4/21

We decided to use this day to hit all the things that we missed while doing the biggest things the last couple days. First we went to see some more fabulous Roman ruins and checked out a nearby park.

and more ruins...

For lunch I got a smorgasbord of street pizza including my favorite, mozzarella with big chunks of fresh mozzarella cheese!

We looked at some more landmarks, fountains, and buildings, and found an area with a lot of artists. I bought a gorgeous watercolor painting that matches perfectly in my room and Chelsea and Rachel got a caricature done.

We went to the last big thing we had yet to see today--The Pantheon! The Pantheon was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa as a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome, and rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian in about 126 AD.

Marcus Agrippa built and dedicated the original Pantheon during his third consulship (27 BC). Augustus's Pantheon was destroyed along with other buildings in a huge fire in 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt the Pantheon, which burned again in 110 AD. Not long after this second fire, construction started again. The design of the extant building might belong to Trajan's architect Apollodorus of Damascus. The building has also been used as a Christian church.

Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. (St. Peter's would have been bigger, but it's just barely less!)

It was ROME'S BIRTHDAY so there were a lot of events happening. We went to a re-enactment of the founding of Rome.

It detailed the story of Remus and Romulus among other things...though I slept for most of it because I was so tired!

We climbed up a hill to get to a door and with a great view, and this is what I saw looking through the peephole. it was too bright for my camera to capture the St. Peter dome but I was able to see it! These rich people have a beautiful and tranquil garden.

We walked a little further and saw a wonderful panoramic view from the orange tree plaza near the peephole. We went home for a little bit for dinner which we made at the hostel and then went to Piazza Popolo for Rome's Bday Fireworks! They had enormous projections on all the buildings in the plaza. They also had a fountain that they from time to time projected things on. There were dancers and singers, it was spectacular!

<3 it was hands down the best fireworks I've ever seen!

4/20

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! :)
Today we visited Vatican City which was incredible. We took the metro and on our walk to the Vatican Museum were confronted by someone who belonged to the same tour group we had used yesterday for the Colosseum and Palatine. We decided to go ahead and pay the 35 euro for the tour (Chelsea's mom had given us some money to use, so we each got 20 euro from her!). With our tour we got to skip the line which was outrageously long! Good thing the volcano prevented a lot of incoming flights...our tour guide says it is usually much, much worse than it was! Our tour guide was really good and the first thing she did was take us to an area with a board full of pictures. She was able to explain all that we were going to see in the Sistine Chapel with the pictures on this board. She told us stories about Michaelangelo along with the stories about what he painted.

In a courtyard just before we entered we got an awesome view of St. Peter's dome. Our guide said that the architect made it just barely larger than the Pantheon dome although he was commissioned to make it the largest!! The architect had a lot of reverence for ancient feats.

We saw a lot of symbolic statues including the pinecone as a symbol of fertility and prosperity as well as the peacock as a symbol of eternity because it doesn't decompose the same as other organic substances. Ancient statues were everywhere and many of the statues were actually marble copies of originals that were in bronze. We saw Apollo and a devastated father as he and his sons are taken down. The statue was found not too long ago in a man's backyard!!!

All of the ceilings in the building were ornate and beautifully painted.

Above: This torso was found in a cobbler's shop. The owner was using it as a table leg!! When the pope offered him something for the treasure the cobbler denied anything saying he had no use for the object anyway! It is called the perfect torso because it is able to balance perfectly and it is carved all the way around.

Above you can see the gorgeous mosaic floors. Over the course of time, many popes have had treasures removed from other locations and put into the Vatican. You can also see a bronze statue of Hercules and Nero's bathtub. Purple was the color of God and royalty and Nero, an evil ruler, considered himself in line with God!

In other rooms there were beautiful marble floors that was from the Palatine and Colosseum but was "relocated" to the Vatican. Roman history buffs aren't too happy about this. We walked through some really neat rooms, one was a tapestry room, a room of maps, another had artwork done by notable students for the Pope on the ceiling and upper walls, and another yet had ceiling paintings in whites and creams that looked 3-D but in reality they were a carefully designed play with shadows. They were all in fact 2-D paintings!

In the Cistine Chapel, we saw Michaelangelo's "Last Judgement." I couldn't take my eyes off of this, it was so incredible. In the painting Michaelangelo made his self portrait a skin hanging from someone's hand, as that is how he said he felt after the grueling years of painting the chapel. In the corner of the "Last Judgement" painting Michaelangelo also painted a man who criticized his work as a devil in hell!

We walked through the tomb of the Popes and then saw some Papal Swiss Guards! There are many requirements in order to have the privilege of being a Swiss guard including being Catholic, single males with Swiss citizenship who have completed basic training with the Swiss military and can obtain certificates of good conduct. Recruits must have a professional degree or high school diploma and must be between 19 and 30 years of age and at least 174 cm (5 ft 9 in) tall. They must have no physical defects, be handsome, and have to speak a certain number of languages fluently.

Next we headed over to St. Peter's Basilica to climb the dome. The architecture was incredible and along the way there was a stopping point inside the church so you could see the dome from the inside! The climb was pretty long and some parts were very narrow and slanted making it difficult to go through if you were claustrophobic at all. The view from the top made it well worth it though!


Above: at the top of the dome looking out on Vatican City and Rome.
Next we walked around inside the Basilica. It was very different from many of the Cathedrals that I had seen in Spain because it didn't have any stained glass windows! It was neat, but I liked it less than the Spanish ones.

Outside the Basilica we met up with Anthony and we next went inside Castle Sant' Angelo (free thanks to culture week!) and climbed to the top of that. At the top we could see a statue of the Archangel Michaelangelo and the Angel bridge which is lined with statues of angels.

We hopped back on the metro and took it close to Anthony's school where we got the most delicious and cheap gelato! Then we headed to the supermarket, picked up some ingredients and Anthony cooked a five course dinner for us! It started with young pecorino cheese on bread with honey as an appetizer. We had two types of pasta, followed by chicken and fennel, and then salad!

Anthony took us out to a club but it was completely empty and dead! We had fun dancing with each other anyway though!

4/19

Sweet sweet Rome! We could not have asked for better weather (or could we...as you will find out later)! We made today our Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Palatine Hill day. Our first stop was the Colosseum which we were very pleasantly surprised to find it was free as it was included in culture week. We decided to go ahead and get an 8 euro tour (that included everything we were seeing!). Our guide was great, and of course legit, as the police checked his ID before we entered!

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. Today it is damaged by earthquakes and by people who have taken some of the stones.

Directly from a plaque in the Colosseum:
The games would begin in the morning, following a parade of all the participants (pompa), with venationes or hunts with exotic animals (lions, panthers, leopards, bears, rhinoceroses, giraffes, and gazelles, imported by the Romans from their conquered territories). The stage sets prepared for these used to reproduce the animal's natural habitats with surprising effects. The animal's death had to be preceded by a search for cover, skirmishes and veritable combat in which more than a few of the "hunters" were killed, these were allowed to defend themselves only with a lance and a shield. However the public would be more fascinated with the creation of the setting than by the fate of these hapless individuals.

During the lunch interval, it became common to throw criminals ad bestias. Naked and unarmed they would inevitably end up in pieces. Other kinds of shows would also be put on during the intervals, these used to range from jugglers, acrobats and magicians to entertaining parodies and the re-evocation of ancient "fables" which would often finish with the tearing apart of the actors, to general acclaim.

The afternoons were reserved for the eagerly awaited gladatorial combats (munera) the origins of which stretched way back to Etruscan or perhaps Samnite times, when they were associated with the funeral ceremonies in honour of illustrious individuals. The protagonists of these combats were usually prisoners of war or slaves, but there were also free men fighting for wealth and fame. The were distinguished by their armour and combat techniques. Among the categories first defined in Augustinian times which we know of are the retiarii, the mirmillones, the Thracie, and more. Individuals defeated in the duel met a certain death unless the emperor or public were prepared to show mercy, in which case the loser could be made free.

In view of their popularity, the games (ludi) were frequently paid for by politicians seeking to gain popular support and eventually they became an imperial industry. Intellectuals who saw in these cruel events a means to influence the conscience and lead the populace towards a spiritual decadence viewed this custom with disfavour.

Our guide kept the whole tour interesting. He constantly referred to how Romans (including himself, and pretending we were too) felt they were superior to the rest of the world and therefore did things to demonstrate it. The building of the Coloseum was one of these such things. By putting on the spectacles they were proclaiming "we are going to do this whether anyone likes it or not, and we will triumph and show our overall power." He told us we were superior to the rest because we got him :)

The stones you see in the center were not always there, at one point it was just an arena of sand (as we would normally imagine it and actually the Spanish word for sand is arena don't know if it has a connection or not). Later this elaborate labyrinth was introduced and was covered with a stage housing trap doors. Gladiators, animals, or whatever else was hoisted on levies and released through the trap doors for a theatrical effect!

