Rome, If You Want To

All right my readers, please make sure you are comfortably seated and have some time on your hands-- because this one's going to be a long one.

Rome.

My expectations of Rome were pretty high. Preliminary reading indicated that there would be a ton of sights for us to see-- and indeed, there were.

We started our first morning in Rome by testing out the Metro system. We hopped on at the station a few minutes walk from our hotel, made a quick transfer onto a secondary line, and emerged at the Colosseum about 15 minutes later.

A view of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum, aka, the Flavian Amphitheatre is an impressive structure. Construction began in 70 AD (completed in 80 AD), resulting in the largest amphitheatre in the Roman Empire. Considering the size and time it was built, it is one of the greatest feats of Roman architecture and engineering.

The Colosseum could hold between 50,000 - 80,000 spectators, and it is said that via a vomitorium (i.e. a passage situated below the tiers of seating), the large crowds could exit the structure within 15 minutes. The latin word vomitorium can be simplified to, "to spew forth," giving us our present day word, vomit.

Gladiatorial fights ended sometime around 435 AD, and in the 6th century a church was built in the center of the arena. In 1349 AD, the Colosseum was greatly damaged by a large earthquake, causing the south side to collapse. A religious ordered inhabited the building from mid-14th century until the early 19th century. Since then, the structure has been restored and repaired, making it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rome today.

Tom and I outside the Colosseum.

Our next stop (literally across the street) was the Roman Forum. At one time, this would have been the center of the city of Rome-- home to government buildings, religious temples and a bustling marketplace. It is known that Julius Caesar was murdered in the Roman Forum in 44 AD. In the 8th century, much of the forum was torn down and dismantled, and in the 13th century it became mostly buried as a dumping ground. Archaeological interest and excavation began in 1803, but full excavation occurred in the early 20th century. 

A view of the Roman Forum.

Later that night, we Tom and I were startled awake by one of the loudest claps of thunder we have ever heard. It rained intermittently through the night. That morning, we headed to the Vatican, and foolishly brought no rain jackets or umbrellas with us. We joined the line to enter St. Peter's Basilica, and the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. Tom and I were COMPLETELY soaked.

Tom standing in the rain.

So instead of standing in line in the open, we headed to the Vatican Museum. Our guide book states that the Vatican Museum contains 4 miles (6.2km) of displays and artifacts-- ending in the Sistine Chapel. I don't think we made it through all of the displays, but we spent nearly 3.5 hours wandering room to room. I think we were both underwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel (it seems like sacrilege to say that-- but it's true!), but we certainly enjoyed other aspects of the museum.

An intricate hallway ceiling in the Vatican Museum.

At this point, the sun was actually shining, so we got back in line for St. Peter's Basilica. As luck would have it, an older couple from the Comox area in BC were ahead of us. So we chatted with our fellow-Canadian, and the 50 minutes we spent in line passed in no time at all.

The ceiling of St. Peter's Basilica.

I think it's safe to say that when it comes to the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica, all that glitters is gold. I have never seen a more opulent building in my life. 

After admiring the general splendor of the Basilica, we purchased tickets to hike up the 551 steps to the top of St. Peter's dome. From there, we took in views of the city.

The dome on St. Peter's Basilica.

And as the sun set, we headed back to our hotel, taking in one last backward glance at the Vatican. And what a backward glance it was! This is one of my favourite photos from our trip.

The Vatican - my favourite photo from our trip.

For our final day in Rome, we planned a route through the city so we could take in some of the remaining major sites. First we visited the Trevi Fountain, which was crawling with hundreds of tourists.

  

The Trevi Fountain.

Next we moved on to Pantheon. The Pantheon was a building commissioned as a temple consecrated to all gods. The spherical dome was the first of its kind, built of cement around 30 BC.

The Pantheon.

The open-topped dome of the Pantheon.

Our last stop of the day was at Castel Sant'Angelo, an Italian castle that has served as a prison, a hideout, and now a museum. Our walk to the castle was along the Tiber River, which had risen significantly since our first day in town. When we had arrived in Rome three days before, there was a pedestrian walkway along the banks of the river. As you can see in the picture below, the walkway and the trees that lined it were submerged in water.

 

The Tiber River, rising.

From the roof of Castel Sant'Angelo, we watched the somewhat unnerving sight of flocks of starlings flying around the treetops. Starlings are only in Rome during the fall and winter months. There are thousands upon thousands of them in the sky at one time. They have in fact proven to be somewhat dangerous, when a flock was sucked into the engine of a Boeing 737-800, injuring 2 crew and 8 passengers when it crash-landed in 2008. Not sure how a flock of birds could be unnerving? Just watch.

From Rome, we picked up a rental car at the airport, and made our way to our last destination for our trip. Sorrento. Stay tuned!

But before you go, please enjoy the B-52's song, "Roam," which has been replaying in my head every since we left Rome. "Roam if you want to-- roam around the world."