During my senior year of high school, my government teacher put up a slide of the Roman forum over the overhead projector. I turned to my best friend Monica, and I asked her – “You know, it still does not make sense to me why the Romans would not have cleaned up the Roman ruins – I mean, why do you think that is?” She erupted in laughter, because of course this was an ignorant thing to say – at the time I did not realize that ancient Rome was later excavated from the rubble and rediscovered after years of being buried, thus recognized as a sacred land – I assumed, it was abandoned and simply never reconstructed because the people didn’t need the land – or didn’t want to take the time to do some maintenance- or something like that. To be honest, I really didn’t get it. I mean after September 11th, we cleaned up the rubble of the Twin Towers, so why wouldn’t the Romans clean up the Roman ruins? This I thought was a valid question - but now that I have seen the sights and have had an educated guide explain the history of the Roman Forum to me, I understand. This bring clarity to a question I have had for a long while – a question I probably could have googled and figured out long ago, but what better place to find answers to lasting questions than the beautiful and ancient city of Roma!? (which by the way – I have also realized that many different languages have different translations of city names – including London – so I stand corrected on that as well J - but this is my blog, so the deal is if you read, you cannot judge me for any silly things I say! )
Yesterday was our first full day in Rome. We woke up around 9:30am, had the hostel’s breakfast, which was actually quite good, with some Special K cereal and toast with nutella, and then we headed out into the sunny streets of Roma ready to explore. We walked around and took tons of pictures, many times we weren’t quite sure of the historical importance of certain landmarks, but we had timed to kill before our tour and it is impossible to wander Rome without running into history and ancient beauty on every corner. Nonetheless we snapped away, assured we would fill in the blanks on our walking tour, which was scheduled for 2 pm. We continued to walk along the streets passing the Roman Forum, Capital Hill and many other monuments on our way to La Piazza de Navona for lunch and shopping before meeting our tour guide.
We ended up having lunch at a pizzeria on a sweet side street with a waiter who was very kind but his effort to make jokes and be funny was lost in translation! It is so funny how sarcasm and wit can become ineffective when there is a language barrier! But we had our pizza (which I have been having so much of – Lynnie: being here, seeing the amazing sights and trying to say no to such amazing food is impossible - everything is so delicious, and the wine is so good! No wonder you loved it here so much J! I wish you could be here with me to translate some of the language J. I have grazzi down to a science (and a waiter tonight said that I said it in a very sexy way…. How kind J – but other than that – way over my head J
After lunch we met our tour in La Piazza de Navona – which was a beautiful square! There were paintings and artists everywhere drawing caricatures of the tourists and displaying their amazing works. After walking around and letting our delicious food settle, we met with our Enjoy Rome walking tour group, paid our fee, and were hooked up to an audio device so that we could hear our native Italian guide inform us of the sights during our three hour walking tour. She told us all about La Piazza Navona, as well as the monuments and fountains that decorated it. We then walked to the Pantheon, the Trevy Fountain (where I tossed in my coin, of course!), the Capital Building, the Roman forum (which was so incredible – I cannot get over how amazing the history of Rome is!), and of course the breathtaking Coliseum. There were many other stops along the way that hit the highlights of Rome, which was great because we got a fantastic view of most of the amazing sights. The tour was very informative, except it was sometimes difficult to understand our native tour guide through our fuzzy earpieces and her thick accent. Plus, those who know me know my hearing is not great – I am a little deaf at time J. But I was able to get through, taking away with me some fun facts J.
After the tour, and about 100 pictures later, we left the Coliseum and sat on a bench over looking the forum and had some apples – we were desperate for some fruit – Italians love their cheese, but cheese does not love our digestive systems J. We sat and watched the sun set over the forum, which was fantastic. Then we walked to a cute restaurant called Margaritas, where we sat for three hours and had a wonderful Italian dinner – we laughed, reflected on the day, and on our trip, and on how amazing this opportunity is – but mostly about how proud we were that we were getting everything we had planned accomplished all on our own. Then we walked home, and slipped into our bunk beds (let me tell you – it is a challenge to get up to the top bunk after a night of wine, in the dark, while trying not to wake anyone….pretty hysterical), and finally falling asleep to the cacophony of snores coming from the 40 year old Spanish women who had since replaced the four other girls who were staying in our room – plus one hairy man who snored loudest of all! Oh the joys of hostels!
