Glass

I got to Paris by way of an overnight coach bus. It sounds as pleasant as it was. I was prepared for the journey however because I have experience riding overnight coach buses (Scotland). Besides, I was so pumped for going to Paris that I was not going to let a cramped, sleepless, stuffy night bring me down. I grabbed a seat that I thought would be pretty quiet. I couldn't have been more wrong. The people who sat behind me were a couple and they talked the whole way from London to Dover where we caught the ferry. It was quite annoying. I listened to music and read a book called The Life of Reilly by Paul Burke. It's a romantic comedy book just like Beginner's Greek. I did not like it as much though. It was ok and parts were funny but overall I felt it was kind of blah. It takes place in London though so it was fun to read about all the places that I recognize. The coach drove to Dover and then we got on a ferry. The coach bus drove onto the ferry and then we all got off the bus and found a spot to lay down or sit in the lounges. I found a nice bench to lay down on. It felt so good to just lay down and with the gentle rocking of the boat, I was fast asleep in no time. I prepared and had my passport and money in front pockets (which I was laying on) and my zune and camera under my head. We got back on the bus at Calais, France and drove to Paris. I slept most of the way but the guy behind me was snoring which was annoying.

I took the Metro to a spot near where I thought my hostel was. As I walked, the sun was rising which was very cool. I walked past my hostel a couple times until I actually noticed it. The Young and Happy Hostel. I left my stuff there until I could check in. I decided to follow a walk from a book called Historic Paris Walks is located there and all the classes used to be in Latin. Thus Latin was spoken in the area all the by Leo Hollis. The book went through the Latin Quarter (where I was staying) and up to the Ile de la Cite (where Notre Dame is). The Latin Quarter is called that because La Sorbonne, the big French University, time. I walked by the Pantheon. Just like the one in Rome, this building contains some famous French people's bones. The dome was based on the dome at St. Paul's in London. I could definitely see the resemblance (picture 1). The sun was rising and it the lighting was magnificent. Next I walked by La Sorbonne. It has a very characteristic little tower sticking out of it. The walk continued on to the Musee Cluny. This is an old mansion that was converted into a museum of the Middle Ages. It has some really nice tapestries. I did not get to see them because it was not open yet (neither was the Pantheon).

I stopped off at a cafe right by the Seine River and Notre Dame and bought a cinnamon bun thing for breakfast. It was fantastically delicious. I ate it while I walked around the outside of Notre Dame. I was so happy to be in Paris and eating a delicious cinnamon bun I almost cried. Notre Dame was super beautiful in the soft morning light. It was constructed over 200 years from 1163 to 1345. It is the most perfect example of Gothic art in the world. Notre Dame is right by the Parvis which was the epicenter for the medieval capital. The church is famous for a couple things. One is the gargoyles which adorn the top of the two towers (and feature in The Hunchback of Notre Dame). The other is for the flying buttresses (picture 2). These are architectural devices used to bear the weight of the 112 feet high nave. Walking the church was so cool because the Seine was on my right and the church on my left with blooming trees all around (picture 3). I walked around the whole outside and then went in. The inside was really amazing. The ceiling is very high up above. There is quite a bit of stained glass which tells the story of the Bible. It was pretty dark inside which I did not like. The stained glass windows were really sweet though (picture 4). There was a little mass going on in the choir that I enjoyed watching as well.

I left Notre Dame and made my way over to the Ste. Chapelle. This is a church built by St. Louis (Louis IX) in 1246 to hold some of the relics he got from the First Crusade. There are two levels to the church. The bottom level has some nice red, blue, and gold paintings (I loved these little circle things picture 5), columns, and ceiling (picture 6). At first I thought that this was all there was to the church. I had never really read about the church other than it was an amazing place to see. I saw someone go up the stairs and followed them. Then I noticed why they say people should come here. The servants used the lower church and the King used the upper and I can see why. There are 15 stained glass windows. Each window is probably 25-30 ft. tall. With the sun shining, it has an absolutely stunning effect. There are over 1000 little pictures through the windows. In between each set of windows is a statue of an apostle (picture 7). These are also really well done. The chandeliers seem to float rather than hang from the ceiling (picture 8). It was jaw-dropping beauty. I just sat and gaped at the splendor of it all for a while. The high altar used to be much more spectacular but it was melted down in the Revolution. This was one of my favorite places of my time abroad so far. After Ste. Chapelle I walked over to La Conciegerie. This was a jail and then a palace and then a jail again. Its most famous resident was Marie Antoinette. I wasn't that impressed by the place (at least not after the place before). There were some wax figures showing what life in the prison was like. I thought it was pretty tacky. Another problem with this place was how tired I was getting. Getting only 3 hours or less of sleep was starting to catch up with me.

