Europe: Italy, Part 3

Italy, Part 3
Milan --> Lake Como --> Verona --> Venice --> Cinque Terre --> Pisa --> Florence --> Rome

ROME

Tay: We had a great time in Rome overall. After a few minutes figuring out where to buy tickets for the bus from the train station (turns out you can most often buy bus tickets at cluttery, dirty-feeling newspaper stands spread around the city), we went straight to our Airbnb to meet our host. We were really happy to have a comfortable place to stay for the next four nights. 

Dinner our first night in Rome :)

Our little Airbnb with a murphey bed!

More than any other city, we made several traveling mistakes our first day in Rome, despite our best efforts to research and plan ahead. Our first stop was the Colosseum, which was great. But for some reason, Google Maps told us to get off a bus station that still left us a 20-minute walk all the way around the Roman Forum to the opposite side where the Colosseum stands. Google Maps seemed to really struggle with the Forum. Anyway, we got the Colosseum and purchased some 72-hour "Roma Passes" that allowed us unlimited transportation on the buses, subways, and trams, as well as free entry into two museums or sites. We expected the Colosseum to be extremely busy, but it wasn't bad at all! There was virtually no line. 

Becca: The Roma Passes (which include transportation) were definitely worth it for us, as we took the bus or tram in and out of the city each day, and used so much transportation throughout the day to get to everything we wanted to see. We totally got our moneys worth! It would have been way more expensive if we had paid for everything separately, and it would have made it that much harder when we messed up and took the wrong bus a few times. Speaking of the bus--we didn't like riding the busses very much. They were terrible on the ancient roman roads! So bumpy, crowded, loud, and rickety. The roads were even uncomfortable to walk on, because they're not level. But they look cool, so it's all good.

Tay: Seeing the Colosseum was the first moment it sort of hit that the difference between sightseeing in Rome and the other cities is that the sites from here on would be mostly famous for how old they are, less so how beautiful. They were amazing in their own right, but not the same way the Louvre or Tower Bridge or the Matterhorn were. Of course, the Matterhorn is the oldest. What makes the Rome special is that many, like the Colosseum and the Roman Forum are 2,000 years old. And for being that old, they are extremely impressive. The Pantheon is particularly impressive because it stands intact after so many years, while the Forum and the Colosseum are more like ruins.

Anyway, we enjoyed the Colosseum, but, rather than go into the Roman Forum, which is directly adjacent, we decided to go to the Borghese Gallery so that we used our Roma Passes to get into the two most expenses sites. After 30 minutes of riding the bus to the Gallery, we got there only to remember that we were supposed to make a reservation because it's a really small museum. Even though the museum looked pretty empty to us at the moment, the earliest reservation was the next day. The dumb part was that we had learned about the required reservation in all our research, but we forgot in the moment that we decided to bus there. So, we made a reservation for the next day and bussed back to the Coliseum. Once again, the bus told us to get off at the wrong spot, and we had to walk 20 minutes around the Forum, just to get to the entrance gates into the Forum.

You may be wondering what the Roman Forum is. It's basically a plot of land right in the center of the city where the remains of many ancient buildings sit. It's the place where the center of the ancient Roman city would have been. Without a podcast to help us make sense of the remains, we may not have appreciated it enough, but the podcast pointed out the spot where Julius Caesar's body was burned, the road where Paul the Apostle may have walked, the area where the Vestal Virgins lived as they tended an ever-burning flame, and the pedestal where speakers and thinkers stood to address the crowds. With a little help from the podcast, we really enjoyed strolling through the Forum and imagining what it may have looked like. As a side note, Rome was almost deserted after it was conquered and looted several times over, and eventually, sand and earth covered the Forum and its tall pillars for many years until it was later discovered and archaeologists dug it the ruins out.

Becca: It was crazy to be inside the colosseum and wonder how a group of people could become so wicked that they end up watching people fight for their life as entertainment. It made me think of the Hunger Games, and what it would be like if our world turned back to the colosseum times in the future. While the colosseum was very neat, it was definitely different from everything else we'd seen in Europe so far, famous for beauty. I would have liked to have seen a display with a mock up of what historians think the colosseum would have looked like in its glory days, as we learned from our pal Rick Steves that it used to be covered in marble (which was taken off to build the Pantheon, I believe) and painted. 