This morning we woke up very early because today was our day exploring Vatican City! We had breakfast, showered and got ready – showering was not the most pleasant, but again, roughing it is part of the adventure – and then we were off to Vatican City on the 64 bus. However, the bus ride was short lived because not only was it extremely overcrowded (like rush hour on the tube) but it was also full of gross Italian men who were sketchy and coughing on me. Worst of all, the traffic was HORRIBLE, so we got off after being on for twenty minutes and only moving practically twenty feet, and walked the rest of the way. It was a beautiful day, so the walk was actually refreshing – and with all the food and wine we have been consuming, much needed! We finally arrived at Saint Peter’s Basilica, waited in line through the security, got our audio tours and explored every nook and cranny of the most glorious church I have ever been in – it truly is the most unique, detailed, and phenomenal representation of faith and worship. The size alone was breathtaking, but on top of that to see all of the shrines, statues, paintings, and symbols decorating the marble and gold was so beautiful. We spent about two hours going through every number in the audio tour, taking pictures and taking in the sights. It was a once in a lifetime experience – full of such immense history, religious importance and symbolic meaning.
After, we walked through the square, enjoyed the beautiful fountains, and had lunch at a little café just outside the entrance. We all had some delicious paninis and then headed to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. After the 15-minute walk, getting through the entrance without much of a line, and buying our audio tours, we began our journey back in time. Until you visit Rome and see the sights, you cannot truly understand how amazing the history and beauty of the artifacts, paintings, and rooms is. We explored the entirety of the museum, including the Raphael rooms, Raphael’s transfiguration (which was STUNNING!), Belvedere Torso, Leonardo da Vinci’s St. Jerome, the Borgia Apartments, the Laocoon, the hall of maps (which in my opinion has a ceiling just as grand as the Sistene Chapel) and many other artifacts and sights in the multiple museums. It was fantastic and while I am usually one with the words, it was simply indescribable – to wrap your head around the history of these items, to grasp just how far back these ancient pieces go is so astounding, and puts into perspective how long the world has existed before we did. Not to mention, how genius and advanced the people living then were, even without the help of technological advances. Michelangelo alone is a wonder – every time we saw something amazing, 9 times out of 10 his name was some how attached – which leads me to the Sistene Chapel!
We sat for hours staring at Michelangelo’s grand design and symbolic representation of the connection between God and human kind in the decadent and elaborately designed Sistene Chapel. It was a goose chase to finally reach it because the signs: “to the Sistene Chapel actually take you throughout the ENTIRE museum, but we were glad to see every room, not a penny wasted. The chapel itself, once we finally arrived, was, again, breathtaking, and every positive adjective under the sun. From the depiction of Adam and Eve, to the creation of the world, to Noah’s Arc, to the story of Jesus, there is no other chapel or room in the world that can house such artistic genius. The walls were covered in such vibrant colors – every inch detailed with purpose. To be in a chapel that houses such spiritual and historical importance was an incredible feeling – and to know that Michelangelo himself was in this same room thousands of years ago (1481 to 1483) is at times incomprehensible, but still amazing at that.
After our day at the Vatican (and heading back to Saint Peters Square to retrieve tickets to see the Pope speak tomorrow morning at an outdoor assembly open to the public), we sat on a bench, had some Italian pastries and rested from our day. We then walked about 30 minutes to the Spanish Steps – which are beautiful and lead to a very posh shopping district of Rome. We had dinner in a café along one of the side streets, and then moved to another café with cheaper wine for dessert, where we had some dry chocolate cake, but it did not matter because our waiter was a beautiful Italian man who called us his angels the entire night. It was such an overwhelmingly amazing day in which my ears were perked, my eyes wide, my head amazed, my heart inspired, and my feet tired, all at the same time J.
We have one more day in Rome tomorrow – a free day to explore and head back to some of our favorite sights, starting with listening to the Pope at 10:30am – that is if we get up in time! As the clock encroaches 11:26 pm, that becomes questionable J.
So it turns out, if Rome has been good for anything, it has certainly cleared up some misunderstandings I had about the Roman ruins, which is sure to make Monica smile! And while everyone in my family has been to Rome, sometimes you have to travel and see things for yourself to fully grasp and understand the reason, beauty and wonder of it all. I am really glad I finally had the chance to do just that, and now I can compare notes with the best of them J.
Love and hugs,
Jenny
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