Go Your Own Way

Wednesday, 2 January, 2008:

Our final day in Europe was spent with the group dynamic torn asunder, though this was due to circumstances rather than any rift from within. The plan had been to head over to the Vatican Museum and follow that up with a visit to the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Rome’s Holiday crowd had other ideas though.

The morning had already gotten off to a later start than anticipated, and when we came to the line enter the Vactican Museum, we found that it stretched for blocks around the corner. There were some tour guides trying to entice those waiting in line with a tour that cost 40 Euros and would allow them to skip ahead of the lone lines.

The Grant/Crabtree faction decided against this option and headed towards Ancient Rome instead. The McCoy/Robertson faction decided otherwise and went with the Vatican tour, perhaps after some prompting from me and Will since we kind of figured the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a can’t miss opportunity. They could always go to the Colosseum and Roman Forum afterward and at least view the exterior, which is, to me, the most appealing part anyway.

Meanwhile, Will and I decided, for whatever reason, to just stroll about on our own. We didn’t want to spend 40 Euros on something we had seen before and we didn’t feel the need to head over to Ancient Rome right this second, so we went on our personal walk about, mainly wondering around the area of the Spanish Steps, The Pantheon, and the Vittorio Emanuele monument. It made for a nice change of pace as the only obligation we felt at the time was for Will to find a tie for his Dad. Otherwise, it was just a nice easy walk around Rome on yet another sunny day in Italy.

We eventually met back up with our families at the Colosseum around 15:00 and were pleased to find that they had greatly enjoyed their tour of the Vatican. It had been a very informative tour they said and Will and I probably would have learned several new things had we gone with them.

From here, the Robertson’s went back to the hotel (or maybe to get a bite to eat first, I’m not sure) while the McCoy’s pressed on with our condensed  tour of the Ancient Rome. Though it was a pity that our group had been so fractured on our last day in Europe, everyone had a quite enjoyable time doing whatever they did. And though it’s always nice to be around others, it was nice for me and my family to just have some time to ourselves.

Especially here at the Colosseum, one of THE iconic structures in all the world. We didn’t get to walk in, and that robs you of learning the history of this place, but visually, the exterior of this ancient arena is the most striking part. It’s just surreal to be standing there in front of it, a place you had read about and seen in books since you were young. The hallmark monument to one of the world’s greatest civilizations. It was a nice experience to share with my family.

After a bit of gawking, we walked over to the Roman Forum, the part of it around the Vittorio Emanuele monument anyway. We tried our best to visualize what these ruins must have looked like 2,000 years ago, but it’s hard without knowing the back story. The Forum is a must see on any visit to Rome, but I’ve been twice now and have robbed myself both times by not taking a guided tour or renting some audio tour to learn more about what I’m looking at. The air in this place is permeated with a “if these walls (or what is left of them) could talk” aura that I’ve unfortunately ignored up to this point.

Next time I’m here, I’ll be sure explore the Forum more in depth. And after visiting the Trevi Fountain later that evening, a return trip to the Eternal City is all but set in stone after throwing a coin in over my left shoulder with my back to the water. Some rituals are not to be trifled with.

Before surrendering to superstition, though, we actually had stopped in at a nearby restaurant for what was maybe the finest meal I ate in Italy. The rest of the group was back together at this point after meeting back at the hotel. All the group minus one that is, because sadly, Will was not feeling well at this point and decided to stay in the for the night.

Knowing that the Trevi Fountain was top of the agenda for the evening, we went looking for a restaurant around here and eventually found one without too much of a crowd that could seat us all together for the most part. Up to this point, personally speaking, most of my meals in Italy hadn’t quite lived up to my much too high expectations. They had been really good in general, but I hadn’t been blown away by a fine Italian meal as often as I wanted. The previous night adventure with bucatini pasta had been the lone exception for me. That must have been a signal my luck was changing because the last night in Europe provided with the best pasta dish I had yet...spaghetti with gorgonzola cheese. Also sampled some steak which was very good as well. I think most everyone had a similar experience at this restaurant, so our culinary part of the trip ended on a positive note.

The only thing left to do was to head to the Trevi Fountain and assure our return to this historic city one day. It also provided an opportunity for some end of the trip commiseration, spurred on by Beth individually video taping everyone sharing their favorite memories from the past two weeks. Not really a memory, but what I took away from this trip is what I had hoped for it from the beginning, which is the feeling of satisfaction knowing that my parents had enjoyed their time over here in a once in a lifetime experience.

When Ryan, Will, and I had dreamed up this whole idea of bringing all of our families to Europe, this is what we had in mind. We felt, perhaps with false modesty, that on the first trip two years prior, we had been acting as something of standard bearers for our families, neither of which had done much international traveling before then, certainly not crossing an ocean to do so anyway. We wanted to bring them over here and have them be as awed and inspired by what they saw as we were the first time. As we wound down the evening with some last minute introspection and prepared for the long plane ride home the next day, I felt we had achieved what we had set out to.

With this many people, it was never going to be a seamless process, but we pulled it off without too much trouble and came away with memories that will last a lifetime.