Long Weekend in Rome

            Before I start on the magnificence and utter natural beauty of Italy, I want to say that the country would be significantly better for tourists if it weren’t for the beggars and vendors constantly hounding you to give them money or buy their useless and cheaply made products. Literally everywhere we went, from the four Papal Basilicas in Rome to the Accademia Gallery in Florence, we were surrounded by these people. On top of that, you have to be on high alert at all times for pick pocketers, always keeping your hands in your pockets and looking back at your backpack to make sure that nothing has been unzipped. I get that it’s a place with an incredible amount of tourists and that is the reason why most of this occurs, but I feel as though these are things that could be easily controlled better by the cities in order to better the experience of the millions of tourists who travel there each year.

            I don’t want to sound completely negative though, because there were definitely a lot of positives to the weekend as well. On Friday we went to the four Papal Basilicas, starting with St. Peter’s, then going to St. John Lateran, then St. Mary Major, ending with St. Paul’s outside the walls. Needless to say, these were four of the most spectacular churches that I have seen and will probably ever see in my life. With St. Peter’s, the outside and inside is adorned and influenced greatly by Bernini, who is probably one of the best known artists and my personal favorite of all time. It also features Michelangelo’s “Pieta,” a statue of St. Peter (whose foot can be rubbed for good luck), and is overall staggeringly big. It literally took my breath away upon going inside and I personally felt as though that I was meant to have a spiritual experience there. That sounds cheesy, but it can only be explained by going inside and experiencing it yourself. The other three Papal Basilicas were not as massive as St. Peter’s, but each had special qualities about them that made them equally as special. At St. John Lutheran there are beautifully sculpted statues of the 12 apostles adorning the main aisle, at St. Mary Major there is what is to believed to be part of the manger that Jesus was born in, and at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls there is pictures of all of the popes who have ever reigned aligning the ceiling as well as the chains that were believed to have held St. Paul while he was beheaded. Now, these locations were probably more impressive to me because I am Catholic, but I would recommend them to anyone (Catholic or not) who is visiting Rome.

            On Saturday a few of us decided to take a daytrip from Rome and went to Florence. We started off by standing in line and going into the Accademia Gallery (where Michelangelo’s “David” is located). The museum in itself is honestly not that impressive, but seeing the David statue along with a few of Michelango’s unfinished statues was unbelievable. After that, we walked past the Duomo and realized we did not want to stand in the extremely long line to go to the top. It was a very nice and aesthetically pleasing church due to the different types of stone used to build it (unlike most of the other churches we have seen thus far). We continued walking through the city and ended by walking over the jewelry shop adorned Ponte Vicchio bridge. Even though I do not have too many exciting things to say about Florence, it was a beautiful city and I am extremely glad that we decided to go.

            On Sunday we decided to join what seemed like every other tourist in Rome at the Colosseum, then walked around the Roman Forums, and ended at the Pantheon. Like the other sites on this trip, I could take a page or two to talk about the appearance and majesty of these buildings and structures but it would just not do justice to seeing them in person. Knowing that the Romans were able to build these structures (some being over two thousand years old) is INCREDIBLY impressive. At The Colosseum, you got to see where some of the entertainment events occurred back in the day such as where Gladiators used to fight, where exotic animals were exhibited, and where Christians were killed. This was contradictory amazing and sombering at the same time. At the Roman forums, you could see where the Romans used to worship, used to hold their governmental functions, and even where they lived. Lastly, the Pantheon was in surprisingly good condition and I felt like it was built just a few decades ago instead of a few thousand years. Sunday was an extremely hot day in Rome and sightseeing entitled a lot of walking, but everything we saw was just so cool it made it worth it.

            I can’t talk about Italy without talking about the food we ate there. Some meals were better than others, but I had some of the best Italian food that I have ever had. Pasta with a good sauce seems so simple, but they definitely know how to do it better than I ever could at home or get it anywhere else.

            Overall the weekend was extremely tiring with the hot weather and people everywhere, but we without a doubt needed the full three day weekend there to see everything we wanted to see. We didn’t even get to see all of the major tourist attractions, such as the Sistine Chapel. I would definitely like to go back again some day but focus more on the other parts of Italy that are not so touristy.