Saturday in Rome

Alright, it's a lovely Saturday in Rome with a nice breezy 73 degree high. However, we would not be taking advantage of this, because we were going to the catacombs today. There are only 5 that are able to be toured, so it's pretty exciting that we were able to go to one, but still. Dark, cold, and damp is my least favorite.

We had a british tour guide that took us under, where we saw tombs called "locallys" and then the fancier ones for families, and then the ones where saints were placed. Picture a supermarket, with aisles of bread. Now picture that being in a cave, and those shelves of bread are shelves of dead people, that goes up to 15 miles under the ground. Ok, there were no bodies, but still, a similar idea of general creepiness. Weird way to start the day, that's all.

It ended at an altar, where priests would hold communion in secret so Christians could gather (the catacombs were a place for Christians to be buried, as they weren't allowed within the walls of Rome. We had to take a bus and the metro to get there). I guess they still hold services for people that come on a religious pilgrimage to honor the saints and remember the dead, which I think is really cool.

We broke for lunch, and I just had a little croissant while Megan had some noodles at this little cafe (I had some food back at the hotel, but I am so sick of nutella. I can't decide which I want more my first day back; peanut butter, or Doug. Such cruel irony).

Then we went to the capitaline museum, which wasn't a far walk, but you could tell everyone was dragging. My feet are mostly healed from death march day, but you can only walk around so much before you start to get tired, and it seems like everyone was at their breaking point today. Venice was a lot calmer and more peaceful, with boats as transportation, than hilly Rome. That being said, I don't think any of us got much out of the museum. It's sad, but I still got to see an exhibit about restoration of the Vatican, and there was a great view of the forum. Everyone had just checked out though. We went to walk home, and it started raining, which was just kind of indicative of everyone's mood. We talked to the man at the desk about restaurant reservations, and there was talk of going shopping, but tomorrow is our free day, so I'm guessing a lot of people are just planning on sleeping (my roommates are napping now). Me, I need to learn how to do laundry in the sink. Some girls are going on a pub crawl, but I honestly think I would die. I would love to find a theater playing the hunger games, but it's been a fruitless search so far. Maybe in London, well see.

For now, I'm just going to do some reading and a few academic journal entries, and see what happens for dinner! It's almost 5 here, which makes it noon at home. So strange, for my day to be practically over and everyone else is just beginning. The days are so much longer when you wake up earlier too, haha.