The Wacky World of a Lazy Pig (AKA Simon)

Eurotrip Day 15 - Demon Hole in the Pantheon, 2 Gelatos and our night out with 3 nice Holland girls!

I would say that the extended conversation with Petty and Noortje (Marina was too tired to talk) was really good but really cut into our sleeping time. Though we got some sleep, at most 5.5 hours, we still felt tired when we got up. It was kind of funny in the morning because we were afraid of changing in front of the girls. The girls, on the other hand, had no problem as long as no one was looking. Roger being the most self concious person eventually just followed and just changed in the same room, which is good. I guess as long as a girl does it, then it is fine for Roger.

Today was like any other day in terms of travel. Walking was indeed the best way to travel around the city and by now our feet had gotten used to the daily extensive walking punishment. Today was like the Dan Brown's Angels & Demons tour as we were about to visit some of the landmarks mentioned in the book. We would also try to see some more basillicas and churches that were around the same area (which would actually be a lot). We left as early as possible, which really wasn't that early, but we still had time to pick up some food at the grocery store and run out.

Our first stop was the Pantheon. For those that aren't familiar with this church, it was originally a shrine for Pagan gods and had nothing to do with Christian worship. Today, it is a well known Roman Catholic church in Rome. This was also one of the sites that was mentioned in the Angels and Demons book and so I was real eager to see how well Dan Brown's description was compared to the real thing. Although our first destination was the Pantheon, it was alsmot impossible to not run into any churches. The one magnificently large church we passed by was the St. Ignatius of Loyola church. From the outside, it looked really tiny (seating 200-300 at most). And like many other guesses that I had made during my stay in Rome, I was dead wrong. Steve had brought us into the church because it was recommended by the travel guide. If it weren't for the travel guide, we woud have probably just mistaken the building for a regular house or office building. The pictures that I have should be able to explain the interior of the church.

By the time we had arrived at the Pantheon, a crowd had already formed in front of the door. I felt that something must have been going on because no one was actually going in. A glance over the crowd verified that something was going on, but it was something that I wasn't expecting. There was a wedding mass being held in the Pantheon. The couple must be very lucky to have their wedding in such a famous church even if it did cost a lot. I don't know if I really want to get married in the Pantheon though. It just doesn't strike me as a church to get married in. If there were any church, I would say St. Peter's Basillica, with the Pope.

With the ceremony not reaching half point, there was no reason to waste time. We continued walking looking for other sites and churches in the area. And luckily, we were able to check out 4 churches all within 5-10 minutes walking distance of each other. Once again, each church had their own feature that would simply blow my mind away the second I see it. I would stand there just looking at it, studying it until I found a pew to sit and finally say my prayers. Pictures were always really difficult to take because of the low light environment. By now, I filled up my memory cards again with tons of pictures of the churches. I really hate it when there are a lot of people walking around the front of the church because it makes taking pictures very difficult. Moving people means blurry pictures, that is, the person in the picture is blurry, therefore, making the overall picture bad.

Once again, please don't ask me which churches we went to. I can tell you if it were the ones on the tourist map, but anything else, I won't be able to tell you. We did go to this church as I will name the Amy church as it was the place where we met I and then the rest of the gang met this girl called Amy. The story is this. We walked into a church that had was, as you would have guessed, huge with tall ceilings and walls very wide apart. We had separated our ways in here to just suck in the art and architecture. I walked up to this display of a wax effigy of a bishop/priest. Beside there was an old fat lady and a very young central american/african girl. They had saw this wax effigy and thought that it was the actual body of the bishop. Anyway, the young girl just walked up to me and started talking to me. I was not prepared for any conversation and I would honestly say that I was not interested in a conversation at the moment.

Don't say I am racist because I am not. Her name was Amy and she was on an exchange trip from the US, which made communication really easy. When she told me that she was from the Dominican republic, I sort of found an excuse to pull Steve into the conversation. And when I say pull Steve in, in this case, it also means pulling Roger into the conversation. Steve and Amy spoke to each other in Spanish for a bit. Roger and I was sort of staring at each other giving each other the feeling that we didn't want to talk to her for a long time. Personally, I think that it was just here sudden need to have to talk to some one young was freaking me out. She also seemed very bored from her school trip that she was willing to just attach herself to anyone or group that came by that was interesting. She was a nice person, but that just freaked me out. I know some of you may think that none of it had anything to do with a relationship, but she just asked so many questions, ahhh!!

