All roads lead to Roma

So I've been waiting a while to write this one (which probably means it will take a while for the next one)!  Apologies for it being super long.  And just an FYI, the expression "all roads lead to Rome" really is true...the road system of ancient Rome was actually built so that everything would lead to Rome.  Anyway, we went to Rome this past weekend.  I absolutely fell in love with the "eternal city".  There is so much to do and see, and now I'm completely exhausted and my feet are still hurting but it was worth it.  I'd have to say my favorites were the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) and La Cappella Sistina (the Sistine Chapel).  But there really wasn't anything in Rome that I didn't like though!

So we got in Friday night to a youth hostel (my first hostel experience).  We were super anxious about staying at a hostel, but it turned out to be great.  The staff was really nice and we met some cool people from Spain and France.  Rome has a much different feel than Sicily...for one thing, since it's so touristy, everyone speaks English!  And I know it sounds really spoiled and maybe arrogant to say, but it was definitely a relief after being in non-English speaking Palermo.  Rome also just has so much incredible history and culture...really anywhere you walk you'll run into something historic and significant.

Saturday morning we started off walking to the Colosseo...and ran into la Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (Basilica of St. John Lateran)! (told you you'll just run into cool things!) Just a beautiful church.

Next up was the Colosseo...it is HUGE.  Absolutely will take your breath away.  It actually originally was 4 floors, but the top floor no longer exists.  (We ended doing a guided tour of the Colosseum and then Palatine Hill.)  So I was informed that the Colosseum floor was originally covered with sand in order to better hide and soak up blood during the fights.  The Latin word for sand is "arena", and that's how we got the word arena!  The walls of the Colosseum are also covered with these holes (they actually really creeped me out), which are due to the Romans putting in these bronze bars in the walls in order to support the structure.  Later on, the bars were removed in order to use the material to make weapons.  There is now a cross that was put in the Colosseum some time ago by a Pope (it's the first thing you see when you enter) that honors all of the Christian martyrs killed in the arena.  After the Colosseo, we walked over and up Palatine Hill.  Palatine Hill is also incredibly enormous.  Palatine Hill consists of the ruins of Domitian's palace, the House of Livia, and the fire which the Vestal Virgins would have taken care of. There was also the remains of a chariot track near where Domitian's palace was (the palace was insanely big).

Sunday we did a tour of Vatican City...it really is incredible that the Vatican is its own country.  They have their own newspaper, radio station, and is apparently one of the safest places to be in the world (it has its own city walls).  On the last Sunday of every month people are allowed to go into the Vatican for free, so it was really crowded.  The Pope was also due to appear to the public and give a greeting of some sort, but we didn't get to see that.  The Vatican was beautiful, and there seems to be no expense spared (maybe ironic?). Currently, the Vatican is under the protection of the Swiss Guard.  All recruits have to be Catholic and unmarried, and it is a HUGE honor to be recruited.  (All workers for the Vatican also get huge discount on Apple products too! AND all your family members get to be baptized in the Sistine Chapel!!) 

We first toured the Vatican Museum, which houses so many paintings, tapestries, and sculptures.  Every inch of every room is decorated in some way, and there is usually art on the ceilings in most rooms.  The first picture below is one of the ceiling, and the painting looks as if it's 3D b/c of the shadows right?  It actually is completely flat! What an awesome illusion.  After the museum, there was my favorite: La Cappella Sistina.  Every inch of the Chapel is covered in art.  You're not allowed to take photos (there are guards who will straight up yell at you or you may get kicked out), but I did manage to sneak one w/ no flash.  So Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to paint the Sistine Chapel, even though he was previously only a sculptor and did not paint.  It took about 4 years to complete his paintings, and he actually slowly went blind in one eye throughout the process, which he symbolized in his painting of 'The Last Judgement'.  This painting is the main focus of the walls of the Sistine Chapel, and there is so much to see just within one painting.  His other famous painting 'The Creation of Adam' is on the ceiling, and actually is smaller than you'd expect.  It is no bigger than many of the other paintings surrounding it, but one fun fact for you: in the painting, God is sitting on what appears to be a red cloud.  At the time, Michelangelo and da Vinci were friends and were studying human anatomy together.  So what appears to be a red cloud is actually a red brain! Kinda neat.  And the hands of Adam and God touching are in the shape of a spinal cord.

 

After the Sistine Chapel, we entered La Basilica di San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica).  Again, SO INCREDIBLY ornate and surreal.  I accidentally went down these stairs that led me to the crypts underneath of the basilica...now THAT was interesting.  All I can say is there was a lot of white marble.  There are also not just popes buried down there, but also a queen and a countess!  The dome of the basilica is the highest point in Rome, and it is illegal to build anything higher than it.  There was a line to climb to the top, but it was really long so we didn't go (I believe it's about 300 steps).  

Of course, we saw the Spanish Steps (which were not as impressive as everything else...it was mostly just a lot of people sitting around on the steps so it's not like I could get a picture of just the steps).  I got to see the Trevi during the day AND at night too (I had to go back at night b/c the fountain really is just gorgeous).  The Trevi is also very crowded all day long, but I got to make my way to the front and make a wish! The Pantheon was also really awesome...The big hole in the dome is there because it symbolizes an opening to the heavens, built as a temple to all of the Roman gods.  I was wondering what happens when it rains since the hole doesn't get covered or anything, but there are actually little gutter holes in the ground directly beneath the "oculus".  

And obviously, I had to have my Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday moment, and I got to stick my hand in la Bocca della Verità (the Hand of Truth).  No worries, I still have my hand!

Foodwise, the gelato in Roma is better than in Palermo.  There is also a lot more food options, and I FINALLY got to eat some non-seafood containing risotto (I got risotto with asparagus and radicchio, which I was told is green chicory, and I still have no idea what a chicory is, but the risotto was amazing.)  Oh and one more thing about Rome...the public transportation is pretty great.  We bought Roma passes (totally recommended) which gave us free public transportation and 2 free museum passes for 3 days.  The metro in Rome will take you basically anywhere, and it's really convenient and comes every few minutes.  There are currently only 2 metro lines (which I found very surprising b/c I thought there'd be more), and they are currently in the process of building a 3rd line...however, the problem is that they keep running into historic artifacts and structures underground! 

One of the last things I saw was La Scala Santa (the Sacred Steps).  My dad wanted me to see this, so this part is especially for him.  It actually is located next to la Basilica di San Giovanni (the first place we got to see), but I had to come back later b/c it was closed when we went to the basilica.  It's a very small chapel.  The Sacred Steps are said to be the steps leading to Pontious Pilate that Jesus stood on during his trial.  The main steps are all white marble, with other steps on both sides of it.  Martin Luther apparently once climbed these steps as well.  The catch though?  You have to climb the steps with your knees.  Since I am not Catholic, I didn't want to disrespect anybody so I didn't want to climb the steps w/ my knees.  There were many people who did though, and it was incredible to see how devoted people are to their faith.  I did talk to a priest though, and I wanted to see if it was ok to climb the steps on either side of it by walking up.  He told me I could, if I could recite the rosary to him.  I thought he was being serious, and I was like oh I'm so sorry, I'm not Catholic, and I thought I just disrespected him big time.  However, he then kind of smiled and said I didn't actually have to do that to walk up the stairs...so that's good to know that priests can have a sense of humor.

Overall, Roma was just incredible...the richness of its history amazes me and I also am amazed at how much religion is such an influence even today.  You have pagan, Roman, and Christian/Catholic traditions and history all combined in one city, and it's pretty awesome.  It was a pretty fabulous Roman Holiday! =) More pics on fbook!