On the way to the Louvre (my next stop) I passed by a flower market. There was a store there of orchids (Mom, you would have flipped). The orchids were fantastic. I don't know anything about flowers but I knew that these were beautiful (picture 9). The Louvre used to be a palace but is now the biggest museum in the world. It is only short walk away from Ste. Chapelle. I walked over to the main square where the big pyramid (and little ones) is located. It is so strange seeing them next to these very classical building (picture 10). I sat and rested a bit and then walked a little ways away and bought a baguette sandwich. I ate it by the pyramid and then went inside. The Louvre is almost too big if you ask me. There is so much stuff and so many rooms that when I would stop to look in one room I was still thinking about all the stuff I passed by in the other rooms. I did not like that feeling. It is also so big that it gets REALLY tiring walking around trying to see all the really famous stuff. I did get the energy to see them though. I saw the Mona Lisa (picture 11). The glass protecting it was annoying because there was always a ton of glare. The Venus de Milo was really cool even though it didn't have arms. The Code of Hammurabi was in a special exhibit so I couldn't see it. There were some Parthenon marbles there just like the ones in the British Museum. Speaking of that, I felt like the Lourve was like combining the size and breadth of the British Museum (huge) and the National Gallery (huge) and combining them into some super museum that was just too much. That's just my opinion though. The halls that the paintings were in were amazing in and of themselves (picture 12). Another famous piece that I saw was Winged Victory (picture 13). I liked that one even though it didn't have a head. I was very frustrated because the Dutch and Arab Galleries were closed. The Dutch Gallery has a Vermeer which I wanted to see because Mom likes him and the Arab Gallery supposedly has one of the greatest collections of Arab art in the world. Alas, I couldn't see them. Another problem with my understanding and liking of the Louvre was that all the info things were in French. I don't blame them for that but it did make it tough for someone like me to read them or gain any real understanding.

I was getting too tired to really appreciate what I was seeing so I walked around a little more (I think I walked around 75% of the museum) and then left. I laid down by the pyramid on a bench thing and actually fell asleep for a minute but immediately woke up. I knew when that happened that it was time to get back to the hostel before I passed out in a street or something, haha. I walked back and then checked into my room. It was a 6 bed dorm room. One guy was from Toronto and so was a girl (not together). They both smoked (they went out on the step together to do that). Another woman was from California. Everyone in my room was nice. I laid down in my bed and ended up napping for a couple hours which felt glorious. I ate dinner at a Mediterranean take out place a block from the hostel. All along the street were different ethnic restaurants. I came back to the hostel and finished The Life of Reilly and then went to bed basically. While I was reading, a mariachi band started playing at the bar across the street. I thought it was quite random. It felt so good to sleep and I didn't even notice the noise.

When in Rome...

So as started from the last entry, I fell right asleep on the train. I woke up like 5 minutes before we arrived in Rome and hurriedly got my stuff and woke Vanessa up. We got off the train and I looked at my backpack... All the zippers were open. I didn't remember doing that so I looked in the one where I kept my passport, cell phone number, wall... Oh crap. My wallet was NOT there. I immediately knew what happened. I did run back on the train and check all around the room we were in but it was no where to be found. I looked in my backpack all around and it wasn't there either. I had only had about 3 or 4 hours of sleep so I was freaking out. Vanessa calmed me a little and we found the train we needed to get to the train station we needed by our hostel. I kept looking through my bag but I knew it was a lost cause. I had read about stuff being stolen on overnight trains and all those guys getting on the train were just creepy and scary.

We got to the right train station and walked to our hostel. It was kind of a long walk and was still kind of dark out (it was like 6 am). I felt really unsafe. It was a residual effect from feeling violated by someone coming into our room thing on the train and I didn't like it. Plus I was just super tired and stressed out. So we got to our hostel, the Roma Inn. Turns out they had overbooked. The guy at the desk had to call like 5 hostels near by to get some beds for us. The guy said that it happens all the time, how dumb. This just fried my nerves more. I went to try and find a calling card while he was finding us beds. I got one and tried to call my bank but the 1-800 number wouldn't work and I kept trying and it wasn't working and the phone only spoke to me in Italian and it was just a bad situation. I never even thought of calling my mom or dad to have THEM call the bank at this point. I was so tired and beaten down that I didn't know what to do. I went back to the Roma Inn and had some free breakfast. It was good. The guy finally found us beds at this hostel called David's Flats which were 5 minutes away.

We got to David's Flats and got our beds. The ladies there were not super friendly about the situation that wasn't our fault so it was annoying. We got ready to go out for the day and left. Our first stop was the Roman Forum (pictures 1 and 2). This is the big area of ruins in Rome. The Forum was the political, spiritual, and social center of the city for something like 500 years. There used to be a TON of temples and buildings and palaces all around. Now its just kind of depressing looking columns and blocks of marble. A lot of the buildings in the Forum were torn down or taken apart to use in other buildings. It was cloudy and I was still depressed so the Forum was not very much fun for me. It all just seemed like a waste, all the tearing down and splendor gone. We walked through the whole thing and then up to Capital Hill which is at the end of the Forum. There is a museum on top of the hill and was where the seat of government of Rome has been for 2500 years. Michelangelo designed the square that is now on top of the hill. He also designed the steps leading up to it from road (picture 3).

