Rome

This is a continuation of the previous entry, and continues the story of our 2 weeks in Italy and the Mediterranean. If you haven't read the previous post already, you should start there...

Sunday, May 3rd

This morning, we got up pretty early and had another great breakfast in the hotel, and were driven to the bus stop by the owner Pino (who was seriously amazing). Once again, the ride out of the Amalfi area was terrible. The views in Amalfi were incredible, but in the end I have to wonder it if was really worth the trouble of getting in and out (Jenna says definitely). We hopped on the bus at 8am, and ended up 175 miles away in Rome 6 hours later (would have taken 2.5 hours on trusty I-35).

We weren't sure of the best route to the hotel (walk or subway), so we gave them a call. They didn't answer, which we didn't think much of, and decided that with all of our luggage the subway was the best option. We got to our stop and after about another 1/2 mile walk, we arrived at the the Alice in Wonderland B&B, which is a small place that we booked on the recommendation of another couple on this exchange program. We got to the door of the place, rang the bell, and waited...To make a long story short, nobody was home, as the owner claimed (when he finally answered the phone) he didn't know we were arriving, and wasn't in the city. After calling several of his B&B owner buddies who were full, Rick came to the rescue once again with a recommendation of another place that wasn't too far away (the Fawlty Towers, for John Cleese fans). In the end, it worked out okay, as we saved a little on the cost, but it was very annoying as we lost about 2 hours dealing with that crazy place on a day when we'd already spent 6 hours travelling. 

We hurried to the new place and dropped our stuff off and went off to the Colosseum. This was probably the thing that I was looking forward to the most of the entire trip to Italy, and really the entire trip to Europe. For me, I think it represented the history of the whole place. I've always been fascinated at the heights that were reached by the Romans. I'm by no means a historian, but they achieved things that were not matched for many hundreds of years after they were gone, and many of their monuments are still standing, while it seems like most of the things we build today have trouble lasting a century. I've also been very fascinated by the fact that it all disappeared - something that I hold as a reminder that even the greatest worldly powers fall away in the end...

The Colosseum itself was impressive but didn't take too much time to go through. (It probably helped that it was about 4pm and all the tourists had already seen it in the morning.) It was cool to think of 50,000 Romans cheering on the games. It was a little weird to think that they were cheering as people, Christians and slaves, were murdered for their pleasure. The coolest thing (which I'd known about before from the History Channel but Jenna, and many others, didn't know) was that there was actually a basement under the main field. Underneath the ground, they had a maze of rooms and corridors where men and animals were held in preparation for the arena. The field had various trap doors where things could be brought up by an elevator from below, which created more dramatic spectacles.

After taking a few photos we headed went next door to the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill, which neither of us really knew existed before doing our research. This ended up being even better than the Colosseum, as there was more to see and for me had even more significance. The Forum was the seat of the Roman government, including some major temples and all of the governmental buildings. For a substantial portion of history, this small area of land, less than one square mile, was literally the center of the world. The Palatine Hill was the "residential" area on the hill above the forum where all of the upper class lived, including all of the emperors and senators. The homes, which are all now in ruins, were once enormous, and in fact the term "palace" that we use today comes from the Palatine Hill.

It was very interesting to walk through these areas. For one, it is just surreal to think that you are walking where the Caesars walked. Also, the amount of history that can be traced back to that place is mind-boggling. We spent the last couple hours of daylight walking through the ruins as Rick told us all about the history of what we were experiencing.

After having dinner at a touristy (but still good) pasta joint, we headed off for a night walk through the city - something recommended by Rick and really one of the highlights of Rome (once again, the trip would not have been the same without our library-rented Rick Steves' Italy 2008).

The tour took us through a couple of the main piazzas (plazas), including the one that has the Tre Scalini restaurant and gelateria - home of the famous Tartufo (the original Death by Chocolate - thick and delicious chocolate ice cream covered in chocolate chips -this alone may be worth the trip to Rome).

The tour also took us by the Pantheon (more on this later), the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. The fountain and the steps are famous sites, but not much to talk about (especially considering the other sites in the city). They are pretty impressive (the fountain especially), and the number of people there, both in the middle of the day and at 11pm was astounding. We made sure to toss a coin into the fountain - something that is supposed to guarantee your eventual return to the city.  We were really glad to go, as it was something else to see all of these sites after dark, as it seemed much less touristy and was a romantic way to see the city strolling hand in hand without the bustle of midday. After the walk ended at the steps, we took the subway back to the hotel.

Monday, May 4th

Monday was set to be Catholic Day, with the plan to spend the day at Vatican City. Based on our guidebook, we found out that the best time to arrive was just after lunch and that even so you'd have plenty of time to see everything (using some handy tips) but also miss the morning rush. So, we slept in until 8am (unheard of when we're travelling) and headed off to see some of the sites from the night before in the daylight.

