Rome was called the " Eternal City" by the Romans themselves because they believed no matter what happened to the rest of the world, no matter how many empires would rise and fall, Rome would go on forever. Although a few things have changed in the last few thousand years, the city remains.
Day 1: Arrival, Colosseum, Ancient Ruins
We arrived at the Da Vinci airport and quickly boarded a bus to the Termini Station, the main train station in the capital city. The Sandy Hostel was only 7 blocks away, and after some trouble communicating, a man gave us his map and sent us on our way down Via Cavour.
The Sandy Hostel was located in a nondescript building which is not labeled from the outside. The lift required a key, so we trudged up 6 flights of stairs carrying our heavy backpacks. None of us had gotten much sleep the night before, so we were all glad to finally reach the top. The rooms were low-key but clean each having their own bathroom.
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| The Sandy Hostel |
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| view from our room |
The ancient Romans would have never actually called the stadium the "Colosseum." Instead, they referred to the arena as the "Flavian Amphitheatre." The name Colosseum originated from a huge, or "colossal" statue of Nero that was erected just outside the gates to the arena. The area around the statue soon was called the "Colosseum," and the rest is history.
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| The Colosseum |
At the center of the Colosseum is what appears to be series of random walls and passages. These areas were once completely covered by wood and then sand and were never intended to be exposed as they are now. During its use, these passages were used for storing animals and slaves below the arena's surface. At the far end of the picture above, the floor has been partially restored to show how it would have looked during ancient times.
We then moved to the Arch of Constantine, located just outside the Colosseum. The arch was dedicated in honor of Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Constantine is best known for being the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity.
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| Arch of Constantine |
Palatine Hill came next on the tour. The people of Rome have been living on the hill since 1000 BC. The area is currently under excavation, but we were able to see most of the sites including the residences of Tiberius, Domitian, and Augustus.
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| Café and Chocolate |
Day 2: Quirinale,Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona
On our second day, we again ventured through the city to explore parts of ancient Rome. Incidentally, we started with the Quirinale as seen below:
From the Quirinale, we headed west to the Trevi Fountain. Trevi is the largest baroque fountain in Rome, measuring 85 feet high and 66 feet wide. The fountain is located at the juntion of three roads, hence the name ( "Tre", meaning three and "vie,"meaning road). The facade of the fountain depicts a scene from 19 BC when a virgin supposedly helped Roman engineers locate a pure well after the aquaducts had been compromised.
Traditionally, if one throws a coin into the fountain, she is ensured a return to Rome. About 3,000 euros are collected each day from the fountain. We all chose to partake in the tradition:
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| The Trevi Fountain |
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| SO MANY PEOPLE!!! |
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| PSU <3 |
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| Tossing my coin for my ensured return to Rome! |
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| The group |
From the Trevi Fountain, we made our way southwest to the Pantheon. Built in 72 Ad, the name can be translated from Latin as worship "to every god." As the Roman empire expanded, they integrated all of the dieties of the conquered people, and soon the Romans worshipped thousands of gods. Until the 7th century, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic church, the Pantheon was used for the worship of hundreds of gods, evidenced by the many statues excavated from the area. The Pantheon is also used as a tomb for various artists and religious figures. For example, Raphael is buried in the building.
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| The Pantheon |
Unfortunately, we could only see the outside of the Pantheon. We happened to be in Rome during the "Day of Peace" and the monument was closed.
Next stop was the Piazza Navona. In Italian, "Piazza" means city square, and this one in particular is built on the site of the Stadium Domitian. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" serves as the focal point of the square, and represents the four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danube representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Plate representing the Americas.
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| Piazza Navona |
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| Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona |
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| Taking a break |
We stopped at a small café and ordered some drinks while enjoying the sunshine until we ventured across the square to have geláto once again. I had my first crepe of the trip! ( Thanks to Lauren, I now know how to make crepes and will be making them this summer as well as back at PSU!)
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| crepe with strawberries and nutella |
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| Annie with her geláto |
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| loving it |
On our way home, we ventured past the Vatican and the Castel Sant' Angelo, or "Castle of the Holy Angel." We crossed the Tiber and also got a pretty cool view of the Vatican.
