We made it to Rome! Meg had pretty good directions from the trainstation to the hostel, though we still needed help haha. The hostel is pretty nice. We walked to the grocery store and then spent the evening relaxing and recovering from an exhausting couple days in Florence.

Thursday 18 June
In Roma & ready for action! First stop, the Plazza della Republica. It was pretty cool. We crossed the streets and went into Santa Maria degli Angeli church. It was creepsville! They had what looked like torture devices on display. Idk what was going on in there, but it was weird! And there was someone playing creepy organ music! Meg & I mostly walked around making fun of things. We then walked to the San Carlo Quattro Fontane. It was just a 4-way intersection & on each building was a sculpture thing. Each one represents one of the great rivers... Nile, Ganges, Plate, & ... I forget.

We walked to the Fontana Tritone... a wide open plaza with a not too huge or impresssive fountain. Though it is of King Triton wrestling a fish or something equally... ferocious? Moving on, we walked up to the Trinta dei Monti- a big pointy and a church atop the famous Spanish Steps. Jo went inside the church while Meg & I reapplied sunscreen. We walked partway down the Spanish steps for some sweet photo opts. Then we continued on to the Villa Medici. Nothing really impressive other than the thought of actually living there... total luxury! It is so quiet and tranquil, as it looks down across all of Rome. We sat on a bech in the park for a bit, just taking in the calmness of the villa.

Eventually we mustered up some more energy and walked on to the Piazza del Popolo, a massive plaza, enclosed by great walls. It looked like they were setting up for some sort of concert or show--what a great venue. I mean, what else would you do there. Hmm. We walked out the arch of the Popolo and to the metra; back to the hostel. We picked up lunch and after doing internet, I laid in bed for a bit until it was time to head back to the Spanish Steps for a free walking tour.

We successfully found the tour, and Liz from Florence! So, our tour guide told us a LOT of information. She basically gave us a tour of Roman architecture. It was actually quite interesting. She told us about Rome's great aquaducts, how you can drink from any fountain in the city (Amazing!). She also told us stories demonstrating the rivalry between Bernini and Bertinini... yes basically the same name. We walked south from the Spanish steps, learning all the way. The reason all the buildings are orangey red is bc they used to be covered in marble, which was stolen ages ago. We walked to the Fontana di Trevi--amazing. It's just this giant sculpture that comes outta the wall and turns into this huge magnificent fountain! Each statue and every figure means something or represents something different. Our guide told us if you throw a penny in a certain way, you'll return to Rome. Of course we did it! :)

Next we passed the Temple Adriano, where we could see the different layering levels of the city. There are ruins upon ruins and basically whole buildings and cities underground... they just recycle buildings and keep building up. Finally we reached the Pantheon. Ah. Amazing! It is the best preserved building of ancient times. The dome is as wide as the building is high... and is fully original. Amazing. How is this still here?!?!?! The hole in the top of the dome is 9m wide and when it rains, the floor (the ORIGINAL marble floor) has small holes in the floor that allow the water to drain and become part of the underground aqueduct system of the city. The Pantehon was amazing to me. Clearly, have I used that word enough!? I was simply blown away. I was actually walking where the first Romans walked. I just... wow.

We walked on, and came to the cPiazza Navone, where they used to hold chariot races and other games. Impressive. It's fountains were quite hilarious... men with scale legs wrestling fish and falling off rocks as the giant pointy seemed to break through the center of the fountain. We ended the tour around the corner at this statue (hardlyh anything left of it) but it's where since the very most early days, people attach notes of protest and such against the government. There are even recent notes there now. What a great tour! Exhausted though. We stopped for a spaghetti dinner before working our way back to the hostel and settling in for bed.

Friday 19 June
Getting an early start, we luckily found a cheaper version of the expensive tour we were going to take, and it worked out GREAT! We started in the Colosseo... Colosseum. Wow! It must have looked amazing in its time, though now it is so destroyed-it's sad really-- this monument so easily could've been preserved... it's just been destroyed through pillaging. Our guide was great; she told us how the Colesseum worked back in the day, and all about the gladitorial games. I could go into detail, but I'll spare you the lecture. Leaving, we stopped at the Arch of Constantine, then entered the Palatino... the ancient Roman palace, the ancient Roman city. |It was surreal to see the ruins, the places that great palaces, forums, homes once stood. I'm such a classics nerd... I just walked around, eyes bulging... I couldn't see enough! I just wanted to take it all in! I seriously remember every little detail of it all. It makes me want to pick up my latin books and reread my Roman histories.

We finished our tour at Caesar's grave... pretty amazing. There are still parades and flowers on the grave. (Flowers, not parades). It was interesting to hear a description of Caesar from our tour guide, a Roman. Not quite how we learn about him in school! Well that tour was exhausting! Mostly because it's like 8020 degrees in Rome. Plus humidity. YIIIIIIIKES!!!! We took a short break at the hostel. Much needed.

Then we set out for the Vatican Museum. It was kinda boring... we've seen sooo much old art. But the modern religious art I though was quite interesting. We made it all the way to the Sistine Chapel. It was PACKED with people. It was amazing to see, though it's difficult because the ceiling is so high! There are actually signs saying you're not allowed to lay down. Hmpf! We snuck outta there and over to the Vatican. But it was closed for some special service... WHAT?!?!?!?!? We were all super upset about that :( But we got some nice pictures from outside. Meg and I went for food and postcards, while Jo hung out at the Vatican to attend a prayer service, where she randomly found people she knew... weird!

Back at the hostel, there was a new guy in our room and he was so RUDE!!! He kept sighing SUPER loud... what a BABY! We weren't even making noise! Jo was whispering and telling us about the Vatican and this guy coundn't stop his bellyachin! I wanted to chuck some earplugs at him or something! Get a private room ya big crybaby!

Anyways, we finally went to bed. Too bad we have to wake up so early!!!!

xo Amie