So, the day began around 6am on a SATURDAY morning (oye, what a life having to get up early to go see Rome) when we had to pack up and meet the 20 or so of us from our school at the train station. We set off for the 1.5 hour train ride (generally a 3 hour car ride) on a very comfortable train with nice big windows for the trip. The ride was gorgeous, it was hard to keep my eyes open to see the scenery as I was so tired, but I fought the sleep urge for the first half of the trip. I got to see the sun rising over the countryside inbetween Florence and Rome. Off in the mountains there were perfect villas perfectly spread apart where you still have neighbors, but plenty of land and privacy to yourself. Early in the morning there was smoke coming from the chimneys of many of them and needless to say I have since began researching renting the cozy villas for when i hit the lottery.
We arrived around 9am and set off on the walking tour with 2 professors from Linguaviva who were impressively knowledgeable about the history of Rome and it's sights for being an Italian language teacher native to Florence. The first stop was the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore which is the only of the basilicas from ancient Rome to hold it's original structure, even after the great earthquake which ruined most of the others. After the papacy moved back to Rome from the Avignon period and the first vatican began to deteriorate, it served as the temporary headquarters until the new one was finished. This church was definitely gorgeous, but you know, it's just another one of the hundreds of churches I've seen in Italy. I did get to see a beautiful wedding in one of the side chapels inside (there were a few mini-chapels inside the actual church) though, imagine getting married in one of the most famous churches in the country? World? Religion?
So next we're walking and seeing some hills, old stairs, cool buildings, through a part that had an almost San Francisco feel. Walking and walking... then we walk down this big hill and overlook this truly breathtaking scene of older remains on a cliffed area. I just thought it was a pretty sight, I mean, there were apartments to the right and streets cutting through. I kept walking. BAM, Colosseum! I wouldn't at all be exaggerating if I told you I gasped for air. I was so not expecting it to be RIGHT THERE and it was unbelievably huge, next to a palm tree?, gorgeous, ancient...huge. I can't explain this to you in words, but I swear it felt like everything went silent and I just stared at this massive structure thinking about all of the history in it and wondered what it looked like when it was in use. the entire thing, which held over 80,000 people was built in under 11 years and was used for gladiators, horse races, animal "hunts," some type of sea battles which i didn't quite understand, executions and shows for entertainment. i believe it was ruined in an earthquake, but don't quote me on that.
Next we walked some ways, saw the Olympic track where "Ben-Hurr type events took place" and some more random ruins. I don't know where we were, but we walked up (tons) of stairs and were at this great overlooking sight where we could see most of Rome via rooftop. It was gorgeous, there were gardens up there but I have no idea where it was. I wish I could scan my pictures into google and find out the name. Maybe I'll invent that to make tons of money so I can get one of those country villas I saw on the way.
The climb down dumped us in front of Campidoglio (Capitoline hill- yep, it's where we got the name Capital Hill from) which was designed by Michaelangelo and used to house the archives of ancient Rome. Today it's a museum and Rome's city hall. It was pretty, there were great statues and everything around it, but I think I would have taken much more from it had I went into some of the museums. We were on a tight schedule though, so maybe next time.
Up some more hills until we were overlooking Foro Romano (the Roman Forum) which used to house the royal family, the senate, and was basically the economic hub located right in the center of Rome. I guess it began to fall apart at the collapse of the Roman Empire and has since been deteriorating. I know it was ruins, but it was just a gorgeous sight and so weird to think that 25 feet away there was a main street with cars and traffic lights and electric things...
After the Forum, where everyone seemed to linger around because it felt like there was so much to look at, we gathered around Trevi's fountain and broke for lunch. We found this cute little trattoria where we all got Roman pizza and it was pretty good. I asked the woman if she had grated cheese to put on top of my vege piece...and she just looked at me and smiled, "we don't do that here ragazza." hrmph.
After lunch it started getting really cold, like, really cold. We took pictures and threw a penny into Trevi Fountain for good luck and met back up with the group. While we were standing around we were near a Burger King where a man was pulling out his wallet on his way in. (suspenseful music, commence) A stocky little older man dressed all in dark colors snags the wallet out of the buisnessman's hand and jets. Just so happens I was standing perfectly in the line of fire, probably 5 feet from the incident, and the thief runs directly into my chest and pushes me back. Did I mention he was stocky? Ouch! At first I thought he was going for my bag too, but he was just trying to run away from the now-starving victim (that's what he gets for choosing Burger King in Italy!). We kept our eyes peeled and cheered when the guy caught the thief and grabbed his wallet back. Mr. Pickpocket got away... No bruises to report, but you can send me flowers for the emotional damage.
After the eventful Burger King incident we arrived at the Spanish stairs, quite uneventful after the last sight. I'm not quite sure why they're so famous, all I gathered was that they divided the Spanish and French quarters of Rome. They're about 200 years old and beautiful, but I'm not sure why they're such a landmark to see. Perhaps I'm missing some of the history, any Spanish stair buffs in the audience? I do know that one guy tried to drive a Celica down them and broke a few while doubling the legal BAC, cool?
Next was the Pantheon which translates to "all of the Gods" as that is who it was dedicated to. This 5,000 ton dome was built out of just ONE concrete piece. There's a "great eye" which opens to they sky at the top and is the only source of light and ventilation. There are holes in the floor which allow for drainage in rain, I'm guessing that means the hole at the top is glass-less (I couldn't quite understand him, he kept saying all the things we were supposed to know in Italian...in Italian).
That was the end of the tour on one side of town, next was to the Vatican. The walk was pretty and we saw many minor sights of fountains, piazzas and castles on the way over. The biggest castle was Sant'Angelo which was built in about 135 AD and it as well as the original bridge leading to it still stand. It was used for an array of things, originally for a Roman Emperor, then as a fortress during a war, something with the Pope (I'm noticing a trend that the Pope was forced to move around a lot) and finally now it's a museum. I would have loved to tour it, but again, tight schedule!
The tour ended at the Vatican. This was another truly breathtaking sight, we also got there around sunset which I'm sure added to the mystique. The piazza in front was gorgeous with all of the statues of the saints, the fountains, and just the building itself. We went inside and again, I was left speechless. Gorgeous is an understatement, all of the detail in the doors, floors, banisters, ceilings, altars, everything was so unbelievable. I can't find any more adjectives to explain it, so I'll just have to tell you all to go visit because my pictures don't do it justice. There was a mass going on inside and even though it was not in English I just stood there in awe at how beautiful and peaceful it all was. There was a choir as well, which of course sounded beyond angelic, the pope wouldn't have anything but.
It was a long day and I saw so much, but I loved every second of it. I'm glad I went with a tour because there is no way I could have gotten that much out of the city myself. We took the metro back to the train station and came home only to go out for Morgan's 21st birthday. Celebrated at the Mexican restaurant Tijuana across the street and had a great time. Sunday was recovery day, especially for our feet. Caught up on some homework and went to bed early. This weekend is Bologna with Rutgers and a few various other things I'll be sure to update you on throughout the week. Ciao!
Pictures (click on the first picture to see them all)
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| 2009-02-14 Rome |
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