Ah! I still have to pinch myself that I am able to say that line. Being in this famous and historical city was a real treat. Something I loved about Rome is that instead of there being just a couple of sights to see, there is a lot of Rome to see that is very old, in original condition or has been left unchanged. It was amazing to see the culture and community built and evolving around the city.
We got off the train and walked to our air bnb. Thankfully this one was a little closer and easier to get to, but that’s about it. Rome was the hardest place to find affordable accommodation. It was one of the most expensive and you could really only get something basic for your money. It is great NOW looking back to have experienced a unique home, but at the time….awful!
I’ve never seen a shower/bath combo like this. The bath had a steady descent to the bottom where the drain was located. At the bottom it went almost flat where I presume you stand, but my feet were too long so I had to have half of my feet running up the curve of the bath. I guessed then you were meant to shower seated, except I was too tall and pregnant to fit sitting. So basically I just had really quick showers in an incredibly awkward position. SO WEIRD!!
We had a couple of hours to spare before we needed to be at our first walking tour. I was excited to lie down on the bed for just a little while before heading out to lunch. As I lay down I was in shock. I was unaware that they made mattresses this stiff. It was the worst bed I had ever been on in my life. So much so that after the first night I woke around 4am unable to bear anymore and actually vomited repeatedly from it being so relentless on my back. I slept the remaining nights on this half futon couch thing. As I said, cool experience….NOW.
Anyway….moving away from showers and vomiting to something way more interesting…ROME. Our afternoon walking tour started at the Spanish Steps. It was quite busy in Rome with lots of people enjoying the afternoon sun. I would definitely recommend doing your sight seeing as early as possibly as we went on another walking tour the next morning and it started at the same place, there was maybe ¼ of the people there at that time. We enjoyed these walking tours because we were able to get through some of the smaller sights in a timely manner and we got to learn all about them. For example the Trevi Fountain. There were so many people there and unless you did some research about it you wouldn’t know any details on how, why, when, who, built it. Over the couple of tours we did, we were able to see the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, outside of the Coliseum, ancient ruins, Column of Marcus Aurelius, Temple of Hadrian, Piazza Navona, Castel Sant’Angelo, Piazza Venezia and many other things.
We finished our walking tours right outside Vatican City. Did you know that it is it’s own country? Mind blowing! Our plan was to spend the afternoon exploring St Paul’s Cathedral and the Vatican. When we arrived we were told it was a 2-3hr wait to get inside St Paul’s and about the same to enter the Vatican. That’s 4-6hrs of waiting and we only had 5hrs before everything was closed. Lucky I was pregnant. Not something you get to say too often.
We were told that if we walked to the front of the queue and basically showed the bump we would be let in straight away. So, naturally that’s exactly what we did. Nathanael basically just tied himself to me and said “I’m with her”. I felt really bad for all the people that had to wait, so much so that hormonally I shed some tears for them and then enjoyed walking STRAIGHT into both of these places within about 5mins. Some people even waited for hours and did not get to go in before it closed. So tip for travelling: go 8mths pregnant? Haha.
St Paul’s was…..nothing I could have comprehended. The sheer size and extravagance of it was overwhelming. I very quickly understood more why people in the world want to separate church and government. How one church even had this much money was astounding.
To give you an idea of the size if you look in the photo you will see letters bordering close to the ceiling. JUST those letters are 1.8m tall. Unbelievable hey! Both St Paul’s and the Vatican were absolutely stunning, the incredible detail and expanse of every corner was inspiring to witness.
Another incredible sight we got to explore, and might I add, walk straight to the front of the line for was the Coliseum. I am just so blown away with the ability the Romans in previous centuries had to create and design without all of mans’ modern technology and advancements. Sometimes I think that Australia doesn’t offer this kind of history and culture but I am grateful that we do have ease and comfort of living.
