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| The Colesseum |
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| The Roman Forum |
Home Sweet Rome!
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| The Pantheon! |
This past weekend Emily and I had the opportunity to go to
ROME for a few days! We flew out
from Thessaloniki Friday afternoon and landed in Rome in time to explore the
city before dark. And by explore I
mean eat lots of pasta and drink lots of wine. I definitely ate more bruschetta
than I saw monuments but I am more than okay with that!
We flew through RyanAir for less that 100 euro per person
round trip and stayed in a hostel/B&B on Via Del Corso, a street in the
center of the Roman historical district (between Porta del Popolo—the gate to
the city---and the Piazza Venezia) for less than 100 euro for two people the
ENTIRE weekend. It was the perfect
location and price for two young travelers. We were able to walk to every monument we wanted to see.
Emily and I never even purchased or looked at a map. We just kind of wandered
and asked for directions in broken English, Greek, and Italian when necessary.
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| The piazza opposite the Pantheon! |
On our first evening we decided to hop from bistro to bistro
to pig out. At our second stop, we sat next two an older couple from Texas in
Rome for a cruise. We had a lovely talk about Italy and Greece. They found out
I was from Kentucky and it turns out that they raise Arabians and Saddlebreds. They
told us that they had been married for over 49 years, have no kids, and are
traveling the world. Then they bought our dinner. What a small sweet world we live in.
What We Saw:
We started out Saturday morning looking for the Trevi
Fountain. Emily was convinced that this was her opportunity to throw in a coin
for true love. Unfortunately for her, and every other tourist in Rome it seemed
by the size of the crowd, the Trevi Fountain is under construction and has been
completely dried up and blocked off for tourists. Emily was devastated. She had
planned her entire trip around going to this one site only to be left
disappointed.
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| The oculus of the rotunda. |
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| Inside the Pantheon |
After being let down by the fountain, I navigated our way to
the Pantheon. I’ve always been a big nerd for historical churches and after
reading Dan Brown’s conspiracy theories involving the site I knew I had to see
it. For those that don’t know, the Pantheon was originally built around 100 AD
as a temple for all of the Roman Gods to replace another more ancient temple.
The columns and the inscription from the first structure still stands and the
rotunda was added in the remodel. After 600AD the Byzantine emperor converted
the building into a church and removed all of the sculptures and carvings
glorifying the Roman Gods. The structure of the building looks very similar to
the Rotunda in the center of Thessaloniki although it was build several hundred
years later. I read that one of the most unique and fascinating things about
the building’s architecture is that if the dome were flipped upside down, it
would fit exactly into the sanctuary.
Also, the oculus at the top of the building was never closed so rain
would fall directly into the building and was then drained into pipes. I was
definitely geeking out about the math involved in constructing a building as
symmetrical and complex as the Pantheon.
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| The Venezia Palace in Piazza de Venezia. |
The Pantheon still functions as a church and is also the
burial site of THE Raphael and the first Italian king Vittorio Emanuele II. And
it was free admission!
Later we walked to the Piazza Venezia next to Trajan’s
Forum. The piazza is named after the palace built by Cardinal Venezia. The
building was finished in the 15th century and belonged to Pope Paul
II. It was the home of the popes
until Pope Pius IV. Then it was an embassy and eventually taken over by
Mussolini. I read that Mussolini would give speeches from the palace balcony.
Now it’s a museum.
Next we strolled past Trajan’s Forum on a quest to acquire
more pasta and wine. This used to be Rome’s central area of trade and lawmaking
in the second century AD. I wish we had spent more time reading about the forum
but pasta and bruschetta were really our priority at the time.
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| Outside of the Palace Venezia. |
After eating a small mountain of bread, pasta, mushrooms,
and gelato, Emily and I rolled on down to the Colosseum. Most people know that
the Colosseum hosted live entertainment for the Romans and their emperors like
bullfighting, gladiator fighting, races, and executions. Staged hunts took
place using live animals and convicts. It was also the site of many staged dramas
or reproductions of battle scenes. The structure is enormous—the largest
amphitheatre in the world. The stage floor has been removed and the “backstage”
(holding cells) are exposed. The seating at the Colosseum was constructed based
on the Roman class system. The closer to the stage, the more important you
were. Now the Colosseum is part of the Roman Catholic Church and is still used
for religious ceremonies—the more you know...
Next we went to the Palantine Hill, the supposed site of the
cave that Romulus and Remus were raised by a she-wolf. We also went to the
Roman Forum in the valley between Venezia and the Colosseum. This area was the
urban center and central square of Rome. The entire area was full of markets,
temples, inns, and government buildings. This is one of places that the Senate
would gather, making it one of the hearths of democracy. When you picture
Ancient Rome this is what you imagine. Now all that remains are ruins and a few
Corinthian columns. You have to use your imagination to fill in the blanks.
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| The Colosseum |
After that, Emily and I decided that we should probably eat
more pasta soon so we returned to the hostel to change and set out looking for
a place to gorge on all that Italy had to offer. So we ate. A LOT. And were in
bed by ten like the old maids that we are.
In the morning we packed up and drank coffee and ate pizza
for breakfast. We shopped and walked around, looking at fountains and wishing
that we lived in Rome instead of Greece. We ended up at the Villa Borghese Gardens where we put roses
in our hair and laid in the sun while I read a book aloud. Then we headed back
to airport for our flight back to Thessaloniki. It was a wonderful trip and a
great punctuation on our first month student teaching. I would love to go back and have time to
tour the Vatican City or take a trip to Florence or Naples. Emily has decided
to start applying to international schools in and around Rome. Maybe I’ll do
that too when I finish at UK!
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