Thursday, May 3, 2012

Italy: Day IV (Rome)

Friday, July 22nd:

Roman Ruins at the Roman Forum from Capitoline Hill (The Temple of Saturn):


             Today we decided to make our entire day focused on Ancient Rome and all of the magnificent ruins and structures that have stood in Rome for thousands of years. We slept in a little bit and skipped breakfast to get moving quickly and walk across the city towards the center of Rome. We made our way over first to the ongoing excavation at Trajan’s Forum, surrounding Trajan’s Column. While tourists cannot enter this area, people are allowed to walk along glass walkways over the excavation and to get very close to see the thousands of inscriptions and carvings on Trajan’s Column. We decided to save the massive Roman Forum for later in the day, so we continued down Via del Curso towards the Pantheon. On the way we passed centuries-old churches, palazzos, and the Column of Marcus Aurelius that closely resembles that of Trajan to the south.

The Pantheon:


The Concrete Dome of the Pantheon:


            The Pantheon looked very different during the day than at night when we had seen it before. From the outside, it looks like a very odd shaped, old building. The site radically changes upon stepping through its doors. The old church is one massive room with numerous altars and a huge domed ceiling. This concrete ceiling has a hole in the center to allow light through, and has remained the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome for almost two thousand years. One of the altars in particular is very noticeable, as it contains the tomb of the great painter Raphael. Both Max and I were surprised to see his resting place in here, as we had not known beforehand that Raphael’s body had been moved into the Pantheon.

Piazza Navona:


            After leaving the Pantheon, we passed more ongoing excavation sites and churches and made our way to Piazza Navona for lunch. This oval-shaped piazza surrounds a massive fountain in the center and was the site of chariot races in Ancient Rome. Here we found an outdoor cafĂ© and enjoyed some Margherita Pizza and some salad while taking in the sun’s rays. We filled up sufficiently and decided to head back towards the Roman Forum from the west side of the city.

Capitoline Hill:


            We passed more ongoing excavations, more beautiful churches, and more ruins before climbing the Capitoline Hill where the Palazzo Senatorio stands. The Capitoline Hill stands above Ancient Rome, and the piazza and stairs leading up to it were designed by Michelangelo himself. We continued around the Imperial Forum to the Roman Forum’s eastern entrance where we purchased tickets and headed inside. Upon entering this area, one is immediately overwhelmed with the importance of the ground you are walking on, as well as with the scope of the area before you.

Ruins of the Temple of Saturn at the Roman Forum:


The Arch of Septimus Severus at the Roman Forum:


            Max and I wandered around the Forum with our audioguides for some time. We passed the grave of the great Julius Caesar, the Temple of Vesta, and the magnificent ruins of the Temple of Saturn. We also walked through the Arch of Septimus Severus which marked the western end of the center of the Ancient World. We continued on our tour passed the massive ruined basilicas, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, and over towards the beginning of the Palatine Hill and the Houses of the Vestals. It was at this point that we realized we could not possibly fit the entire Palatine Hill tour into our day before it closed, so we returned our audioguides and ran over to the Colosseum. We planned on visiting the Colosseum before it closed and returning back to the Roman Forum tomorrow before our train departed for Naples in the afternoon.

The Colosseum:


Inside the Colosseum:


            We immediately ran over towards the Colosseum through the great Arch of Constantine to get in line before it closed. It was an incredible feeling to be standing underneath one of, if not the, most famous landmarks in the entire world, and one that I had seen thousands of times in pictures before in my life. We got inside using the same tickets that got us into the Forum (dual admission!) and headed upstairs to see the inside of the great Roman amphitheatre. I felt chills in my spine thinking about all of the men who have performed and died here over the course of Roman history. Peering down into the bottom of the “Colosseo,” you can even see where the wild animals from the Far East were kept in holding cells to fight against the Gladiators. It was, and is, the world’s greatest stage. We walked around this extraordinary place until it closed, and it was then that we finally headed back to our hostel for some rest and some food.

The Column of Marcus Aurelius:


            After some rest, we headed to a nearby restaurant recommended to us by our hostel called Monte Arci. Here I enjoyed listening to an old Italian man rant about America and Americans while eating some Fettuccini Bolognese and some Swordfish with thick-cut potato chips. Max and I both adventured a little with the post-dinner drink, as our waiter offered us a Sardinian drink called Zedda Piras. It tasted like licorice and the waiter generously offered us free sips of it on-ice until we paid our bill. After dinner we headed back to the bar from the night before, the Yellow, where we again met up with our friend Drew Morgan for another night of silliness and fun. Tomorrow we have a full day in Rome before taking a train to Napoli (Naples) and another to Sorrento!

Santa Maria Maggiore Church: