Our trip began on Friday afternoon, with an overnight flight to Rome. I had begun the process of packing before we even had our travel dates, so thankfully, that Friday was relatively peaceful. Juan Pablo was very nervous about going on the airplane...we had been talking about it for a long time, and had read a book about airplanes, but the whole thing was still a big unknown to him. Anytime we mentioned going on the airplane he would say, "No!" and get upset. When we finally got on the plane though, he relaxed. Not only was the whole airplane thing not too scary, but he also got a sucker for take-off, and had a backpack full of new toys, stickers, and coloring books to play with. He got very excited about the beverage cart, and asked for apple juice all by himself. A couple hours into the flight, after watching some of "Finding Nemo" (the first movie we've ever let him watch!), he fell asleep. And he slept not only until we landed in Rome, but getting off the plane and through the customs line.
Our first three hours in Rome were a bit of a nightmare. Due to a miscommunication regarding debit cards (apparently Jeff doesn't have one, which I was not aware of, and I had not brought mine, which Jeff was not aware of), we found ourselves with no cash. Well, we did have our stash of cash for Ethiopia, but had only withdrawn enough to get us through the trip, plus some extra in case we needed to stay longer than expected. But not enough to change for euros at places where they charge 1256% commission. We decided to try make it without cash, at least until we got to the Vatican where they don't charge commission to exchange money. We managed to get through customs, change our clothes, find the place in the airport to store the carry-ons that we did not want to lug all over Rome with us, and get to the train station without much trouble. We got into Rome, then headed towards the metro to go to the Vatican. After making our way through the metro station, down to the place where one actually boards the metro, we discovered that there is no way to get metro tickets without cash. Last time I was in Rome, six years ago, they didn't have turnstiles installed in the metro station, so my fellow poor American exchange students and I never actually bothered to buy tickets, we just got right on and no one cared. Apparently enough people were doing this that some time in the last six years, the city decided to actually make sure people have to buy tickets to ride the metro. What a concept. So, back up we went, up to the train station to exchange 20 dollars (which got us a whopping 7 euro) just so we could buy two tickets for the metro. By the time we made it to the Vatican, we were all hot, tired, and a bit cranky. The metro station in particular had really freaked Juan Pablo out. It was hot, noisy, crowded and very unfamiliar, and he was in the baby carrier on my back, which made it a bit difficult to provide much reassurance or comfort. But we had finally made it to the Vatican! And the city of Rome had been kind enough to provide us with free bottled water in the metro station, which Juan Pablo used to rehydrate and inadvertently bathe himself outside of St. Peter's:
And he immediately discovered the joys of chasing pigeons.
After drinking some water and giving Juan Pablo some time to run around after being in the baby carrier for so long, we went into St. Peter's. It was amazing to just be there and take it all in. Juan Pablo for some reason was particularly drawn to Blessed Pope John XXIII's body. He spent a good half hour just hanging around him. I guess our son can just recognize greatness when he sees it.
After our time in St. Peter's, we went down to the grottoes below the Basilica where previous popes are buried, to visit Pope John Paul II's tomb. It was such a powerful experience just to pray for a minute at the tomb of such a great and holy man. We prayed, as we always pray, that our little Juan Pablo will grow to love God and serve Him just as his patron saint did.
Back in St. Peter's square, during some more pigeon-chasing, Juan Pablo picked up his first Roman souvenir: he slipped on the cobblestones and scraped his chin. This incident was traumatic enough that it required a nap to recover.
Jeff and I were actually very glad that he fell asleep, not just because we knew he needed rest, but because we were able to slow down a bit and enjoy just walking down side streets and talking. We made our way towards Tazza di Oro, the famous coffee shop near the Pantheon. With Juan Pablo still asleep, Jeff and I were able find a bench to sit on and enjoy a delicious, refreshing espresso granita. We had wanted to make it to Mass somewhere in Rome, since we knew we wouldn't be able to make it to Mass in Addis Ababa the next morning, and as luck would have it, there was a Mass starting at the Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs (Pantheon) soon after we finished our drinks. Not ones to pass up the opportunity to worship God in an architecturally amazing building originally constructed to honor pagan gods, we decided to go for it. Juan Pablo woke up just as we walked into Mass, and since he was the only person there under age 25, and the ancient Romans apparently did not know about cry rooms, I was a little nervous about this. He did great though, and was well-behaved and quiet throughout the Mass, except for a brief moment during which he picked up his second Roman souvenir: he slipped on the kneeler, and somehow split his lip on the pew.
Jeff and I were actually very glad that he fell asleep, not just because we knew he needed rest, but because we were able to slow down a bit and enjoy just walking down side streets and talking. We made our way towards Tazza di Oro, the famous coffee shop near the Pantheon. With Juan Pablo still asleep, Jeff and I were able find a bench to sit on and enjoy a delicious, refreshing espresso granita. We had wanted to make it to Mass somewhere in Rome, since we knew we wouldn't be able to make it to Mass in Addis Ababa the next morning, and as luck would have it, there was a Mass starting at the Church of St. Mary and the Martyrs (Pantheon) soon after we finished our drinks. Not ones to pass up the opportunity to worship God in an architecturally amazing building originally constructed to honor pagan gods, we decided to go for it. Juan Pablo woke up just as we walked into Mass, and since he was the only person there under age 25, and the ancient Romans apparently did not know about cry rooms, I was a little nervous about this. He did great though, and was well-behaved and quiet throughout the Mass, except for a brief moment during which he picked up his second Roman souvenir: he slipped on the kneeler, and somehow split his lip on the pew.
His lip bled throughout the rest of Mass and got all swollen. Poor guy. Good thing gelato can make anything better.
Once the (strawberry) gelato had worked its magic, we walked towards the Roman Forum and Colosseum. Both were closed by that time, but it was still fun to look in from the outside. Juan Pablo enjoyed looking at statues as we were walking, and made a game of thinking of different things he wanted to see statues of. We found a lion statue and a horse statue. Unfortunately, duck statues are not super popular around Rome, so we were only two for three. We found a little park where Juan Pablo was able to run around and play for a while, then had pizza for dinner. Juan Pablo also ordered apple juice, which was brought to him in a wine glass, which of course he thought was awesome. Another gelato (chocolate, this time) on the way back to the train station was the perfect end to our brief, but very fun, Roman Holiday.To be continued...
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