Pichierri Sallustio Rome

... collection on its own.

No place knows culture like Rome. Beijing, Athens, Cairo, Istanbul have their depth, but no place commands influence in art, architecture, history, politics, military and style like Rome. The City learned to bury its treasures during times of war, having been sacked dozens of times. With lots of treasures and lots of sackings, Rome’s subsoil is still a gold mine of culture. Populations were often ...

... each. He tells us there is a much faster train that takes only 1 hour! I say yes and it is 47 Euros each. I explain we have more time than money. He still didn't catch on only thinking when he has holidays he goes the fastest route possible. He soon caught on when I said we have a lot of time to get there. On the way to the train we pass all the vendors on the street. We watch them play find the pea in the shell. Len stopped to watch and then ...

... on. There was the man shoving flowers in front of female tourists to catch them off guard, and the young lad who appeared out of nowhere as we were walking up the steps and tried to impress us by doing a trick with a piece string - I quickly and loudly told him to "bugger off" which he obliged. Although we did see some other sucker get scammed by one of the young lad's accomplices - the silly tourist walked away with a bracelet that had been made with string that he had to pay for and he ...

... and mathematicians of ancient Greece. Plato and Aristotle walk side by side discussing their theories, while Pythagoras, Ptolemy and Zoroaster explain their theses to interested admirers. I think Homer is in there as well, and the cheeky Raphael has even painted himself into the bottom left corner, amongst these great men. As I said, there is so much to see in these museums, and we didn't see it all, but I think you can only appreciate so much art in one day and I didn ...

Day 8- highlights Today was our day in ROme. Free day at that, which was fun. This morning i was up at like 6am. We took a shuttle bus into the train station, than caught the train into Rome. From the train station we walked to Vatican City. It's a huge place, surrounded by giant walls and camera's. For those of you who don't know what the Vatican City is, it's a country on its own in the middle of rome. So it's a country in a country where the pope resides. Getting ...

... from natural deterioration- aka: pollution. Michelangelo's Pietá was absolutely wonderful, just amazing to read about it in my book the day before and see it in person. Of course, seeing 8 of the original 10 bronze panels from the east door of the Baptistery by Lorenzo Ghiberti was totally worth the 6 euro admission. I don't know if I can get across what this is doing to me, really. To take an art history II course in Florence, the birthplace of the ...

... s titled.... "The Globalization of Ancient Rome" The tour buses endlessly flow Tirelessly encircle, Like chariot machines Spouting puffs of petrol To the awaiting approvals Of the Caesars' thumbs. A platoon of Germans, Buxon and fair, Invade off buses With the names of 'Gimmler und Schmidt.' Snaking through queues While white legs bulge From khaki shorts. Two Russian ladies Check the status And ...

Yet another incredible day here in Rome (for the most part)!! After sleeping in just a tad because of the grueling pace of yesterday, Andrew & I got up around 9:30-ish and headed out. Yesterday, we saw some flyers for cheap scooter rentals, so we decided to check it out. If you all could only see how many mopeds are on the streets here in Europe, you would honestly be amazed. We must have stopped by at ...

... to see the pope giving us a wave from his balcony. He's sooo friendly. We came back to St Peter's the next day when there were far less people. The queue was only 9 minutes long to get in when on Sunday it would have taken hours. St Peter's is humungus. It is way bigger on the inside than it looks. Inside, the dome is 134m above the floor. The altar is 30m high and looks tiny compared to the dome. Under the altar was St Peter's bones except for one of his fingers ...

... more importantly, grounded people in their own cultures, might be more productive in the long term. We might end up with politicians and businesmen who are motivated to both make a profit, and serve the society in which they lived. Funny, the Italians went through a realy unprofitable period in their history, when their politicians, bankers and businessmen made millions of florins (real gold), and invested it in the arts and architecture. It was called the Renaissance.