We get up early to take the train to Rome, where we planned to meet Tim's two friends from high school Judy and Megan. We make sure we have our reservations this time and find our hostel. Tim's friends weren't arriving until later that night so we drop our clothes off at the laundromat and make our way to St. Peters to try and catch the 5:45 pm mass. Kate needs an Italian Catholic Church appropriate dress so we stop at a street dress stand where Tim makes her bargain with the guy to get a cheap dress. We get it and make it just in time for Mass. St. Peters is breathtaking and huge. The mass was in the back and while there weren't a ton of people there, it was a cool experience being with people from all over the world. After mass we walk to the Spanish steps and then back to the hostel where we meet Judy and Megan.
Tim was so excited to see his friends and we all go out for a late dinner (dinner number 2 for Tim and Kate). We try to go out after but after one drink we all are exhausted and head back to get a good nights sleep for a full day in Rome.
Day 22
We were out of the hostel by 7:30am and Kate made it known immediately that she needed a cappichino pronto. So, after a quick stop at the local cafe we were en route to the Vatican a few subways stops later we we were in St. Peter's again. Well we did have a small hickup at security as Judy got nailed for showing her knees in her dress, but nothing a scarf and Tims gym shorts could not fix.
After walking the Basilica for a half hour we headed up to the viewing platform of St. Peter's. This was going to a be quite the trip..rivaling the hike in Trogir. Even through it was only 9am the stairs were steaming hot and seemed never ending. Finally we made it to the first level which over looked the inside of the Basilica which was stunning and there was also a place to fill up our water bottle which was great. But, we still werent all the way to the top so we climbed the single file, hot, curved stair case...let's just say Tim could have really benefited from brining a second shirt. From the top we had a birds eye view of Rome well worth the climb and the 5 Euro entrance fee. By 9:30 am the line was huge to get into St. Peter's so please take the advice that Tim's Aunt Gretel gave to go early or late to the Vatican.
We flew down the stairways and went to try to check out the Vatican Museum but the line stretched for blocks. Tim by this point was not doing well with the heat so once back in Rome slipped off his pants and put on the gym shorts in the middle of the street. Now with the proper air flow in the Rome heat, Tour Guide Tim was in full effect and Rome didn't stand a chance, and hitting the major sights before one pm and then headed over to the Colosseum for a guided tour. After the tour we headed to the hotel...Tiur Guide Tim was losing his touvh a little but, leading us in one circle but we made it back in once piece by 4 in the afternoon. Sunburnt and exhausted naps were necessary for all of us.
At 6 Meaghan, Kate, and Tim headed to the train station to get reservations to our next cites. We planned on this being a 20 minutes project at max....was not the case and two hours later and literally 300 people ahead of us in line we got a ticket agent. When we got to the ticket agent he broke the news to us that the 8am train was booked and we needed to take the 7am train, bad news but we could live with it until he told us we had 20 Euro ticket reservation. Kate came very close to losing it, thinking its ridiculos to pay such huigh reservation costs after spending a lot of money on a eurorail pass. To try to make Kate a little happier, Tim did ask to see how much the ticket would have been without he euro rail and it was 170 Euro each, we could live with the 20 Euro charge.
Now after 8 we went back to the hostel to pick up Judy and go to dinner. After and hour of waking and after Tim and Judy admitted they were lost, Megan quickly turned on data for her phone and the blue dot saved us and got us to our planned restaurant...which would have been great, expect it was closed. Luckily we had plenty of options so we grabbed dinner then time tried to grab a cab to go to a bar after dinner. On his second cabbie he was able to communicate enough to get us to the right neighborhood. By one we made back to the hostel but sleep was short we had to leave in six hours.
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