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!).
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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.
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Marilyn in front of the Vittorio Emanuele Monument at night |
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Ruins in the old Roman Forum |
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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.
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The Pantheon |
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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!
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.
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The Colosseum with some other ruins in the foreground |
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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 4th century church. There are still pillars intact and remnants
on the walls. From there you can take
another staircase down and discover a 1st 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.
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The stairs down to the 4th century church |
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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.