Rome is easily the most mind-blowing city I have been to so far when it comes to man-made structures. It's hard to imagine a place so packed with history and unbelievable sights. Every time you turn a corner, there's something jaw-dropping. You can barely walk from one metro station to the next without it taking hours because you've run across six more must-see stops on the way. I kept thinking I had just seen the most awesome, stunning sight in Rome and then I'd find the next one and couldn't decide anymore. Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Roman Forum... they're all ridiculously amazing.
Heading into the center of Rome after having stayed in the comparatively peaceful Vatican area marked a drastic increase in the amount of tourists we encountered. Yeah, ok, St. Peter's Square was totally packed for Easter, there were crowds at the basilica, and you could barely move in the Sistine Chapel... where am I going with this? I just felt that the sidewalks and general area were quieter and calmer. Well, the rest of Rome was full of tourists, and we were there at the end of March. I can't imagine how many people are around at the height of summer. I do not care for people who I don't know, so crowds suck. Really, crowds suck for everyone, including, I suppose, the other people in the crowds, but as we've covered, they're not the important ones.
Last we left off, we were leaving Vatican City after Easter mass, so I'll pick up from there.
Day 3 (continued)
Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, & Complesso del Vittoriano
By the time we'd had lunch and started making our way into the city, it was about 1:00. Our first stop was Piazza Navona. It was pretty with yet another obelisk that had a nice fountain underneath. There was a crowd around the fountain and it took a short wait to get a spot for photos. People also seemed to think it was fine to put their kids inside the barrier to run screaming around the fountain and continuously chase and splash water at the poor confused ducks that were just enjoying their afternoon swim.
We continued on to the Pantheon. Well, this was my first favorite thing that I saw. It looks like it's from a different world. I'd say it's the most imposing sight in the city with its charcoal color, thick columns, and prominent Latin inscription.
You would think it says something very profound or ominous, but disappointingly it's just telling you who built it. There's another obelisk outside as well, but you should remember that from reading Angels & Demons (I'm going to assume you all have read Angels & Demons, and if you haven't, I insist you turn off your computer right now and go get a copy- you can even refer to my blog for handy visual aids!).
Inside, the building is a cylindrical dome with the oculus in the middle where sunlight streams through (I totally wasn't going to bother finding out that the term was "oculus" but stumbled upon it by mistake while looking up something else, you're welcome), marble floors, and around the perimeter are columns, statues, tombs, and an altar.
One of the tombs is of Raphael, who requested to be buried there. In a strange burst of motivation, I just Wikipedia-ed the tomb for more information (this is how I found the term "oculus"). I was mostly wondering why he wanted to be buried under a statue of Mary, but I actually found the translation of his tomb's inscription, which is: "Here lies Raphael, by whom the mother of all things (Nature) feared to be overcome while he was living, and while he was dying, herself to die." Guys. That's so badass. Someone please write me a badass epitaph one day.
We sat on a bench (pew technically I suppose since it is a church) and listened to my audio guide for a half hour. Among things I recall, the floors are sloped downwards and have cracks built in because obviously, due to the oculus, rainwater would fall into the church and so they designed it to flow away from the center. Also, it began as a pagan temple (I'm talking BC years- the original temple burnt down and was rebuilt around the 120s AD), but was converted to a Christian church in medieval times. The whole building is just cool. I mean it's an ancient, intimidating church that doubles as a graveyard. These are a few of my favorite things.
Afterwards, we walked to the Trevi Fountain, and here I was even more taken aback by the amount of tourists. They were all over the stairs leading down to the fountain and someone was sitting on every inch of space at the edge of the fountain itself. We as a species need to stop multiplying. However, the fountain was amazing. I couldn't decide whether I prefer that or the Pantheon. It's gigantic! It's all white and built into the side of a building with columns, statues, and rocks over which this very clear, blue water flows. Wow.
We went down and managed to take some photos, deciding we would come back at night sometime when there were less tourists, then we went into the church in that piazza, Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio, for a quick look.
I was feeling very tired out by this point, and we decided to start walking back towards our new accommodation to officially check-in. I wanted to walk a path avoiding all of the other big sights on the map so that we wouldn't feel compelled to stop and see any more, but Lewis dragged me another way he insisted would be faster. Well, of course then we were near the Piazza Venezia and I saw this unbelievable massive white building which I very snappily told him I guess we had to go and see now. Dammit, Lewis, I knew this was going to happen.
It's called the Complesso del Vittoriano, and I couldn't believe the sheer size of it.
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
The building houses a museum, but we bypassed that and went out on the terrace to get a view of the city, then we walked around the back and into a church whose door opened onto the same balcony. This was called the Basilica de Santa Maria in Aracoeli, and out of the many churches we saw in Italy (excluding the Pantheon), this was my favorite.
