Monday, August 25, 2014

Day 3: 15,000 Steps!

Day 3: May 16th 2014




This is the big day for this trip.. and by big day I mean the most exhausting day! So let's start with breakfast! Which for Italians, isn't....that...big. It would appear that Europeans love to eat a light breakfast in the morning...which is something unheard of in the States, which I conclude is why we are fat and they are not.





After breakfast we all loaded onto the bus and went to the Colosseo, or Colosseum! Here are a few facts about the Colosseum I was able to write down:

  • Largest amphitheater in the center of Roman Empire
  • Located east of the Roman Forum
  • The Colosseum can hold 50,000 to 80,000 people
  • There are 80 arches of the Colosseum and 76 were numbered. (4 were left unmarked as sections for common people.
    • The first floor was for senators, second for soldiers and horsemen of the army, third for teachers and preists, and the fourth level for women and 'poors', or commoners.
This is the gladiator's entrance, where the fighters would walk out onto the Colosseum floor. Gladiators were seen as superstars. Their fights were like our modern day football games except much more deadly. This was the biggest form of entertainment among people. 

From left to right; Sarah, me, Natalie, Jessica, Ja-Li-Si in the Colosseum. This is a very sad experience because I thought about all the advancements that people made to make this structure, but then I think of all the death that happened here... It's very disheartening to me because I watch tourists, me included, take pictures and smiling at the place where literally thousands were killed... This is not to say that we're heartless or ignorant, it's just in hindsight I feel like this was a lesson in humanity. 

Now that ruined the mood of this blog, let me try to bring it around to something a bit brighter.

The Forum:
This place was for meetings, trials against senators, and businesses. There was to be a fire burning continuously. It was to be watched a all times, however some men left their post and this is said to be what caused the great fire of Rome. 

This arch is the lifeboat of history- Arch of Tidus. The man under the arch is emperor Tidus, the people on the side are the Jewish people who were conquered by the people on the opposite side, the Romans. 










Below is the Temple of Romulus, also called Santi Cosma e Damiano.
This is one of the most ancient churches in Rome.






This temple was donated by Emperor Maxentius to his son Valeirus Romulus. It was then Chrisitianized and dedicated to Sancti Cosma et Damianus. 









Here are few more pictures and I'll put cations under them so you know what they are:


Behind this wall is a rock that was used, to burn the body of Julius Caesar. His ashes are said to be used in the mortar of the wall constructed around the rock. Whether a myth, legend, or fact, people will put flowers on top of the rock to this day.'









            




 Where the door of this church is, use to be where the street level was until the started digging downward looking for the ruins of the Forum. The steps and columns  had to be added later for the structural support of the church.








   



This is the arch of Septimius Severus. It was made to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius and his two sons Caracalla and Geta. When Septimius died, his sons became joint emperors, that is until Caracalla had Geta killed and all of his memory, mention, and name essentially marked out of Rome's history.  








Next stop Trevi Fountain!

The Trevi Fountain is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and the most beautiful in the world. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown in the fountain each day! According to Iris the coins that euros are donated to the restoration of historical buildings and statues and the coins that are of different currency are donated to UNICEF.




















The Trevi Fountain has been in movies such as: Roman Holiday (1953), Three Coins in The Fountain(1954), La Dolce Vita (1960), (And the Lizzy McGuire Movie (2003), which I've been forced to add.) 

A traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. Which is good because I definitely want to go back!



For Lunch: Antico Ristorante Caffe' Capranica. This place is very good; I really liked their ravioli and casareccealla gricia, which is shown next to the restaurant here. 
 




After Lunch we investigated the area around the Trevi Fountain, through different side roads and alley ways. Somehow we came across this, what I would call, unbelievable bookshop! (Excuse me while I nerd out.) This antique bookstore has books that are, without a doubt over 500 years old. They have first editions of books from all over the world! I walked in and had to keep all my reserve to ask if it was alright if I just looked around. The older gentleman who worked the store just nodded and I was in-wrapped in the spines of books that had seen Paris in 1750 or Venice in 1490.



OK! Book nerd rant is over! (I know you're disappointed!)




The Vatican City:

The Musei Vaticani
20,000-30,000 visitors making this the most visited museum in the world. The 'country' is over 600 years old and is the smallest in the world, but certainly not the poorest!


Here are some pictures; my disclaimer is that I'm not a photographer, nor have I ever been one...
Some of the pictures have captions because I wrote it down or (through some luck) remember some vivid detail about said photograph! Godere (Enjoy)!

This a replica that is located on the third floor of the museum.
The ball on the top of the Basilica
can hold 8 people!





 Here we can see two different piece of art. The pinecone (Don't call it a pinecone; they don't appreciate that!) on the left is over 2000 years old as well as the peacock and lion sculptures with it!







