The Eternal City - The Arrival

When in Rome... do as the tourists do!

On Friday I went to Rome with half of the students (the other half departed Saturday) by bus. I was one of the last ones to get on, and as luck would have it I got to sit beside by art history teacher Mr. Nero. It was a long bus ride (about 3 and a half hours) and we spent it discussing options and ideas for my paper and for more sources and side trips for research--as well as our love of "the divine" Michelangelo. He also suggested I take a trip to Urbino... as that is the only place in Italy that he would want to live in besides Florence.

When we arrived in Rome we got to see a few sites by bus including the Vatican, the world's first hospital and the Castel S. Angelo--a fort used by popes when the Vatican city would come under attack. We arrived at Hotel Tiziano (a four star hotel) in short time and were fortunate that it was close to all of the major sites we were going to be seeing. I shared my room with 3 other girls, one of which was my roommate, and I took a fancy couch shaped bed on the corner. I caught a glimpse of the room rates and ours was €330 a night. Wow! O_o



After we arrived in Rome we were let loose for lunch and Mary Beth and I found a cute little diner with cheap eats. The owner was one of the nicest we had ever met so it was a very pleasant experience for only picking up panini and cokes. Mary Beth had mapped out the location of a church she had wanted to visit (which had the very famous "St. Teresa in Ecstasy" by Bernini housed within) and I immediately agreed to go with her to see the work. Although it looked close on the map, we crossed almost to the completely other side of the city to get there! Unfortunately, it was closed for lunch when we had arrived--which almost made it a wasted trip except for the fact that it was fun to explore the city. On the way back we made a quick stop to admire the Trevi Fountain--it was nothing like I expected it to be! It was huge! We ran and arrived back to the hotel just in time to join the group to walk to the Capitoline Hill on the way to the Forum.



On the way to the Capitoline Hill we passed the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, situated on a very large building dedicated to one of Italy's top political players. We also passed some old Roman apartments that showed how cramped living spaces were, even for those higher up in the social hierarchy. Walking up to the Capitoline Hill was a treat even though I had misstepped and heard a lovely "crunch" from my knee. I think it is because I had already hurt it in the past that I was able to bounce back easily and continue the journey with no problems. Michelangelo (my favorite Renaissance man) designed the building facades and piazza for the hill. It was important for me to look at their details carefully to determine what elements resembled those on his tomb.





Walking down from the hill we got a spectacular view of the old Roman ruins. They were nothing as I had expected and more numerous as well. We took the old Roman road throughout the entire facility--it was extremely painful to our feet and very tricky as well... everyone had to watch their step. We couldn't even imagine how many horses would have had to have been put down from missteps on these terrible (though innovative) roads.




The first monument we saw was a lesser triumphal arch that was, however, still standing and dedicated by Septimus Severus. Next was the facade of a temple to Saturn and nearby we looked at the remnants of what is known as the Bascilica Guilia.




We then looked at the original facade to a temple dedicated to Faustina and Augustino, two Roman lovers. Deep marks in the columns are evidence of later Christian inhabitants who tried to pull them down with ropes and horses. When the columns refused to budge, they added a church to the monument and rededicated it to the worship of Christ. The next set of ruins we looked at was a reconstructed portion of the Temple of the Vestal Virgins, who stoked the eternal flame and made sure that it did not go out. Their building was small and round in shape. Vestal Virgins were dedicated to their duties for 30 years, however they enjoyed great privileges in ancient Rome. We ended our tour of the forum with a look at the Arch of Titus.. which I will talk about along with the other day's adventures during my next post! Buona Sera!