When in Rome...
Trip Start
Jan 12, 2008
1
18
22
Trip End
Jun 18, 2008
Rome,
Italy
Monday, April 21, 2008
If "Rome wasn't built in a day", it definitely can't be seen in a day. So we took four! We flew into Rome Ciampino airport (a 50 min. ride from Milan!) on Friday morning, and were settled into our hostel by 10:30!
Friday: "Ancient Rome" - Our first stop (after lunch, of course) were the ruins of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. These are some honest-to-God Roman ruins here. I know it sounds trite, but the sheer fact you're staring at something so OLD is amazing
"Laocoon and his Sons"
! I mean, we saw everything from Augustus' house, to the Curia (Senate Building). It's was really cool to stand in the same building where Julius Caesar stood! We saw ancient baths, and ancient fountains, ancient columns, and ancient gardens. It was great! After wards, we headed over to the nearby Colosseum: wow. This is actually breathtaking to see in person. Can you imagine people almost 2000 years ago building something that could seat 50,000 people? And because the floor is torn up, you can see all the underground tunnels and chambers where gladiators/slaves/wild animals/etc. were kept. I felt like I was IN the movie Gladiator. Which is awesome, because I LOVE that movie!Friday night, we found this GREAT wine bar ("enoteca") near Piazza Navona, Cul-de-Sac, which is apparently the oldest one in the city. It had millions of kinds of wine, and the food was great!
Saturday: "Viva la Papa" - On the second day, we left the country - to go to the Vatican, that is. (I still can't believe it's a country - I walked around the whole thing!) Yes, we waited 2 hours in the rain to get it, but it was so worth it. There are seemingly endless museums, which eventually lead to the Sistine Chapel. EVERYTHING is the Vatican is so ornate and BIG. Everything is decorated. The ceilings were my favorite part - they were all painted so beautifully! And speaking of painted ceilings, The Sistine Chapel is also breathtaking. Michelangelo: amazing guy. After lunch in Trastevere (cute part of Rome south of Vatican City) We went back to see St. Peter's Basilica. Which was BIG. and BEAUTIFUL. Every 5 feet you pass an amazing mosaic or the remains of a Pope, or a crazy relic. I mean, they have St. Peter's foot. And we even took the journey to the TOP of the dome
Me, Jess, and some Ancient Ruins
! Yes, this costs extra, but it is way worth it. The walk up there is about a million steps, and not for the faint-hearted (or wide), but the views from the top are amazing. The weather cleared up by then, so it was great! Of course, the one time in my life when I go to Rome, the pope goes to DC, so I missed him. Figures, any other time I would have been in DC, but this week I happen to be in Rome. Switch-a-roo.Saturday night we went on a Roman Pub Crawl! It was really fun - we got to see a few cool bars in Rome, meet some fellow Americans, and we even got a free T-shirt. "I came, I saw, I crawled".
Sunday "Park Day": After a short visit to the Pantheon, which in addition to being thousands of years old, houses the graves of some Italian greats such as Raphael, Vittorio Emmanuele II (first king of Italy), and Queen Margherita (who the pizza is named after), is now converted into a Catholic church, and has an awesome dome that no archaeologist can figure out how it was constructed so skillfully so many years ago, without any technology. Cool, huh? And after lunch, we spent the rest of Sunday as most Italians do (seeing as everything is closed): in the park. It was a great little nap under a real palm tree on a sunday afternoon: lovely. And on the way back, we paid homage to one of the greats, Roman Holiday, by stopping by the famous "Bocca della Verita'"
Raphael's "School of Athens"
. Sadly you can't actually stick your hand in it like Gregory Peck, but I still got a picture. Monday "Etc. Etc. Etc": We took our last day to finish up everything else: Trevi Fountain (fought the urge to jump in La-Dolce-Vita style), Spanish Steps, Chiesa delle Quattro Fontane, Santa Maria della Vittoria (home of famous statue "The Ecstasy of St. Theresa", among many others. So, I guess you can say we saw it all!
A great trip, overall. What a beautiful city, truly "eternal". I threw my penny in the fountain, which, they tell me means that I will "surely return to Rome". Here's hopin!
Arrivederci, Roma!