"You want to chill?" Is how we refer to Amy now. She asked us this as she walked us to her hostel/convent. All 3 of us were not really interested though. After Amy disappeared into the convent, Roger says "you guys are so shallow". He didn't mean it in a bad way that is for sure, and what he said is true though. To me, she was freaky and just didn't strike me as a person that I really wanted to get to know.

After being told that we were shallow we headed off to check out the Plaze Novona. Steve wanted to come here to check out the obelisk and also the fountains that were in the same area. As I approached the Plaza, it really dawned to me and made me think more about what Dan brown had fed me in the novel. Why are there Obelisks in Rome? Obelisks were from Egyptians right? It seems awfully awkward to see something so out of place in Rome.

Oh yes, did I say we visited the church at the Plaze Navona? You shouldn't be surprised at this point anymore. But there was something that really surprised me and has eversince been burned into my memory. The beggar at the doorstep of the church. Normally, you would see a weird old lady or man standing at the side of a Church opening the doors for your or saying nice things to you as you pass by. I really wish I could stop and give them something to eat and help them, anything without giving them money which I think they could easily abuse. This beggar that we saw at this church at the Paze Navona was very different. It was a lady in dirty and slightly ripped close that you could tell was old. In her arms was a girl of age 3 years, max. The child was asleep in her mother's arms (The lady may not have been her mother, but that is what it seems). Beside the two was an open and empty sandwich box and a Pringle's snack pak (reall small size). This almost brought tears to my eyes. I so wanted to help but I couldn't. If I had the money and food and connections, I would bring her to someplace to help her start her life over again if possible. The image of the mother and daughter image here just hit me hard. I literally stopped and felt a weird tingly feeling all over my body. It felt like my body wanted to help.

Anyway, by this time of the day (12pm), we hadn't really had lunch yet and someone, I think Roger, suggested that we should break now for some food. I personally wasn't that hungry. I could have gone until 2pm before I ate. Fine, we didn't eat our lunches right away, instead, we found GELATO!!!!!! This was the cheapest we found in Italy and Rome. for 2.20 euros, you get 3 Large scoops of Gelato on a Waffle cone. That is soooooo cheap comapred to maybe $7-8 in Canada before tax for the same thing. Eventhough this wasn't necessary, I must admit that it was very very very worth it.

The wedding party had long left the Pantheon when we returned. This meant only one thing, more tourists. There were a lot of tourists standing everywhere at the front and inside the Pantheon. I for one was looking forward to seeing two things, Raphael's (Santi) tomb and the Demon Hole (also the big hole in the ceiling of the Pantheon). The Pantheon is very different from many other churches because it wasn't originally a church, as I have mentioned before. There is a really wide Circle hole on the ceiling that open's up to the sky. This means that if it rains outside the Pantheon, it is also raining inside the Pantheon. There is nothing that prevents rain from falling through the ceiling and right onto the ground. What they architects of the Pantheon had done instead was install sewers to drain the water that did fall to the floor. To do this, there are several tiny holes on the group that allow water to fall through. the Demon Hole is the Hole in the ceiling. The audio guides refer to it as the Oculus (which makes sense). What is amazing here is that it is the well preseved ceiling and building of any structure in the Rome.

Raphael Santi's body is rested in this place too. Raphael is famous because he is one of the only artists known and referred to by first name. Leonardo (da vinci), Michelangelo and Donatello are the other 3. It does sound familiar right? They are also the names of the 4 Ninja turtles. I am sure there are a few more that are referred by firstname, but these are the ones that I have extracted. I was very impressed by the art and sculptures in the Pantheon. It all goes to show that brilliance of Italian art all through history.