I really enjoyed the Roman Forum. With our Rick Steves podcast, it was fun to imagine everything back in the day. So neat to walk on roads where Caesar and the apostle Paul might have walked. Looking over the Roman Forum from Palentine Hill was one of my favorite parts, as you had an amazing view of the forum. I also loved the Vestal Virgins' house--there will still bits of statues and the courtyard with beautiful pink roses sprouting up. They were chosen to live virtuous lives from the age of a young girl to the age of 30 or 40, I think? Which I assume means it would be pretty hard to marry after released at that age from their duty. It was their job to never let the fire go out in their home, and were condemned to death if they ever became un-virtuous, which apparently many did. 

The Arch of Constantine, who brought Christianity to Rome

We were obsessed with this gorgeous tree draped over the ruins in the Roman Forum. 

Vestel Virgin's courtyard

The view from Palentine Hill

Tay: We enjoyed some other sites in Rome, including the Pantheon. But I think we especially liked seeing St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum where the Sistine Chapel is. The Basilica was definitely the most beautiful on the inside of any of the cathedrals we saw, in my opinion. The Duomo in Milan is still my favorite exterior architecture from the trip, though. St. Peter's is well known for its dome, designed by Michelangelo, and the square, which is actually an elliptical piazza in front of the cathedral with dozens of pillars and statues. We actually visited St. Peter's on Sunday and were fortunate to be in the Square when Pope Francis appeared in an upper story window next to his living quarters and addressed the large crowd in the Square. It was fun to see, and apparently, he often gives a short message on Sundays when he is in the Vatican.

Becca: The Pantheon was fun to learn about, and the dome was magnificent. Michelangelo and other greats studied it, and it inspired future domes. It actually opens up into the sky, like you're looking up into heaven. Which also means rain can get in, so the marble floor has a drain system. We're also pretty sure that the marble in the Pantheon was original, which was very impressive. 

St. Peter's Basilica was absolutely gorgeous! I loved visiting there. As you approach the Basilica, you walk through Bernini's columns, topped with 140 statues of his favorite saints. The columns reminded me of Hercules, when they're playing frisbee and he throws it too hard and all the pillars domino down. We actually got to see the Pope while we were there, so that was cool! His bedroom is the top right window, and his study is the window to the left of that. On Sundays when he is in town, he gives a 15 minute devotional and waves & blesses the people in Bernini's square. We just happened to be there for it! 

Inside the Basilica was breathtaking. There were words written along the walls where the walls meet the ceiling, all the way around the Basilica--all of the words that Christ speaks to Peter are written. Peter is believed to be crucified right at the center of where the dome now stands--he was crucified upside down, as he didn't feel worthy to be crucified the same way as Christ. 

Michelangelo's Pieta was incredible!! It was behind bullet proof glass (as someone had tried to harm it years ago), so we couldn't get that great of pictures. Absolutely beautiful. One funny thing about St. Peter's Basilica is that it brags about itself--once you walk in, there are squares going down the middle of the Basilica, all the way down. There are also markings with many other church names along these squares, and they're measuring how big other cathedrals are compared to the cathedral! The Basilica is very grand, though. They used indulgences to pay for everything--and Martin Luther saw this and it helped lead to the reformation. I could see why...

These doors only open every 26? years, by the Pope. They are bricked/cemented up now.

Cathedral names (comparing their size to St. Peter's)

Tay: The Vatican Museum was really neat but very crowded with big tour groups. Like most people, our favorites were Raphael's frescoes and Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. The fresco I enjoyed most of Raphael's was his School of Athens, a textbook Renaissance painting that I had studied in Humanities a little. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. The only thing we didn't like about it was that everybody is packed into the big chapel like sardines, and noisy guards constantly yell "No pictures! No video!" at the ever-changing roomful of tourists. But still, the chance to see the Sistine Chapel, something so famous, was a lot of fun. 

