European Adventures and Heartfelt Reunions

Saturday the 21^st, Mom and I had breakfast at the hotel. We walked to the Spanish Steps, down Via del Corso, and to Piazza Venezia. Then I walked her towards Largo Argentina to show her where Caesar was killed. I showed her the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. We ate lunch at Abbey’s Pub, which was a regular hangout spot for us this semester. And I couldn’t leave the area without getting one last gelato from Frigidarium! Once we got back to the hotel, we waited outside for an hour and a half before Dad, David, and Grandma finally showed up! It was a great reunion! After everyone was settled in, we went for an early dinner at the Blue Light restaurant and walked around the Prati area! Finally, since everyone was tired, we went to bed around 8 pm.

Last picture from the top of the Spanish Steps!

Sunday, we woke up early for mass, and accidentally walked in late, thinking it started a half hour later than it actually did! From there, we took a cab to the Colosseum (We took an underground tour!) and saw the Roman Forum. On the way back, we stopped for lunch at a bar near Largo Argentina. We happened to get inside the Pantheon right as it was closing, so luckily those three got to see it too! At night, we walked to the Christmas market at Piazza Navona and got more gelato of course.

The Fab 5 in the Colosseum! 

Monday morning, we took the Scavi tour at the Vatican. Only 150 people are let into the underground part every day, so we were very lucky to get tickets! We saw the ancient burials, excavations, and tomb of St. Peter. It was a really neat experience. The tour ended in the tomb of the popes, so we walked around there for awhile. I noticed the tomb of Pope John Paul II was missing, so I figured they must have moved him since he is about to be canonized. Sure enough, we found him inside St. Peter’s. We didn’t stay inside the church for very long, since we were going back the next night anyway! We grabbed a late lunch, went shopping, and grabbed a cab for the Trevi Fountain. I’ve never seen the Trevi that jammed pack full of people! I guess we can blame that on the holidays, but we still got our pictures! We again got gelato and did some more shopping. (We stayed in one store for over an hour. Oops.) We decided to walk back, taking a very busy Via del Corso back, so everyone could see it all lit up! Once we got home at 7:30, everyone was pretty tired, so we went to bed early again.

The Trevi Fountain

Tuesday, we got let in early to the Vatican Museum at 8:30. First thing we did was head for the Sistine Chapel, and we were some of the only ones in there! It was breathtaking as usual, but after about ten minutes, it was wall to wall full of people! After about four hours, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. The sad part, is that we didn’t even make a dent in all the sights of the Vatican Museum. Oh well, there’s always next time! After a quick nap, we grabbed some dinner at 4 and headed for the square. We waited in line at St. Peter’s for over 3 hours, but we met a very nice family from California right in front of us! They just so happened to be looking for another ticket, and we happened to have one! They told us we were their Christmas miracle, which was a nice feeling! After we finally got inside, we sat a little more than half way back in the church (which was as close as we could get). Mass started a little early and was only about an hour and a half long. It was amazing to be at the Pope’s mass, but he sounded very tired when he spoke. (I think it was long past his bedtime.) Also, each part of the mass was said in a different language, which was a really unique feature! Plus, I feel holier now!

Merry Christmas!

Inside St. Peter's waiting for Papa Francesco!

Wednesday was Christmas Day! The adults decided to let David and I sleep in a little, while Dad and Grandma went to the Pope’s blessing. After an hour and a half, the three of us decided it was time to go try and find them. Where did we find them? Shopping of course! We grabbed some lunch, went back to the hotel, napped, and hung out for awhile. We also learned something that day: absolutely nothing is open on Christmas Day. (It shouldn’t have been a surprise to us, but still, it made it difficult to even find food!) for dinner, we made another appearance at Blue Light to use up the rest of the meal vouchers from this semester. Since no one was hungry, we grabbed some appetizers and drinks and called it a night!

Thursday was a day of adventure for the Mihulka clan. We caught a train at 7:30 for Naples. The first problem was even finding the metro stop by our hotel to get to the train station. We came to realize the map we had was wrong, but we eventually made it! After getting some McDonald’s breakfast and a two hour train ride, we were there. I tried to warn my family what to expect in Naples, but I don’t think they realized just how serious I was. Naples felt very dirty, rundown, and dangerous. Again, it’s not my favorite place in the world. We jumped on a connecting train to get to Pompeii, where we discovered that we didn’t get off when we were supposed to. So, we got the scenic route of Naples, but fortunately, we had a French couple with us that did the same thing we did! After another hour or so, we finally arrived in Pompeii! Yay! At that point, it was pouring rain, so we decided to grab some lunch before we actually went into the excavations. It rained all day long. After a few hours, it just became funny, and Dad looked up to the sky saying, “God, give me everything you’ve got!” Lesson learned: NEVER challenge God. Within a couple minutes, it was raining harder than I’ve ever seen it rain. It was clear that the risk wasn’t worth the reward anymore, so we decided it was time to leave. I felt bad because we really didn’t get to see much, but the day was so adventurous that I think everyone had fun anyway!

Even soaking wet, we look good.

Friday morning, we woke up at 5 to leave for the airport. Since we had 9 pieces of luggage with us, we decided to stop by our future hotel and leave 5 pieces behind. Good choice. We got to Fiumicino airport and grabbed some breakfast. While at McDonald’s I heard my name and saw it was a kid in my program named Andrew! I was so surprised and happy to see him! After chatting for a few minutes, we left, and I cried because seeing someone in the program was exactly what I needed! The flight to Bucharest flew by (literally)! We got to our Marriot hotel and were shocked. The place was absolutely gorgeous and had high-end designer stores right inside. After getting settled in, we went for a walk and got some money. Once it was getting dark, we decided it was time to head back to the hotel. For dinner, we met Anca and Mihaela and took them to the restaurant in our hotel. Not knowing at all what to expect, they were everything I hoped for and more! We chatted for hours about anything and everything. They gave David gifts that had been in Anca’s family for 150 years and beautifully designed spoons and horseshoes. The whole night was just wonderful.

Saturday the 28^th, we woke up early and ate another fancy breakfast at the hotel. We were picked up by Anca’s friend Mariana who drove us all around the area. First, we stopped at a Greek Orthodox monastery. It was cool to hear her explain the differences between Orthodox and Catholicism, since she herself is Orthodox! Then we continued up the mountains to the Romanian royal family’s summer palace. Everything inside was so ornate. It’s hard to believe people live in such gorgeous places. Unfortunately, we couldn’t take any pictures inside, but I have a few mental pictures! From there, we drove to Bran castle, which is also known as Dracula’s castle. Funny thing is that the castle has nothing to do with Vlad the Impaler, but the connection between the two was made in Bram Stoker’s novel. The castle itself was just a royal home. With its plain white walls, little art, and cold feeling, it was very different from the summer palace.

Romania's royal summer palace

For dinner that night, we met Anca, Mihaela, and David’s foster family at 7 at a restaurant near our hotel. The look on the father’s face when he saw David was priceless. He threw his head back in shock over how big he is, because David is a good 4 inches taller than all of them! The whole dinner was filled with happy tears (mostly from the mothers). The foster sister and son were both so nice, and the family’s foster son was just adorably sweet. Probably the saddest moment of the night though was when the foster mother said after David left, she kept his clothes near her because they smelled like him. It was sweet, and you could tell it meant the world to both of our families. I think David will definitely be back in Romania again!

And I got forced to dance with the performers!

Loved by two families on opposite sides of the world!

Sunday, our flight back to Rome was at noon. Our hotel was near the water, way outside the city of Rome, but near the airport. We walked around a little, got one last gelato, and had dinner at a nearby restaurant!