Bells bells bells

Last night I set my alarm to go off fairly early this morning, because I wanted to take a shower and the hot water in the new place lasts for approximately 2.5 minutes before deciding to go on a cigarette break. Kindly wishing for my roommate Dara to have some hot water, I resolved to awaken at 8.00. Now let me indicate how much I hate the sound of my alarm clock. The sound it makes is probably one of the worst ways to wake up, somewhere between a fire alarm and a microwave from the 80's. Imagine my pleasant surprise, then, when this morning I heard no evil beeping, but rather ringing bells, tolling harmonically and very pleasantly. When I had achieved full consciousness a few moments later, I remembered that I am basically living in the Vatican, and bells should not surprise me at all. Rolling over, I saw it was 7.30, so I lay in bed and listened to the bells before getting up to shower.
The morning light is beautiful, although the day is almost chilly right now. I took a picture from off the 'terrace' of the apartment (it is approximately the size of a closet), to illustrate how close I really am to the Leonine wall. You can see it there, between the peach colored apartment building and the grey apartment building, though it is a bit hidden by some shrubbery. I love living in this area, and there is a chance I might be able to stay here for most of the rest of the summer, which would make me very happy. If I can't live on the Gianicolo, or the city center (which I most certainly cannot), then I think living in the shadow of Vatican City is the place I would like to be.

I'm off to do some tour recruiting now, and then hang out downtown until it is time to give my first tour at 2pm. However, I want to anachronistically tell a story about Saturday, when I did the double training, because I don't seem to have put it in that post.

Saturday afternoon, after touring the Forum, we returned to the Vatican to run through that tour. I am not on the schedule to give those tours yet, but it is good to be trained, in case I have to fill in or something, and seriously, when am I ever going to turn down the chance to walk through the Vatican? As we arrived outside St. Peter's, I saw another huge group of Carabinieri, but this time, their purpose was clear, as President Bush got into a car behind them and drove off, flanked by Carabinieri on motorbikes. It was an exciting little brush with power and fame, but on we marched. Anyway, about half way through the Museums, I realized that I was wearing a tank top that bared my shoulders, definitely a no-no in both the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica. I managed to make it through the Sistine without more than a stern word from one of the guards, but I knew I wasn't going to make it into St. Peter's. Letting Dara and Enrica go on ahead, I sat in the portico, waiting for them to come out. I didn't mind sitting, as my foot had started bleeding somewhere between the Forum and the Vatican, and there was blood in my shoe. It didn't hurt, but I didn't want to ruin my shoes. After about 2 minutes of sitting, however, one of the guards asked me if I had a jacket, and when I said no, went off and returned with what ended up being a very stylish blue and white shirt. He handed it to me and told me to return it when I was finished, so off I scampered into the basilica. In the end I was glad I did, because I was greeted with this:

Pretty spectacular.