The church was lined with chandeliers!! There were plants and flowers around the altar!
I was very glad we had wandered in there, but now I was even more exhausted and insisted we walk right home. Of course, as soon as we exited and walked down the stairs, we saw the Roman Forum sprawled out in front of us. I glared at it for being amazing and in my path, feeling defeated by the never-ending glory of Rome, but I wasn't going to let the city keep me from my bed any longer so we bypassed it to save it for the next day.
We checked into Appartamenti MarcoAurelio49, our new accommodation, got our luggage back, and were taken up five ridiculous flights of stairs to reach our room- I actually had to stop and catch my breath on the fourth floor. Aside from the exhausting climb every day though, the apartment was very cool. We were given the Flower Room. Everything was colorful! The shower was great, the balcony was pretty, there was a free Nespesso machine to use, and there was a glass platter with packaged croissants, cookies, jelly, etc that was replenished every day- also free. And they offered free laundry service! They had saved me some crucial packing space since I knew I could at least get some socks washed. Also, we were just a few blocks away from the Colosseum, right up the road. Great location.
Lewis fell asleep not long after and didn't get up again for the rest of the night. I sat online for awhile but then went to sleep myself. We'd had a long enough day!
Day 4
Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, & Rome at night
Monday we actually slept in a little, until about 9ish (I feel like old age is when you think 9 AM is "sleeping in," and I want to assure you my daily life is not like this).
We headed out intending to see the Colosseum, but we stopped and reconsidered when we saw how long the line was. It was almost midday by the time we were there, so I suppose it was peak time, but we didn't want to wait in a queue reaching halfway around the arena. I had bought our tickets online ahead of time, so I thought we were supposed to be able to walk in like at the Vatican museums, but that wasn't the case.
We looked across the way at Palatine Hill instead, because our tickets also granted us access to that and the Roman Forum. We were able to skip the ticket line there and just get in the entry line, although that was still at least a 20 minute wait. We finally got to the front and went through security, then we were off exploring.
First we went to the top where the pope had been for Good Friday and took some pictures overlooking the Colosseum.
There is also a temple up there that used to be the largest temple in Rome although now it is just ruins.
We started walking back the other way, and then it started raining. Well, it was an overcast day to begin with, but I had not brought a coat, and now I was wet and cold. We stood in a little tunnel for a minute, but I didn't want to waste a bunch of time because of the rain, so I decided to suck it up and keep walking, just taking shelter under trees when they were around while we stopped to look at things. It did clear up pretty quickly although remained a little chilly the rest of the day. To be fair, we got so lucky with the weather our entire trip that I can't complain about one day.
The Palatine Hill sights were pretty. The buildings looked out of the olden days (well, they are from the olden days) and they were set against green grass, cypress trees, purple blossom trees, and these tall trees I believe are called stone pines. It really reminded me of ancient lands. We read about what each site used to be and looked around a small museum.
Near the end, there was this garden with landscaped hedges, orange trees, and a fountain.
There were stairs leading down near there which brought us into the Roman Forum. We had already been walking around for over an hour, and the Roman Forum took us at least as much time. I loved it.
There were the ruins of temples, free-standing columns that were the only section of massive structures left intact, archways, statues, and columns lying on the ground. You could see that it was a once-great public center and even the ruins left standing showed how grand and powerful Rome used to be.
There were more plaques everywhere describing the various buildings in the area, such as the temple where the vestal virgins (six girls selected to a position of high-esteem as priestesses where the main requirement was chastity) kept the sacred flame of the city burning at all times.
When we finally left the Forum, we were both hungry, so we went to a busy nearby restaurant and sat inside. I had a quattro formaggi pizza bianco (a white four cheese pizza) with asparagus that was really good. Lewis was so in love with his lasagna that for maybe the first time ever in history he finished his meal before me. He swore he would never eat lasagna again because nothing could compare and then promptly made lasagna two days after returning home from Italy. He also got a big cup of strawberry ice cream and it was probably the happiest I saw him on the entire trip.
I was in a rush to go when we were done, because it was our last full day in Rome and I NEEDED to see the Torre Argentina cat sanctuary. Lewis had found this on a list of things to do in Rome, and it was a must. There are few things in life better than cats.
There is a whole section in the middle of a piazza blocked off to people where there are ancient ruins and rescued cats that live there and roam around them. Yes, it just as adorable as it sounds.
We walked up and immediately saw about five cats at one of the gates! I thought there was a place you could pet them though, so we kept walking and found some stairs down into an indoor area. This just looked like a typical shelter with cages for the kitties that needed isolation for health reasons and cat beds everywhere else out in the open where the cats were free to walk around.
