Our class of 15 students had an excursion to Rome on the weekend of the beatification of Pope John Paul II. We bused into Rome at noon on Thursday and immediately started a walking tour of this gigantic city. Yet before the blisters started forming, me and a few friends took a snack break. Only in Rome could I find a pizza with arugula, smoked salmon, cheese and a balsamic reduction sauce. Yummy yummy yummy.
Our first stop was the colosseum; it's grandiose stature and turbulent history made me feel like an ant next to it. Built in the 1st century AD and capable of seating the entire city of Siena, it is amazing to realize that the architect is unknown. Our art history professor - Pierre Giacomo or PG for short - was telling us about the ancient fighting that happened within it's walls wasn't the Russell Crow gladiator we think of. Fighters would dress and have weapons that represented two of the 4 elements or 2 deities and the fight and victory would be symbolic, très intéressant. Also, if you haven't heard of them, get on this band wagon: line ups. Shout out to our Cinque Terre boys for opening our eyes to the glory that is line ups.
Adjacent to the colosseum is the Arch of Constantine, a huge triumphal arch celebrating an important victory for Constantine over Maxentius. Its position is strategic because it is on this part of Rome that emperors would promenade after victories, inflating their egos and securing their positions of power. It is interesting that the lower part of the arch was probably constructed years before and then reused in order to create this arch. Reduce reuse recycle.
Continuing along the Via Triumphalis or the triumphant walk Roman Emperors took, we headed to the Palatine Hill where you can find such a concentration of history its mind blowing. This is one of the 7 hills of Rome and the mythological location of the she-wolf that nursed Romulus and Remus after their mother was killed. Excavations show people have lived in the Palatine since 1000 BC and it is the epicenter of Rome. From this center, Rome expanded into the city we know today. Many Emperors resided here, including Augustus, and just expanded on the original construction. Close by is the Roman Circus which has a debated historical use, some say it is was a garden, other say it was used for foot races.
A few minutes walk down the hill and you enter one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life: the Roman Forum. This is the true political center of ancient Rome and the location of things such as the complex of the Vestal Virgins, the Senate's house and offices, the Temple of Vesta, Basilica. The history of this place is too wide and deep to tackle via blog. The coolest part for me was seeing Caesar's burial mound due to my obsession with Cleopatra beginning in 3rd grade. A close second was learning the history and genealogy of Emperor Nero, the last of the Caesar line.
In that same day we saw the Capitoline Hill (another of Rome's 7 hills) which was one of Michelangelo's masterpieces and the Pantheon which is a temple dedicated to all of the Roman gods whose statues line the interior, with beautiful marble everywhere and an open ceiling. Piazza Navona
is a beautiful square in quintessential Italian style: music, art, flowers and food everywhere surrounding a beautiful fountain by Bernini. This was my favorite place in Rome by far, the atmosphere was so saturated with love, you couldn't help but be a little loopy from it all.
We had a group dinner of spaghetti carbonara, a traditional Roman dish because meat was so scarce in this region historically due to poverty. It is eggs, cheese and bacon and honestly, I could have married it. It is much different in the South than in the North and this Roman one wins hands down. We also had the best tiramisu I've ever had. I'm not a fan of tiramisu and this one melted in your mouth. It was more custard-y and the cake used was more like a cookie. It had just the right amount of coffee liquor and bah, if you could see my hands, I'm kissing my fingers, Italian style.
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The next day we set out for the Vatican. In high school I went to France with my french class and we saw about a bazillion Cathedrals. That experience left me thinking I had seen it all. Oh was I wrong.
First off, this was the weekend of the beatification of Pope John Paul II or a step in the process of becoming a saint. Rome was alive with energy and the Vatican was packed; people from all over the world had come to celebrate this event. The line to get into St. Peter's Basilica was stretched all around St. Peter's square. It was moving pretty quickly though and in no time we were standing in the most magnificent church I have ever been in. I didn't know how truly huge it is until PG told me that the lettering I was looking at near the top of the ceiling was 6 feet high. And then I saw a speck - maybe a fly - moving by the lettering and realized, it was a human. Ginormous. The historical gossip surrounding this basilica is interesting. Michelangelo - who among many other artists - completed a large portion of the basilica was forced to do so and wrote that "I undertake this only for the love of God and in honour of the Apostle." Original rebellion.
My favorite part of the basilica was a tomb and sculpture done by Bernini who was responsible for a lot of the embellishments inside of St. Peter's. It is the tomb of Pope Alexander VII and is made of beautiful red marble with a bronze skeleton coming out from beneath it. The skeleton carries an hourglass. I loved this work after PG described the significance of it all. Bernini was saying that in an age of illusion, where artists and poets were fascinated with the idea that everything is an illusion - power, money, intelligence, love - the only real thing is death. If life is a dream the only thing we all have in common, the only real part of this life is death, because it will always come. The idea is only gloomy and pessimistic if you choose to see it that way; I thought it was terribly interesting and really thought provoking.
For the rest of the day we toured the Vatican museums where there was more famous artwork than I care to recall. The highlight of the entire trip was PG the tour guide. He was talking so loudly that we got shushed by every Vatican security person there - outside and inside. Our solution was to get those walky talky things where he talks quietly into a microphone which we hear on our headsets. Except he talked so loud we just turned off our head seats and pretended to be using them. He is the cutest little man ever - short short short and as wide as he is tall. He smokes out of a pipe which he carries everywhere and rocks a Dallas Cowboys baseball hat.
The culmination of frescos, sculptures and paintings could make your head spin and for the students in our program who are art history buffs, they must have been having a religious experience. Seeing the Sistine Chapel was very special though and my favorite part of the entire piece is the famous "Creation of Adam". The depiction of creating Adam - not in flesh and bone - but by giving him a soul, was such an interesting idea, that I stared for quite sometime before I realized my friends had moved on.
In our free time we checked out the Trevi Fountain and met a man who told us how to wish properly. You take out three coins and hold them in your right hand and make three wishes: one for yourself, one for love and one for marriage. The legend is that if you make a wish at this fountain you will come back to Rome. Hopefully my three come true and I get to come back. Our next stop was the Spanish Steps, only a five minute walk from the fountain. We grabbed some beers and watched the sun go down from the top. In our true MMMKKK fashion, we meet a few different groups of American guys. Just so the universe could prove to me how small the world is, one of the guys is an older brother of a friend I know from UO. Additionally he studied in Barcelona and is giving us tons of tips for our trips there this coming weekend.
That night we hit the town and I had a Danish IPA with hops shipped from California. But the real icing to my Roman cake was seeing this gem of a man, exploring Rome with his wife who didn't seem to mind his outfit choice.
Ahh, Roma.
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