Rome in a Day

Today was insanely busy as we tried to tackle all of Rome’s highlights in one day. We discovered Vatican City was closed today for a holiday so we decided to go for some of the other parts instead. We also decided later today that we were very glad not to be on a Vatican tour, which we were told isn’t air conditioned and barley has breathing room between tourists. Instead, we headed out to a cafe in our plaza for breakfast and waited for our cab to arrive. Our first tour of the day was of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, and the Roman Forum. Once our cab dropped us off, we took some pictures before meeting up with our tour group. When we did meet up I got excited when he told us we would have special access today to go into the Colosseum at stage level so we could see it from the angle the gladiators did. We walked in through the gate dead gladiators and animals were dragged out of, which tampered my excitement a bit. From the stage we were able to see the area that didn’t have stage covering it, which revealed a labyrinth of elevator shafts, cages, and small rooms that were compared to today’s backstages. From the stage we walked up steep stairs to the third floor of seats. This area offered a good view of both the inside and outside of the Colosseum. After visiting this theatre where thousands of beings were killed for the entertainment of others, I realize my appreciation for it comes only from the architecture and preservation of the building, not from the events held within it.

Next we went to Palatine Hill, where Rome is said to have been founded and where three palaces were during different periods of the Roman Empire. One of the most interesting things on the Hill was the emperor’s private stadium, which was used for footraces and other events to entertain the Roman leader. The next stop on our tour was the Roman Forum, where ancient Roman leaders lead. There was also a basilica, arc of triumph, temple, and many many more things that couldn’t sink in on such a long and informative tour.

Right after our tour ended our hungry stomaches led us to cab, which took us to a vegetarian restaurant and art gallery. We arrived 30 minutes before the kitchen opened the buffet so Hannah and I took a nap on the table. We were both out like lights, but happy to be woken up to food. In fact, the buffet was full of more food than I think a village could eat including pesto, bread, rice, lentils, cucumbers, green beans, bean beans, fruit, and so many more fancy dishes that I couldn’t identify. Once we were totally stuffed we took a cab back to our apartment and chilled out.

Of course, our relaxing only lasted about 15 minutes because we had another three hour tour to go to. This one would feature the catacombs and we didn’t know what else. We walked to the main part of our hotel to meet our super nice guide, Francesco. From there we caught a cab and went to a very normal looking building. I was expecting some grand entrance considering the catacombs were basically a graveyard for Christians living in the Roman empire. However, there was just a door our guide took us to that led to a spiral staircase, taking us underground. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the area we went to was basically long dark hallways, easy to get lost in, with slots in the walls for dead people. All of the skeletons were removed so silly ol’ tourists wouldn’t get too squeamish or freaked out. I was grateful. In some sections we could see some remnants of amazing decorations and works of art, including an amazing fresco and what is supposedly the first depiction of Mary and her baby, though we aren’t sure how accurate that could possibly be.

Once we emerged from the catacombs, our guide told us about a place where we could get Cremolato, which is 95% fresh fruit and 5% water. Usually they put cream on the top of it, but we went without and it tasted heavenly. Our flavors of choice were lemon and peach, which were perfect. That is the only way I can describe them. Refreshed, we got a cab taking us to Basilica di St. Clemente. From outside and even the main part inside it looks like any old European church, but it turns out it was built upon three other preexisting layers of buildings that were buried overtime and used as foundations. The very bottom layer we couldn’t visit for safety reasons, but it was a nicer neighborhood in the 2nd century BC. On top of that there was a house for someone who oversaw the gladiators which was next door to what archeologists predict to be a mint in the 2nd century AD. It had a tiny stream running under it. Above that layer we were allowed to visit a 4th century AD Pagan basilica was inspired by Persian worship of the god Mithra. It is predicted that had christianity not made it in the Western world, then the Mithraism religious would be as big today and in the past as Christianity has been.

On the street level there is the 12th century basilica, however the time capsule doesn’t stop there. The floors of the basilica were covered in medieval marble mosaics . Meanwhile the pillars reflected the renaissance and were recycled from many old roman buildings to build the basilicas. Furthermore, there were some late renaissance or enlightenment frescos on the ceiling and baroque style paintings and decoration in one corner of the church. Our tour came to a close, but our guide went back to our hotel with us and talked to us about our dinner plan. We had plans to eat with the Burris’, friends from Niwot, but decided to change the place where we had our reservation after our guide told us about the restaurant he suggested. In fact, he had plans there tonight, eating with some high school friends. We decided to go for a snack with a few hours before dinner and stopped at a crepe place in our plaza. We got some honey and strawberry crepes and took them to the roof of our hotel’s main building, which has an amazing terrace with a view that basically shows you the entire city. We ate up there to the sound of a cellist playing in the square. When we finished, we walked back down to find the actual cellist and go back to our apartment for a half hour to rest before dinner.

When we went down in the plaza I was so happy to see Morgan. She is the first friend I’ve seen in almost a month and it was just good to have a piece of home I suppose you could say. It was weird though, to see her in Italy rather than home. At the restaurant we chatted all of dinner and we saw our guide there and said hello. I had my first pizza in Italy, without cheese of course, for dinner and it was delicious. It started to get late so all eight of us walked back to the Piazza Navona, where the Burris’ are staying. Its significance made a lot more sense to me today after learning it was built on an old stadium, basically using the track as the road now. I also thought it was interesting that the pope once stayed in the hotel the Burris' are staying in while the Vatican was being built. We went up to the roof of their building, which was quite the party. We were able to see basically all of Roma at night from above and it was beautiful. St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City was the best lit thing we could see, but even just small street lamps made the view spectacular. It was sad to say goodbye to Morgan, but it was really nice to have been able to meet up with a friend.