After a solid night's sleep, I got up, ate breakfast at my hostel (they have a standard breakfast of toast, bologna, cheese, and coffee for four Euros), and set off to explore more of Rome. I first went to the Via Veneto, which was impressive in its stately, money-drenched elegance. As I was walking along the Via Veneto, I noticed a museum called the Capuchin Crypt, and, having no real plans for the day, decided to check it out. I paid my admission fee and entered the museum, which was a small but nice place dedicated to a particular order of the Catholic Church. I was moderately interested by the displays of monks' robes and drinking vessels, but I didn't expect what was coming next. The real attraction of the place--something I didn't know--is the crypt, which is decorated with the bones of 3,700 skeletons of Capuchin friars. Pictures weren't allowed, but the internet furnished me with this one:

It was certainly a powerful experience and a macabre one, to say the least.

Next I visited the large Villa Borghese park. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day, and there were tons of people out strolling, running, and riding bikes around the park. It was so nice to see a well-designed park--landscape design is one area that Russia really neglects. Also, the veritable parade of runners really surprised me; you just don't see people outside exercising in Russia. I rented a bike and rode around the park for an hour or two.

After my bike ride, I headed for Piazza del Popolo. I had studied this piazza and its formation and role in Rome's network of streets during one of my architecture classes, so I was very excited to see it. I think it is my favorite public space in Rome--its fountain is impressive, its scale perfect, and its surroundings endlessly fascinating. I spent a little while just taking in the scene and trying to sketch the piazza (I won't show those drawings).

The I went to Piazza Navona, which is another piazza we studied in my architecture class. I was initially disappointed: The whole piazza was full of vendors, and the place looked like a carnival. I left a little peeved. But later I realized that the ancient Romans probably would have done the same thing--people were using the space just as it had been intended to be used. You can't have public space in a dense city and expect people not to use it, after all.

I then headed back to my hostel and had dinner at a little pizzeria nearby. At the pizzeria, which I came to frequent, I met an American guy who teaches English in Prague. We talked about teaching, traveling, and our impressions of Rome. Outside of my group of colleagues, I haven't spoken to an American in a while!

At about 10pm I headed to the Vatican--it was Christmas Eve. The city was virtually empty, and walking the dark streets alone was almost a magical experience. There was a decent crowd on St. Peter's Square, and the Mass inside the basilica was already going. I watched big TV monitors and saw the Pope speak. I'll always remember the last hymn--the Latin version of "O Come all ye Faithful." I might not have been a candlelit version of "Silent Night" in my town's Presbyterian church, but it was powerfully beautiful.

  

I watched my plane's progress on the TV screens, seeing as we crossed over the Adriatic Sea and entered Italian airspace somewhere south of Venice. The clouds cleared, offering a view of dramatic mountains and little towns. I never realized how mountainous Italy is. As we descended, I took in the sunny farm fields and terra-cotta-roofed towns, contrasting the scene with snowy Russia. In a few minutes, we were on the ground, and I entered Rome's Fiumicino airport, walked through customs, and found the train to the center of Rome.

On the train, I sat across from two very stereotypical Italian businessmen, who were constantly answering their phones with an insistent "prego." Although I was tired from my long journey, I was far too excited to think about sleeping. I arrived in Rome's Termini station, went to my hostel, dropped off my bag, and went off to explore the city. I grabbed a map and set course for the Pantheon.

I was in awe of Rome. The streets were lined with beautiful buildings and swarmed with a diverse mix of tourists and locals. People were speaking Italian, English, Spanish, German, French, and many other languages. After the cultural monotony and sameness of life in provincial Russia, this was a feast. I walked along Via Nazionale, occasionally darting off down side streets. I reached the Pantheon, went inside, and then had an espresso at a sidewalk cafe and gaped at the 2000-year-old wonder. I then followed the crowd of tourists to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

At this point, however, my lack of sleep was catching up to me. I knew it was time to get some rest in order to really appreciate the city, so I headed back to my hostel and turned in before midnight. Here are a few pictures from my first day:

I left Vladimir on an train bound for Moscow in the evening of Dec. 22. My flight was at 5:55am the next day, so I took the last train from Moscow to the airport and waited there a few hours until check-in time for my flight. I managed to get a little sleep even. 

My first flight was to Vienna, and I flew the German airline Air Berlin. I was instantly amazed: The flight attendants smiled and didn't act like I was a burden to them! How un-Russian. We landed in Vienna at 5:50am (somehow there are five minutes of my life that vanished into some strange black hole of jet lag and time zones), and I was also very impressed with the Vienna airport--everything is clean, the people seem to take their jobs seriously, and the whole place is very efficiently designed. Trying to find what gate your plane will depart from at the Moscow airport is almost impossible--there are no screens that display that information until you have already selected which terminal's security checkpoint to go through, at which point it's already too late. Talk about bad design. Vienna's airport almost gave too much information, with directional signs and screens everywhere. 

After a four-hour layover that I spent sitting at Starbucks, I boarded my plane to Rome. I noticed people's style of dress: Everyone was dressed fashionably and yet somehow differently--the polar opposite of Russia, where there is a fairly standard and pretty unfashionable uniform of dress for men and women. And things were getting exciting--in two hours I would be in Rome! 

Waiting for my train out of Vladimir.

They say all roads lead to Rome, and my road just led me there. What a trip! I was in Rome from Dec. 23 to Dec.30, and I saw that city up and down. After 16 months in the cold blandness of Russia, Rome was a feast for all my senses. The food was incredible; the sights were heavenly; the people were friendly; the language was like music. I'll be posting a day-by-day account of my trip, but here are a few pictures to set the stage.