Vacanza Romana (Roman Holiday in Italian)

I was honestly not expecting Rome to be as awesome and beautiful as it was.  I think I was expecting a super busy, high traffic city with a few ancient monuments dispersed in between it, and then the Vatican, which is technically a separate entity.  So we arrived in Termini on Tuesday, which really is not all that unique compared to other Mass transit centers and went straight to our hotel.  Our hotel was actually right across the street from Termini, which was incredibly convenient.  After a very short respite, we embarked on our journey to the Coliseum.  We jumped on the metro (while holding our bags close, because people will attempt to grab them off your shoulders).  There is a metro station for the Coliseum, and as we walked out of it into the sun I caught my first glimpse of the Coliseum, and a cool breeze blew across my face.   In that moment, I fell in love with the city. 

The Coliseum is really mind blowing, but I think somehow in my head I expected it to be taller.  I tried to imagine what it would be like when the place was packed with people.   I did notice one very ironic thing, the Roman road that runs next to the Coliseum is still intact, even if it is a bit hazardous if you are not paying attention, because it is made of very large rocks and they are not 100% level, but the asphalt they put on a few of the paths in the Coliseum is getting potholes in it.  I learned some interesting etymologies as well, such as Vomitoreum, which were the architectural features of the Coliseum designed to get patrons out quickly. I took tons of pictures in there…The day was so beautiful, and the sky was so blue, and I was in the Coliseum with a really big memory card and a great camera…

Afterwards, Lisa and I grabbed a little lunch, and then went for a walk in park.  While walking there, we accidently discovered the ruins of Nero’s Golden Palace!  Well, discovered them for ourselves… someone else already found them, there were signs and everything.  But they were closed off due to a recent collapse.  But there was an area where there were lots of chips of brick just laying in the grass… and so I picked one up.  I haven’t heard anything that resembles the Hawaiian myth of Pele, and I was on the public side of the fence… so no problem, right?

We met up with the group again, and Filiberto and Gina told us all about The Arch of Constantine, which is next to the Coliseum.  Then we set off walking.  We walked to Ceasar’s palace and saw the remains of an aqueduct that was the private supply of water to the palace installed for fear of poisoning.  Now in my opinion having your own personal line would make you an easier target, and there would be less collateral damage from the assassin… but he had his own anyway, probably just because he was emperor, so he could and felt entitled to it.  We didn’t really slow down at the palace initially, so I was trying to take pictures, but I couldn’t get any good ones.  But do not despair dear friends!  As we walked we came to a large clearing (former racetrack?  I didn’t quite catch what its purpose was) and we could see a UN building on one end, but when we crossed to the other side of it and got to the top of the hill, we could see the whole palace.  Wow.  If you thought you needed to downsize, you should just take a little peek at Ceasar’s house.  It’s huge.  And I am sure that in it’s day was absolutely glorious, even if now it just a few walls.

From the palace, we headed over to the Mouth of Truth.  Fun fact: Audrey Hepburn’s movie Roman Holiday was actually shot in Rome, and she went to the Mouth of Truth and stuck her hand in. So I can now say that I have stood in the very same spot that she stood.  I was so excited, and I want to say that was the highlight of my day but we crammed so much amazing stuff into one day, and it was of so many different varieties that it is really hard to say what my favorite was.

After the mouth of truth we continued our walk along the river.  It was so beautiful, and the water was a light blue green.  The trees around were turning colors and it was incredible.  We continued walking along the river past a couple of ancient temples, and then to Teatro Marcello, with architecture by Michelanglo.  At this point the sun was setting, and we walked to a spot where we could see the Roman Forum.  The colors were so beautiful on the marble at dusk.  It looked like an awesome place to play hide and seek, but I feel like that is one of those things that authorities would frown on….

We kept walking to Piazza Venezia, where there is a museum that was a government building in the time of Mussolini, and there is a balcony there where he stood to declare Italy’s entry into World War II.  No one has stood on the balcony since.  There is also the Campodoglio, a huge marble building dedicated to the unification of Italy.  It is probably one of the most magnificent buildings I have ever seen.  It looked like a palace.  There is a huge staircase leading up to the porch area which is surrounded by huge pillars.  There are statues of winged victories or angels on the roof, and on the stairs.  Some of them are driving chariots, and all of them are incredibly beautiful.  By this time it was dark out, and the white marble was warm and glowing (thanks to the lighting). 

Our last stop for the evening was the Trevi Fountain.  Now when you are making wishes somewhere that important, you need to think about them for a while beforehand.  Lisa and I had been carefully brainstorming our wishes (not talking specifics so that we wouldn’t jinx them) for almost a week in advance.  Walking up to the Trevi Fountain is magical, but to me it was magical in the way that made me forget how incredibly much my feet hurt by this point in our walking tour and how hungry I was, and made me just want to giggle like a giddy school girl.  We threw our coins in and took lots of pictures, and made our wishes, so now we just wait and see. 

The next morning, we went to Chiesa di Santa Maria degli Angeli (Church of Saint Mary of the Angels) and I really enjoyed that one.  Much of the décor was getting closer to baroque, which is one of my favorite periods in architecture, because they combine all the artistic elements into one.  Things surprise you, what you thought was carved into the wall is actually painted, and you thought the ceiling above you was a dome, when it was really just flat.  Its like a bunch of optical illusions, which makes it quite exciting. 

Then we hopped on the metro to go to the Vatican.  There was a guy on the metro playing guitar, and he was playing pretty well.  Then he started to sing “house of the Rising Sun” and as the song gained energy, a few of us that were standing started to tap our rings on the metal poles along with him.  It was super fun, and one of those little simple pleasure moments shared by a few people on a train in a crowded city. 

