La Dulce Vita

Ahh Roma, the true city of love. It certainly captured my heart in the two short days we spent there. The theme of our visit was “Wow. Italy is totally kicking Spain’s butt right now.” It really is completely different from anything we saw in Spain. And the atmosphere is very different. I don’t know what was in the water, but there was so much energy throughout the entire city. And apparently that kept me going. I have never done so much running around in my life on so little sleep. But it was totally worth it.

We had to take the train from the airport to get into Rome. It took about 30 minutes, and the train reminded me of Harry Potter! We even sat in a little compartment and busted out our movie quotes.

So what was the first thing we did after dropping off our stuff at the hostel (which was actually pretty nice)?? Went and ate gelato of course! That was our primary mission of the evening and it was an enormous success. It was heavenly, far surpassing any other form of ice cream I’ve ever eaten. I don’t know how I’m going to go back to eating normal American ice cream, although some how I’ll manage I’m sure. It is ice cream after all.

The next day we got up bright and early to claim our free breakfast and make our way to the Coliseum. First we made a stop in La Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli to see the statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo. It just amazes me how these artists can create life-like people out of stone.

The Coliseum is actually the name of the most famous amphitheater in the world. Amphitheaters, as opposed to regular theaters, were created for violent shows, such as gladiator battles or fights against lions. The Coliseum is famous because it’s huge and still around, but also because it was used for naval battles. The entire arena would be filled with water, and two crews would fight to the death. If you look around the inside you’ll see the places where the people sat, but you will also see a bunch of ruins in the arena part. What gives? Isn’t that where they’re supposed to fight? Well, at one time those ruins were rooms and passageways. They were covered with wooden planks, and then sand was placed on top to form the arena for the battles. Gladiators prepared here and the animals were also kept in some of the rooms.

Gladiators

Our next stop was Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Palatine Hill is where the emperor’s palace was (the word palace comes from palatine). The Roman Forum is basically downtown ancient Rome. It’s equivalent with the plazas of today. There were temples and markets and people could gather there. It’s weird to think that 2000 years ago, people were walking where I’m walking and everyday life was going on there.

Palatine Hill

Royal Garden

Forum

Ok, tangent really fast. One of my favorite things about Rome are the water fountains EVERYWHERE, and they have some of the best water. They are just constantly running and you walk up and take a drink or fill your water bottle. No more five euro waters!!

After stopping for a little picnic we continued on to see some plazas. I wish I remembered the name of one. It’s about a five minute walk from the Pantheon and probably my favorite place in Rome. There are these giant fountains and at one end there is an art market with tons of paintings. Way better than any art museum we went to. There were beautiful landscapes and some artists would draw your picture right there. Around the outside were lots of little restaurants with umbrellas and hanging flowers. When I think of Italy, this is the kind of place I think of. I loved it.

We went from there over to the Pantheon. This has to be one of the greatest architectural feats of all time. Usually in an arch or a dome, the very top is what holds the whole thing together, but there is a giant hole (called the oculus) right in the middles of the dome. Apparently, the building materials get lighter and thinner as you move toward the center. Brilliant. Rafael, one of the big four Italian Renaissance artists (the others being Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo. Thank you, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for teaching me that), is buried here, and it is now used for Catholic church services.

Our last stop was the Trevi Fountain, just to check it out. We heard it was better at night so we planned on returning. I’ll talk about it a little further down.

We made it back to our hostel in time for free pizza! Yay for free food! It wasn’t the best pizza I’ve ever had, but hey, it was free. Our last venture of the night was a return to the Coliseum. We wanted to see it lit up. And have a toga party!!! Toga! Toga! Toga! Probably my best idea ever.

We took the metro to Vatican City the next morning. It’s still in Rome, we just didn’t want to walk all that way. First we saw Saint Peter’s Basilica, which is incredible. It’s equally as cool as La Sagrada Familia, just in a different way. It’s the largest cathedral in the world. The dome’s height is equal to one football field! Michelangelo’s Pietà resides here, which is my favorite sculpture, behind bulletproof glass. There’s no messing with that sculpture. A few of us decided we wanted to climb the dome, and 551 stairs later, we arrived to a view of all of Rome. No building is allowed to be taller than this cathedral so you can see everything. It was pretty cool.

Pieta

In the dome.

We also took a trip through the Vatican Museum where we saw some of Rafael’s work and ended with the Sistine Chapel. It was different than I anticipated. It wasn’t as—spectacular—as I had hoped, although I think that had something to do with the five million people crowding in there and talking. Don’t get me wrong, it was still awesome. Michelangelo painted the ceiling in nine months (with a little help) and that place is huge. Today, it’s where the Cardinals meet to elect a new pope.

School of Athens - Rafael

Judgement Day - Sistine Chapel

Creation of Adam - Sistine Chapel

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

So we spent our last night in Rome back in the plaza with all the art, eating pasta at one of the restaurants called Dulce Vita (post title!!). It was perfect. That was my favorite part of our trip to Rome. I had some of the best spaghetti of my life (it tasted like the tomatoes for the sauce were picked fresh), and tried some of the best alfredo and gnocchi of my life. Yeah, I kind of love Italian food. Then we had some of the best gelato in Rome. I definitely went for the large, with four different flavors. Excellent decision. The orange chocolate is to die for. We ate that all the way back to the Trevi Fountain, where we finally threw our coins in. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into this fountain, you are ensured a return to Rome. And I want a return to Rome. All the money from the fountain (about 3000 euros a day!) subsidizes a supermarket for Rome’s needy. Love it.

We're so Italian.

On our way back, we took a detour to the Spanish Steps, the widest staircase in Europe. Rylee wanted an Audrey Hepburn picture from Roman Holiday. I’ve never seen it, so I just enjoyed the view and soaked in the city. Too bad there wasn’t some hott, Italian boy there to share it with! Someday, like when I return to Rome, haha.

The next morning I was whisked off to the airport once again to fly to Germany. I split with the group and was on my own, until I met up with some amazing family! Gosh, the adventures never end. Now I’ll be seeing some of Germany and Austria. And the Alps. Ohhhhhhh, yes. The Alps.