Rome: Days 7, 8, and 9

After enjoying the Uffizi earlier that morning, we took a train to Rome and checked into our hostel right away. The hostel was close to the train station and brand new (and when I mean brand new I mean you could smell fresh paint on the walls and they were in the midst of constructing lockers when we arrived). That evening was in fact Christmas Eve and so we had the opportunity to take in the Christmas Eve Mass ceremony at the Vatican (photo on right). I have to admit here that the ceremony itself was was quite dull and boring, doing little to hold my interest save for when a lady breached the security barrier around the Pope, knocking him over. Leaving the Vatican was an adventure in its own right as we made our way through the swarms of mass-goers we finally found the most crowded bus in the history of mankind to take us back to the train station. That night we watched its a wonderful life while eating panettone, an Italian Christmas cake.
On Christmas day we slept in for a long time and finally got out of the hostel to walk around the city. It was amazing to see how many ruins could be seen everywhere somehow finding the ability to integrate harmoniously with the modern parts of the city. The real treat came when we climbed to the top of a hill in a nearby park and were able to see this amazing sunset set the backdrop for the Coliseum (left). We walked around the Coliseum and then through more ruins, the Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Trajan's column/forum, etc. It was really amazing to get a feel for a city with such a rich and ancient history that still is so blatantly evident today. That night we had made dinner reservations at a little restaurant not far from the Pantheon. While we enjoyed yet another great Italian meal there we met a group of Americans, all pilots and flight attendants for American Airlines, who were spending a layover in Rome. To show just how small this world really is one of the pilots was from a small town called Loon Lake that is not far from Spokane. When we told him we went to Whitworth he had nothing but praise for the school and invited us to come visit him sometime. It is truly amazing who you can run into, even on the other side of the Atlantic!
The next day in Rome was not nearly as pleasant as Christmas day. First of all we were met with very unpleasant driving rain that lasted throughout the day and soaked us through and through. We were able to go back to the Vatican City and tour St. Peter's Basilica (you can see the view from the top in the photo below) which was amazing. But after this our luck began to run out.
The Vatican museum ended up being closed due to the fact that in Italy the day after Christmas is also considered a holiday (who knew?) so I was not able to see Michelangelo's Sistene Chapel which was a real bummer. Also the Pantheon ended up being closed as well. After seeing the Trevi fountain and the well-known "Spanish Steps" we trekked back to the train station where we were met with an even more serious dilemma, all the trains back to Chambéry/Lyon from Italy were booked until the 4th of January. After some quick research and creative thinking we came up with a round-about way to get back home. We would take a train from Italy to Geneva, Switzerland, and from there we would return to France. That night we left Rome on a night train bound for Venice, the final city of our journey.