On our first day in Rome, we decided to visit the Vatican City. Technically, the Vatican City is a separate country, but I don’t count it in my total number of countries that I visited… it feels like cheating. Our hostel gave us great advice to buy tickets for the Vatican Museum ahead of time, so that we could cut the lines once we got there. It was especially nice because I was able to buy them online using my memorized credit card number that I hadn’t cancelled yet in case it showed up. (I had been monitoring my credit cards to see if any funny and suspicious purchases showed up, but none had and none ever did.) We were so thankful to have bought tickets for the museum ahead of time. The line to buy tickets and enter wrapped around the block! The museum is beautiful with many courtyards, painting, sculptures and tapestries. The Sistine Chapel is also a part of the museum. Our friend Lachlan had previously taken a tour of the Sistine chapel with his family many years ago. Apparently, the tour guides tell when you to enter the museum near the altar, keep your head down and walk to the back of the church. Once there, turn around and look up. This was by far the best way to do it. The magnitude of beauty is seen all at once. The chapel itself is very small, overcrowded with tourists and noisy from guards yelling at people to not take pictures. Due to selfie cameras, we were able to take a few secretive pics of the ceiling of the chapel. Shhh, don’t tell anyone ;).
After finishing at the Vatican museum, we walked around the corner to St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Peter’s Basilica is by far the most beautiful church I visited in Europe, and rightfully so. This great basilica and square were first built by Constantine in 324, but later rebuilt by Michelangelo, Bernini, Bramante and many other Renaissance masters starting in the 16th century. It stands on the original site where Peter, one of the apostles, was crucified and buried. His tomb lies under the main altar in the basilica. The cathedral sits at the back of the square, bordered by two curved colonnades symbolizing arms welcoming the world into the Catholic Church. On top of these colonnades are hundreds of statues of the various saints. The Egyptian obelisk, a tall four-sided monument with a pyramid at the top, stands in the center of the St. Peter’s Square. On either side of the obelisk are identical fountains by two different artists, Carlo Maderno in 1613 and Gian Lorenzo Bernini in 1677. To the right of the basilica and above the colonnade, one can see the papal apartments. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the pope himself. The interior of the basilica is even more grand than the exterior. I was awestruck. It is considered one of the two largest churches in the world and houses more than 100 tombs (some of which have bodies on display) along with many statues, altars and works of art. I couldn’t even begin to describe everything in this church. One of the most famous works of art in the basilica is Michelangelo’s Pietá, a marble statue of Jesus in the lap of Mary after the crucifixion. To this day, I am still amazed by the magnitude and magnificence of St. Peter’s Basilica. My pictures don’t even begin to do it justice.
Our second and final day in Rome was packed full with activities. This was an exceptionally stressful day for me because I was supposed to register for my spring classes at Vanderbilt during the middle of the day. Because we were so busy, I wasn’t going to be able to go back to the hostel and use the wifi there, so I had to find a restaurant that provided wifi. In the morning, we visited the Colosseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre. Today, there is not much to do there other than walk around. They have pulled out the floor of the Colosseum and you can see the tunnels where they used to keep all of the animals. One thing that struck me was how vertical and steep the seating areas looked without any of the seats. After the Colosseum, we headed across the street to the ruins of the Roman Forum. It was very interesting walking around and observing this ancient city and marketplace. I wish that we could have taken a tour, so that I knew what everything was. Being unable to take tours was a constant bummer about studying abroad. Most of the time tours were too long and too expensive for us to consider doing them. However, there were many free tours of cities that I would highly recommend. After all of that walking around, we stopped for some pizza for lunch and so that I could register for classes. Unfortunately, that ended up being a nightmare due to poor wifi at the restaurant, having to do it on my phone, and Vanderbilt’s system crashing from too much activity. I ended up having to call and wake up my parents and explain how they could do it.
After exploring the Colosseum and Roman Forum, we headed towards the Pantheon passing by the Piazza Venezia with the Altare della Piatra, a national monument for the tomb of the unknown soldier. We also passed by the Trevi fountain, which was under construction, so we only got to see a picture of what it looked like. I also didn’t get to throw a coin in so that I could find love and return to Rome, or so the legend goes. Like true tourists, we had gelato after our long walk to the Pantheon. It was definitely one of my favorite gelatos I had while in Italy. We were able to get into the Pantheon quite easily and see the beautiful interior. Based on the outside, I was definitely not expecting it to be as pretty as it was. Everything is beautiful marble and the dome is huge.
We celebrated our last night in Italy together as a group, by going to this authentic Italian place in Rome recommended by our hostel receptionists. I had the most delicious homemade pasta I have ever had there. I made a mental note to ask locals for more recommendations. Rome was a huge city full of amazing culture. Two full days was not nearly enough! Even though I didn’t get to throw my coin into the fountain, I will be back!
Little Swan, Big World 