Rome!!!

Tuesday March 25th

We got up at 6am and checked out of our hotel in Athens and went to the airport. We arrived in Rome at 10:10am (we moved our clocks back one hour and so now I’m only 6 hours off from the United States!) We arrived at our hotel at around noon and our hotel was BEAUTIFUL! The showers were amazing and the beds were sooo comfortable. Way better than the crap we have been dealing with in Cyprus. Haha we were all pretty much in heaven! We then left around 3pm for our 3-hour walking tour of Rome. Our guide was soo much fun and we walked by the Colosseum and then made our way down the road to the Pantheon and the Spanish steps and the most beautiful monuments and fountains I have ever seen. We saw Emmanuel the second monument and it was gorgeous.

On our walking tour we saw the following things:

The Forum- This civic, commercial and religious hub was the first in Europe to house a million inhabitants. Earthquake, fire, flood, and the plunder of barbarians and Renaissance architects reduced the area to a muddy cow pasture until the excavations of the 19^th century.

Trajan’s Column- celebrates Trajan’s campaigns against the Dacians. The marble column was built in 113 AD and has 2,500 figures (including human figures, soldiers, animals, landscapes and architecture) that tell the campaign stories of Trajan.

Pantheon-temple of all Gods- from the ancient Greek words for “all the gods”. The Pantheon, like the Colosseum, is a mixture of Greek and Roman architecture (evident in the domed rotunda). It has Corinthian columns which decorate the interior and exterior of the building. You can experience “the mathematical sublime” of the philosopher Kant upon entering the spherical building. The building doesn’t have windows, but it gets light from the opening at the top, which is called “oculus” meaning “eye”. The Pantheon was built by Emperor Hadrian around 120 AD. Today it is used as a Christian church and contains the tomb of Raphael, one of the greatest Italian Renaissance artists.

Trinita dei Monti- 16th century French church close to the Spanish steps. The Spanish steps combined with the Santa Trinita church and the Barcaccia fountain creates a quintessential Roman scene. The steps are a hang-out of Rome’s youths, lovers, peddlers of trinkets and the occasional hustler. John Keats had a house at the bottom of the steps, which has been preserved as a museum.

Piazza di Spagna- Named after a palace used as the Spanish Embassy, the famous steps and the Piazza di Spagna are the heart of the city’s most fashionable and exclusive shopping enclave leading to the Via del Corso.

Trevi Fountain- one of Rome’s most exuberant monuments. It was built 50 years after Bernini’s death and may have been based on a design by him. The figure of Neptune was added by Pietro Bracci in 1762.

We had free time after our tour and we went back to the hotel, took showers and off we went downtown for dinner. We took the bus because the metro didn’t go to where we were going and we couldn’t figure out how to pay for the bus so we just got on and didn’t pay. Oops! We ate dinner at a place called “Take it easy” and immediately it reminded me of the Eagles song. Once I looked at the menu, they had dishes called the Eagles, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, etc. It was great! I had fettuccine alfredo with mushrooms for dinner with red wine and brushcetta. I was in heaven. Italian food is the best thing on this earth! After dinner I went home with Ryan and Laura because I was exhausted and went to bed, but on the bus ride home we drove by Castle Angelo (Castel Sant’ Angelo was built by Hadrian as a sepulcher for himself and his family from 135-39 AD. It was modeled on the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the World) and saw it all lit up at night and then we stopped right in front of the Vatican and it was so beautiful at night. This was my first glimpse of the Vatican and I couldn’t wait to see it the next day!!! Funny note of the day: my pals I’m hanging out with Katie, Liz, Mandy and Merry went out this night and once they got back Katie got out the cab after trying to get a cigarette machine to work thought we were still in Athens and began to run down the road saying “guys come this way, the gyro place is right down here.” Merry was all excited and started to follow and Liz and Mandy were like “you idiots” were in ROME!! Hahahahah excellent story!

Wednesday, March 26th

ROME

Colosseum tour

Today we go inside the Colosseum!!! We met our tour guide on this rainy cloudy morning inside the massive colosseum. The Emperor Vespasian, founder of the Republic, erected the Colosseum in 72 AD. It was built for entertainment purposes; however, according to Lord Byron, the Colosseum was “the gladiators’ bloody circus.” Countless people were killed during the brutal games help in this amphitheatre. It used to accommodate 50,000 people and had around 80 entrances. It’s a building that combines Greek and Roman architecture with Etruscan (Doric) columns on the first floor, Ionic on the second, and Corinthian on the third, as well as Roman arches (seen on all levels) and the spherical shaped of the building. So that’s all of the technical stuff but to sum up the Colosseum in one word…SPECTACULAR! You learn about all of these things your whole life and see them in movies and then all of a sudden it’s right in front of your face. I couldn’t believe it.