The other on the right here is called, “Sphere Within Sphere” (Sfere Con Sfera) and it was created in 1990 by Italian sculptor Arnoldo Pomodoro. At first this sculpture was held within the archives of the Vatican (I'm just going to call that, and say it was in the basement...we're all thinking it...) When 911 happened in New York City, there was a similar statue at the base of the World Trade Center and the pope at the time had this brought up to the Pinecone court yard. This statue represents a new world coming from the old.

 

  

 
 










This is a statue in the Vatican Museum of a girl reading. I, in my travelers syndrome and new self awareness, like to think that she and I are alike, with our books and curious expressions.

St. Peter's Basilica




This is the main hallway, where you can fit two football fields and a 20 story building! There's music from an organ some where and the saints seem to watch as we learn about them and their past.









    








This picture above is the Crypt. It's the entrance to the Vatican's burial catacombs... which depending on who you are is either really cool or really creepy!





 

We were late getting to our dinner for tonight; we had to race across the streets and saw a couple who were taking their wedding photos on this bridge and we basically "photobomb-ed" their special moment. I would like to formally and internationally apologize for that at this time.

We had dinner at Lo Stregone.
Margarita Pizza!
Note: Olive oil is WAY better here than home.     
 

 
Had my first glass of wine, and it really wasn't that great, but I had more vino to try!
We talked about Iris's trips to places, Sarah and Helen's work history, lot's of fun stories, how we make funny faces when annoyed, and first memories of grandmothers...

Below is an Entry to my journal:

"Thoughts on the day:
Helen has a device that counts your steps as you walk and today we walked over 15,000 steps!
The saying was, "When in Rome," and this what led us to drink our first wine, eat gelato at least three times today! I really like this city; it's a beautifully sad story. There is so much history here that it's hard to take it all in!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

Day 2: Welcome to Rome!

May 15th, 2014

This is first thing I see and really feel like, "OK I'm here! Now what?"
If you read the earlier post you know that I haven't slept much and that may be affecting my psyche. (Bear with me.)

I follow my advisers, Sarah and Helen to meet our group as well as our tour leader for the trip. We move in a crowded mass toward the guide holding the EF tour group sign above his head. (If you're a first time traveler and you want to go to Europe, I recommend going with the EF tours! I say this because they have great guides who are knowledgeable of the areas visited, they take care of your hotels, transportation, and group meals, and I really enjoyed my time with this travel group.)

Ja-Li-Si and I on the bus.
We get loaded onto a bus with two other college groups from Michigan and Illinois and in total we had 51 people on this bus. I sat with my friend, Ja-Li-Si, the only person I really knew before this trip.

Our bus driver while we are in Italy was a twenty-four-year-old Italian named Carmente, (I'm almost certain that this is spelled wrong, but his name is pronounced, Car-men-nay), who was the best driver in Italy as far as I was concerned. Along with him, we had our tour director, Iris (pronounced Ear-is), who is German and can speak 6 languages! She lives in Berlin, Germany and also in Athens, Greece. Iris is very quirky; she carries a red flower above her head for us all to follow like little American bees.

She begins telling us about Rome and Italy in general as we make our way to the inner parts of Roma and these are the 'tid-bits' of information that I picked up before I began gawking out the window at the city:

  • Rome is the capitol of Italy, home to the country known as the Vatican City and is often referred to as the capitol of two states. 
  • The Tiber River spits the city. 
  • Rome has a history that spans two and half thousand years (I honestly can't even tell you a fraction.)
  • 3.8 million people call Rome their home.
  • Predominantly Roman Catholic.

Many of the living/housing complexes have balconies with overflowing flowers and plants, making the road we're on very beautiful, though all I've seen so far is beautiful. The umbrella trees of Rome are a sight as well.

Iris decided to take us to the Piazza Navona and let us explore the area. The Piazza Navona, is a plaza that has three fountains that depict stories of Neptune. The Piazza is built where the site of the stadium of Domitian was in the 1st Century AD.


Piazza Navona! There are performers, musicians, tourists, pick-pockets, locals, and every part of humanity visible here. Still, it's incredible!

As we explore the shops and alleyways around the plaza we found the Piazza della Rotonda. This is where the Pantheon is located and where we found our first gelato!

The Pantheon 
 Fontana del Pantheon



Below is the gelato we found! Ciuccula is the name of the shop! I had the ferrero rocher and it was amazing!

                

After this we went to find dinner (because it's only logical to eat dessert before dinner). First we found this kitchen known as Bottega Rocchi, where we had our first pizza in Italy...let me be the first to say it's not what Americans are used to by any means (and maybe at this particular place we should have had the sandwiches.) Anyway after this, my roommates for the trip, Ja-Li-Si, Jessica, Natalie and I went to after dinner and we found the best pizza we would eat in Rome, Pizza A Taglio, right down the road from our hotel the Hotel Carlo Magno.

 

 Awesome pizza! They make sheets of it and then they cut it with scissors and serve it by the gram. Mine had cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and onions. So we found out that we could survive a few blocks on our own! We're travelers in the making!

That's all for today! See you all tomorrow!