1. I strongly dislike cities. I like visiting them.
I think there are positive things about them, but I prefer my nature and fewer
people. Cities smell, they have thick air, etc.
2. I hate tourists even though technically… I am
one.
3. I am not a fan of huge spaces with lots of
people (which is kind of a combination of the above things)
Those
being said, I thought I might dislike Rome despite the amazing history
preserved there. However, to my surprise (a welcomed one) I loved it a lot. At
night it is peaceful, reflective, enchanting… but above all it’s like a time
portal. You can actually imagine yourself in Ancient Rome when you wander at
night after everyone (aka tourists) has called it a night. I got to see the
Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the Emmanuel Monument, and the Coliseum in this
peaceful state. Oh! And the scale of the monuments is breath taking. Look at
the picture of me in the entrance of the Pantheon at night. Oh my goodness. I
am so tiny and insignificant.
It’s strange. Most of the others places I have been were
amazing but pictures have done an awesome job of making them look like they do
in real life. Rome wasn’t like that at all. Everything was so much more amazing
than anything I have seen photo wise or media wise. I actually could imagine
what it would have looked like in its Hay day. But, at the same time, I have no
idea what it would have looked like besides the overwhelming feeling that it
would have been incomparable and so incredibly magnificent. Words stink. I
can’t even do it justice in my explanation of it!
Well now that I have completely gone off track I can’t write
everything I did in detail because honestly this post would be wayyy too long,
but I want to highlight some things.
The first night I was there, Derek, his roommate Tom, and I
went for pizza then wandered the center of the city at like 1 am. It was a
great way to start my adventure. Oh, and some more reference, I was staying
with Derek outside the center of Rome. His apartment was awesome. It smelled
like Hawaii outside his building, was a residential area, and they had a sweet
balcony. And on top of that, his roommates were pretty awesome :). He had the ideal situation. Living outside
the tourist center but close enough to go in whenever. Perfect. It’s the “real”
Italy experience. They even made friends with a local Roast place.
The second day (Friday), Derek and I did all the major historic
things and I hit up the Capitoline Museum (which I will discuss more later). We
did Circus Maximus, Roman Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Coliseum. We also just
generally wandered and I got to see Derek’s school. They have a really great
view of Rome from their roof. I wish the Coliseum was still in its grandeur. It
would have been sooo incredible. Horrible in the way it was used but incredible
to behold. It’s weird with the Hunger Games having just come out and then
seeing where the “real” historic place and events, that I am sure inspired the
story, took place. Kind of makes me want to see the movie. Or watch Ben Hur or
Gladiator. I know cruel and horrible but so incredibly interesting. Man was I
born in the wrong era.
Alright now I want to focus a little bit on the Capitoline
Museum because not only does it have some of the most historic statuses and
works known to man, but it had this unreal temporary exhibit of the Vatican’s
Secret Archives. Man was it cool. "Lux in Arcana" as the exhibit was called had one of the coolest collections of incredible documents I have ever seen. Many of them were from the Pope of the time (which depends on when the documents were written) but some were unexpected. Here is a list to blow your mind: Galileo, Hirohito, Martin Luther, the ruler of the Safavid Dynasty, Michelangelo, il-Khan of Persia, some in Italian Vernacular, dowager Empress Wang, the Ojibwe Indians, al-Murtada the caliph of Morocco, Mozart, Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln both during the Civil War but on opposite sides, Alexis I Romanov, House of Commons, the deed to try and annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon with the seal of each signer (which there were a lot of), the Golden Bull, Constantine, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius II, Pope Innocent X against the Westphalia Peace, Boniface VII, the floor plan of the Sistine Chapel including the placement of the Cardinals in it, the document formally ending the schism, Humanae Salutis, Voltaire, Copernicus, the defeat of the Turks at Vienna, the last Crusade, the interrogation documents of the Knight's Templar, Christina di Svezia, Mary Stuart, Marie Antoinette, Empress Elizabeth of Austria, a 1582 calendar missing 10 days, the formal recognition of Cambridge as a University, and the list goes on. These were the ones I either knew of or found interesting enough to write down. No pictures were allowed unfortunately but I recommend, if you are in Europe between now and September, that you should definitely go see it.
The third day I was on my own as Derek headed to Orvietto
for a school trip. I took the opportunity (after very little sleep and walking
ALL day the day before) to sleep until 10 am. It felt great. Anyway, I had a
list of things I wanted to see and made a plan: National Museum, Borghese
Gardens, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and then back to Derek’s. And if I was not
too tired I had some other ambitious places to attempt. Unfortunately I was
exhausted so skipped the Church with Michelangelo’s Moses Statue (Church of
Peter’s Martyrdom?) and the Ara Pacis (which was expensive and far away). I’m
not too upset. There is way too much in Rome for me to see it all. Anyway, the
National Museum was unbelievable. It had so many famous works I had learned
about in art history last semester like the Discus thrower and Livia’s Garden
Room fresco. They were SO much better in person. Don’t worry I took plenty of photos. After
spending a good amount of time in the museum I headed to the Borghese Gardens
(which are MASSIVE) and had lunch under a tree while a jazz player serenaded
the entire area. PERFECT. There were balloons, a little train, two person
covered bikes, pony rides, and people everywhere hanging out, playing, eating,
etc. The Spanish Steps were beautiful as well but much more underwhelming because
of the amount of people there. The Pantheon, which I had previously seen from
the outside at night, was just as powerful during the day, but much more
crowded. The inside is very beautiful and cool with the hole at the top and hey
Rafael is buried there! Anyway, I decided to take a Rick Steve’s suggestion for
this slushy coffee with whipped cream thing around the corner. Well worth the 2
euro :) I
would add something to his suggestion though, mix the whipped cream and the
slush and BAM! Delicious. OH! And I also visited the Trevi Fountain again
during the day (much more beautiful at night by the way) and tossed a coin in
and made a wish :P
The Vatican. This city, also the smallest country in the
world, is one incredible place. BUT being that I went the last Sunday of the
month in April (aka the free day… where the Pope comes out to speak at 12) it
was slightly crowded. Even my dislike of crowds though was unable to take away
from the Sistine Chapel (which I got pictures of before they yelled at people
to be quiet and “no foto”) or the Raphael rooms or the other beautiful works in
there. The School of Athens was much more detailed and amazing than I had expected.
The Sistine Chapel was also amazing. Seeing the creation and development of the
world in that form and expression was a true privilege. After spending a ton of
time in the Vatican Museum I got to go into St. Peter’s. The pieta was breath
taking and the church itself resembles San Petronio in Bologna (if you know the
story behind that church this will make sense, if not, google or ask me :)) which is so cool. It
was beautiful. After that I had to return to Bologna, but was actually really
sad to leave Rome. It was better than I could have imagined.
It is really sad that a lot of Rome was destroyed by a fire.
I wonder what it would look like if there hadn’t been one, or if they hadn’t
taken materials from past buildings to build more modern ones… Oh and fun fact.
My professor right now is talking about Rome! And Christianity and Gods and
preservation there which is weird because it’s cultural heritage and law… which
I guess Rome fits under! And yeah yeah “Heather you should be paying
attention!” I am :)
No comments:
Post a Comment