Italian Travel Lesson #2: It's All About Who You Know

PART I

The next morning we were ready for new sights to see. Any morning that begins before 9am for college students, however, means that coffee is not a request, it is a demand. There just so happened to be a cute little gourmet shop/coffee bar right across the street from our hostel that had the perfect mix of tasty coffee and good ambiance.

Castroni

We were better prepared for the snow this time as we made our way from the hostel to the metro station. It was amazing to see the streets absolutely covered in snow - even the Italians were outside taking pictures!

Our first stop was the Vatican. Thankfully, the awful weather worked in our favor because we had zero wait to get into the Vatican. It was awe-inspiring and magnificent, just as we knew it would be.

Unfortunately, by the time we left the Vatican and wanted to see St. Peter's Basilica, the rest of the world had gotten out of bed and decided to brave the snow. I'm an adamant it's-not-worth-standing-in-line-this-long kind of person, but in Vatican City I clearly had to make an exception.

Growing up as a Catholic, I learned about the Pope and the Vatican at a young age. Years later, I read Angels and Demons and was drawn into Dan Brown's web of intrigue and the "mysteries" surrounding the Vatican. However, I never really thought that I would get the chance to see it for myself - to stand in the Sistine Chapel, to view the history of Christianity and Catholicism painted across the walls of the Vatican chambers. One of the things I want to do on my next trip to Rome is to attend mass in the Basilica. Maybe if I'm adventurous, I'll attend the one in Latin!

This excursion at the Vatican took up the better half of the day, and by the end we were famished and cold. One of my Stanford friends traveling with us has a family friend in Rome with whom she was staying during the trip. Though none of us knew her beforehand, and though she certainly had no obligation to us whatsoever, she offered to have us over in her home for lunch (actually, at this point it was more like linner--> lunch+dinner). We eagerly accepted the invitation and made our way deep into the heart of residential Rome.

This woman is an absolute angel. She opened up her home to us as complete strangers and showered us with food. Throughout the weekend she showed us incredible hospitality that I only wish I could repay in some way. She also did not speak English or Spanish and though one of us in our group could communicate with her in Ukrainian, I would have liked to express my gratitude more strongly. It was comforting to have someone care for us so much while in a country where none of us knew the language or the customs. Without her input, our trip would have gone quite differently.

After dinner we planned to head back to the city center. It was easy enough, just take bus #44 to Plaza Venezia. We flagged down the bus and all got on, then got really confused when 5 minutes later the bus stopped and made everyone get off. The bus driver mumbled something in Italian and everyone began to disperse. We were in a part of town we knew nothing about, the bus ride back to the city center was at least 25 minutes long, and it was dark out. We tried to ask for help but pretty much got the same response from everyone:


Me: Mi scusi - do you speak English? O habla Español?
Other person: <glare> No. <walk away>


Well now we had a problem. 


[to be continued...]