Rome

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July 25th 2008

Published: August 10th 2008

Rome was Amazing!!!

We arrived in Rome on the 23rd, and took the metro to our youth hostel in Ottaviano, a lovely five minute walk from the Vatican. The train ride was around six hours long, but it was really nice to travel by land, I have to say.
We got to our hostel without a problem and found ourselves ushered into an eight person dorm room, a change from the last few weeks for sure. We introduced ourselves to our roomates, two Canadian girls, a Belgian couple, and a lady from Germany who walked all the was from Hamburg to Rome. She was amazing, and very freindly. We spent the evening buying food at the supermarket, planning our time in Rome, and recovering from our long train ride. Off to bed early to rest up for some crazy sight seeing.

On Thursday (the 24th), our first full day in Rome, we started out in a little bit of a daze, not used to all the commotion, but soon gathered ourselves together and set out with determination.

Our first stop was the Sistine Chapel and surrounding halls. With beautiful frescoes by Rafael, and Michaelangelo that leave you feeling breathless. I can't even imagine how difficult it was, and how long it took to create them. Its hard to imagine in our age of wallpaper and roller brushes.

The Sistine Chapel was lovely, and I know I would have to go back again and again to truly absorb all there is to see.

Later, we made our way around to St. Peters. We paid five euros to climb 511 steps to the top of the Cupola. The thing that we didn't think about is that if you go up 511 steps, you must also come down 511 steps, ouch. Our legs were shaking when we finally reached the bottom.
The view from the top was fabulous! We could walk around and see practically all of Rome. It was nice to get a bigger picture, to see the river, various churches, the castle, and other sites stretching out for miles.

After the precarious journey back down from the top we headed for the line to get inside St. Peters. We both covered our shoulders appropriately, so as not to be denied entrance. Our entertainment was watching two bare shouldered girls in line in front of us to see if the bare skin police would not let them in. It was quite exciting for us, but not so much for the girls as they, in the end, had to wait in line only to be turned away from the entrance. They had to walk away, ashamed of there bare shoulders.

We finally made it through security, past the bare-skin police, and through the gigantic doors of the Basilica. As soon as we stepped inside my jaw dropped as my gaye lifted to the ceiling. I have never seen such an impressive, magnificant structure. The huge collums, with larger than life Saints and Popes carved into them made me feel like a small insigicant ant. We walked over the gorgeous marble floor while compelled to stare at the gold covered ceiling and arches. Even the vast amount of tourists couldn't make the builing feel small.
We wandered around for I know not how long, completely captured, and in awe of our surroundings. After walking in a full circle around the Basilica we came to a large gathering of people close to the door, and wondered what it was about. Then we saw it, Michaelangelos Pieta. I have never seen a more breathtaking statue. Mary, holing Jesus in her arms. You can see her unbearable anguish, and incomprehensible peace. All youcan do is stare at it, not knowing of you want to cry for Mary or sing for joy. But I don't think the men walking around shushing people would appreciate the singing. 😊 Anyway, my point with all this babbling is that the beauty of the Pieta cannot be decribed, it can only be experienced.

We exited St. Peters, and it took a few minutes for us to come out of whatever trance we were in in order to figure out what to do next. No question about it, back to the hostel for a nap. 😊

The Canadian girls invited us to go to this delicious pizza place with them in Trastevere. We had a wonderful evening of pizza, gelato, and refreshingly female conversation. They were really nice, friendly, and down to earth girls. After dinner we strolled along the lighted streets, enjoying the various booths, stands, and local music.

We caught bus number 23 back to our hostel, all of us ready for sleep. I can't say enough how wonderful it was to hang out with females for a change. All the people we have met so far have been guys.

We awoke on Friday, feet hurting from our climb to the Cupola, but ready for the Colloseum. The line was already crazy long, but it was worth the wait. We rented the audio guide, which makes it much more interesting I think, especially if you are not with a tour group. The funny thing though was how it described the mass slaughter that occured in the Colloseum. How often it mentioned the horrible murdering of the animals, heaven forbid the animals should die. But a gladiators life span wasn't that much less than a normal citizen, no big deal when the humans are killed. Rediculous I tell you!!
It really was amzing though. It is too bad that over the years the Colloseum has been stripped of its stone, marble, and metal for other buildings. I can't imagine how amazing it must have looked in all its former glory.

After a trip to the supermarket and a very refreshing nap, we headed out to see a few more sights on our last day in Rome. We rode the bus to the Spanish steps, and pretended to be inside Roman Holiday, which I think everyone else was doing too. The Steps were completely covered in people, like bees to honey, or whatever. The steps seemed smaller to me than in the movie, but still maintained that same lovely atmosphere.

After a time of sitting on the steps, discussing the various aspects of Rome that agreed or disagreed with us, we decided to walk to the Treve Fountain to see it light up as it grew dark. It was beautiful, and peaceful despite the masses. We tossed our coins into the water like every good tourist should do. We got snapped a few pictures, pretty good ones I think, if not we bought postcards 😊 Then we sat, stared, and listened. The statues are magnificant!! They aren't as meaningful feeling as the Pieta, but definetly posses an air of power or victory. I love how the carved stone seems to flow from the uncarved rock, right along with the water. The lights turned on as we sat there and only made the experience more incredible. I think when I look back on Rome, The Fountain will be one of my favorite sights.

From the Fountain we strolled along the streets until we came upon the Pantheon. A very impressive building in the dark, with the street lights and lights from restaurants resting on it. It was slightly spooky, but in a good way, and the shadows cast by the huge columns lent an air of mystery to the already intersting structure. It was closed, and someday I would like to go back and actually find out what is inside.

As it was a beautiful evening (and we didn't really know what bus to take to get back) we decided to walk back to our hostel. I am so happy we did because everyything has such a lovely look at night. We crossed the bridge, passed by the castle, and took a lokk at St. Peters in the moonlight.

I can't imagine a more pleasant or relaxing last night in Rome. We have really had a lot of fun, but are excited to head to the Julian Alps of Lake Bled, Slovenia tomorrow.

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