Day 10: Foiled Again

6:34pm

Foiled again.

This morning I woke up to thunder. It was pouring rain. This did not bode well for my plans of walking over and hour to the Vatican. I decided to wait out the rain by getting some lunch nearby (Sicilian Pizza, delicious). Within minutes of bringing the pizza back to my room, the rain stopped. So I finished my lunch and started my way to the Vatican.

My troubles were far from over.

An hour later I reach my destination (the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel) to find it had closed earlier than usual today. I moved into reservation mode. I was not going to take another chance since tomorrow was my last day, so I bought a ticket for tomorrow that would let me pass through the line. I've also decided to get up much earlier tomorrow to make sure I don't miss out on this iconic Roman experience.

I've taken my unexpected free time well though. I had a snack at a cafe and read my book. And now I'm sitting at Saint Angelo's Castle to do some more reading.

I do want to talk about this today since I won't have too much else to write about. Why is it so hard to find a nail clipper? Is that the kind of thing that everyone has had for years so they gave up on selling them? The factories ground to a halt. "Sorry guys we're shutting down. I guess everyone is just using the same nail clipper they've had for the last five years, so we haven't been able to turn a profit since then. It's really kinda overdue that we shut this place down."

"But sir we have a sports team named after us!"

"That was a different time Greg!"

I really need to find a nail clipper.

7:24pm

I found nail clippers. This has made my day so much better.

Something about not being able to take care of my personal hygiene (like not having a nail clipper, not having a shaving razor), has made me feel even less at home and less comfortable here in this strange city. So finally finding a clipper to cut my nails is going to take a small weight off my shoulders.

The funny thing about it, is it's some kind of souvenir nail clipper. It has an engraving of the Colosseum on it. It will be entertaining to me that this Roman nail clipper will be with me throughout my journey.

Tomorrow will be my final full day in Rome. I will miss it, but I am glad I will be moving on as well. Rome is not exactly my kind of city. I'm glad I was here for the time I had, but overall I do not fit in here. Rome is like an out of date New York City to me. It has the same hustle, bustle, and lack of space that New York does, but with such old buildings (while they can be nice, and all the ruins of ancient times are very interesting) it seems like the entire city is covered in dust that has been gathering for hundreds of years. I'm glad I was here and I wouldn't take back a second of my time, but I'm ready to move on.

I don't want it to sound like I didn't enjoy my time here, I have just recognized that this city is not for me. I could not live here. Being out on the streets is draining. While I push myself to stay out and explore as much as I can, part of me still longs for the time where I can come here to sit on my bed and write, separate from the madness outside.

I like Rome. But I don't love it. The food is great.

Maybe you can change my mind Vatican. No pressure.

Before I go, I want to talk about something else that has recently come to my attention. Traveling alone introduces me to a lot of different experiences that traveling with others does not. The one that I have noticed recently is that I can go a full day without speaking more than a few words. I noticed this somewhat while living alone in Boston (on particular stretches of days, when most of my roommates had already left to either the West Coast or other places). It does not bother me much. As some of you may know, I am very good a keeping quiet even when surrounded by people. It is just something I've noticed. And something that might drive other people crazy. Maybe tomorrow I will try counting the number of words I say, just like how my iPhone counted that I did 27, 271 steps today.

Tomorrow though, I will make it to the Vatican.

Thanks for reading. Here's a nice picture from today's walking: