I wonder if I would feel this way if I wasn't an architecture major?

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Here's what really amazes me about Rome...

We've spent years sitting in classes, hearing teachers talk about the Roman civilization and about how innovative Roman architecture was, and sure we've seen pictures of great buildings and learned the history of them, but I'm seeing them come to life before my eyes. This may sound cheesy, but it's something that you can only experience. No matter how much you look at pictures of something, there's nothing like walking down a narrow, winding street and then stepping out into a piazza, immediately confronted with the Pantheon. It's huge! And what amazes me even more is thinking, "How did they do this?" I mean we have tons of machines and thousands of resources, and the majority of things we create today don't begin to compare to this; they don't make you feel their presence, their power, the life that is still in them after hundreds of years. But they lived before everything that we had, so literally, how did they build this gigantic, beautiful temple? It's huge!

I'm not trying to say that there's not other great things in other places; I'm just still a little in awe of everything coming to life before my eyes.

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Photos

The Pantheon
Interior shot of (part of) the huge dome...it's a surprise compared to the outside...even when you are prepared for it.

Comments

[Shar]

exactly my thoughts!!
came across your entry because i just arrived in rome this morning and i've studied a bit of architecture too... i swear, most of today i was so happy that i was traveling alone because none of my friends could possibly appreciate the coffered ceilings or the archways and building materials to that extent and probably would have thrown me in the trevi fountain. and passing the coloseum in the middle of the night in the taxi... i was thinking, this stuff can't be real - it's in my textbooks!!