Italy (Rome)

We arrived to our hostel in Rome in the late evening and were greeted by our host Francesca.  It was more of a guesthouse, as there were only 3 rooms and a small kitchen area; a very charming little place in a nice neighborhood near the Colosseum.  Francesca was a very gracious and friendly host.  She provided us with a great map of the city, as well as several tips on places to see, eat, drink, and get groceries.  We were pretty worn out from our day of travel, so we grabbed a bite at a nearby café and relaxed for the night.  The city of Rome occupies a hefty section of every tour book, so we knew we needed our rest for the days of sightseeing ahead.  We found a guided tour which met the next day at 5:30pm, with a highly rated and reviewed tour guide named Stephano (thanks Tripadvisor!).

The Colosseum at night

There was quite a bit of time before our tour, so we decided to walk around, get a feel for the city, and see some of the highlights ourselves.  We walked past the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, some Roman bath ruins, the Vittorio Emmanuel Monument, the old Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, Trevi Fountain, some more ruins, and finally ended at the Spanish Steps where our tour met.  The Vittorio Emmanuel monument celebrates Italy’s unification and independence, which was gained back in 1861, making this year the 150^th anniversary.  It housed a museum which detailed the years and events leading up to the unification.  It struck us as a very turbulent effort, with several failed attempts before eventual success.  Even after unification, Rome was not part of Italy until a few years later.  It was not until after a siege of the city that the Pope gave up his temporal powers and Rome became the rightful capital of a united Italy.

Marilyn in front of the Vittorio Emanuele Monument at night

Ruins in the old Roman Forum

A famous Bernini sculpture

Anyway, we met Stephano as planned and set out on our tour.  He was a short, older Italian man, who was very animated and passionate about his city.  We learned about Pope Urban, who was very instrumental in Roman city works.  His mark, the bumblebee (an insect that he was particularly enamored with), was evident in several fountains, buildings, and even on the lone restored pillar of the Pantheon.  The Pantheon was probably the most impressive sight that we saw; a 2000 year old domed structure which has deteriorated only slightly through the years.  The dome was the largest in the world until the New Orleans Superdome was built, and if constructed with modern concrete and construction methods, would have crumbled long ago.  Stephano also took us in to a few beautiful churches, including one with two famous sculptures by Bernini.  It was a great tour, but an exhausting day.  We decided to replenish our energy by eating at one of the restaurants Francesca had recommended.  It turned out to be a great pasta meal, and we were thankful that we had saved our money so we could eat out more in Italy.

The Pantheon

Our dinner!

We dedicated the next day for seeing the Vatican.  No trip to Rome would be complete without it.  As you may know, the Vatican is actually its own sovereign nation, .44 sq. km of walled land plopped down in central Rome.  We elected to see the Vatican museums first, which includes the Sistine Chapel.  We’re not experts, but this has to be one of the most impressive museums in the world.  There are rooms filled with ancient sculptures, many more than 2000 years old.  Pottery from the Etruscan people before the Roman Empire.  Paintings by all the famous Renaissance men, Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, etc, etc.  Each piece we saw was another priceless work of art.  We found out that this amazing collection was put together after a mandate by the Catholic Church in the 17 and 1800s to collect and preserve important works of art.  The last stop was the Sistine Chapel, whose entire ceiling is famously painted by Michelangelo.  As if this wasn’t impressive enough, we obviously had to see St. Peter’s Basilica.  This enormous cathedral is like no other, and really can’t be compared to any church, cathedral, or duomo we have seen.  It also houses Michelangelo’s Pieta, easy to spot because of the crowds of people angling to get a good picture.  It is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed.  It was another full day, but we weren’t done yet!

If I remember, this is what remains of a Greek statue, made a few hundred years B.C.

The famous Michelangelo statue in St. Peter's Basilica

The roof of the Sistine Chapel

Marilyn in St. Peter's Basilica

The front facade of St. Peter's Basilica.  Hard to appreciate from just a picture!

Next on the list was the Colosseum.  Armed with some good info (again from Tripadvisor!) we were able to skip the probably hour+ line and get our tickets within 5 minutes.  For anyone who plans to visit, you can do this in one of two ways.  First, you can go to the Palatine Hill/Roman Forum first and buy your ticket there; this is a combined ticket with the Colosseum, the same one you would get at the Colosseum.  Alternatively, if you look for the signs pointing to the audio tour at the Colosseum, you can skip right past everyone, and buy your ticket at the same time as the audio tour, which, like I said, is only about a 5 minute line!  Anyway, this was another amazing feat of Roman engineering which has stood the test of time.  Standing there and imagining how 50,000+ people watched the bloody games 2000 years ago is very surreal.  It is truly amazing how advanced the Romans were.  They had organized ticket systems for spectators, bathrooms, and even stoves and ovens for re-heating or preparing food.  Modern stadiums are so clearly influenced by this early structure.

The Colosseum with some other ruins in the foreground

Inside of the Colosseum.  The small amount of wood floor shown is a recreation

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the many ruins of the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum area.  Though much less well preserved, these areas are still very impressive.  Historians have created virtual reconstructions based on research and excavations.  What a truly amazing area this must have been.  Afterward, we headed over to the San Clemente Basilica.  This is nice, church, but nothing too special.  The real draw lies below the surface.  Literally.  Descending the staircase you find yourself in a 4^th century church.  There are still pillars intact and remnants on the walls.  From there you can take another staircase down and discover a 1^st century pagan temple.  The altar and various rooms have been preserved.  This was quite remarkable and unique to this area.  The river that flows through Rome used to regularly flood before dams were built.  Therefore, over the years the flooding added layers of sediment, covering and protecting these places of worship.  

The stairs down to the 4th century church

A room from the 1st century temple

Rome did a good job of wiping us out, but we still have one more stop in Italy... Siena.