Europe Trip: Day 30, June 19th

Lubna decided that she better help her mother out by cleaning some stuff in the house, so we stuck around the house most of the morning and early afternoon. This gave me time to update my blogs, upload my pictures, and call Mom and Dad.

I finished my phone call to Mom at about 4pm, and we left shortly after. Francesca had recommended we check out some churches on the Aventine hill (past the Circus Maximus, which is how far I had gonewith Francesca a few days prior). Also there is a place where you can look through a keyhole and see St. Peter's/the Vatican, which is it traditional to peek through and try to take a picture.

The first church we went to was closed, we had missed it by like 10 minutes. The second church had a wedding in progress, so we weren't allowed in. The third church was a bit anti-climatic, with the highlight being a couple mosaics. And the fourth church was having mass, which we stayed through about 15-20 minutes of, the church had quite a few frescos (paintings) all over the place, completely covering the inside part of the dome. Then we looked through the keyhole, and I took a couple pictures -- unfortunately the glare from the sun may have made the pictures not so good, we'll see.

On the way back she showed me the Theater of Marcellus, but there was a classical concert about to begin so we couldn't go in there either, haha. We walked a bit further and went up to the Campidoglia (where there is a statue of Marcus Aurelius riding a horse) and over to a view of the Forum, where an American family asked us to take their picture. It was quite amusing since the woman seemed to assume we had limited English speaking abilities -- stupid Americans :P Then they took a picture of us, so they redeemed themselves a bit.

After that we headed back home, where we ate some pasta and the dessert (Mirasu??) that Lubna had made earlier, showing me the whole process. I am supposed to make that, or one of the other things they cooked, for Mom when I get back.

When I had came in the door, Francesca had told me that I needed to make up my mind on my plans for Napoli because Lubna's cousin, Agnese (An-ye-say), needed to know within an hour about the next two days (Saturday and Sunday). Because Lubna was going to be working the next few days, we decided that I would head to Naples for Saturday and Sunday, and then check out Pompeii on Monday. Then if Francesca was also going to work on Monday helping with the elections, then I would stay a third night in Naples and head back Tuesday morning. Otherwise I would head back Monday evening. And then I can stay until Friday morning, if I want, before heading to Bari to take the ferry to Greece.

Then we headed out with her friend, Alessandra -- we had ate dinner with her and another friend, Luigi, my second or third night in Rome. Alessandra had heard about this club that played Rock music, so we went to check it out, only to find that there was like nobody there. No DJ, not much music, no dancing, and it looked almost deserted of people. We laughed about that for a while, and then they decided we should head to an area of Rome where all the young people hang out at night, San Lorenzo.

On the way back, they invited me to go to a concert with them on Tuesday after I get back from Naples. Then it was time to get what sleep I could, because I had to get up at 8am to pack my stuff and leave for Naples on the 10:49 train (arriving at 13:23).