Into the Unknown: Roma!

This last weekend I went to Rome, Italy!

I woke up very early for my flight (around 3:40 am). The plane left around 7:00-ish am. When we arrived in Rome (around noon), we immediately got the Roma Pass, which included public transportation around the city, two museum tickets, and discounted museum tickets after that.

Then we went to the Coliseum, which was amazing! To stand in a place walked through by people about 2000 years before you is just hard to wrap your mind around. The structure was huge and to think that the technology was even sufficient to build such a massive building is mind boggling.

We found our hostel, which looked like it was going to be an interesting (maybe quite terrible) experience from the looks of the outside of the building. However, once you walked into it, it was amazing that something so awful looking from the outside could be so nice on the inside. Many of the basilicas throughout the city were much the same. You walk in the front door and all you can say is “wow, I didn’t see this coming from the looks of the outside.” The hostel had a free pasta dinner on weeknights, so we only had to pay for one dinner!

The next day, we walked around the whole city, looking at most of the squares, monuments, and buildings. We arrived first at the Trevi Fountain, which hadn’t been turned on yet. We were there around sunrise. So we watched the people turn it on, which was pretty neat because you can see how huge the fountain actually is when people are walking across it! Then we went to the Pantheon, which was incredible! It was HUGE! To think of the engineering required to build such a huge building, in marshy lowland with a ginormous domed roof, is unthinkable for the second century AD. Apparently, it is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. Pretty cool. Then we went to the forum, which was also interesting. We would have just known that we were walking around a bunch of ruins, because we were there too late to use the audio tour that they sold, but we followed a very loud English tour guide, who told Megan and I all we wanted to know about the forum. It is considered as the centre of the Roman Empire that had many political figures, like Caesar, walk through it. However, it should be noted that this was not where he was murdered (contrary to popular belief). It is a site of much interest to archaeologists because most of the structures were torn apart to be used for other building projects, and then used as a dumping ground for when structures in the city were torn down. So it has a lot of old stuff/junk from the people of past centuries, haha. It was pretty fun.

The exception to the rule (of the outside of the buildings not matching the insides), of course, is St. Peter’s and the Vatican City in general. We woke up bright and early to go because we knew there was quite a bit to do in the area. We started at sunrise in St. Peter’s Square, where we had to go through security. Then we went into St. Peter’s church, which was AMAZING! It was massive for one and there are statues all over the outside, which are great. The outside was wonderful, but not nearly as brilliant as the inside of the church. Next, we walked up over 1000 steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter’s. We were tired, and I was scared, but the view was IMPRESSIVE. I enjoyed it while clinging to the wall of the building, while my friends leaned over the railings to get good pictures, haha. On the way up, we could see the paintings and a mosaic covering the ceiling and walls of St. Peter’s up close. Once again, I was scared because you could see all the way down to the church floor, but I definitely enjoyed the experience. Then we went through the Vatican Museum, where we saw loads of statues and paintings and tapestries and murals. We ended at the Sistine Chapel, which was amazing. Thankfully, my friend, Heather, actually knew something about the Sistine Chapel, besides the fact that Michelangelo painted it! By the end of all of this our feet hurt really badly and I was glad our perusal of the museum was finally over. We saw the tombs of past popes, also.

The food of Rome, was pretty satisfying, especially after the food of Dublin, lol. All the restaurants had pizza, which was interesting because it had extremely thin crust, but the deliciousness of the toppings made up for this inadequacy. I had a salami pizza, which was excellent. At another restaurant, I enjoyed gnocchi, which is pronounced “no key.” The Italian waiter laughed at my gross mispronunciation, and quickly corrected me, haha. It was wonderful and I hope I can find some in Indiana! We also sampled the various house wines at the restaurants we went to because it was the same price or cheaper than the water. Oh, and the free pasta was excellent as well! Especially because it was included with our hostel!

While the wonders of Rome were splendid, the actual city was not so great. The city itself was very dirty and there were hoards of people everywhere you go. In order to get around, you have to push your way through. So I was always getting pushed and shoved around because I’m not very good at pushing my way through crowds. It was also incredibly loud and there were constantly ambulances going by; and ambulances in Rome have the most annoying siren ever!

Therefore, while I immensely enjoyed my stay in Rome, I was very happy to come back to Dublin, take a shower without any flip flops (in my own very clean bathroom), and drink a warm cup of tea while talking to my friends in our apartment.

Sorry that this took so long to get out. I've been fighting the Internet for the past week trying to get the pictures up. I will hopefully have them up by the end of this weekend. :)

I think one of those mopeds could take out this little car. It makes the Smart Car look large.

Coliseum and me!

Inside the Coliseum

The Trevi Fountain. It had just been turned on and there weren't many people because it was so early.

One of the many site throughout the city still being dug through by archaeologists

Me in front of one of the many Catholic churches

We just thought this sculpture was funny!

Megan and I inside the Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

Outside of the Capitoline Museum (the world's oldest museum)

A cool building (I can't remember what it was). Maybe the Capitoline Museum?

Megan with her first round (of at least 5) of gelato

The Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

Inside the Coliseum

Outside of the Forum

One of the ginormous murals in the Capitoline Museum

A huge foot in the Capitoline Museum

This pottery reminded me of Hercules (like the Disney movie).

A for real chariot! The wheels were wooden. No wonder they broke all the time!

I just really liked this horse sculpture in the Capitoline Museum

This tunnel, connecting two buildings of the Capitoline Museum, dates back to the Roman Empire.

I thought this was a cool room in the Capitoline Museum.

I liked this statue outside of the Capitoline Museum.

I liked this.

Me in front of some ruins! Look! I'm in shorts! The weather in Italy was so nice!

Mmmmmmmm......gelato!

this was a part of a large fountain

Outside of the Pantheon

Megan, for scale, outside of the Pantheon

The hole in the roof of the dome in the Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

A super old library

All that's missing is the Tramp and a cocker spaniel

Part of a larger fountain

The rest of the fountain

An organ inside a huge church

The Tiber River

A view of Rome

A second view of Rome from a park at the top of a hill. It was wonderful! Fewer people and peace and quiet for a little while. A much needed break from the noise of the city.

Salami pizza! mmmmmmmmm......

Inside the Forum

Part of the ruins in the Forum

The Palatine (right next to the Forum). It was a palace

They used to hold competitions here. Like chariot racing.

Something about ruins seems to attract cats. They were everywhere!

I just thought this looked cool!

These steps are interesting I think

Inside the Foro. This was a display talking about the coexistence of the Mogul and Roman Empire (I think). It was all in Italian with a few pictures. haha