On the schedule, there really wasn't much left that could top the Pantheon for history and uniqueness in art. Nonetheless, we continued our journey Northwards from the Pantheon to the Santa Mario de Popolo church and Plaza. It was a far walk but we could to see some nice shops around. It wasn't as hard to get lost here in Rome since it was easy to find your bearings no matter the situation. Santa Maria de Popolo turned out to be closed. I don't know why. I wanted to check it out because the church was actually 2 churches right beside each other that looked symmetric. At the center of the Plaza was another Obelisk. This time, the Obelisk was much larger. It was surrounded by 4 fountains shaped like lions. The really crappy part was that the actual obelisk itself was undergoing some restoratio nand maintenance. So what we saw was just a cover over the Obelisk that had a picture of what the obelisk would like underneath. Since there was nothing else to really check out with the church was closed, we walked up the hill which was just east of the Plaza.

On the way up, we were stopped by many street sellers selling the most ridiculous things. I couldn't image anyone buying anything from these people. The only thing that caught my eye was a tripod, which from afar, did not seem high quality or durable. Anyway, what we found at the top wasn't expected. We had hit a school's concert day of some sort which included some Tae Kwan Do shows, spars and also some singing and other performances from school children. Though really cute, we couldn't understand a single thing they were saying. I think this school was a Catholic school because the place was pouring with Nuns. I would say 1 of 3 people was a nun. We found some chairs to rest while watching the show and so we took the opportunity to eat our lunches. Nothing really special happened.

We wandered around the gardens and park close by for at least 2 hours after lunch. Why 2 hours? Well, we got lost and we got distracted by a lot of things that was going on in the park like other shows that were occuring or just noticing a ton of couples making out in public. There was so much that you couldn't look at a crowd of people and not see atleast 3 couples making out. But to the point, we were lost and had the hardest time finding out where we were since there was no sign or landmarks that we could easily see.

Soon after we had escaped the park, we made our way to the Spanish steps. This place is usually quite packed with tourists just sitting on the steps. I didn't think that most of the people were actually Spanish themselves. Walking in this area was a disaster. You would bump into someone everywhere you walked. I was even scared the someone was going to try to rob me because I would have no idea who hit me or who took the stuff. As we continued walking down the road from the Spanish steps, we heard someone mention Canadians really closely. And BOOM guess who it was, Noortje, Marina and Patty.

We accidently bumped into each other in Rome. What were the odds of that especially with so many people around, it really amazed us. We stood there talking to each other and Steve ended up inviting them to have some ice cream later on. GOOD JOB STEVE!!! I could feel myself get so excited inside. We decided that we would meet at the Trevi Fountain at around 5pm or so. It was already around 3:45pm. And with some of our bladder's filling up (not mine), we all decided to head back to the hostel really quickly to avoid having to pay to use the washroom. The walk home always brought more problems because we were in a rush. We got lost again and you know what happens when we get lost, Roger gets edgy. Long story short, we got back to the hostel with around 30 minutes to spare. We did our thing and basically speed walked all the way to the Trevi Fountain. By this time, everyone knew I was excited because, well, these girls were definitely interesting people and they were really nice to meet up with us. But at the same time, I was pretty sure that Steve and Roger was really looking forward to meeting them. I could just feel the excitement coming from the group as we rushed passed lights and walked as fast as we could to not dissapoint the Holland Girls.

We arrived at the busy Trevi fountain around 5:05pm because Steve said that it would be better that we showed up later than earlier. Showing up earlier would only mean that we were desparate. Turns out they were slightly late themselves so things turned out fine. We took a few pictures together and then walked over to a Gelato Shop and bought ourselves another cone with 3 scoops (2.50 euros this time). The person that was scooping the ice cream seemed to be quite attracted to Noortje as he kept trying to get her attention. Eventually, he asked her name but Noortje didn't want to tell. Instead, he just called her Maria, which Noortje didn't really like (jokingly). The girls were so surprised when they got their cones because there was so much ice cream. I think the guy scooped more for the girls than us. Anyway, we took our cones and walked outside eating and chatting on the side of the Gelato Shop. Our conversations would occasionally be interrupted by street sellers trying to sell us bubble guns that made laser sounds (the classic child gun sounds).

