What do you know about Rome? Let's list some things that we do know: Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony, "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn, gladiators, togas, the Pope, and many other one-worded cliches. And this is the part where I prove all of these things wrong. When I pictured visiting Rome, I always pictured walking down Roman ruins with hills of green surrounding, peaceful and serene, taking in the history. I did that, but within a large, bustling city that not only housed ruins, but an amazing amount of churches.
I give you Rome, the city for the pious.
Rome, or Roma
A visit to Italy (and for that matter, a travel blog) would not be complete without a trip to Rome, where it (and by that I mean Western Civilization) began. To my surprise, it was not as small and intimate as Florence or Venice. Instead, what I saw were wide lane streets, moped drivers, a metro system, and car horns everywhere. Be prepared to jay walk quite a bit in Rome (and for that matter, any modern, non-tourist-filled town in Italy) since more often than not, there will not be any street lights for pedestrians. In the words of my friend Lana, "Just close your eyes and cross."
And the trip to Rome would not have been completely entertaining if not for our hostel. Actually, it was not a hostel experience but more of a coach-surfing experience with a host who tried to get us to watch “Two Girls One Cup” (wiki it if you don’t know what this because there are no words). Though the place was listed as a hostel on hostelworld.com, we were pleasantly surprised (and I use this term lightly) to find that it was actually an apartment with extra rooms. Suffice to say, interesting. At least the beds were clean (I think) and there was free internet.
Piazza San Pietro, the jewel of the Vatican City and site of a very long line
Another thing I did not count on encountering in Rome was large amounts of tourists, only because it was still late winter and as such, absolutely frigid in Rome. The days we were there was rainy, windy, and cloudy (though there was sun, it was very cold sun) which made the fact that there were actually still people standing in line outside of the Vatican Museum and the Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican city that much more amazing. Or maybe not....
No photos I can take will even come close to how breath-taking the Basilica was.
Allison almost cried and I almost felt pious and small standing under the immense, vaulted ceiling. Walking around, seeing the statues of Saint Peter, the past Popes, Bernini's altarpiece (hell, he designed the whole church) and Michelangelo's Pieta (protected by bullet-proof glass after some idiot tried to smash it), the splendor of it all made you almost speechless. The only thing I could say as I was inside the church was, "Oh my God," there was just no words. It was almost too big, too magnificent, too overwhelming. The sense of being eclipsed by a higher power (and I'm not usually the religious type) was almost tangible. You can only be there to feel it.
Saint Peter sitting on his throne (he's life-sized)
Rome is also known, informally by art historians, as Bernini (Baroque sculptor, his work is all over Rome) town, even if I did not see all of the Bernini’s that I wanted to see (it's my only regret while I was in Rome). Yet, the most wonderful thing about Rome was just walking down the street and seeing a random sculpture, fountain, obelisk, fresco, or chapel with a Classical façade in an obscure square or street corner. I was always pleasantly surprised upon strolling down the street and seeing a beautiful sculpture on an otherwise nondescript street corner. It was as if the entire city was constructed to be one large, complete work of art. Everything was so elegantly laid out and it was easy to see the love of art and beauty within Rome, so much so that it covered every road, piazza, and street corner. Bernini town indeed and all the more beautiful for it.
Bernini's "Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi" (we found it completely by accident while wondering the city looking for dinner)
Along with the religious imagery, there were other images that made you aware of just how insignificant you are to the grand scheme of the universe. I found this while walking around the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. You never realize the extent of the damage done to these historic monuments until you walk through them and you realize, "This used to one of the greatest empires in the world," and all you see around you is a lonely column, a stone block on a bed of grass. Even the Colosseum, known for its iconic gladiator battles (and for other methods of entertainment that usually involved feeding people to animals), is just a skeleton of what it once was. A beautiful marble structure reduced to just wooden beams and moss. Walking through it (and even thinking about it now), you realize your own mortality. If something so grand and influential can be reduced to a feeding ground for the birds, what does that say about our civilization, our life? I'll leave the question at that, at the risk of sounding morbid.
Let's just say, being in Rome, in all of its hustling and bustling glory, with its grand churches and romantic ruins, I could not help feeling small and, dare I say, a bit pious. After all, the point of building the high ceiling of Saint Peter's Basilica was to make you feel small within the grand scheme of the universe (or rather, within the eyes of God but let's try to be politically correct). In that case, for Rome: mission accomplished.
Ashes to ashes...
Tips:
- To avoid the long line at Saint Peter's Basilica (and believe me, there will be a long line), visit the thing in the afternoon after all of the tour groups have gone through it.
- As for the Vatican Museum, you are always going to have to wait in line, suck it up and do it. But once you do that, then head straight for the Sistine Chapel since that is usually the last stop for museum visitors. Unless you feel like elbowing a lot of people on the way to the chapel, bypass the first parts of the museum and head towards the chapel first (admire it for as long as your neck doesn't hurt since they don't allow photographs in there).
- The metro system is absolutely rubbish since there are only two lines which only covers the center of the city. They are also crowded so be prepared to push your way in during rush hour. Also, keep your hand on your purse/wallet while on the metro, I now realize why people were always warning me about that after seeing the Roman metro.
- A way to have a cheap and filling dinner at a restaurant is to order pizza. Since Italians tend to have two main courses at dinner (consisting of pasta for one and meat for the other), a pizza fulfills both criterias (and won't get you dirty looks from the waiters who usually expect people to order two courses) and will usually only set you back 8 euros. Not to mention that the pizza you get is huge.
- If you love Bernini as I do and want to see more of his amazing work in one place (instead of doing a scavenger hunt around the city), check out the Galleria Borghese (the park around it is also beautiful for a picnic or stroll). The only thing I regret is not being able to go in since you have to buy a ticket and reserve a time in advance.
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