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| Castel Sant'Angelo from the Ponte Sant' Angelo |
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| View of the Vatican |
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| Ponte Sant' Angelo |
Day 3: Vatican
Our final day was spent not in Rome, nor in Italy for that matter, but in a different country altogether- Vatican City. .
The land-locked sovereign city-state measures 110 acres and is guarded by the Swiss, who still wear traditional uniforms (see below) . The Vatican City consists of St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican Museum. We paid for a guided tour, which was worth the extra cost, as he gave us invaluable background information on everything inside the museum.
| Vatican City |
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| Laocoön was a Trojan priest who tried to warn the Trojans about accepting the Trojan Horse from the Greeks. Athena sent two giant sea serpents to strangle and kill him and his two sons.This is the original |
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| Bronze statue of Hercules |
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| Notice the fig leaf- This along with many others were added to the statues after the Council of Trent. Also called the "Tridentine Council," it severely altered what the Catholic church deemed "appropriate." This also affected the Sistine Chapel,which depicted nudes. |
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| Ornate ceiling in the Vatican Museum |
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| Michelangelo's "The Last Judgement." The fresco took the artist 4 years to complete |
Perhaps one of the most memorable features of the Vatican Museum was the Sistine Chapel. This semester at UCD, I took an art history class, so seeing the The Last Judgement in person was very special. Painted by Michelangelo some 20 years after completing the ceiling of the chapel, the work adorns the altar wall and spans 45 by 40 feet.
The fresco depicts the second coming of Christ, and shows the souls of humans either ascending to heaven or descending into hell while being surrounded by saints including Saints Catherine of Alexandria, Peter, Lawrence, Bartholomew, Paul, Peter Simon, Sebastian, and John the Baptist.
The chapel underwent an extensive cleaning and restoration which spanned 14 years (1980-1994) paid for by Sony ( yes, the same one that makes electronics). An example of the before and after can be seen here.
Do you notice how most of the figures are "tastefully" covered by random pieces of cloth as to avoid complete exposure? This was not how Michelangelo intended the figures to look, and was actually added later. The genitalia in the fresco, referred to as 'objections,' were covered after Michelangelo's death in 1564 by the mannerist artist Daniele da Volterra, when the Council of Trent condemned nudity in religious art.
We continued to St. Peter's Basilica. the basilica boasts the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, and even though I'm not very religious, it was breathtaking. The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson described St Peter's as "an ornament of the earth ....the sublime of the beautiful."
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| Interior of St. Peter's Basilica |
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| Altar in St. Peter's |
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| Swiss guards |
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| Group shot in Piazza Pio XII |
So, that's Rome! I wish I could have stayed longer, but since I did manage to toss a coin into the Trevi, I know I will return someday.
Until then, if you do travel to Rome, here are some of the things that I learned in the three days that I was there:
Travel Advice: When (not if) you go to Italy...
1. Pricing Restaurants- Our tour guide, Simon, from the Vatican gave us one easy rule: if the pizza margherita is between 4 and 7 euro, then the restaurant is priced normally and is not a tourist trap. If it's even 7.50, then it is overpriced.
2. Don't pay more than 40 euro to get to the airport. It is Italian law that dictates what the standard fare is to the air port, so make sure you don't get ripped off. This almost happened to us and we had to fight with the taxi driver for him to charge us a fair price.
3. Know (a little) Italian- I probably know 5 words of Italian, but a little goes a long way. Even learning- "Do you speak English?" Would have been helpful. People treat you differently when you at least try.
4. Have a PLAN. We were really lucky that we saw almost everything that we wanted to see. However, planning ahead including figuring out which monuments you really want to see, checking opening times, as well as schedules will really help you get the most of your trip.
5. Get geláto EVERY DAY. There are literally dozens of flavors, so do your best to try out a few while you are in Italy!
6. Eat dinner in the Trastevere neighborhood at least one night. This area meaning 'across the River Tiber' - is an old, traditional, Bohemian part of the city. The restaurants are reasonably priced, and offer the most authentic food ( definitely NOT a tourist trap) We had wine and a few small plates each ( think tapas ) for only 7 euro. Go to Trastevere!
