What am I going to do without my Nutella?

Courtney's Travel Tip #46: You know it's a sad state of affairs when you see that a priest has trouble getting through security at the Vatican.

Seriously, I'm not oblivious to the ways of the world and I know that people will do just about anything it takes to make a statement, but it's just telling when a man in his collar can't be trusted to get into St. Peter's without going through a metal detector.

And I will now step down from my soap box!

So we got to see the Vatican Museum yesterday, and once again our shopping got us into trouble! The tour guide told us that there was a service in St. Peter's Basicilla and we decided to go into the souvenir shop first. So we're shopping, doing our economic duty to Europe, and when we're finished, they won't let us go into St. Peter's because it's closed for that service that we could have gone to. Greed... it's a sin for a reason people!

Courtney's Travel Tip #47- I'm as macabre as the next person, but the practice of putting someone's corpse in a glass coffin and then pouring wax all over their body to preserve it for posterity is just plain creepy.

So we went to a total of 4 churches today. Santa Maria Del Popolo, Santa Maria Della Vittoria, The Pantheon, and St. Peter's Basicilla (since my greed caused us to miss out on it yesterday), and we kept seeing tombs, crypts, sarcophogi, and the piece de resistance (see I'm fluent in French already!)dead bodies preserved in wax!
It's a strange thing to look at someone lying dead in a box with their mouth open for you to see their actual teeth. I'm just sayin...

Courtney's Travel Tip #48- Beggars in Europe are much more dramatic than beggars in the US.

For those of you reading Caz's blog she may have mentioned this already, but the poor here are very dramatic. We figure there are a couple of rules:
1- Wait outside a church and hold out a plastic cup. Doesn't matter which church, there are tons of them so you are bound to find one that is not already taken.
2- If you have some sort of handicap, use it to your advantage.
3- If you can afford a dog, make sure to have it out for all to see. People are more likely to give you money if you have another mouth to feed!
4- When all else fails, just lay face down in the middle of the sidewalk and someone is bound to drop money into your outstretched hands.

Now some of these are not new techniques, but as with a lot of things, there is an art and a finesse to things in Europe that we just never mastered in the US!

So after our Angels and Demons tour (the book and movie are now both on my post-trip pop culture list!) we decided to go to lunch. Now, I'm just speaking for myself, but it is kinda funny when you've eaten your tortellini lunch, and you're in the back of the restaurant and you glance into the back room and see... a freezer filled with microwave Italian meals. Yep... I paid good money to have someone microwave some tortellini for me and serve it as my meal. The saving grace of this transaction, I only paid 5 bucks for it and so I don't feel TOO cheated.

BUT... since I skimped on lunch... I got to have...

Courtney's Travel Tip #49- Gelato is even better when they put Nutella in it!

I've had an obsession with Nutella since I got here. They have it everywhere. They even have these super jumbo tubs of it that come with a handle so you can carry it. And it's so good when it hits your lips. Nutella in crepes, Nutella in ice cream, Nutella FLAVORED ice cream. I'm a happy girl when I gets a hold of some of that chocolatey goodness. It truly is a phenomenon that you will need to experience if you ever get over here.

Courtney's Travel Tip #50- Having just gone off on a tangent about Nutella, I'm officially fooded out.

Someone check the temperature in Hell because it may be below 32 degrees down there! I've officially sworn off food. I'm not one to say no to the things I want to eat, But I just can't do it anymore. Half of this blog has been about food so y'all know what a fan I am... but I don't know if you could pay me to eat a plate of pasta for the next few weeks. I ordered dessert tonight because it was my last night and you would have thought that it was brussel sprouts or liver. I think we may have offended the pocket-sized overly hyper waiter when he saw that we just couldn't finish it.

Courtney's Trave Tip #51- You may develop stress fractures in your feet if you come to Rome. But as my old coaches would say.... Just walk it off!

I am limping, bruised, and physically exhausted. I'm not complaining at all! I loved (almost) every minute of it, but I may have to see a doctor when I get back to make sure that there isn't any actual damage! But Rome does not have the world's best public transportation system so if you do come here expect to walk... for miles... and miles. You'll see every single sight you could possibly want to see but it is going to be tiring and somewhat painful.

Courtney's Travel Tip #52- I can't wait to come back....
*** POST TRIP: What I SHOULD have said: Was I can't wait to come back to EUROPE... a lot of people read this as I wanted to come home. Well forget that! Who wants to come back home to work, and stress, and diets, and the gym? I want to stay on Vacation forever. I figure I just need to get someone to read these blogs and they'll see how good I am at it!