Week 5 – When in Rome

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do,” this was our final free weekend of the program. As you can tell from the first quote we are currently in Rome, but not doing as the original Romans did. It’s a little hard to have gladiator battles and chariot races. However, we are trying to fit in with modern Rome life and culture.

            The first full day in Rome we actually meet up with one of Sam’s friends who is currently living here for the next two years. He acted as our unofficial tour guide for the day by showing us four major basilicas and taking us to traditional, non-tourist infested, places to eat. We saw the St. Peter’s Basilica, Basilica of St. John the Lateran, Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, and Basilica of St. Maria Maggiore. All of which were beautiful and for the most part not too crowed. Out of the four, St. Peter’s was the most crowded which was to be expected since it’s the most well know and famous one. As usual we did a lot of walking from place to place, while occasionally taking the subway to the far St. Paul’s basilica and to dinner. I’m not entirely sure where we ate for dinner, however along the way we passed by the Colosseum and over a river. Dinner was amazing and surprisingly cheap for the amount of food we had. In my case bread, water, wine, ham and mozzarella, and truffle topped ravioli.

            On Saturday Kurt, Shannon, and I took a day trip to Florence to see the David statue and wander the city. Sadly to say, I think Florence was more crowded than Rome. I think it was attributed to the lack of space and number of famous articles in the city. Everyone was trying to get into the Accademia and Duomo causing the lines to back up. Just to get into the Accademia it took us an hour and a half. To make matters worse, once inside it was a relatively small museum that didn’t allow photographs. Apart from that, the David statue was everything it was hyped to be, as well as the unfinished works of Michelangelo. That was the only place we really went into because of time constraints and lines. We saw the outside of the Duomo, walked through the city, and crossed the Ponte Vecchio. Once back in Rome we made two quick stops at the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain to snap a couple of pictures of them lit up at night.

            Sunday, our last day in Rome, we had a late start of about 9:30am. First we went to the Colosseum to actually go inside this time and walk around. It was spectacular inside, better then I remembered it being. I’ve been to Rome before with my family back in 2000 for the millennium, but I was only 8 at the time. The line was long, but once inside I immediately thought the wait was worth it. It’s crazy to think how at one point it used to be packed with ancient Romans and gladiators ready to battle. Even the engineering and architecture is a spectacle to be marveled. I think it’s amazing that in ancient Roman times they had such advanced civil engineering for their time. The minds behind the construction of these large structures just put me in awe. After the Colosseum we took a quick hour and a half look through the Roman Forum. I say “quick” because we spent over two hours in the Colosseum, but I could’ve easily stayed longer. The Forum had less to see and attitudes were running high because of the heat. Inside the Forum there was no shade from the sun and all the marble arches, pillars, and stones reflected the sun back at you. Even I have to say it was a little bit miserable being there because of the heat. The final two things we did in Rome were the Trevi Fountain in daylight and the Pantheon. Both of which were fast and free. After seeing the Trevi in daylight and night I would say it is much prettier at night, but also more crowded. In my opinion, the Pantheon was a bit lame because the sun wasn’t at the correct position and therefore didn’t shine on one of the Roman gods.

            Tomorrow morning we leave Rome and head back into Germany. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy Italy, but the people on the streets trying to sell you things and pester you make it difficult. Tomorrow can’t get here soon enough. Germany has nicer people, better food, and is cleaner than Italy. I’m ready for our last week in Germany spending our time in Berlin. Hopefully it’ll be a good end to the program.