Roma!

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After the Harry Potter tour, I began my journey to Rome. I took the train from London to the Gatwick airport, where I would catch my flight to Rome Fiumicino. After taking the plane, I boarded a train from the airport into the Tremini Station, where I could walk to my hostel. After getting a bit lost on the way to the hostel, I finally found it and checked into my room, which was actually very nice. There were only four beds, and none were bunk beds. I was exhausted, so I went to bed early, deciding to begin touring in the morning.

The next morning, I joined a free walking tour that started at the foot of the Spanish Steps and led us to the Vatican. It was very interesting having the tour guide explain all of the different parts of the city and their historical and cultural significance. I particularly enjoyed our visit to the Panthenon, which translated means temple to all the gods, as it originally was dedicated to all twelve gods and goddesses. At this point, however, it has been converted into a Christian place of worship, so the statues of the gods and goddesses have unfortunately been removed. It is interesting because it is the largest dome in Rome, and it was built at a time when mathematics and engineering are not what they are now. The accuracy with which they created the dome is astounding. The center of the dome is left open, as that is the most delicate portion of a dome and a small error could have had catastrophic effects. That being said, when it rains, water comes into the church, but they specifically designed it to have a sloped floor that leads to small holes in the center that drain the water. It was also very cool seeing the different parliamentary buildings as well as a pillar that had been taken from Egypt, and had hieroglyphic carvings along each side. We crossed the river, and then headed towards the Vatican, which was clearly marked by St. Peter's Basilica looming in the distance. When we arrived in the Vatican City, I left the tour a few minutes early because it had gone over time a bit and I needed to make it to the Vatican Museums by the time that I had prebooked the ticket for. I found the museums easily, and went straight in because I had pre-booked the ticket. The detail with which every room was decorated was simply unbelievable. Every corner of each room was painted with murals and there were many wooden and golden ornaments that framed the murals. There was so much to look at, it was hard to take everything in. And it all just kept going. Each room was decorated more grand than the one before, with the culmination of the museums being the Sistine Chapel. The chapel was absolutely gorgeous, and again it was hard to even notice everything because there was so much detail. One thing that surprised me was that there weren't any pews or chairs - it was just an open space that people were free to walk around in. That was the only part of the museums that you weren't able to take pictures in, as well. After finishing up at the museums, I grabbed a bite to eat and then went back to the Vatican to see Saint Peter's Basilica. There was an enormous queue to go in, but it moved very quickly, so I wasn't in line for very long. The basilica itself was stunning on the inside. The walls and ceilings were again covered with paintings and gold decorations, and there seemed to be a never ending amount of nooks filled with statues and other beautiful decorations. After finishing at the Vatican, I took a scenic route walking home, stopping by the Trevi fountain which unfortunately was under major construction, so I didn't get to see much of it. I got some gelato near the fountain and finished walking home. For dinner, I went to a small restaurant that our hostel recommended and gave us a discount at, which was very good.

Sunday morning, I started off the morning by going to mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, which was very interesting, because it was all in Italian. I was able to follow along with the general structure of the mass because it is universal, and could get the gist of the readings because they were printed and I could figure key words out from my limited Spanish. However, the homily lost me as I had no idea what he was saying, even in Italian, and thus there was no way I could pick up any hints of the subject. After finishing mass, I headed down to the Colosseum, exploring first the other Roman ruins before entering the Colosseum. It is so hard to believe how old everything is, and the size and scope of the structures they were able to build with such limited resources. The Colosseum was absolutely amazing, and would have been so cool to see in its former glory. After finishing up at the ruins, I walked to a restaurant that Ashlee recommended where I had a great lunch/dinner before heading back to the hostel to get some rest before my early flight the next morning.

All in all, despite only being there for a few days, I really enjoyed my time in Rome and felt as though I definitely got to see everything that I would have wanted to!

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