Ciao Roma!

The Roman Forum

The Coliseum! And a random guy. Nice shot. 

My classes are finished, and now is the time when students usually embark upon a month-long traveling spree throughout Europe. As someone who has a tendency to be a homebody, I was somewhat overwhelmed by this concept and decided to limit my travels to Italy and the South of France, and ending up in Paris, where I’ll be flying out of. I really didn’t feel the need to have a frantic European tour like many of my classmates, as I’ve visited a lot of places this semester already, and don’t like traveling in a constrained time frame. As a result, this is my fourth day in Rome and I’m currently sitting in my hostel, writing this blog. Don’t worry, it’s 5:30 in the evening, and it’s raining outside.

            My first day, I wandered around a lot, trying to get a feel of the city. Rome is large, but doesn’t have the same somewhat stressful feel as other big European cities like Paris. It’s quite relaxed. Italians are also very friendly. They’re perhaps a bit too friendly, for those of them of the male persuasion. Yesterday some 15 year-old boy tried to kiss me on the street. It’s fine.

                        The second day, having met up with friends, I braved the crowds at the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican wasn’t that great, all the decoration and renaissance art gets old after about five minutes, but obviously I had to see the Sistine Chapel.  The Chapel is swarming with people who are all talking and taking pictures (both not allowed), which pretty much ruined the atmosphere, but it was still super cool to see the famous “Last Judgment.” Fun fact: After Michelangelo’s death, the church objected to the amount of nudity in the chapel, and planned to paint over it completely. Luckily, one of his students volunteered to paint clothes on top of all the naked people. Today, most of the clothes have been removed once more, but you can still see some strangely placed leaves and garments on a few of the paintings.

            After utter exhaustion from the previous day, on day three, our strength was flagging. But we still had the Pantheon, Coliseum, and the Roman Forum to go, so we sucked it up and started with the Roman Forum (after wandering around trying to find the entrance for two hours.) It cost 12 euros to go in, but with this admission we also got admission to the Coliseum, so it was okay. However, it was not okay when I lost my ticket and couldn’t get into the Coliseum. That was not okay at all. Instead, I wandered around the Palentine Hill, which was actually really, REALLY cool, and probably my favorite part of the trip. My friends had gone into the Coliseum, so I was completely alone, and it was actually nice to wander around the gorgeous gardens placed along the ruins at my own pace, smelling all the nice smells and seeing all the nice ruins. I stumbled upon many alcoves and tunnels, and little caves that had once been rooms. It’s so mind-blowing to think that these rocks have been there for thousands of years. Those Romans knew what they were doing. It definitely takes some imagination, however, to try and think about what you see now as what was once a temple, or a house. This is probably why the Coliseum is so famous. It’s obvious what it was, even though it’s partially destroyed, but I can definitely imagine what went on inside and around the structure. After the Coliseum, we were completely spent, and took a bus back to our hostel. Today, I wandered around some more to the Spanish Stairs and Piazza Espana, and then to this park by the Coliseum. I have an early train tomorrow though, so I think I’m gonna call it a night once I make myself some pasta in our hostel kitchen.