il dolce far tutto: January 29-30: ROMA

Sunset in Rome

I have not blogged in awhile but that’s not an indication of a lack of fun or activity, there just haven’t been any big events in the last week. However, this past weekend I went to Rome on a trip organized by my program, CEA. It was an amazing weekend and I feel that I have an overwhelming amount of things to say, so after a delicious meal (Jules and I just finished a batch of asparagus risotto), and a couple glasses of wine from our downstairs wine bar, I feel that I am ready to blog.

I hadn’t really been looking forward to the trip to Rome to be honest. I had made a brief stop in Rome when I visited Europe in 2007, taking a bus tour that felt like driving through the sun. Rome is unbearably hot in July, not to mention crowded, which made the city difficult to enjoy. Still, I felt that I had been there and done that—but I was wrong.

This trip had been planned by CEA, so, all I had to do was show up and get on the bus (I stocked up on dramamine this time, after learning my lesson on the way to Chianti). The catch was, we had to meet the busses at 6:00 am. I had gone out for my friend’s birthday the night before and hadn’t had time to pack before going out, so I packed after a few too many drinks and didn’t remember to bring clothes to wear the next day, only a shirt to go out in. classy move. Somehow, I managed to get up at 5 and my roommates and I rushed to the bus stop where we found seats and immediately fell back asleep. We stopped at an autogril half way through the 4 hour bus ride. It turns out that an Autrogrill is the Italian equivalent of a rest stop. Of course it’s 10 times classier and more European still. People order espresso and cappuccino and stand at the bar, rather than scarfing down McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts.

After arriving at our surprisingly nice hotel and putting our bags away, we had 10 minutes to get back to the lobby and start our extensive tour schedule. We broke off into groups of about 18 people and were guided by an art history professor who turned out to be extremely knowledgeable and informative. His insight into the intricacies of Roman history made this trip a completely different experience from the one I took in 2007. Not only was I learning about the things I was seeing, I was actually able to apply a lot of what I had learned in University classes such as the History of Rome to the monuments and sights.

We first took a trip on the metro and then went to see a crypt, where the bones from 40,000 monks were used to decorate a tomb with beautiful yet eery designs and shrines. I wish I had some photos, but we were strictly forbidden from using our cameras, and I could only peer at the bone designs which covered every inch of the tunnels and rooms.

Next we saw some of down town Rome, before walking down the Spanish Steps. I wish that I had more names and information from this part of the tour, but I had not yet become studious enough to start taking notes. Instead, I can remark that Rome is an entirely different city from Florence (obviously). It is so much larger, with wider, streets, more people and a more intense energy. We toured several churches and then saw the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. Along the way, our professor/guide began to explain what he sees as the main themes of Rome: several layers of civilization that have undergone constant changes as the cities leaders have changed the layout, appearance and governing structure of the city in order to satisfy various political, personal and social objectives. Rome is essentially the epicenter of western civilization, and has seen been influenced by the Greeks, Romans, Renaissance thinkers, catholic popes and emperors that have laid claim to it since its origin.

View looking over the Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon Ceiling--yes rain does get in Teague

The Pantheon

We broke for lunch and were forced to submit to an irritatingly high priced meal aimed at tourists such as ourselves. After buying and cooking nearly all of my own food over the past few weeks, this made me angry! But when in Rome, eat like the tourists do. Next we made our way to one of Rome’s most spectacular sights: the Colosseum and Roman Forum. I got really excited at this point, in a weird history major way, and started making Teague take pictures of me in front of everything solo.

Excited about learning

Kewl

Once inside the Colosseum I was truly in history major heaven. I was so thrilled to be seeing all of the things I had previously learned about in lecture halls, in person. Our guide was great and really made the Colosseum come alive for us. We got there right before it closed so we were some of the last people there. Teague and I walked around basically alone in the Colosseum enjoying the beautiful setting sun as it shined through the Colosseum openings.

Overstaying our welcome was totally worth it

Arch of Constantine

Roman Forum

After we walked around for awhile longer, we made our way back to our hotel on foot, after deciding that the metro was a little bit too scary. I passed out in my bed immediately. Somehow, Jules managed to fall asleep with her back arched over my legs in the strangest/most uncomfortable sleeping position possible. That shows you how tired we were. We woke up at around 7:45 pm to rally and get ready to go out.

Jules and I enjoying the Roman nightlife

We had dinner at a restaurant called Est Est Est which was surprisingly delicious. I ate an entire mushroom pizza as well as a little bit of prosciutto e melone. Next we took cabs to the Piazza del Campo where people congregate at night to party. At about 2 am, we decided that we wanted to be alive for our full day tour which started at 7:00 am the next morning so we headed back toward the hotel. At this point it was pouring rain. Luckily I had purchased a heinous Kelly green umbrella from one of the obnoxious guys who walks around selling random shit. We attempted to hail a taxi in vain for about 30 minutes before hopping on a bus that we prayed would take us back to our hotel.

We woke up disgustingly early and had breakfast at the hotel before getting in line to enter the Vatican. Apparently admission is free on Sundays, which meant that the entire place was overwhelmingly crowded and I mean panic attack inducing crowded. First we toured the Pinocteca which was very cool because we got to see paintings by Raphael, and Michelangelo. We did the Vatican circuit which was amazing in that we saw so many iconic images and statues, yet horrifying in that we were basically carried in a sea of tourists the entire time. After awhile I had to just look at the ground and force myself to continue. FINALLY we made it to the main spectacle: the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing—better than I had expected because I had no idea what to expect. I had no idea that some of the images painted on the ceiling were even located there. Although it is supposed to be silent in the chapel, it was so crowded that the noise level kept rising, causing guards to shout QUIET PLEASE and periodically NO PHOTO. After craning our necks for about 20 minutes to try to take in all of the painted scenes, we escaped and breathed fresh air for the first time in hours.

OH MY GAHHHH WHY ARE WE AWAKE

Courtyard in the Vatican

After another over priced tourist lunch, we spent some time in St. Peter’s Square, in front of the Basilica built to commemorate the remains of the apostle, Peter. Next we hopped into line to get into the Basilica which was absolutely breathtaking. My limited religious instruction had left me ignorant of the magnitude of some of the sights in Vatican City. I have never been inside a building as spectacular as the Basilica. The paintings, golden walls and giant pillars are so immense and lavish that it honestly feels like they were built by God. Unfortunately we sort of had to rush through the Basilica in order to catch our bus back to Florence. I would definitely go back, just not on free admission day.