Rome

We got to Rome by taking a train around Lake Geneva and then through the Swiss Alps. More or less, it’s a day in the train, witnessing nature’s best. The lake, as it had been in Geneva, was clear and calm, and the snow-capped Alps spectacular and majestic. The pictures I tried to capture from the train simply don’t do the water and mountains justice. Rome, like Paris, is a tourist hub. We arrived late in the evening and checked into the Yellow, our hostel. Due to their operational inefficiencies, Naber and I were stuck in separate four-person rooms, which was mildly annoying. We enjoyed a typical Italian pasta dinner across the street, a homely restaurant called Mamma Angelas. Since it was late and we were tired from a full day of travel, we sat ourselves at the bar of our hostel and enjoyed a few drinks, making small talk with two girls from Chicago (well, Naperville and Wheaton) who attended Iowa. They were catching a midnight train back to Torino, so that would be the last of them. I should mention that a full bottle of wine is 7 euros at the bar, compared to the seven dollars it would cost for a single glass in the States.

Following breakfast on our first full day, we set out to the famed Colosseum. Our lucky weather streak came to an end, as we had overcast skies and intermittent rain showers. Could have been much worse though, and the rain never lasted long. But about the Colosseum… it is an amazing structure. The amphitheater is enormous, and it was quite the experience walking through the upper levels, trying to imagine what it was like when it was full, and gladiators were duking it out in the middle. While much of the building has crumbled and been worn by age and weather, it made a lasting impression in my mind. Being in Italy, we quickly came to a consensus that pizza would be our food of choice for lunch. It doesn’t take very long to find a pizza joint in these parts. While Naber decided on a vegetarian pizza, I settled for prosciutto, better known to Americans as ham. The pizza was rather good, as expected, and we moved on to walk around Palatine and the Roman Forums. Both areas are remnants of Ancient Rome, where only parts of walls, columns and temples remain. It’s a beautiful sight. Unfortunately, I’m no history expert, so I can’t give you the intimate details of the ruins and their significance. However, the details are not needed to appreciate the beauty and atmosphere of the place.

After our stroll through the Forums, we walked past the Campidoglio, a large museum with a staircase leading up to it designed by Michelangelo. From there, we walked towards the Trastevere district, considered the “heart of Rome.” We first stopped by to see Saint Mary’s in the Cosmedin, which houses the Mouth of Truth. We stopped for some gelato while crossing the Tiber River. Gelato, or better known to most of you as ice cream, is nothing short of amazing in Italy. We walked the streets of Trastevere, stopping by Saint Mary’s of Trastevere, the oldest basilica in Rome. This district really lives up to its label, as the streets are filled with more locals rather than tourists, and there’s a distinct old city feel. We walked up part of Janiculum Hill, which has various monuments and fountains scattered throughout, as well as panoramic city views. However, the low clouds and rainy day didn’t make the views as notable as they should be.

Following the Trastevere district, we crossed back over the river and into the Aventine district. Saint Alessio Church is located on a hill in this district, but there was no obvious way up from the street we were on, so we just moved on. We walked down to the Pyramid, which holds the tomb of Caius Cestius (really don’t know who that is…) and also saw Porta San Paolo, one of the ancient gates into Rome. As some rain started coming down again, and we had wound up in the southernmost area of Rome, we caught a metro back up to the hostel for dinner at the restaurant next door. While Nick enjoyed the house special seafood pasta dish, I settled for a simple penne with a creamy pesto sauce, with the traditional Italian tiramisu as dessert.

On our second day in Rome, we headed for the Vatican. St. Peter’s Square is the largest square in Rome, and it’s also definitely more of a circle. Someone missed out on that memo, or maybe that’s me. Anyways, after standing in a line that almost went straight out the square, we made our way into the famed St. Peter’s basilica. It is massive on the inside, and impressive, I should add. Taking our obligatory pictures, we moved on to make the climb up the cupola (the dome). The climb involves 500+ stairs, the last half being very narrow and steep. While Nick opted out of the last half of the climb, I should mention it’s really not meant for the claustrophobic. As you reach the dome, the walls slant towards the middle and the passageway is about the width of your shoulders, you kind of have to lean towards the center yourself and shuffle your way up the dome. The last couple stories involve the smallest and very steep spiral stairs case. The middle of the stair case is literally a rope they drop from the top so you can hold up and try to semi-climb your way up to the top. The views are spectacular though, and you can really see that St. Peter’s Square is more of a circle.

After yet another pizza lunch, we walked along the Vatican Wall to go see the Sistine Chapel. What we didn’t know, is that you have to pay for all the Vatican Museums to see the Sistine Chapel, as it was designed in a manner that you had to walk through building after building to actually reach the chapel. It’s kind of like how 90% of the people who go to the Louvre pretty much just to go see the Mona Lisa. At least the Sistine Chapel is a whole room as opposed to a small square picture. Since there’s pretty much only one way to get to the Sistine Chapel, you do end up seeing quite a bit of the other museums, full of sculptures and paintings and beautiful artsy items.

We spent the rest of the afternoon making our way back across the city to our hostel, walking by St. Angelo’s Castle and the Navona Plazza. Unfortunately, the middle of it was under construction, ruining the effect of the huge plaza and its fountains. The middle fountain, Bernini’s masterpiece called the Fountain of Four Rivers is a beautiful work of art and was well worth the walk-through. After making it back to the hostel with sore feet and tired legs, we went to Mamma Angela’s again for dinner. On the subject of Italian food, the rest of the world could stand to take a leaf out of the Italians’ book in the restaurant service industry. Smiling, pleasant, helpful with the menus, not to mention their ability to open a bottle of wine in less than 5 seconds. It’s rather amazing, actually. And this is all before talking about the actual food. Words can’t really describe how much I love the food in Italy so far, and I don’t even eat Italian food all that often back at home (and we’ll just not count pizza at school). In our stay in Rome, never did we have a less than highly satisfactory meal, no matter how simple, cheap or quick it was. A few drinks back at the hostel bar and we called it a day.

The last day was taken at more of a leisurely pace. We set out on foot, per usual, first walking by the Quirinal Palace. The Alpha Romeo police car parked in the plaza was probably the most exciting thing here, granted we didn’t go in. Our next stop was the Trevi Fountain, the famous “Virgin Water” of Rome. It’s fabled that anyone who drinks from it or throws a coin in is destined to return to Rome. So it looks like I’ll be back sometime. We made our way over to the Pantheon, another very cool sight in Rome. Moving on, we walked through Chigi Plaza and the Marcus Aurelius monument, and turned up Via del Corso, more or less the shopping area of Rome. We walked up through Piazza del Popolo, yet another large square (and it really is close to a square this time), then up through a park. We cut through the park and ended up at the top of the Spanish Steps, or Piazza de Spagna. Taking our obligatory pictures at each location, we set out for place mentioned in the all-knowing Lonely Planet book for lunch. You should be able to guess what we had. Pizza, of course. Pizzeria Buffeto provided some of the best pizza I’ve had in a very long while. After the pizza, we crossed town and went down to the Lateran to see St. John’s basilica. Since this was pretty much the 30th church we saw in Rome, I don’t remember what made this one stand out other than it was big. However, the chapel across the plaza held the Scala Santa, the Holy Staircase. Jesus Christ Himself was rumored to have climbed these stairs, and visitors can only ascend these stairs on their knees now.

Rome is truly a great city to visit. It’s full of history, ruins, and architecture, not to forget religion. While it’s a tourist hotspot, parts of the city still retain an authentic feel. It’s a relatively small city with a lot to see. So far it’s been a great start to our stay in Italy. We head to Florence next, followed by Venice.