7-21-09

Today is the first day on our own! Our parents had left on a flight at 3am and were long gone by the time we had woken up. This morning went much smoother than the past few mornings, I put shampoo in my hair, and managed not to trip over anything. Our train was at 5pm, so we had time to go back to St. Peter's and look around some more.

Today was HOT, and not like Oregon hot, this was South Carolina in August hot. It was muggy by 9am when we left our hotel and made our way across town to the Vatican. We took a tour of the Pope's Tomb - which is a series of catacombs that sit beneath the Vatican Basilica. Thankfully it was cool underground, and that there weren't too many people on tour at the moment. We perused the Popes of old, stopping at some to read the captions printed on tablets next to their crypts. We stopped briefly at John Paul II's tomb as there was a small gathering people praying and remembering the late JP. Surprisingly they let us take pictures, so my sister snapped a few before we mounted the steps towards the Basilica. And yes this is really how it looks on the inside-------->

We walked around the Vatican for a while, and slipped into a side chapel hoping to catch a service, but they weren't performing anything at the moment so we left. We took the crosses we bought yesterday and dipped them into the holy water thinking that this would ensure a safe trip across Europe. What's funny is that neither of us are religious, and we felt a little silly dipping a sterling silver pendant into a bowl of dirty tap water, but as they say "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." However, I can't help but think that's not what they meant by the saying. Enjoy this humorous comic from Cyanide and Happiness

We left the Vatican to pick up our bags from the hotel and walk to the train station. It was even hotter on the walk to the train station, and it didn't help that we were carrying 30+ pounds of clothes on our back. But we made it with time to spare, so we took turns getting dinner at the cafeteria. My sister unfortunately got stuck behind an elderly Italian woman, who took forever to order her food. She must have been barely 5 feet tall, with the pouffy-died hair that so many grandmas tend to sport at a certain age. She wore a pink dress that came down to her ankles. She walked with a shuffling stiffness, as if she was unable to move her upper body each time she took a step. She seemed a sweet lady, one that you'd love to have as a grandma, and as she sat behind us eating her Mozzarella sandwich and drinking her Coke Lite, I couldn't help but think she was waiting for a grandson or daughter to arrive on the train. My sister pointed her out to me saying, "Isn't she the cutest old lady you've ever seen." I agreed. But just then, the lady got up and tried to push in her chair, which got caught on one of the table legs. She became upset, and repeatedly smashed the back of the chair against the side of the table in an attempt push in the chair. When she had left my sister turns to me and says, "that's one violent grandma!" Don't mess with her!

We caught the train, and sat in one of the six person cabins, which was empty as first. I was excited because the seats reclined in a way to make a bed, and I thought we'd get a lot of sleep during our overnight train ride. This wasn't the case, as more and more people started to get on at various stops. Soon our cabin was full, and there was no way we could reposition ourselves to make sleep possible. For the 12 hour train ride my sister and I sat side-by-side, pining for the moment when we could stretch our legs, and breath fresh air! Vienna here we come!