First day in Rome!

On Tuesday we got up bright and early for a 6:30 a.m. train to Rome! As some of you know, this is my all-time favorite place to be, so I was pretty excited. Still, I was a little nervous because I was going without Carl or Sarah. This meant I was the one with the most knowledge of the place, so that made me tour guide…which would be fine if I had ever cared to use a map. I was actually going to have to pay attention to where I went!

I’m only putting this one in for my own enjoyment, but let me just tell you (and Amy I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of this) that my mother was REALLY excited to see Rome for the first time. This one captures, to a tee, what you see from my dad and Ryan when she starts to get all goofy at 7 in the morning. It just makes me smile:


The train ride to Rome is fantastic, and even though it was early I still tried to stay awake as much as possible to check out the Italian countryside. The iPod helped. Btw, this is so random, but David Archuleta just makes me so darn happy. That song he sings - Crush I think is the title. I’m not even sure what he’s singing about, but I just picture him stomping his right foot forward, hand over his heart, singing the song and it just puts a big grin on my face :).

We get to Rome and it’s mayhem at the train station, which is pretty normal from what I’ve seen before. Just as a side note, my family travels in twos: my father and I sprinting ahead at warp speed and my brother and mom on a leisurely stroll - heads pointed in every direction - taking their sweet time. Add to this the fact that we don’t understand what anyone is saying and that Italian drivers, especially in Rome, are CRAZY, and we’re a little stressed by the time we make it to the hotel. The guy at the front desk is very nice and even helps us find a spot for lunch, which is here:



Very good stuff, you can’t go wrong with pasta! From here we visit Piazza Barberini, which looks like this:

In the middle is Bernini’s Fountain of the Triton (Fontana del Tritone), which has been standing for more than three centuries. It’s actually some kind of strange figure sitting in an open clam blowing water from a horn - don’t really get it. This piazza is named after one of Rome’s most powerful families.

From here I take the family through the Metra system, Rome’s underground trains - very similar to the El but a ton cleaner. It even smells pretty decent. We maneuver our way around and find ourselves at the stop for the Colosseum. Here it is:

As soon as we walk up to it we get bombarded by the guided tours and crazy gladiators asking to take our picture. We miraculously find a good tour guide and get set up with a group, something I’ve never done (truthfully been able to afford) before. Here’s Max, our tour guide:

He’s obviously not the gladiator, but we did snap a picture with them (I am with mom, after all):

I can’t believe my face wasn’t about ten shades of red at this point because we were literally standing in front of the entire tour group. Maybe you just can’t see it from that far away :).

The tour was actually really great! The Colosseum is obviously a pretty amazing thing to walk through. The construction began in 72 A.D. and the structure was inaugurated with a bloody combat in 80 A.D., which lasted several weeks. At it’s peak the Colosseum could seat 50,000 people. Max told us many stories of bloody battles in the arena, including the multitude of foreign animals shipped in (lion vs. bear, two humans vs. hippopotamus, etc.).

The Colosseum used to be outfitted in marble, but has been stripped almost bare over the years to create palaces and churches. It now stands next to one of the busiest streets in Rome, the Via dei Fori Imperiali, created by Mussolini. This was crazy controversial because the road literally cuts through the ancient Roman ruins.

Next to the Colosseum is the Arch of Constantine:

This was erected in 315 A.D. to honor Constantine’s defeat of the pagan Maxentius. Historically, the arch marks a period of great change in the history of Rome and inevitably the history of the world. Constantine converted to Christianity after a vision he had in battle, and then proceeded to end the centuries-long persecution of the Christians (Christians were put to death during this time for practicing their beliefs). Constantine didn’t end paganism altogether, but he started the development of Christianity into what it is today.

After the tour we took a little break before heading to the ruins (Ryan claimed he needed to warm up):

After the Colosseum we got an extensive tour of the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, ancient ruins from the beginnings of Rome. I’ll make this short and sweet because I know it’s a lot of old history stuff.

Entrance to the Roman Forum with the Colosseum in the background. You can see the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) on the left, basically the gravel sidewalk there. This was the Broadway of ancient Rome and was walked by anyone who’s anyone from the Colosseum end to the Capitoline Hill to meet with the rulers of Rome.

Following the Via Sacra there’s the Basilica di Massenzio e di Costantino (Basilica of Constantine & Maxentius). It’s the huge brick building in the middle that used to be Rome’s public law courts.

Even further down you come to the Tempio di Antonino e Faustina (Temple of Antonius and Faustina). It’s the one with the big pillars, apparently one of the first buildings dedicated to a woman:

If you look all the way to the left you’ll see a small green dome in the corner of the brick of the balcony we’re standing on. That’s supposed to be Caesar’s grave, which looks like this up close and inside:

This is where he’s supposedly buried. We got to walk the grounds of the Roman Forum, which I’ve never done before, so I was psyched.

Then we wandered a bit up Via del Corso, one of the main shopping streets of the city. Ryan got a surprisingly good deal on a leather jacket and dad and I tried to mime-ask a guard where the nearest ATM was.

Then came my favorite part! We made our way to the Trevi Fountain, one of my favorite spots in Rome. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain over your shoulder you’ll ensure a trip back to Rome. Here we are trying to appease mom and her need for a photo. I’m playing along, dad is trying to, and Ryan’s over it:

Then a nice lady took our picture:

Next we made it to the Pantheon. I’ve heard this more times than I need to, but everyone says that if you don’t visit the Pantheon while you’re in Rome you’re branded a fool. But to be honest, this time around I realized why. The structure is mind-boggling, one of the coolest places you’ll find in Rome if you listen to its history:

The Pantheon was constructed in 27 B.C - it was literally constructed before Christ was born, which is absolutely amazing - and reconstructed in the early 2nd century A.D. This is the only building in all of Rome that remains intact. It is among the architectural wonders of the world due to the fact that it’s an open-air dome. It remained the biggest pile of concrete ever constructed up until the 20th century - and it was first constructed in 27 B.C.! Michelangelo studied it before creating the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica, and Ralphael’s tomb was discovered here about 125 years ago. Here’s what the inside looks like:

Absolutely amazing. It's obviously had some work done since Christ was born.

After the Pantheon we finally made it to dinner. We chose a restaurant in Piazza Navona, one of my favorite spots because it comes alive late at night and it still remains pretty much unspoiled by new buildings and traffic. It used to be the Stadium of Domitian, where chariot races were held as well as mock naval encounters (they would flood the stadium to do this). I’ve never been able to eat in any of the restaurants that line this piazza, but now with the parents we took advantage of it! Here we are at the oldest restaurant in the piazza, Restaurante Panzirone:

This was literally one of my favorite moments with my parents and Ryan in Italy. The food was fantastic, everyone was happy (and warm, they had heaters) and we just sat back and enjoyed the fact that we were all together in Rome on a beautiful night.

We made a quick stop by the Spanish Steps to end the evening:

Aside from the Trevi Fountain this is my all-time favorite spot. Normally these steps are filled with people, vendors and beautiful men playing guitars and singing. That's how I found it on my first visit in college, and we shared a bottle of wine with paper cups and listened to the music. It was a fantastic night. On a Tuesday night, though, it’s not as busy. Mom still got approached by a rose vendor, and then we took a quick picture and headed home. We were getting up early to tackle St. Peter’s Basilica and Vatican City in the morning.