First of all, I apologize for the lateness of this post. Procrastination comes easily these days, unfortunately.
Second, I have bad news: I accidentally overwrote my pictures from Rome with a blank folder. HOWEVER, Lexi--the incredible person that she is--was able to recover some of those pictures from my camera card. So while the pictures in this post are not complete, I'm incredibly grateful for what I do have.
So of course, what's Italy without Roma, right? More so than anything else, two things stand out to me about Rome: pizza and Roman ruins.
Yes, I ate it all. And I was not the only person--or female for that matter--to do so, because apparently, when you order pizza at a sit-down restaurant in Italy, you, singular, get the whole thing. However, after a couple of these, I am proud to say I discovered the science to finishing one of these. Start with the middle, and then fill whatever space remains with the crust. Just a tip for when you go. =)
Several people remarked that Rome resembled New York in its busyness, except with Roman ruins instead of skyscrapers. With the news stands on every street corner, the street artists painting caricatures, and the buses squeezing through the narrow streets, I can definitely see the resemblance. But when I think of New York, I see grey hues. When I think of Rome, I see yellow hues. And somehow in my mind, that's enough to differentiate the two.
Overlooking the city
Of course, like I mentioned, there were also the Roman ruins that we visited in bulk. We saw the site of Julius Caesar's assassination (which doubles as a cat motel, apparently, Rome being the city of cats) We visited the Pantheon. We walked the Roman Forum, Colosseum, Circus Maximus, and the list continues. It was truly incredible to see so much ancient history, to feel it beneath your feet. But I won't lie, it soon became overwhelming. I'm not a Roman history scholar, so even though we had a tour guide, I often had a hard time comprehending what it was I was looking at. Even if I knew, what was the significance? There was just so much. Forget drinking from a fire hydrant; it was like trying to drink from the Niagra.
Of course, you recognize it: the Colosseum, where Ridley Scott re-wrote Roman history. Ha.
From the inside
The sub-terranean levels where they kept the gladiators and beasts. Well, the gladiators were beasts, but you know what I mean. ;)
The Colosseum was the first model of stadium and ticketed seating. Supposedly, they could fill and empty 70,000 seats in less than 30 minutes.
When being a female REALLY sets you apart
An arch that celebrated the Roman pillaging of Jewish temples. If you look closely you can see the figures carrying off a menorah.
Some sort of hall where a presidential press conference was being held
Architectural remains
Original frescos from a domus that I only recall as being really, really ancient. (Sorry, we had been walking for a very long time, and I was hungry. haha.)
This is our tour guide. She was extremely thorough in her explanations, which would have been great, except that her accent was very thick and her voice resembled that of Edna Mode from The Incredibles. And since I couldn't ever remember her real name, I dubbed her "Edna."
View through a tiny peephole from the Mausoleum of Hadrian, a fort-like structure.
During the day, we toured the ruins, and in the evenings we explored the bustling city. Without question, it was the most exciting city we visited. Perhaps it was because the weather was warmer than anywhere else we went. Or, perhaps it was simply because it was Rome. Either way, the plazas were always full, people were always out, and the city never stopped moving. Some preferred the smaller scale of Florence, but I enjoyed the excitement of Rome.
That's St. Peter's Basilica behind Josh's head.
Italian police
Janee and I set out one night in search of the Trevi fountain. After some random detours, we eventually found the fountain, and it was awesome--as were the Nutella/strawberry crepes we had for dinner. =)
We saw a hill on the way home, and being as the night was still young, we decided to explore. Little did we expect to find the National Plaza at the top of the hill. The building on the left there is basically the "Italian White House."
CLASSIC JANEE: She really wanted a picture with some Italian cops. So when we walked past a parking garage with five Italians in uniform, I convinced her to ask them for a picture. They readily agreed and the one on the right even let her wear his helmet. She says that when he put the helmet on her head, she thought to herself, "Ummm...maybe you should keep that on. Your hair's kinda messy." Hahaha--only Janee. Later we figured out they were probably firefighters, not police, but no one's complaining. ;)
This picture celebrates the finding of a TRASH CAN! Haha. No joke, we walked around ALL night holding our crepe wrappers, passing it off to each other periodically, because we absolutely could not find a public trash can.
Spray paint artists are also all over Rome. Some of them are actually very talented.
The following video is nothing short of classic. I still cannot figure out how this man thought he could dance. But there he was with his stereo and coffer, awkwardly moving away. He drew a decent crowd for his lack of dancing skills, but among the mockers was a true fan: Josh, the "estupido Americano," as he called himself.
Part of the Roman excitement included the many protests scattered throughout the city. Apparently, Rome has a protest season when all the groups come out and promote their cause to whoever will or will not listen. We saw environmental groups, political groups, religious groups, civil rights groups, ...everything you can imagine. The nuns we were staying with warned us to stay away from any of the protest areas in case they got violent, but the most disturbance we witnessed was the obstruction of traffic and that was the police's doing.
Riot police
While in Rome, we also had the chance to attend an English-speaking Methodist church. It was a very diverse congregation as demonstrated in a one-line song we sang 20 or more times in just about every language one can think of. The pastor was from the UK, the intern was Korean, and attendees included Africans, Dutchmen, Philippinos, and, of course, forty-some odd Americans.
I must say that I was very pleasantly surprised with the service, especially the sermon. The British pastor spoke on the place of suffering in our faith. So often we forget that the cross is a symbol of suffering. God has not called us to a life of comfort and ease from the trials of this life. He has called us to endure in His name. Even more than the words of the pastor, though, was what he communicated about his life through his message. Although he was dressed in the traditional robe of Methodist preachers, and he stood high above us in his pulpit, he really struck me as a man who lives what he preaches, reaching out to others wherever they are to bring the truth and love of Christ into their lives.
Sitting on the Spanish Steps with Janee and Bonnie. Behind us is the Catholic Church, where I believe I heard the absolute most gorgeous a cappella singing in my life. It did nothing short of chill me to my bones and make heaven tremble with its beauty.
A few members of our group also went to an Italian soccer match. I wanted to go, but then opted to explore the city more, since I didn't feel like I had enough time to do that yet. They say it was an incredible experience, and believe me I received a tongue-lashing when I got home for not going. But there's always next time, right?
I missed the soccer game, but I did get to see the marathoners on Sunday morning. (I can't imagine running with that get-up was very comfortable.) P.S. That's the Mausoleum of Hadrian in the background.
Please note, not just the souped-up moped, but the mismatching and bright sneakers as well.
=)