We brought our conversations and gelato satisfied bodies back all the way to the Spanish steps again. It was really nice here as was full of people and gave us a good opportunity to sit like the local people and just chat. I got to chat with Noortje most of the time while Steve and Roger spoke with Patty and Marina. They were such great listeners and we really had a good time. Noortje even told me that one person tried to steal her purse while she was sitting on the Spanish steps during another time. So yes, there are some thieves in Rome, but they probably go for the more obvious things. Most of our conversations were on the topic of comparisons between the Netherlands and Canada. Holland was very interesting to me as I have never really met people from there. I would have expected them to have those wooden shoes around too.

The Holland chicks were wonderful people. They kept us entertained and gave us more energy to get to know them more and know about their lives. We must have been on the steps for atleast 2 hours because after a while, we felt somewhat hungry. The gelato only filled the need for some junk food. Naturally, Steve and I asked if they wanted to join us for dinner around town somewhere. Roger never originally asked because (my guess) he was a little money conservative, which I don't blame him for. Anyway, Roger was definitely up for it. Why wouldn't he, he was having such a great time. From the Spanish steps, we walked all the way to the Plaze Navona again to find some restaurant to eat at. The holland chicks had eaten around this area during a previous night. With some patient searching, we found a relatively cheap place to eat.

I think some cultures find it weird to share food, especially their main course with other people. Chinese people, at least the ones I have met, have always been open and even ask others if they wanted some of their food. The holland chicks, to my surprise, would do the same thing asking ifwe wanted to try some of their food. We would be glad to take it as long as she would take something in return to be fair. Roger, I remember from the trip, was never really into this whole sharing thing. Once again, its a culture thing.We basically all ordered pizza (or something like a pizza) and I ordered an extra appetizer Bruschettas platter to share with the gang. Dinner was absolutely wonderful. We got to learn more about holland culture and how it is rude and also awkward for waiters or waitresses to take your empty plates while you are eating or someone else is still eating at the table. It does sound right for a culture that doens't always have so many dishes. But it definitely doesn't make any sense for Asian cultures where food just keep coming while you are eating. I personally don't mind, and I agree that it is more polite to wait until the customers have finished before interrupting anything.

This time, I got to talk to Marina most of the time. Marina is a little more shy than the other two because her English is not as strong. She is so courageous to always talk to English with us and I really admire that. For all she knows, I could have hurt her by just laughing at her. Anyway, she told me how the three of them are all from different places in Holland itself. They only met because they all study the same thing. They hang out together most often at school (kind of like Roger, Devin and me). As we kept talking, I could tell that Marina felt more confident in speaking Enlgish. Once in a while, she would as Patty how to say a Holland expression in English. If there is one thing Marina likes more than anything, it would be sweets like desert, candy and snacks. She is by no means fat, but she is a real jolly person and always has a smile on her face. She is like a child inside.

Our dinner ended off with two deserts, a fruit salad that was a total rip-off and a tirimisu that we all dug into. Roger once again forgot the weirdness in eating from the same bowl of cake. With dinner and the main portion of the night complete, we began our journey home. Never did we ever stop talking. It was as if we had known each other for a long time and always had something to explore in one another (not physically obviously).

The girls had to catch an early plane home to Holland the next morning. This is why they were wonderful people, they took the time to talk to us even more and even play games with us. We decided to meet up at the penthouse top floor of the hostel (a wide open area) to talk and play some card games. We all got to play a variation of spoons which required the ultimate loser would have to wear Patty's newly bought 2-piece bikini. To lose, you have to have lost a total of 6 times. Each time you lose a round you add another letter to the word donkey. When you eventually spell the entire word donkey, you lose the entire game. The game was exciting and attracted a lot of complaints from the hostel staff because we were so loud. None of uss wanted to wear patty's bikini so there was for sure something to lose, really big to lose.

So who was the loser? ROGER!!!! Roger was "supposed" to wear the bikini but didn't in the end. Maybe we should chase him down to make sure that he does eventually. Anyway, it was a great day to get to know the Holland chicks more and also being one of the major highlights of the trip yet. Before they left to sleep, they offered us to meet up with them in Holland if we had nothing else to do. I don't know if we have time with our crazy schedule but if we get the chance then that would be great. We shall see. if they offer, it really is hard to just so no. But goodnight Patty, Marina and Noortje. Thanks a lot for the best day so far.

Labels: eurotrip

posted by lazypig @ 3:14 PM