After the Colosseum tour we met up with Anthony again and went to his favorite pizza place. I tried the mozzarella which actually had huge chunks of solid mozzarella on it-so good!


Following lunch we explored the museum nearby that is Anthony's favorite. Below you can see the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (National Monument of Victor Emmanuel II) or Altare della Patria (Altar of the Fatherland) or "Il Vittoriano" which is a monument built to honor Victor Emmanuel, the first king of a unified Italy. We went in the museum on Capitoline Hill and also got to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


We made it to our 2:30 tour (following up from our last one of the Colosseum) of Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Inside were many old temples, the palace (palatine) and a gorgeous view. Our guide told us the story of the founding of Rome about Remus and Romulus.

Remus and Romulus are descendants of the Trojan prince and refugee Aeneas, and are fathered by the god Mars or thus demi-god Hercules on a royal Vestal Virgin, Rhea Silvia, whose uncle exposes them to die in the wild. They are found by a she-wolf who suckles and cares for them. The twins are eventually restored to their regal birthright, acquire many followers and decide to found a new city.

Romulus wishes to build the new city on the Palatine Hill; Remus prefers the Aventine Hill. They agree to determine the site through augury. Romulus appears to receive the more favourable signs but each claims the results in his favour. In the disputes that follow, Remus is killed. Ovid has Romulus invent the festival of Lemuria to appease Remus' resentful ghost. Romulus names the new city Rome, after himself, and goes on to create the Roman Legions and the Roman Senate. He adds citizens to his new city by abducting the women of the neighboring Sabine tribes, which results in the combination of Sabines and Romans as one Roman people. Rome rapidly expands to become a dominant force, due to divine favour and the inspired administrative, military and political leadership of Romulus. In later life Romulus becomes increasingly autocratic, disappears in mysterious circumstances and is deified as the god Quirinus, the divine persona of the Roman people.

After the tour we decided to do some exploring on our own. Unfortunately we got stuck in the house of Augustus because it started to rain and then hail!!! We were stuck under there for about 45 minutes before going to the grocery store and getting ingredients to make spaghetti for dinner and watching the movie Gladiator in our hostel!

4/18

Today we got up and were out of the hostel by 10:30 am on our way to the Uffizi Museum. Unfortunately there was a two hour wait to enter the museum alone!!! It was very busy thanks to Cultural Week. Since we couldn't afford that time, we walked over to the oldest bridge in Florence which was nearby to take some pictures and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Some of the girls bought pictures along the street (they were only copies, I could tell, but they were still beautiful images). We stopped by at the supermarket to pick up some breakfast/lunch food for the train ride. We checked out of our hostel and made the trek to the train station to catch a 12:27 train to Pisa. The ride was a little over an hour and we checked our bags in to a bag storage for the time we were going to be away. We walked around the tiny city for a little bit before seeing the leaning tower.

The leaning tower was pretty cool to see but it was not nearly as big as I thought it would be.

After checking out the tower we went to go buy tickets to climb it. Surprisingly it was 15 euro to go up it!!! When I saw that little leaning tower, I realized that I did not want to pay 22$ to climb up that tower for 30 minutes! The next tour that we could book was thankfully too close to the time we were leaving so we settled for seeing two other sites nearby the tower.

The first stop was the cemetery. It had a large grassy courtyard in the center and some neat sculptures.




Other options we could have seen the inside of were the Cathedral and Baptistry, but we decided to go to the Opera Museum.
(Below: Cathedral)


Entrance to the Opera Museum:

Below is a sculpture in the Opera Museum that was really interesting. This wooden portrayal of Jesus on the cross was very different from other portrayals that I have seen while in Europe.

The Opera Museum was pale in comparison to the Cemetery and the outsides of the other buildings. It mostly just had old sculptures that were eroded and made of stone that were on display.


On our way to the train station we stopped at a Kebob restaurant, they were DELICIOUS!

I got an ice cream for 1.60 euro that was larger than any small ice cream I've gotten in Sevilla, and I got to choose 2 flavors.

We got on our train that was supposed to leave at 5:45 but it got delayed by 25 minutes and we had to switch to another. The ride to Rome felt so long, it was around 4 hours and we just wanted to arrive! On top of that a bunch of street vendors with their cardboard bundles got on the train and it smelled horrible! It was hot and smelly and difficult to bear, but we finally made it! (Sunset on the train below)

Our hostel, Ciak Hostel, was decently simple to find. We called it an early night so we could get up early the next day for more sightseeing.
(Below: Brittany eating a blood orange. They are red on the inside and grown in Sicily, very succulent!)