When we got to the Vatican, we started out in the museums, which were just an incredible collection of artwork, we didn’t see all of them, because they could take a couple of days just on their own.  But the parts that we did see had a lot of stonework in them.  I still haven’t lost my sense of amazement at the amount of beautifully carved marble in this country.  Another thing I noticed is how consistent the tops of columns are… Each leaf and scroll looking just like the one next to it.  There were no molds to press to get that done.  Just chisels.   We also got to see the Rooms of Rafael, including the School of Athens.  And, amazingly, you were allowed to take pictures throughout the entire museum (except one room which I will get to in a minute), so I have pictures of the School of Athens, and the Liberation of St. Peter…

So we worked our way through the museums, with one important destination in mind, the Sistene Chapel.  To get there, you are winding your way through hallways, up and down staircases, I really don’t remember most of it, I kind of had some tunnel vision going on.  But then you walk through this door, just a normal little door, and you are in the Sistene Chapel.  The ceiling above your head is covered in Biblical stories and Michelangelo’s brush strokes.  Every detail is there, and the colors are so vibrant, the ceiling is just alive with them.  The prophets look down at you, but not in the haunted house way with eyes that follow you around, but like they are really there and so are you.  You do have to be cautious not to stand too long looking up… or you might pass out, but luckily there are beautiful paintings on the walls as well.   Its so strange to stand in the same room as a masterpiece like that.  I almost feel like I don’t belong, and I definitely feel like it isn’t real, like somehow this is a dream or a really clever trick.  But it’s not, and I am so blessed to have stood in that very spot (and so many others).

Next stop was lunch then St. Peter’s Basilica.  However… between lunch and the Basilica, myself and a couple other students got a bit lost… but we made it to the meeting point, just 15 minutes late (luckily Filiberto was still talking about the significance of the meeting point and had not left it yet). The piazza in front of the basilica is awesome, and they have the biggest “front porch” ever.  It is surrounded by a huge circle of columns and a porch like covered area.  The inside of the basilica is not at all dwarfed by the grand exterior.  As is the goal with huge cathedrals, I felt incredibly small standing inside of it.  The sun was coming through the windows at the altar, and the stained glass window with the dove was glowing.  My favorite part of the interior was the Pieta, also by Michelangelo.  It is a carving of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus after his death.  The sculpture was commissioned as a memorial for a cardinal who had lost his mother, but was controversial because the Virgin looked so young.   Regardless, it is a beautiful piece, and I stood in front of it for a long time. 

While we were getting our tour from Filiberto, a couple of normal tourist tagged along… without asking… and it was kind of funny.  They obviously couldn’t tell that we were a class that has been together for 3 months… or I don’t think they would have been so daring.  We cut it kind of close time wise though, and they closed the basilica for Mass, but then we went to climb the dome.  This one had an elevator and we were all very excited… but there were still just over 300 steps after the elevator.  This climb made me a little more claustrophobic than the climb in Florence, I think because there were extended sections of spiral staircases so tight that you had a rope to hang onto in the middle, and one “hallway” type area where your walls were actually the roof, and so they slanted.  It felt like some weird circus attraction.  But it was totally worth it for sunset views at the top once again.  The way the light hit the city made it seem almost like the embers left glowing after a fire.

When we got down, they were doing mass, and a few of us sat in the far back of the church and listened.   When we walked out of the basilica, the lights were on in the Pope’s study.  It felt like I was seeing a celebrity and I didn’t even see him.

The bas ride back to the hotel was one of the craziest in my life…. Long story short, it was beyond crowded.  A few highlights:  A caribinieri (military police) officer was standing next to me, and when a sit opened up, he motioned for me to take it… but more people were getting on the bus than off, so he ended up standing in front of me on the raised platform for the seats.  He was very nice though.  Lisa later ended up sitting in my lap to escape the guy next to her that was adjusting himself constantly… We then told Mr. Caribinieri that we had walked for about 8 hours that day.   He seemed impressed, and said something to me that I didn’t understand.  At which point I pulled out the old standby “Solo parlo poco italiano”  which is “I only speak a little Italian.” To which he nodded and smiled.  We finally reachered our stop and said “arrivederci” to him and headed to the hotel to crash for a while. 

That night Lisa and I picked a spot on the map that we could get to by the metro, and went to explore.  The place we picked was a really pretty piazza, with 3 large arches to enter it and an obelisk with a fountain in the middle.  We wandered around, got some amazing gelato (tiramisu flavored!!!) and some semi decent pasta.  Then headed back to the hotel quite early by Italian standards (9ish) and called it a night. 

Our last day, we went to see the Pantheon, which was pretty sweey.  It always kind of throws me off when these ancient buildings have been restored or repurposed.  The Pantheon was turned into a church and Queen Margherita is buried there.  Queen Margherita is the queen that the Margherita pizza (tomato, basil and mozzerella, the colors of the Italian flag) was created for.  So that was pretty sweet.  Then we went to a musical instrument museum where I saw the world’s oldest (and functioning) piano.  Marc also nearly got us kicked out, because he lifted the lid on another piano to show us the inner workings…when a museum employee came up, he simply argued that there was no sign, and that he was doing it for a class… but they left us alone, so I guess it worked.  (he could have also said that he knew the curator of the museum, which he apparently does) 

Then I headed over to the Spanish steps (which I didn’t climb….) Got a lovely little piece of pizza for lunch and did some shopping. Lisa and I walked from the Steps back to our hotel, and managed to navigate very effectively.  Then it was time to get on the train again, and I was quite grateful for the chance to rest, and so were my feet…

Here is the link to my Florence Pictures!  Have too much homework to get to the Rome ones, but I will try to get them up soon!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151004261975705.764790.703125704&type=1&l=611ea10045

Less than 2 weeks to go!  Can't wait for Christmas :)