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Published: July 28th 2010
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spanish
spanish steps by day Rome was not built in a day and you sure as hell cannot see it in one. I should know. I tried. Got up a little after 5:30 as the sun was rising so I would not be found in the park ha. Dropped my bag off in a locker in Roma Termini station and after grabbing a map set out to see as much of Rome as I could. Headed back up by Villa Borghese to the Piazza del Popolo and from there over to the Spanish Steps. I did not know this last night but the steps I watched the concert from were actually the Spanish Steps. To be honest they are kind of a disappointment. Would not really look twice if they did not have such a hype about them. They are nice in the morning though before the hordes of tourists arrive. Made my way by foot down to the Trevi Fountain which is amazing even early in the morning before the fountain starts flowing. Its crazy since this massive fountain is in a pretty nondescript area. Would be impossible to find except for the signs made for tourists. Sat there for a while admiring the art
trevi
trevi fountain work on a quiet morning and also enjoyed watching one bird rip apart another on top of some statue in the fountain ha.
Was a little disappointed by the old Forum and Palatine hill. There are still some real archaelogical gems there but a lot of it is rubble. Ruins are often just that to me, ruined. Its cool to be at the center of the greatest empire of all time but still it's kind of overrated what is left. There is a cool museum up on this hill which is free and has some pieces of old statues. These things must have been massive since the broken off head of one of them is as tall as me. Had a nice collection of other massive seperated body parts as well ha. I kind of felt the same way about the Coloseum as I did about the other ancient roman ruins. I mean the things were destroyed by looters and the like long ago so it's really no shocker that it is not in great condition especially the inside. Did enjoy the Arch of Constantine though. Had lunch before heading over to Santa Maria Maggiore. Now that place is
1
number 1 worth seeing and I usually feel nothing when I go inside a church. I think I appreciated it more since we studied it a good bit in my Art History of the Early Middle Ages class. Now when people ask me why I took it I can reply that it made my trip to Rome about 1 or 2% more impactful. The gold tiled ceiling the whole way down the nave is pretty impressive and I remembered the art work in the dome as well.
Spent the rest of the afternoon reading and relaxing on the Spanish Steps before meeting my host Matteo at his place. Pretty funny to meet another Jew here. Especially one who keeps kosher in the home and has a bookcase full of Jewish texts. He works in a hotel on the night shift midnight to 8am so he is not around at night but makes a good guide during the day which will be cool. Anyways, that's enough about Rome for now. More to follow.
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