Our first stop was the Pantheon. This is the most well preserved building from ancient Rome. This is also (along with the aqueducts) one of the most amazing architectural wonders of the Empire, as it contains the world's first major dome. This building was a marvel, and it literally took centuries for man to build a dome of its equal. The Pantheon is also interesting because it is so well preserved. After Rome was sacked by barbarians, this was set up as the main place of worship for the common citizens. Nearly every other major building was torn down either as an act of destruction or to obtain building material, but this one stood. The people left it alone as it was their spiritual home, and the invaders left it alone to keep the people happy. After leaving here we went back to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. Both are pretty impressive, but I understand that it really doesn't do anything to describe in words a fountain or some stairs, so we won't go on.

 Before heading off to the Vatican (and before lunch, in fact), we stopped at what is supposed to be the best gelato place in Rome. It was very good (although Aaron's combo of cherry and mint was a bad choice) and we've decided that we want to have it as an appetizer to every meal from now on!

We arrived at the Vatican a little ahead of schedule - about 12:30. We took a little bit of time to soak in St. Peter's Square and mail a couple of post cards (including one to ourselves) from the smallest country on earth before heading down the street a bit to the Vatican Museum.

We were glad to find that the line wasn't too long, as we got into the museum in less than 30 minutes. This museum holds some of the most important works in Christianity, but people really only come to see the Raphael Rooms and more-so the Sistine Chapel. In order to get to these, though, you have to be herded like cattle past all of the works that nobody cares about. We took a few minutes to pause in one or two of the rooms, but based on our limited time and lack of interest, we hustled through pretty quickly.

The Raphael Rooms were about 3 rooms full of his works, including the famous "School of Athens", where he painted his famous artist buddies (think Ninja Turtles) as the representations of the former great philosophers like Socrates and Plato.

The big draw of course was the ceiling of the Sistine chapel. It was very impressive, but we were a little bit annoyed at how they manage it. First, there are no photos allowed, even without flash, which seems kind of silly. Then, in order to cut down on your ability to take photos and also preserve the art, they have all the lights terribly dimmed, which makes it impossible to sneak a decent shot, but even worse makes it difficult to really enjoy the artwork, as it is really hard to see it. Lastly, there were guys walking around the whole time yelling at people to be quiet (hmmmm) and to not take pictures (No Photo!).  We tried anyway, but this fuzzy thing is all we could come up with:

The most interesting thing for me (Aaron) about both sections was that they were mostly made of frescoes. We'd both heard the term before, but didn't really know what it meant. Basically, a fresco is paint mixed into wet plaster and applied to the surface (wall, ceiling, etc). When it dries, it becomes part of the wall, and is about 1/4 inch thick. I'm just amazed because it seems like painting this way would be terribly difficult, and it gives me even more respect for the talent of these artists.

After taking in as much as we could, we decided to make our way to St. Peters Basilica. This is where Rick probably helped us more than anywhere else on the whole trip. The line to get into the Basilica is terrible, costing you an hour of your day when it isn't busy. Plus, in order to get there you have to wind back through the museum, then walk 15 minutes to the entrance to the church. Through our book, though, we were able to find a "secret" connection between the Sistine Chapel and the Basilica from a small door in the back corner. This little tip saved us about about 1.5 miles walking (half of which would be back through the museum), and at least 90 minutes. Thanks again, Rick!!

The Basilica was incredible. It is the largest (and according to our guidebook, without a doubt the most impressive) church on earth. It really is just enormous, and when you consider the square outside, the size of the actual church, the dome (largest in the world), and the importance that the area has played in world history, your head starts spinning. When it comes down to it, it is a lot like all of the other churches in Europe, just lots bigger and more important.

After taking in all that we could, Jenna headed out to sit in the sun and people watch, and I headed up to be nearer the sun. After a few hundred stairs, I was standing on top of the Dome, taking in amazing views of the city and trying to see if I could find Jenna in the crowd (I couldn't). The view from the top out over the Vatican and the city in general were amazing, and well worth the stairs if you get the chance to go.

After leaving the Vatican we headed back into the city to have dinner at one of the guidebook's recommended restaurants. We don't remember the food too well (which pasta we had at which joint is getting jumbled a bit), but we do remember that this is the first place we realized that we weren't the only ones relying on Rick. We sat in a back corner, and on either side of us were other Americans (a table of 8 retiree friends and another young couple). Both had come to the place based on their Rick Steves guides.  This would end up being one of the many occasions that we ran into other Americans taking Rick's Italy advice

After dinner we walked around a bit, making our way back to the Colosseum for a few photos at night before heading back to the hotel, in order to get ready to move on to the Cinque Terre in the morning...(to be continued).