Becca: The Sistine Chapel was way better than I could have imagined. It was in the same part of the building as the vatican, so it doesn't look like a chapel from the outside. It was PACKED. Also, kind of not very enjoyable to look at, because you're just craning your head the entire time. I wished they just would fill the chapel with those reclining chairs they have in aquariums. :) I learned that, contrary to popular belief, Michelangelo did not paint the Sistine Chapel working on his back. He stood up, craning his neck, the entire four years it took to finish it. I could not believe it! What dedication. The reason the Sistine Chapel is one of the most amazing works of art is because it is the largest area painted by a single, amazing artist. Even the big Raphaels we saw on the way to the Chapel were done with the help of his students. With the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo only had his assistants help with scaffolding and mixing and applying plaster--he did the actual painting. 

There were so many mean workers (were they workers? They may have been church workers...) that were angrily yelling at people to be quiet and "NO PHOTOS! NO VIDEOS!" Too bad they didn't start saying that until 5 minutes after we had been in, and we'd already taken all the photos and video we wanted...that was lucky. I felt kind of bad, but...I figured it's probably ok. I really didn't like when they started yelling at everyone--it made it feel like a place you didn't want to stay in. 

Raphael

The Sistine Chapel

Tay: We felt like we actually had one day longer than we needed in Rome. It wasn't a big problem because we were happy to take things slow after a busy two weeks of sightseeing and traveling. It's hard to rank sites as favorites, but we also really enjoyed Trevi Fountain. It's just particularly crowded. We saw the Spanish Steps, an important gathering place, as well as several popular piazzas with pretty fountains. We enjoyed a bookstore, pizza, lasagna, and pasta. We also enjoyed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, and granola bars. 

Becca: The Trevi Fountain was one of my favorites! It was one of the most beautiful spots in Rome, and felt super romantic. Probably because it's associated with so many chick-flicks. And because it's Roma...spelled backwards? Amor (love). 

Becca: Our last night in Rome, we decided to end with pizza and gelato. :) We found the BEST pizza place, Antico Forno Roscioli! Freshly made, long, skinny pizzas and they chop off your piece with a giant knife--scared me at first! It was delicious. I dream of that pizza. We decided to take the tram back to our Airbnb and get gelato there so we could wait until we were more hungry. Luckily, we had a gelateria in the same building as our apartment! Couldn't have chosen a better place to stay, right? We got there and test-tasted gelato, and just as I was about to order, we made sure they accepted credit cards (we had just used up the rest of our cash so that we wouldn't have to trade it over to American money when we left). Nope. Seriously? I was a little let down, because I had just test-tasted this delicious pear and a mixed berry sorbetto. We went to our hotel, and Tay could tell I was a little disappointed. We ended up running across the street, grabbing money from an ATM (which gave us a fee...) and running over to the gelateria to get our scoops like 3 minutes before closing time. He's a great husband. It was the perfect way to end our last night in Roma. :)

Other fun sights: 

Altar of the Fatherland building: We thought it looked awesome, but I think it's newer and less appreciated.

Castel Sant'Angelo: Herod's burial place, where the Popes used to live. We didn't love the castle itself, but it had a great view at the top!

The Spanish Steps:

A bookstore, with books wrapped & twined! Sounds familiar... ;)

Cool tower by the Trevi Fountain. There is a staircase inside and slits throughout so that you can see inside when you're walking up it.

Borghese gardens & Museum: We enjoyed the Borghese museum. The first floor was built to be beautiful, just like the Louvre. We like fancy museums. 

Appollo & Daphne, one of my favorites! Such thin marble and so beautiful.

One of Tay's favs: another David

Gladiator mosaics

We went on a walk through Rome and loved Campo de' Fiori as well as all the fountains we found!

When the time came to fly home, we were ready. We spent 18 hours total in airports or on planes. This time we didn't even try to sleep on the long flight but watched movie after movie. There was a lot less turbulence this time, so we may have had better luck sleeping, but the movies were more fun. We actually didn't get seats together on that flight, despite asking our neighbors about a trade, so that was a bummer. The second flight, a four-hour flight from Charlotte didn't even have TVs, so we did sleep a little on that one. Not much though. Just enough to remember how hard it was to get decent sleep on a plane and be glad we didn't waste time trying on the long flight.

All in all, we had a fabulous time. Since being home, we've already enjoyed any time that we see something, like a picture of the Eiffel Tower when we can think, "How fun. We've actually been there to see it in person. And it really was beautiful!" It was amazing to have so much time together just traveling and enjoying.