Italy Part IV: Rome

And finally, our last Italian installment: ROMA! We had a free travel weekend, so 5 of us students hopped a bus to Rome with Father Bruno along as our guide.

In two days, that 76-year-old man marched us all over that ancient city! We visited  the Vatican, Sistine Chapel, Colosseum, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Roman Market, Jewish Ghetto and Spanish Steps, among other things. Rome was my favorite city we visited - so much beauty and incredible history!

A map of the major sites we saw

We started at the Vatican -

Since Rome is full of petty thieves making their living from unsuspecting tourists, I opted to wear a money belt under my clothes. It's basically a frumpy fanny pack around your middle that keeps you feeling protected, but fat. "Safe and round", I guess you'd say. 

We made reservations to explore the Vatican Museum ahead of time, which were well worth it. But man, there was so SO much amazing stuff in there...I didn't document a fraction of it.

I will never get over the elaborate Italian ceilings.

The Belvedere Torso

And then there it was - 

The Sistine Chapel.

Those Popes get a great view.

Sweet spiral staircase on the way out

The Vatican and the Ferrari - one picture, two Italian greats.

The Saint Angelos Bridge

Some street performers were pretty cool. Still not sure how they did this!

Cool to see nuns about town

I've always secretly loved water fountains. Which I get is kind of gross. But the public water fountains in Rome are known for being amazing! Filling my water bottle up with this pure stuff was a delight, since the water in Columbus tastes like dirty nickles. Side note - also developed a taste for sparkling water while in Italy, and a lot of the public fountains in Florence actually dispense it. A real treat, I tell you.

Just some ruins of Caesar's Palace. Not as classy as the casino, but you know, still neat.

Remnants of the ancient Roman Market. Seriously...so cool to look back in time.

Clementine Chapel - where the apostle Peter was crucified.

The Italian Capitol

Trying to work that money belt in Piazza Navona

This was always our view. Bruno charged ahead across streets and into crowds, and we kept reminding ourselves, "blue shirt, khaki pants, blue shirt, khaki pants...". The two structures you see here are both temples built to ancient gods.

Outskirts of the Jewish Ghetto. Parts of its history are quite sobering.

I loved these gold cobblestone monuments. They are placed in front of the homes of Jews who were arrested and taken to Auschwitz by Nazi forces during World War II. 

Lunch at a market cafe

Next stop was the Spanish Steps - the widest staircase in Europe.

As in most big cities, there are always people around trying to sell you something. These guys would even go so far as to hand people flowers, saying they were free, then asking for money. Kind of annoying. Loved the confused look of this guy's face when I asked to take his picture in response to his pestering us. 

I was a little bummed that the Trevi Fountain was under construction...

It's supposed to look more like this:

Photo from www.brandchannel.com

Still cool to see!

Thanks for the ambiance, boys!

The next day began with this beauty.

The line to tour the Colosseum was laaaaawng!

But so worth the wait!

Cool to see the extensive network beneath the arena floor - didn't realize how much behind the scenes action went on down there.

Ruins outside the massive arena

Touring the Colosseum was incredible, but also a little chilling. Makes one somber to contemplate all the killing that happened here in the name of entertainment.

We stopped by St. Ignacius Cathedral, and I was blown away. It was hands down my favorite I've ever toured. The rotunda see below is actually a painting on a flat piece of canvas, created with perfect scale and perspective.

Our final noteworthy stop was to the Pantheon.

It is actually the oldest continuously operating church in the world - there are still weddings performed here.

A peek inside - love that this stone and floor design original...just cool to walk somewhere that was built in 126 A.D., and think of the millions of people who have walked in and out of these doors through the centuries.

The tomb of Raphael - he requested to be buried here.

I'm still in utter awe of the rotunda...how did these people build this caliber structure with such primitive means? Unlimited slave labor helped, but still, the skill of the architects and builders...incredible.

"Indredible" is a pretty good word for this whole experience. It was extremely stressful to leave family and be gone while crazy things happened at home, but I will always be thankful I was afforded this opportunity. So glad I went, and so glad I'm home. 

Dream fulfilled. :)