Day 3: Roma

May 23rd-

My feet are numb and it's only been our first full day of touring. We were warned it would be the most grueling though. We were walking from 9 AM until 5 in the afternoon. Nevertheless, it was an awesome first day, even if my feet have been worn to nubs.

It all started off a little jagged. Everyone, all thirty-two people on this tour, was ready to go at the assigned time, 8:30. Everyone except me anyway. I held up the group for 15 minutes and if my mom hadn't dragged me out, it could have been even longer.

Here's the story: I'm sick, I keep complaining about it, it's an established fact. Unfortunately our room smells really weird and it's been party-time for asthma. Sleeping last night was sketchy, I would wake up and feel like I had a Roman column settled in each lung.

When we got up in the morning, the first thing I did was drink a coffee, which helped immensely, then around 8 I went to our room and started searching for my inhaler. I guess I seriously lost track of time. Then, why I was fixing my hair, goggling in the mirror and not searching for my airway de-clogger when mom hurried me out, I couldn't tell you. Vanity is a hard thing to justify.

It's also too bad that in the chaos of being told I was holding up the entire tour, not only was I not able to find my inhaler, I also left my camera in the hotel room. Today was epic. My art history class was actually useful, I was able to see half the semester in person! But, thankfully mom and friends took a lot of photos that I'll be able to shiest and share. (Thanks to Sierra for a majority of these photos)

We met our guide, Paula, [not sure about the spelling] at our first stop: the Colosseum, which was huge and falling apart. I think for me, even though the building was awesome, really became incredible just to think that I was walking over ground that had absorbed thousands of years of foot sweat.

The Colosseum.

Inside

Mom inside the Colosseum

Pat and I dukin' it out. (I'm about to exhale him down. It's a Bruce Lee move.)


Triumphal Arch from the Colosseum


Emily trying to get out of Pat's Triumphant photo. Fail.

Julie, Rachel and Sierra


Left to Right:
Me, Seth, Pat, Rachel, Sierra, Molly, Julie, Emma.

Paula was very animated. Italian accents are beautiful, she really softened up the English language, simultaneously making it forceful. It would be sweet to talk like that.

From the Colosseum we walked to the Roman Forum. It was a little drizzly outside, but overall warm. Along the way we came across one of the drinking fountains that can be found all over Rome. Paula was very insistent that we take a drink, fill our water bottles or whatever, but everyone was hanging back. I finally stepped up with my water bottle and filled it up; I figured, I'm sick as it is, and at this point I was fairly certain it couldn't get any worse, death could even be an improvement. Besides, you know the saying, "When in Rome..."

Sierra and I at the drinking fountain

The water is very thick. It made my tongue panic when I took the first swig, but luckily I didn't spray it everywhere. I was already making a fool of myself with all the awful gurgly nose-blowing. I didn't feel sicker or anything, it was just a weird consistency. I wish that hydrating the way the Romans do could be a little crisper.

The Roman Forum was another pile of ruins, but still, considering that I was standing in the very center of what used to be the world power's religious, political, and economic center had a magical affect on the mouldering rocks around me.

In the Roman Forum

Our future lawyer in the Roman Senate

I saw where Caesar was cremated (we later drove by where he was murdered). That was weird, people still lay flowers on the site for him... I was scared to ask our guide whether that was just for touristal impact, or because they really still feel bad about the murder of man thousands of years ago.

After the forum, we took a bus to the Vatican City and grabbed some lunch before going into the museum. There's no need for brain games to see the beauty of the Vatican, the way there is for the ruins we'd seen previously. Hopefully there was nothing to smell, because my nose was an unstoppable force of nature. In the holiest city on the planet (for the Catholic Christians anyway) I'm trying to mop up my face. The visual impact of the Vatican is intense though, and since I don't see out my nose, it was super-awesome.

Inside the Vatican.