There were cats everywhere! We stayed until they were closing.
We started walking back towards our apartment and stopped for a beer at a "Scottish" pub that had a sign outside the door labeling it a "party disco". We noted the flashing lights, two other customers, absence of a dance floor, menu full of pasta and pizza, and lack of Tennent's, so I can confirm that it was neither Scottish nor a party disco. One girl was wearing a tartan skirt, but it was probably an accident.
When we got back to the apartment we chilled out for a little while before heading back out later on at night for our last dinner in Rome. We went to a place a couple blocks away down the road from the Colosseum and sat at a table outside next to a heater.
We got some bruschetta (Lewis insisted on bruschetta just about everywhere we ate and I didn't argue) and I had gnocchi, and afterwards we walked over to the Colosseum for some night time photos.
Favorite.
We took the metro over to the Trevi Fountain for one more visit, and there were still a fair amount of scattered people there, including, unfortunately, all the annoying hustlers trying to sell you roses and offering to take your photo for money, although nothing like during the day. We took some pictures, then the police cleared everyone out so some cleaners could go through and sweep up all the trash from the day.
Lewis had really wanted to throw a coin into the fountain, so we stood up on the street at the side with a euro and since we didn't want to waste too much money decided to throw it in together (these are the kind of crucial budget decisions we make). Well, Lewis let go way later than me and flung it to the side where it landed on the ground in front of the fountain. Since the cleaners were there, we had to wait another ten minutes or so for them to finish, then we were able to go down and retrieve the euro. Lewis had found a penny on the ground in the meantime that he gave me so that we could toss our coins separately. Apparently throwing a coin in the fountain is supposed to mean you return to Italy, although then later we heard it was meant to be tossed over your left shoulder, and I feel maybe those rules should have been made clear like on a sign or something.
After tossing our coins, we walked back to the metro and were highly distressed to find that it was closed for the night (well, I was highly distressed). That meant a decent walk back, but we did make it eventually and got to sleep.
Day 5
Colosseum
Tuesday we were up as soon as our alarm went off because we needed to see the inside of the Colosseum before we left Rome and we didn't have a lot of time. We had planned to be in line when it opened, but we ended up there about a half hour later.
There was already a gigantic line, and actually it was the line for people who had already bought tickets! There was a totally empty line next to that one for those who needed to buy them there, and we tried going through that, but then a guard asked if we had our tickets already. I thought about lying, but then I was afraid the line would lead directly to a ticket counter, and I wasn't going to spend more money on something I already had. So we went back and waited, but we had our audio guide to listen to and at least the line was moving fairly quickly. We were inside by 9 or 9:30, and going through security we realized we totally could have come in the empty line because the ticket booth wasn't until past the metal detectors and the lines melded together on the way. Tip for any future travelers.
Once we got into the Colosseum, we went up some stairs and were in between the stone outer walls. They had artifacts in cases that we took a look at, like gambling trinkets people brought to the arena and skulls of the types of animals that would have been used in fights that made me angry on their behalf.
Then we came out into the stadium and were blown away for about the tenth time since arriving in Rome. I actually had no idea what the inside looked like- I think I expected an empty field with just the walls on the outside still standing. That was not accurate in the slightest.
Most of the stadium floor had been torn out to show the underground tunnels on the grass where competitors and workers would be behind the scenes. There was a small bit of the arena floor left on one end, but I think it was only accessible to tour groups.
There would be a daylong schedule of fights involving everything from prisoners to animals to gladiators. It's crazy to think how many people died in that arena and how many people came to watch. I mean, the Romans must have been pretty horrible human beings. There were four tiers of seating arranged by class and importance. They used to have makeshift elevators to send props up through the floor of the stadium and set scenes to match the battle- like trees and plants to imitate a jungle during a fight involving exotic animals. There is a cross on one side of the stadium where the Emperor would sit, and on the side opposite him was seating for the vestal virgins.
But I mean, it was a massive, incredible ruin. It was all brown crumbling stone inside but still looked majestic.
We walked around the entire thing top to bottom, but I could have easily spent another half hour there. I actually think the Colosseum might win coolest sight in Rome. Unfortunately, we were in a rush, so we left around 10:40 and walked back to our place to check out.
Overall, we had an amazing five days in Rome. It could hardly have gone more perfectly. I would say five days is the minimum amount of time you would need to spend in the city though, and there are parts of the map we didn't even get near. Hopefully one day I can let you know if that Trevi coin thing works.
In the meantime, we were off to visit the town of my heritage way in the hills of the Italian countryside. One more entry to go about that and one on Naples, and that will wrap up our trip to Italy.