Little Sirs of Roma

Hello, dear readers,
I hope that you all survived the Rapture alright, but if you no longer read this blog because you've been taken up to heaven, well, I'll understand. If you've stuck around with the rest of us however, and would like to hear about my time in Rome, you've found the right place.

Our adventures in Rome began more or less as soon as we disembarked from the train. It turns out that our hotel reservation had been cancelled and no one had told us - surprise! That was pleasant. So we're in Rome, it's 10:30 on a Saturday night, and we have no place to stay. Rome is full on a Saturday night at 10:30, as we found out when we began canvassing the hotels in the area. And by canvassing I mean begging someone to give us a room. It got a little bit tense - I think that we were all envisioning sleeping in the train station and being kidnapped and sold into an international prostitution ring, and I have to say, that was not on the top of my list of things to do on holiday. So these were the thoughts that were dancing in our heads as we stumbled into yet another hotel, only to be told that they were full for the night. The concierge took pity on us, though, and called around to see if he could find a room for us. After a few disappointments he found what I believe was the only free room in all of Rome that night, and it was just down the street. He gave us directions and sent us off with the words, "The man's name is Giovanni - he's a little weird, but he's a personal friend, so you'll be okay." With this promising start, we troopd down the street to find the hotel.

Giovanni had obviously been warned that three American women were going to be heading in his direction, because he was waiting for us outside his trattoria. Giovanni is probably 5 foot 5 inches on a tall day, he's ginger, and he took Sarah's hand and started kissing it after she said, "Are you Giovanni? I am so glad to see you!" I don't make these people up. He handed us over to his buddy Pasquale, who is probably 5 foot 6 inches on a tall day and speaks no English whatsoever, but is the most delightful person in the entire city of Rome. Pasquale brought us upstairs to our room, and with the help of Sarah's Italian proceeded to show us how everything in our room worked - we're talking light switches, shower, bathroom fan, the lock on the door - the whole nine yards. Turns out that he has a daughter our age, so he took a fancy to us. He even walked us to the cashpoint so that we could get money to pay for the room, and he didn't even overcharge us outrageously, as he could have done. The next morning, he gave us free cappuccinos and lemon cake for breakfast and circled all of the attractions that we needed to see on our map, and he moved our bags to a new room that had enough beds for all of us. We shared a queen-sized bed between the three of us the first night, but we were so relieved to have a room that it didn't matter in the slightest.


Heaving HUGE sighs of relief in our teeny hotel room in Rome - thanks to Giovanni and Pasquale, what could have been an absolutely terrible situation was turned into a rather pleasant experience, and we could sleep well before a busy day of exploring as much of Rome as possible. We're also doing a nice job of representing the red, white, and blue.


Not quite what we expected to see - thankfully, we didn't try to find a room here, as we wouldn't have been able to leave!


Our day of sightseeing began properly with a trip to the Colosseum! It was SO COOL. We were just walking down the street, and then, bam! Colosseum! There were a lot of buskers here, including a gentleman dressed as a Native American who was playing "The Sound of Silence" on his panpipes all day long.


The Arch of Constantine, who was crowned emperor in York - fun fact connection to England!


Looking across the Colosseum to where the important people, such as the emperor, would have sat. The entire thing used to be covered in marble, and the seats were numbered. The games here would have lasted for three months.


When in Rome, go ahead and embarrass yourself. You only live once.


Stadium Palatinum on Palatine Hill, where the emperor used to live. He would hold private gladiator games here if he didn't feel like mixing with mere mortals at the Colosseum. It's good to be in charge.


Palatine Hill, the most important of Rome's seven hills. This is the ruins of the Domus Flavia, where there used to be a fountain. According to our guide, this was the dining room, and meals here could last up to six hours. People would just keep throwing up after each course and then they'd start again because being able to supply your guests with enough food to feed an entire continent was a sign of wealth and prestige. Today that's called a tactical chunder, I believe, to give it its technical term.


View onto the Roman Forum from Palatine Hill - no big deal.


The Temple of Romulus, one of the legendary founders of Rome. Supposedly he and his twin brother, Remus, founded the city, but Romulus killed Remus and took all of the power for himself. Nice guy. Fun fact - the doors on this temple are two thousand years old, and they still lock. Amazing.


We were wandering down the street after leaving the Forum and just happened across Trajan's Column! Alright, so we followed the map, but still, these things are just there. It's insane.


The Pantheon! It's hard to get an idea of what it looks like from this photo, though.


Inside the Pantheon - architects still don't know how the Romans constructed this ceiling, which is pretty cool. While we were there, someone let a balloon go and everyone clapped when it floated through the hole in the ceiling.


Ara Pacis, the Altar of Augustinian Peace, consecrated in 9 B.C.


Making my wish at Trevi Fountain.


The Vatican Museum, 7 a.m. We hauled ourselves out of bed at 6 in order to beat the queues here after our tour guide told us that we shouldn't even bother. Determined to prove him wrong, we beat the crowds and made it into the museum in good time. When we left, the queue stretched around almost three sides of Vatican City. Good decision, us.


Raphael's famous "School of Athens" in the Stanze di Rafaele, built for Pope Julius II in the 1510s. My tour through my art history textbook was continuing nicely.


The famous Swiss Guards at St. Peter's Basilica. I felt horribly guilty taking this picture, but it had to be done.


The altar in St. Peter's Basilica, which is absolutely gorgeous. I have to say, though, that every time I visit a famous church or cathedral like this, I am blown away by how much money the Church has.


Art History 102 continues with Bernini's plan for St. Peter's Square, which was being set up for Easter mass while we were there.


Pasquale, our favourite Roman sir.

So there it is, Rome in under 48 hours. We saw so many amazing things, and we didn't even want to kill each other by the end of it! After doing Vatican City, we stopped for a much needed gelato break (have I mentioned the gelato in Italy? So amazing) and then got our train to Napoli, where the whirlwind continued! That's for another post, though. Right now I'm struggling to a) revise for my exam on Victorian Britain and b) wrap my mind around the fact that in exactly three weeks I'll be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean on my way back to the United States. It's a terrifying thought. I'm about to leave everything that has defined my life for the past year. I don't know exactly how much this year has changed me, but I know that it's been quite a lot, and it's very difficult to not think of Norwich as home. When I consider being back in the States, I feel as though it will be like going to a foreign country again - I'm going to have to get used to the American way of living again. Part of me is getting more and more excited, but the majority of me just wants to stay here.