In Rome they are trying to improve the metro for easier travel but each time they start digging to connect lines they run into ancient ruins which of course they cannot remove and need to treasure. So the city, while beautiful and historical, is not exactly practical for those living there. We continued to explore Rome and finished our morning off with exploring the ruins at Palatine Hill and Isola Tiberina before heading into a Jewish Ghetto for lunch and the gardens at Villa Borghese where we rode Segways around the park (because apparently a safe, mostly enclosed, two person pedalled push bike cart was *unsafe* for a pregnant lady) so Segways at 31weeks pregnant and riding on the main road it was.
While there were so many special and wonderful things to see and do in Rome, we were most excited about heading to the temple to go inside. After waiting a week from the end of the dedication to when they officially opened the temple, we were ready. We had booked our sessions, organised our transport (the one and only comfortable uber we took in Italy) and headed in. I adored the colours inside the temple. A mix of royal blues and golden accents. There were olive tree designs and a very majestic Italian theme to it all. While we sat in the Celestial Room (one of the names of a room in the temple) I was able to map out exactly where the Prophet had been sitting just a week earlier. Tears filled my eyes and an overwhelming desire to want to be like him.
For me personally, I believe that we are going to be returning to Heavenly Father after we die. We will be judged according to our entire situation and corresponding actions. I believe that our Saviour died for us so that our efforts to keep the commandments won’t go wasted. As I sat there in such a special and meaningful room, I pleaded with Heavenly Father to help me be good enough. To help me gain the confidence to overcome my weaknesses and learn to love others better. I looked down at my unborn child and took a deep breath. I wanted to be a better mother and a better woman and being right there in that moment overcome with everything we needed to do to be there. If that was possible, then what else could be?
I get nervous sharing information like this. Not because of its intimate nature but because I know so many of you don’t share the same beliefs. I get nervous because my entire life I have been mocked or teased for believing this. I have been left out of groups or struggled to make friends because of these beliefs.
I really want my blog to be ‘successful’. By that I don’t mean monetary (although if people want to sponsor my writing, I’m all in!). I want to be successful in the sense that people get to know me through my blog and that one day it can be a place where people come and enjoy reading, learning and feel inspired to know they are not alone and that they can keep trying.
I’ve got a few passions in my life and one of them is the desire to improve. I think it is ESSENTIAL to our happiness and those around us. So please, even if some of what I say is not exactly your flavour, stay with me and help me bring you a little piece of sunshine to you soon.
We were leaving Rome on Saturday lunch time, why that time you may wonder? Obviously so that we could fit in another Parkrun. This one was a lot smaller as they are just starting it up other there. I can’t say this was my favourite run that I had done. We had to run a few hundred metres through a little trail to get to the main oval that you ran around twice before heading back to the finish line. Even though I had spoken to people before we started they seemed to have no idea that I was participating. Being the last person to finish, Nathanael came back to check on me. As I ran across the finish line after completing 5 very boring km’s, we noticed that everyone had gone except for the two organisers who were putting the last of their things away.
Something I love about Parkrun is that they have people that walk behind the last participant so that no one comes last and no one feels left behind. They didn’t even know I was still out there and they were just going to leave. Again, being hormonal I cried. I had worked so hard to finish that 5km and I felt forgotten. However, after a quick little cry and a big apology from the organisers who were very sorry, we carried on to get to the train.
Although at the initial moment it was quite disheartening it was nice to see the improvement from when I was a child/teenager. I would have milked that situation for all the attention I could have gotten to validate my own personal story that I was alone or uncared for. How grateful I am to have more confidence and a sense of worth to be sad temporarily and to move on.
Rome was an experience of a range of senses and emotions. Culture, history, tiredness, fatigue, disbelief, inspiration, desperation, a few tiffs with the ol’ husband, amazement, bonding, success, failure and lots of awesome food.
This was the last ‘big’ leg of our trip and leaving Rome meant accepting that our trip was nearly over. We would be back with our baby girl in less than a week but first we needed to go get our iconic leaning tower of Pisa photo and enjoy the best gelato of the entire trip.
Chat to you soon.
Love Sarah Kay, xx
