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Published: October 28th 2015
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I have been in Italy since Friday of last week. We have a week off from classes, so my friend Joe and I are taking the opportunity to travel in Italy and Switzerland. The first city we visited was Rome. We arrived at night, so we didn’t get to do much until the next day. We started off that morning with the Colosseum. It’s an amazing structure, especially considering its age. As most people know, the Romans built it to keep their citizens happy and ignorant of the empire’s decline. Over the years of its operation, it saw gladiator fights, naval battle reenactments, and executions of Christians. In its prime, it seated 70,000 people, an impressive number even by today’s standards. In comparison, Baylor’s brand new McLane Stadium seats about 45,000 people. Today, only about 30% of the original structure remains. Another 30-40% has been rebuilt in the last 200 years, and the rest is still gone. If not for people scavenging the metal supports from the stadium’s blocks over the centuries, experts estimate that up to 80% of the original structure would still be standing. It’s a great testament to the architectural expertise of the Romans.
Nearby, we saw
the ruins of the Roman Forum. We couldn’t stay long because we had to reach the Vatican in time to use our 1:30 tickets. When we entered the Vatican museums, we first looked through an art gallery. It had some really impressive paintings, including one of a scene in the Garden of Eden. Next, we moved on to the Sistine Chapel. The path to the chapel itself led through several hallways and rooms with different displays. There were sculptures, giant maps on the walls, antiques, paintings, and ceiling frescoes similar to the one we finally saw in the chapel. Finally, we arrived in the Sistine Chapel itself. Michelangelo’s masterpiece was really cool to see. I never realized this before, but the part where God and man reach towards each other is only one small part of the painting. The next morning, our final visit in Rome was to the Pantheon. While much smaller than the Colosseum, it was my favorite structure in the city. It has great architecture both inside and outside. The Roman gods inside were long ago replaced by Christian paintings and statues, but it’s easy to imagine how the Pantheon would have looked in Roman times.
Leaving Rome, we took a bus Florence. Florence has just as much history and culture as Rome, but it focuses on the Italian Renaissance rather than the Roman Empire. My friend Urmit recommended the Galileo Museum and Il Duomo Cathedral, and they did not disappoint. The Galileo Museum included hundreds of scientific instruments, including telescopes used by Galileo himself. Much of the collection was compiled by the famous Medici family hundreds of years ago. The Duomo Cathedral is the most impressive site we visited in Florence. It’s a huge church, complete with a giant dome with a platform outside. The Florentines built it about 700 years ago. Joe and I got up early one morning to beat the long lines and climbed up the long path to dome platform. Once we got there, we got a great view of the entire city. With one or two possible exceptions, the Cathedral is the tallest building in the city, so we could see for miles. Next, we went to the Accademia Gallery to see the Statue of David. It’s easy to see why the sculpture is so famous, considering its size and detail. Later that day, we also saw the Medici Chapels.
Several members of that family are buried there inside elaborate sarcophaguses sitting under sculptures designed by Michelangelo.
One really cool part of traveling as cheaply as possible is getting to meet other travelers staying at the same places. At a hostel in Rome, we met a girl from Oregon who is now living near Venice and trying to learn Italian. At an apartment we found on AirBnB in Florence, we met a fellow traveller from France. He gave us advice on things to see in Florence and places to go in France if we get the chance. The next morning, we met a grad student from Taiwan staying in a different room who shared her breakfast (pasta) with us. That night, there was a kid from the Netherlands staying in our room who talked about his future in the European tourism industry. Finally, there were some students from the University of Southern California that stayed in our room on our last night.
Today, we took a train from Florence to Riomaggiore, part of the Cinque Terre area along the west coast of Italy. It was lightly raining, but we hiked through the hills to the next town, Manarola,
where we are staying for the night. Tomorrow, we will hike through the other three towns in Cinque Terre. After this, our final stop will be Zurich, Switzerland before returning to London. It’s exhausting, but I’m having the time of my life.
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