I have fallen in love
with the Eternal City. It is the most romantic and enchanting city I have come
to know. Rome is just as I had imagined it to be but ten times better. Buildings in
colors of terracotta, blush, & coral adorned with long windows &
accessorized with these long beautiful hunter green shutters hanging over the
broken up cobbled streets had me at hello. The umbrella pine trees provided
shade and it’s roots stretched forth throughout the whole setting. I learned
that the umbrella pine tree’s were given their name because they are these pale
grey skinny trunks that lead up to an umbrella shaped limb with leaves on it
that provide Rome’s pine nuts used to make pesto sauces and majority of their
Italian dishes. I loved the umbrella pine trees. They were a great decoration
to the streets of Rome.
The
history of Rome is so fascinating. Our tours we went on included the Coliseum,
the Pantheon, Vatican City, The Vatican, and the Sistine Chapel & St.
Peter’s Basilica. Rome is incredible. I have
been dying to visit the Coliseum as I have studied it through out all of
college in my art history classes and to actually see it, feel it, and walk
inside this gladiator auditorium in person was something I couldn’t believe. It
was beautiful. It was large and sat in the center of Rome surrounded by other
Roman ruins. The weather was perfect; it was hot and sunny and was perfect to
spend an afternoon in the Coliseum hearing stories of the gladiators &
beasts fighting to their death for pure entertainment. Keep in mind these shows
were for free and the Emperors would attend and watch from up top of the
Coliseum. I learned that most of the gladiators were very large fat men. The
fatter the men, the better, because that meant there would be more bloodshed,
which would provide more entertainment. Sort of twisted, but also very
interesting. I tried my very best to imagine the gladiators fighting these wild
beats, and trying to picture it and bring it to life as I stood in the center
of this iconic ruin. I could have spent days in there if I had the chance.
Days.
When
leaving the Coliseum, we saw a group of nuns walking by and it was so
picturesque. It just screamed Roma & the Divinci Code. Zeke and I tried to
take photos of them as I wanted to capture the moment and they all turned around
as quick as they could to hide themselves from our cameras! Whoops!
Walking
through the city of Roma was my favorite part. The buildings and ruins are
exquisite and there are roman statues and sculptures sculpted by non other than my very favorite, Bernini and they were in every
corner. On this one building there were black bronze sculptures of chariots
escorting roman gladiators and I couldn’t take it all in, it was all so
overwhelming and beautiful. I can’t believe this actually exists. And I am so
thankful that it does. We continued our tours to the Pantheon which was so
fun to witness in real life, as that was another iconic architectural building
I had studied in art history. The
Pantheon was Zeke’s favorite building. That is where all the important history
took place in Rome, which is where everything went down.
Once
we were done exploring, we found the most delicious Italian restaurant in the most
beautiful and quaint side alley way street for supper. Can I just tell you that
that was the best pasta I have ever had in all my life? Of course it was,
because it was Rome but I really didn’t think it could live up to what everyone
has always talked about. And our waitress was so darling! Truly, my first
impression of Italian’s is that they are so friendly and excited to share their
love for Rome or Italy with us tourists. You can sense the proudness they have
for their country and I love and respect that. It’s impossible to not fall in
love with Rome. After supper we found ourselves some gelato and died and went
straight to heaven. There is no such thing as gelato in America anymore. The
real stuff only exists here in Italy and I’ll be eating it every time I set my
eyes on it this holiday.
Rome
at night is magical. The streetlights and candlelight’s make the streets
sparkle and glow and meanwhile you continually get lost in between these
beautiful terra cotta buildings with Italian’s zipping through on their vespas.
There are fountains in just about every square and courtyard and all you want to
do is empty your wallet of pennies and spin around three times making wishes as
you toss them into the water. I was so sad. The Trevi Fountain has been
something I have wanted to see for quite some time and it was all covered up as
it was under construction. What a let down, though we did find another similar
fountain that had sculptures of mermaid-like men holding their tritons with
fish jetting out of the water and squirting water from their fishy lips. I took
some pennies and wished to have a girl as my first child and spun three times
for good luck and hoped it would come true. It did not. I'm currently pregnant, and with a boy.
The
next day we had a tour set up to see Vatican City, go inside the Vatican, the
Sistine Chapel & St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican City was my favorite. For
some reason, I find the history of the Catholic Church combined with Rome very
very fascinating. The Divinci Code also kind of helps out with this
fascination. But Vatican City was unreal. All of the statutes that surrounded
the walls of Vatican City were so beautiful and stunning and they were very
stark white. And with them standing high against the blue azure sky was really
something else. Inside the Vatican were the most beautiful halls of artwork
featuring many biblical stories & catholic related scenes. The ceilings were
painted so well with great shadow technique that it tricked your eye into
believing that it was a relief, and it was completely two-dimensional. Many of
the walls were decorated with large religious tapestries from the 1800’s in very beautiful pinks, reds and shades of blues.
Then
there was the Sistine Chapel. I was beyond floored. I was so excited to see it
having learned so many things about it in art history and knowing the facts,
the importance and significance of that chapel. It was beyond anything I could
imagine. I couldn’t even comprehend the amount of work it took Michelangelo and
his assistant. The chapel was filled with such a calm spirit and knowing it
was a very holy room, you couldn’t speak or take photos, which added to the
experience making it truly special. I was actually happy learning that I
couldn’t take a photo because then I knew I wouldn’t be distracted trying to
capture the best shot, but instead just take it all in and have a moment to be
in the face of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. The colors were much brighter
than I had expected and I loved all of the pink hues he used to paint. Every
inch was incredible. It was honestly a spiritual experience and I found myself
tearing up a bit and having to hold back my emotion. I just felt so lucky to be
standing in a chapel with such remarkable history painted by one of the most
renowned artists in a chapel where the Pope’s men meet to choose the next Pope.
It was incredible.
Then
we made a trip to St. Peter’s Basilica, which also blew me away! I just can’t
believe Rome, what a city. St. Peter’s was never ending and the ceilings and
walls were incredible with so many sculptural reliefs covered in dark bronze
and gold. There were so many iconic things in there that I had remembered studying
in art history and I just couldn’t believe that I was actually able to see it
in person. Not many people get to. I think St. Peter’s Basilica was Zeke’s
favorite. He said he could have spent hours upon hours in there, and I agreed.
Quick side note, there were 1,200 reservations made to visit the Vatican THAT
DAY that doesn’t include the line of people waiting which wrapped around the
whole city. The fact that we were able to go in was very lucky of us.
Overall
Rome was a dream and I have fallen in love with the Eternal City. I wish so
badly I was able to spend more time there, like a week. I do feel so blessed
that I was able to just be there for even the short amount of time, but I
remember thinking I’ll probably never go back to any of these cities because I
have already done them and there are other places to go on my bucket list. But
now, I HAVE to come back now. I just have to. Roma really did a number on me. There hasn't been a day since being in Rome where I haven't not thought of that eternal city. And it's almost been a year since we were there.
