The last night in Rome was a bag of laughs. I wont go into exact details of the evening, but be sufficed in me saying it was one of the best nights ive had out with the boys in a long time.
Getting up the next morning was a little more difficult.
We finally rolled out however, and started packing our stuff and cleaning the room. We went to check out and were told that the room needed 'more cleaning'. Haha, checking out was just as much a laugh as the nights before. Apparantly we had been a bity noisy the last few nights, and it resulted in them having to give away a free night to the surrounding cabins (or this was the story). � have considered a career in the Diplomatic Core when i return and on this occasion i think i sat an entrance exam, because my diplomatic skills were seriously tested here. However, we eventually negotiated a fee with them, and went on our way. After talking to some girls on the bus afterwards, we discovered that they were the only other ones in the cabins, and they were up later than us in the nights. We'd been had! Haha, but the laugh of us trying to sweet-talk our way out of this s�tuation was worth the fine, which im very proud to say i managed to bargain down from 130� to 30�. Must be those years of training buying 'genuine' rolexs and Tommy Hilfiger shirts in Bali and Vietnam!
But once we were out of there we sort of cruised for the rest of the day. Most of the fellas had left in the morning and i was left with Fitzy, Reardo and Jack. We went to the Spanish steps, had a great lunch, and took in as much as we could before we left. Their train went out at 2 and so i saw them off and then had a few more hours before my train, so i looked at what i hadnt done. I decided on St Peters.
Boy was that a good decision.
I queued for about an hour to get in, and then decided to go all the way up on the cupola. It was incredible. We came out at this ledge, and this giant, almost comical size roof engulfed me. I just started for at least 10 minutes. It was so much to take in. But then i looked down and realised how incredibly high up i was. This was the most amazing sight of my life. More than 100m below (or so i thought) they were celebrating mass, the gold and stone of this glorius place is incredible. Really, i dont think i will ever see anything so incredible in my life. I went up on the roof, and then down into the church. Just the decoration, the care and the size of the whole stucture is breathtaking. Its even bigger than Toys'r'us at Chatswood! Haha, but this is more than phenomenal. It is glorius, i cant think of a superlative worthy of describling it. Pictures cant describe its magnificence. I am so glad i went and saw it.
Without even questioning my faith in the slightest, i think its such an interesting thought to think that all of this was built, all these things, these sturctures, all this money poured in, all these hours, the manpower, everything, this was all built for something that we arent even sure about. Like, all of this is done for an intangible thing. People devote their lives and livelihood to an idea. Is it not incredible to think that so many people can be inspired and driven by one person? But the real question is: what is it that religion and especially in this case, Christianity, offers, that can push people to do these things. Surely that is the most amazing lesson in leadership, and something incredible to comprehend.
Paz