Aurelio, and yeah that's all I could read. I did have a map, and there was big signs in every room telling you what each was, but I'm really not sure how much I believed them. There was one statue of a naked man, and a woman... and the sign for the statue said Marcus Aurelius and Faustina the Younger. You really don't see naked Emperors though... I think there is one of Augustus, but he's not naked... it really confused me. But it was the only statue in the room with a couple, so it must have been them. Of course the man also looked more like a Greek than an Emperor, and to my knowledge Marcus Aurelius did not hang out in Greece. I was not amused.

This museum got the award for being annoying, and confusing. I was also looking for a statue of Cicero, and I couldn't find it. I didn't know what Cicero's name in Italian is... it's Cicerone, so makes sense, but I didn't really think about it. The room his bust is in, there is also one of Marcus Aurelius, and that confused me, until I realized that it was the Hall of Philosophers, so yeah it would make sense that both of them were in this room. In the next room was the Hall of Emperors. A sign said that it was in chronological order, which was untrue. There was a bust of Commodus next to Augustus, which I find insulting, and not in chronological order. There is about 200 years between them. There is no fooling me. There was also a bust of Livia, who umm was not an Emperor. She might have acted like it, but she wasn't. Kathleen found Nero, which she was very proud of. I looked at one, he had way too much detail in his shoulders, and I thought who deserves this treatment, and I really didn't need to look at the sign, if I looked at the face first I would have realised it was Caracalla. Caracalla always looks like he is about to kill.

We left the museum after getting really lost, we got a good view of the Roman forum, and the Colosseum from some balcony. It was great. We saw the huge statue of Hercules, which Kathleen loved. She is a huge fan of Hercules. But we left around 1pm, the time we were suppose to meet Danielle. We went in search of a cafe, and we did. We were both in the mood for pizza... um imagine that. We didn't get it though, they just served it at night, so we just a bowl of pasta. It was good. After we ate, we got some gelato, and it was the best that I have ever had. They put whipped cream on TOP! ahhhhhhhh, I was in heaven!!! I got my usual chocolate, and chocolate chip... so good.

We then went in search of a park below the Vatican, and it's not so much of a park, as a tiny mountain. We climbed up, up, and more up, but we got rewarded with some great views. We found another cool fountain, and sat on a wall and just looked out at the city of Rome. It was great. Kathleen sat and started making her Popess song... oh yes did I mention, Kathleen wants to be Pope... and then Emperor. Um. She is always a source of entertainment. She has a list of things she would do if she was Pope, and has many ideas about what the Pope does... for example in his off hours, he wears jeans. Hahahah! Yep, that's why Kathleen was with us, she always makes us laugh.

After the park, we started making our way back to the hostel. It was now getting toward evening, and since we were on the other side of the city, it would take us awhile to get back, and we could see some sights along the way. We stopped by the Spanish steps, which was a little bit of a detour, but one we needed to make. Wow, the amount of people at the Spanish steps. It was a hassle getting there, since there was so many people going there, and leaving. We did make it, and found a nice place to sit and rest. The Spanish steps, which we found out, is a name that the Americans coined it, are steps that are covered with flowers, and people. It was really beautiful. There was also a fountain in front of the steps, and at the top of the steps was a church. We sat on the steps for awhile, and then climbed the steps. At the top of the steps, you get another good view of things. Love it. It was an awesome place to sit and people watch, but Danielle kept rushing us to get moving. Really annoying, I could have sat for a long time, just resting.

When we made it back to the hostel, we rested there for awhile, and then we went to our pizza place to get food. We got more abuse, it was so great. I ordered my pizza just fine, but Kathleen was ordering for both herself, and Danielle. She ordered her pizza, and then ordered Danielle's. The guy looked at her so strangely for ordering four slices. Kathleen tried to tell him that she was ordering for two people, but he didn't understand, so Kathleen just took the abuse. When it was time to pay, the guy put the receipt right in front of her face. Hahah, it was so funny. Kathleen enjoyed every second of it.

Fountain, the Spanish steps, and I took a wrong tour, so we ended up by the Colosseum. What a wrong turn... That night, Kathleen and I went on a tour of Rome at night. We saw the Pantheon, the Trevihheheh. Rome is so nice at night.

And that is the last full day in Rome. The next morning, I said my good byes, but that is for another post.