So on to Rome! This was actually my least favorite place that I visited on my trip. I'm not really sure what it is about the city, but I just did not enjoy it the way I have with most other cities I've been too. Anyway, on a Sunday morning we checked out of our hostel in Florence and headed to Florence's main station again, this time to take a train to Rome. We had bought our tickets in advance, and were assigned seats. Getting our suitcases onto the train was an adventure...luckily they had small storage places for them at the end of each car. The seats were arranged in groups of 4, with a table in the middle. Carolyn &I sat opposite one another, sharing the window. The people that sat down next to us were insanely sweet. It was a mother and her deaf son, who was about 25 I believe, from Australia. They were the nicest people in the world and the whole hour and a half train ride we spent chatting away about various topics, with the mother signing for the son. It was such a cool experience, and I love meeting new people that have interesting stories to tell. The son was flying back home after his travels, but his mom was going to Rome to fly to Turkey for a friend's wedding. They were so nice and the mom spoke some French, so between her French, &my Spanish, we were able to decipher some of the announcements. The countryside of Italy that you see in between Rome and Florence is absolutely gorgeous. Granted, it was a tad cloudy, but even still, it was so picturesque.
From Roma Termini (the train station) we figured out how to get on the Rome Metro, and get to our hostel which is near the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, the whole time we were there, we didn't get to see just the regular Spanish Steps because we happened to be there at the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall. Because of this monumental event, the Spanish Steps had a tribute to the Berlin Wall on the steps, with fake pieces of the wall decorating the steps.
I went to Rome with my study abroad program, DIS, and because I went with them, they took care of the days activities and such. After traveling by ourselves for a week and trying to figure out the transportation system as well as food, and maps and which sites were the ones that were most worthwhile to see, it was so nice to have someone else that actually knew the city take us around Rome and worry about all of those things. The first day we did sort of walking tour, in quite rainy weather. We hit all of the touristy spots such as the Trevi Fountain (of course I threw a coin in!,) the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, the Ara Pacis and other important places. In the middle of this walking tour, the skies opened up. I mean, REALLY opened up. It not only poured, but HAILED. So that was an interesting way to just see the city and experience the insane random rain storms that Europe loves to have for literally 5 minutes, and then the weather will be fine.
throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain!
Me, Carolyn &Aili in front of the Trevi Fountain
the Pantheon
the Ara Pacis
After our walking tour, we all headed back to our rooms to take a nap, because we were all worn out from traveling and wanted to nap before dinner. DIS paid for us to have dinner at this place near our hotel in which we were given wine galore. We were all so tired though, that we just ate quickly and headed back to the hotel to pass out, since we were walking up early the next day.
We were all up bright and early the next day to go to the Colosseum, which was so cool. We were able to skip the lines and go in to wander around and see the inside of the Colosseum. I did not realize how cool it would be to actually go inside, but it was awesome to experience something so old.
After the Colosseum, we headed out to the Forum Romanum, which is the definition of ruins. Never in my life have I ever seen so many old things all in one place. And they are legitimately old, not just a hundred or so years. We got to see the old Senate House, the Temple of Saturn, and so many other ruins. Admittedly, it was really cool, but it was a little too much time spent there, and I didn't know enough about the ruins to find them interesting for that long. Overall it was really cool to see these ruins though. Then we went to various other really important churches, but the one that sticks out the most in my head is the Capuchin Crypt. It was actually kind of creepy. It was a long stretch of rooms that were decorated with Capuchin Bones. I wasn't allowed to take pictures in it, but there are a lot of different rooms: the crypt of the skulls, crypt of the pelvises, crypt of the leg bones &thigh bones &crypt of the three skeletons. As depicted in their names, each room is decorated completely with that type of bone. It is one of the scariest, creepiest, coolest things I've ever seen.
not my picture, but clearly the room of skulls. scary, yet awesome, yeah?
Then we had dinner on our own, and we headed out to this gelato place. It was supposedly ranked by the New York Times as the best gelato place in all of Rome. Definitely good gelato, but the second gelato place we found in Rome was SO many better.
