I'm gonna stop making tables, and start making miracles

Hello everybody. It has been a while since we last spoke, and I have a lot to tell you. Actually so much to tell you that I will probably have to leave some of it out. As you all know, this weekend we played in Anzio, which is about 30 minutes outside of Rome. My roommate Chris and I decided to take advantage of this trip, and stay in Rome for a couple of days. But first, let's talk about the games.

Game one against Anzio was miserable. We were flat on both defense and offense. We struggled with our pitching, walking God knows how many people and hitting even more. It wasn't the best situation. I went 2 for 4 on the day with a couple of singles. We ended up losing the game 8-2. It was a game we would quickly forget.

After the between game meal, we got back out on the field and started getting ready. This is the foreign game, and Anzio came ready. Their pitcher was from Santo Domingo, as is my roommate. It was a Dominican battle. Last week, Anzio's starter struck out 19 batters. He was a lefty, and threw decently hard, about 88 mph. His ball had some natural lefty movement, and he threw a hard slider. Little did he know that we would get the best of him.

In the first innings things were looking up for both teams. Anzio's pitcher struck out two, and our pitcher struck out the side. In the second, with a couple of hits and walks, I got up with the bases loaded and one out. My plan was to attack the fastball on the inside half of the plate. I knew that he would resort to his fastball, thinking he could overpower me. I got my pitch, and just rolled over on it. I did get decent barrel on the ball and was able to put it up the middle. The shortstop made a good play and was able to flip the ball to second for the force out. Either way, a run scored and we were ahead.

After that inning, Anzio's pitcher seemed to shut down. It was the first run he let up for the year, and he wasn't happy. For the rest of the game he was erratic. He was making mistakes, and we were taking advantage of them. By the time the fifth inning came around, we were up 4-1. Luis, on the other hand, was lights out. He was dealing, shutting down Anzio's offensive attack. We went on to win the game 5-2. I ended up 0-3 on the day with a walk and a RBI. It was my first 0-fer game of the year, but I hit the ball hard and the team came out on top. Anything for a win! Luis pitched great, and the team overall had a great game. Everybody came to play that second game, and we showed how good we can be.

After a long day of baseball, we got on the bus, got some pizza, and the team dropped us off in Nettuno (the next town over) to stay for the night. We were going to get up the next morning and head into Rome. A little fact, Nettuno is known as the "City of Baseball" in Italy. If you have time, look it up on Wikipedia so you can read about the baseball history of the city. It is fairly interesting.

Anyway, now for Rome. We arrived in Rome at about 1 pm. We took a train in directly to the Roma Termini. It is the largest train station in Italy. Our hostel wasn't far away. We decided to walk to the hostel, check in, then head over to Downtown Rome. We dropped the bags off and walked back to the Termini to catch the Metro. It reminded me of a smaller New York subway system, packed full of interesting people. After about 4 stops, we arrived at the Colloseo stop. We walked out of the station to see the Colosseum right in front of us. It amazed me how large it was for the era it had been built in. We walked a little ways, and at the entrace to the Colosseum we found a tour. For 20 euro, we would see the Colosseum, Palantine Hill, and the Roman Forum. It sounded like a great deal, and we were on our way.

The Colosseum is absolutely amazing. To think of the inginuity of that era to create such a modern looking stadium. The tour guide was great, telling us interesting facts about the building and its history. For example, the Colosseum is not actually the name of the buidling. Next to it, Emperor Nero built a huge marble statue. This became known as the Colossus. The original name of the Colosseum is the Flavian Amphitheatre, named after the Flavian brothers who financed the construction. Colosseum is just a nickname given by the Roman people because of its location next to the statue. The statue no longer stands because the people "recycled" the marble for their constructional purposes.

After the Colosseum, we headed up to Palantine Hill. Palantine Hill is where Rome began. As our tour guide said, it was the Beverly Hills of Rome. Anybody who had power and money lived on this Hill. It is also where the Emperors lived. Today, it is mostly ruins, although the palace (of which the word originates from) still stands. On Palantine Hill you can also see the houses of Augustus and his wife, the most preserved houses of its time. After walking around this magnificent place, we came to an overhanging. This overhang looked over the Roman Forum. It was absolutely amazing. All of the Roman empires important buildings stood below. When I post the pictures, you will be able to see what I mean. We then ventured down in the Roman Forum, seeing things like the senate building and where Julius Ceasar was cremated (which people still put flowers on today). It truly shows how the Roman Empire was the start of our modern day civilization.