We walked to the Pantheon next (picture 4) and along the way I was still worrying out loud to Vanessa about my debit card and she finally told me to call my mom which I did. She canceled my card for me which made me feel a lot better. We walked around and got lunch (paninis). The Pantheon was built by the Romans and is now a church. Alyssa told me that when she went to Rome she went to a Catholic mass inside it. Weird. Anyway, Raphael's tomb is in here. The most famous part of the Pantheon is the dome (picture 5). It 5 inches wider than the dome on St. Peter's Basilica (that dome is a lot taller though). It has a hole in the middle of it that lets rain and sunshine in. Overall the building is a masterpiece of the Roman's engineering abilities. So much so that when Brunelleschi was doing research for the Duomo in Florence, he came to the Pantheon and studied the dome. He even made a hole in it to see how the Romans did it.

Next up was Piazza Navona, an oval-shaped square (yup, that's what I said) with a couple of fountains in it. For those who have read Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, this is where the Fountain of the Rivers is located. The Fountain was under construction and completely blocked off however. There was a fountain of Neptune right by it though (picture 6). Very cool. We walked from there to Ponte Sant'Angelo (picture 7). Its an old bridge that leads to Castel Sant'Angelo (the place where the Hassassin in Angels and Demons works out of). The bridge and castle were built by Hadrian for his mausoleum (he was actually never buried there). Bernini redid the bridge in the 1600's by adding 10 statues of angels holding the 10 symbols of the passion of Christ (cup, cross, etc.). It's all very cool looking. We walked by the Castel and on to Vatican City.

St. Peter's Basilica is amazing. The square in front of it was designed by (who else?) Bernini. It has two halves of an oval split down the middle. Each oval half is a terrace with four rows of columns. In total, there are over 400 columns I think. When you stand in the middle of the square, it looks like there is only 1 row of columns because the 4 rows match up so well. Inside the oval is two super cool fountains and a giant obelisk from Egypt that has no hieroglyphics on it. From one side of the oval is the road and on the other side is the steps up to St. Peter's (picture 8 has the oval shaped terrace with columns on the right and St. Peter's behind the fountain).

it but wanted a Greek cross plan. When he died, St. Peter's was built on this spot because it was on this spot that St. Peter was crucified upside down (what a terrible way to die... ugh). St. Peter was then buried inside the hill that used to be here. A church was constructed by Constantine in 280. That church was taken down around 1500 and a new one was constructed. Michelangelo designedhe new designer made it into a Latin cross to accommodate more people. It can now hold over 50,000 worshipers. The church is the biggest church in the world. It has the tallest dome in the world as well. All the buildings in Rome have been required to be shorter than it which explains why Rome doesn't have any kind of a modern skyline. Inside the church is the sculpture by Michelangelo of the Pieta. That being a sculpture of Mary holding the dead body of Jesus. It is a spectacular statue.

We had to go through metal detectors to get inside and then leave our bags. The inside of the church is aweinspiring. I could have spent an entire day walking around inside looking at all the statues and paintings (hopefully someday I can, I really want to). There are probably over 200 statues inside it, most likely more. Each one is just so well done and so life like. Along the top of the outside of the church is Jesus, John the baptist and 11 apostles. St. Peter's statue is inside and you can go up and rub his foot for good luck which I had to do after my wallet incident (picture 9). The main focus of the church is at the center where an incredibly ornate 70 foot canopy by Bernini covers the main altar (picture 10). The altar is placed directly above where St. Peter's body is located. There are candles around the stairs down and altar lit at all times. In the back of the church is the more functional altar (still just amazingly ornate and extravagant and beautiful) with a stained glass window above it. The window was done by (him again!) Bernini. It is called the Starburst. There is a dove in the middle with rays of sun coming out of it. All the art in the church is either a mosaic or a statue, no paintings. We walked around some more and finally had to leave.

We walked back to the hostel which took about an hour (it was probably 3 miles or more). On the way, we stopped and at a Chinese restaurant. I had chicken with green peppers and onion and garlic sauce and fried rice. It was just so good. I loved it. It made me miss my friends at SJU a lot though. We went to a Chinese restaurant every other Sunday last semester. We rested at the hostel for a little bit and then headed out to see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. The Founatin (picture 11) was really cool but I had forgotten my change back at the hostel so I couldn't toss a coin in (you're supposed to turn your back to the fountain and toss it for good luck). There were a ton of guys walking around trying to sell flowers. They wouldn't leave us alone. I kept saying no and walking away but then another would come up. Stupid. I bought some gelato from a place right by the fountain, banana and caramel. AMAZING!!!!!The Spanish Steps were next (picture 12). It was dark by them and the top monument was under construction which kind of ruined the mood. I was still glad we went there though. I wanted to see them. In the summer during the day, a ton of people just hang out here.

We walked back to our hostel and both of us went straight to bed. After all the stress and depression of the day plus all the walking plus getting only 4 hours of sleep the night before, I was a little sleepy.