I got to see the sculpture of Laocoon and his Sons! It was my favorite in Art History. I did my first research paper on it. Maybe it's a bit morbid, but all the curving lines and contorted stone in the piece is beautiful. The story behind the statue's characters and it's discovery is interesting as well. Laocoon was apparently a priest during the Trojan war who told the Trojans not to bring the wooden horse into the city, then got mangled by sea-serpents. This piece was created by three sculptors from Rhodes, unearthed in 1506 by the Golden House of Nero, with Michaelangelo present at its discovery.



We walked through gallery after gallery, all heavily ornamented, before we reached the Sistine chapel. The galleries lined with enormous tapestries, each depicting a different scene of a story from the Bible. The ceilings were decorated with frescoes and sculpture (yes, there were naked men fastened to the ceiling, it was freaking me out) and the air was leaking color, it was slopped everywhere, so thick with greens and yellows and reds. It made me a little dizzy.

Imagine a tube filled with a mishmash of marble, laced with gold, embedded with tile, slabbed with paintings all smeared on the top, with paintings and tapestries decorating the sides. It's confusing and very shiny. There are things glinting everywhere.

A Gallery

Another Gallery.

After the galleries was the Sistine Chapel. My neck is sore from all the ceiling staring and my nerves severely jostled by all the people that were milling around. The chapel wasn't what I expected. At first I was surprised by how dim it was, but now I understand, the light wouldn't be good for those paintings at all. It was confusing, finding somewhere to focus my attention. From all sides there are very eye-catching, demanding images. The picture of God and Adam that's always associated with the place was just another rectangle in a hundred beautiful depictions. The Last Judgment fresco did dominate though. It was not sectioned off, like everything else. The entire back wall was polarized with saved and tormented souls all slapped on top of a deep blue background, scarred with some hideous women. Michaelangelo was a moron about painting women. As our guide said, "UFC fighters with breasts; one slap could kill you." They all looked like the hulk.

We moved on to Saint Peter's church, supposedly built over the remains of the man himself. Whether or not he is, his statue is in there and one can go touch his right foot and get something good. Anyway, I thought the churches in Austria were big; this place was enormous. It also had a mummified pope or two. One was black and partially decaying it looked like, but John the 23rd was in prime condition.

Inside the Basilica

The Vatican was our last stop. After we went out for dinner, which I was really nervous about. The previous night's dinner made me apprehensive about the rest of the trip. For my vegetarian menu, they started off with a delicious lasagna, (I'd never tasted a sauce that had such raw deliciousness) and I was looking forward to what they were going to whip out next. They brought it out on a burning hot plate, and I prepared to stab my fork into!!! ... ... ..

Three slabs of cheese, slightly melted. The kind you put over French Onion Soup.

I was really confused, waiting for a few minutes for them to bring out something else, maybe a little eggplant, fried in vegetable oil, seasoned with garlic and thyme.

Nope; my dinner was 3 slabs of salty cheese.

I was asking a lot of questions about dinner tonight, but Jason was being stingy with the game plan (or maybe he didn't know). No one really knew what was going on, and I was scared. A girl cannot live on cheese and pasta for 13 days. Imagine what that does to one's bowels!

I won't lie, tonight my food was better than everyone's. Half the group is considering going vegetarian after sampling my delicious pasta dish, then the ensuing grilled zucchini and eggplant, drizzled in olive oil and seasoned very well. I think the restaurant we were at was one of a chain that Dean Martin started; there were several pictures of him and John Wayne grilling foods on the walls. I don't remember the exact name though.

After dinner everyone in my group plus several from the others went out again for a Night in Rome, but I went back to the hotel. This way, when they all came back with fantastic photos of everything all lit up, I could be uber-miffed. The other side is that, I think that if I don't get a good night's rest, I'm probably going to be ailing for the rest of the trip. It balances out, missing one night of bright Rome, rather than be a sick jerk for the next 10 days.

I'm in the room now, trying to get ready for tomorrow. It will be our free day in Rome! We'll probably die on the Public Transit. Can't wait.

-E