After a day full of history and amazing sites, we headed back to the hostel for dinner. At dinner, we met three girls who were staying there as well, Francesca, Christina, and Melana. Francesca and Christina live in Florida and go to the University of Florida. They both have international backgrounds. Christina was born and raised in Ecuador. Francesca was born in Montreal. Melana was also from Montreal. We decided to head out into Rome for some drinks. We went to one of the local pubs, and there was karaoke. When the pub was closing, we were still pretty awake and energized. Somebody had the idea to go out and sight see a bit. Regardless of it being 3 am, we started to walk.

The first place we went was the Fontana del Tritone. This is the fountain where you are supposed to throw in a coin and make a wish. It is absolutely amazing how large it is and how beautiful. After about twenty minutes, I made my wish, and we moved on to the Spanish steps. These steps are the longest and widest in Europe. It strangely reminded me of the Rocky steps, but just had more history and most likely more importance (depending on who you ask). Anyway, like the Rocky steps, I began my run up. There are 138 steps, and I felt it when I got to the top. It also didn't help that it was 4 am. After a couple of pictures, we decided to call it a night. We got back to the hostel around 5 am, and agreed that we would get up at 8:30 am to go to the Vatican.

Amazingly, everybody stayed true to their word and got up in the morning. We ate a quick breakfast, and took the Metro to the Vatican. The line was insanely long, going around a few blocks. We found a tour group, and for 40 euro we would cut the line and get a fully guided tour. As you may know, the Vatican is not apart of Italy. It is the smallest country in the world. After a little wait, we went through the metal detectors, got our ear pieces, and started the tour.

Now I have seen a lot of cool things, and Italy in general is absolutely beautiful. The Vatican is nothing like I have ever seen before. Everything is made of marble, and everything is so detailed with art. From the landscaping of the squares and gardens to the interior of all the buildings, everything is amazing. We walked thru the museum and around the grounds. The tour guide flooded us with information, and thousands and thousands of people were around us. The last stop we would make was St. Peters, but first came the Sistine Chapel.

Before we walked in, they told us that nobody was allowed to talk or take pictures. By the time we got in, I realized there were way to many people for these rules to be strongly enforced. Everybody took pictures and spoke. Part of me found it disrespectful, but the other part of me realized that many people would never be back, and pictures were necessary. I agreed, and started taking video and pictures. The chapel is absolutely breath taking. The amount of detail in the paintings is incredible, and to think most of it was done by one person. We stood in the chapel for about 15 minutes, amazed at the detail and in awe of where I was. We then went out of the chapel and made our way towards St. Peters.

St. Peters, as you know, is the largest church in the world. We walked in, and immediately I stopped in my tracks. It is absolutely enormous, and makes all other churches seem uninteresting. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. I walked around with my mouth open, amazed at what I was seeing. A lot of emotions came over me, and it humbled me like I have never felt before. It truly is an amazing place. We walked around to see all the amazing artwork and alters. None of them were as amazing as La Pieta. Made from a single slab of marble, it was the most amazing piece of art I have ever seen. I am no art buff, nor do I particularly enjoy it, but this statue is something more.

I then entered a room that was strictly for prayer. I will never sit here and say that I am the most devoted Catholic in the world, but I went in and sat down. In this little room was a beautiful alter and the most amazing design. I sat there in silence for about ten minutes, just thinking about everything. It was my favorite part of my Italian journey so far, and it made me realize how lucky I am. I hope everybody gets to experience this amazing place one day.

We then went to get food. After some pasta, we headed to the top of St. Peters. After a long, long, narrow journey up, we stood on top of the most beautiful church in the world, staring down at Rome. It was the best way to finish the Vatican. It was great to be up there with amazing company, and we went about the rest of the day walking around Rome and finally ending it with a few drinks for happy hour. The girls we traveled with were great, and we shared stories and laughs the whole day. We hope to run into them again in Italy at some point. It was one of the best experiences of my life, and that is something that will be shared forever.

We got a train at 10pm and started the long journey home. I didn't walk into my apartment until 5:30 am. It was a long trip, but very much worth it. Rome has its faults, but it truly is an amazing place. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have a bunch of pictures and some short videos. My camera died immediately after the Sistine Chapel, so I had to take the rest of the photos with my phone. I'm sorry if the quality is bad. I'm also sorry for the long, long entry, but I figured it would be interesting enough. I hope everybody had a great weekend and I'll post these pictures and videos as soon as I can.

Oh, and if your asking yourself about the title. As we stood in line waiting to get into the Vatican, we were joking and I said this. The girls and Chris suggested I use it as the title of the entry, so it is in homage to them. Thanks everybody and I'll talk to you soon!