On Our Way to Rome
As the title and subtitle state, I went to Rome this weekend. This is my first time vising the capital of Italy. I went in not expecting much. I had heard a lot of horror stories about peoples trips to Rome. Needless to say, I had heard a lot of negative things about Rome. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The city is breath-taking. I know it was probably wrong of me to make an assumption based on other peoples experiences, but that is usually how people make decisions. I knew no matter what I had to go to Rome and witness it for myself. Much of my fears were the pick-pocketing and struggling to find the cities landmarks. Luckily nothing was stolen from me and I found the monuments fairly quickly.
The day started out bad. We arrived at the train station to find that our train, most of the other trains, were all late. This was due to an electrical error occurring at Milano Centrale. We were used to having to wait for trains, but this was almost an hour late. I probably wouldn’t have minded if the weather was pleasant that morning, but it was pretty cold. Not to mention I was very tired because I could not sleep very well the night before. However, once the train arrived, I slept almost the entire three hours of the trip.
When in Rome
Arriving at Rome, we were realized we had already lost an hour of what we planned to do. This normally wouldn’t matter but due to the winter schedule, almost all museums closed rather early. The first mission was to see the Colosseum. We got to the metro and bought our 48 hour ticket that gave us access to all public transportation lines. side note: those passes are my absolutely favorite thing about Europe, it is very easy to get around. When we stepped out of the metro and onto the street, we first thing we see is a small corner of the Colosseum. It was like a dream. It didn’t seem real, but I was looking right at it.
We knew a lot of our time would be taken up by lines, and we were completely right. I don’t mind lines, but what I do mind are people trying to sell me guided tours and skip the line passes. It was impossible to avoid and every 10 seconds someone new came up to us to ask us if we wanted to buy stuff from them. The only amusing thing about those tour guides is watching them trying to figure out what language to speak to us. I had people speaking to me in Russian, German, Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese basically every language in existence. However, once we got past the line and we made it inside the Colosseum, it was unbelievable. The ancient ruins are much more impressive in person.
Holy Catholic city
Everything about Rome was magnificent. I never thought I would see the beautiful Trevi fountain or go up the Spanish Steps in Piazza della Spagna. Or even attend a mass held in a church at the top of the Spanish steps. However, I was also really looking forward to going to the Vatican. As a non practicing Catholic, I was very excited to visit the capital of Catholicism. I grew up Catholic, but I do not practice it anymore, just due to some issues I have with the system of the Catholic church. However, I deeply appreciate the history of the Vatican as well as the artistic elements that this city holds.
The first stop was at the Basilica di San Pietro. Again, the line was long but moving pretty fast. Once inside I was blown away. It is extremely difficult to put to words how incredible these structures are. No matter how much I try to describe them or take millions of pictures, nothing will ever do it justice as physically seeing them. After that we headed to the Sistine Chapel. I couldn’t wait to see Michelangelo’s la creazione di Adamo. I studied Italian art as part of the cultural aspects of learning Italian, so I know so much about Michelangelo. Also, I love European roofs, that is the first thing I look at when I enter any ancient building. You can’t take pictures in there, but even if I took a picture it would not do that place justice. The roof, the walls, everything was a piece of art. I felt like crying when I saw Michelangelo’s beautiful work. It was truly incredible.
A dio Roma
Rome and the Vatican absolutely stole my heart. I was glad I decided to experience the city first-hand and not let other people’s experience make me stray away from Rome. I loved walking through the city and making a bunch of jokes about Lizzie McGuire and about how the Vatican is a different country. At the end of the day, Rome was wonderful, but after all that walking I was happy to be back home in Milan.