The next day was probably my favorite. We woke up early to go to the Vatican Museum and Vatican City. The best part is that we got to skip the line, which was awesome. Our group also got an actual tour guide, so we were able to learn everything about what we were seeing, including all of the old statues and such. I love tour guides for exactly that reason. Also, I just find it amazing how much knowledge they retain, it is absolutely amazing. The best part of the tour was seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was so elaborate, I can't believe that Michelangelo painted all of that in only 4 years. As a group, we all had lunch together, paid for by DIS. There were appetizers that just kept coming, pizza that just kept coming &wine that just kept coming. It was amazing. I don't think I've ever been that full in my entire life. Then we headed to St. Peter's Basilica, which was another really cool experience. We climbed the dome, and saw a beautiful view of the city, as well as seeing the beautiful facade of the Basilica. That night, a whole group of us went out to dinner by the Pantheon, which was delicious. The restaurant gave us free sparkling wine, which was delish. Then comes the gelato. This is hands down the best gelato I've had since I was in Europe. We would return to this same place once a day for the rest of the trip. I got chocolate amaretto &chocolate coconut. Both of them were to die for, but the chocolate amaretto was hands down the best gelato/ice cream I think I've ever had. Ever.
Me &Aili in front of St. Peter's Basilica
view from the top of the St. Peter's Basilica Dome into the center of St. Peter's
La Pieta, in St. Peter's Basilica
The whole next morning was spent in Ostia Antica, which was about an hour ish away by train, but it was a really cool experience. Ostia used to be the old trading port, so everything is in ruins. We got to see an old theater, &the ancient Roman toilet system. They had running water under the toilets, and actually kept them relatively clean. We also got to see the original statue of Cupid &Psyche, which was in what used to be a completely marble room. The train into and out of Ostia was this rickety, old, subway type car that was just completely covered in graffiti. In a way, it almost reminded me of home. That afternoon we met up with my friend Alex, who lives in my building in Copenhagen and was in Rome, though not our trip. We wandered about for a bit, and it was nice getting to see her in Rome. That night, we decided not to go out, but found a place to buy cheap bottles of wine &so we all hung out in the hotel &drank wine together.
cupid &psyche
ancient toilets in Ostia
graffitied train to Ostia
Carolyn, Me, Aili &Alex in front of the Trevi Fountain at night
The last day, we went to go visit the graves of Shelley and Keats, Circus Maximus &the Baths of Caracalla. Keats grave didn't even have his name on it, we only know that it is his grave because his friend is buried next to him &put up a memorial type headstone for him. It was awesome to also see the Baths of Caracalla, which were actually huge, in comparison to what I thought they were going to be. The rooms were super intense &there were mosaic floors, as well as mosaics along the top, closer to the ceiling. For lunch, we headed to the Jewish ghetto, which wasn't too large, &had amazing food. Then we wandered around, did some window shopping in stores that we can't afford, and then all met up as a group for dinner. DIS took us out for "appetizers" because it was a girl on our trip's birthday, so we all had sparkling wine &appetizers, then headed out to dinner. Dinner was like food that just kept coming, &tons of refills of wine. Essentially, it was amazing, not to mention that they gave us delicious tiramisu for dessert! We were leaving Rome the next day so we decided to just buy more bottles of wine &chill out in the room again, which was nice and relaxing.
Keat's grave, labeled: Young English Poet
Aili, me &Zach at appetizers
The next day, we just packed up all of our stuff &got on the bus to the airport. After two weeks of traveling, I must say that it was really nice to be back "home" in Copenhagen. It's a city that I'm familiar with, and it was nice to be in a comfortable, known environment and be around my own stuff. Overall, Rome was not one of my favorite cities, but I am really glad that I got to see it, and all the history involved. It was fascinating, and plenty to see. Again, I am so sorry that this entry is kind of short ¬ really in detail, but studying for finals awaits... I'll update about life back in Denmark soon!
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