I love Rome

Roma-  Rome, capital of Italy.  

Last weekend, Carrie, Kyle, Jeff, and I took a little trip to Rome.  Whirlwind trip really.  

Day 1- We left Friday night after school from Bergamo.  I highly recommend that airport.  Wow!  It's clean, bright, friendly, and cheap.  Our flight was slightly delayed, but we still made it to Rome just before midnight.  We all agreed that we would split a cab to the hotel that night.  The only problem with that was that there were no cabs.  It turns out that there was a national cab strike.  We called 3 different numbers with little success.  Actually, one was successful, but the cab kept going to different parts of the airport and other poor, stranded souls took ours.  After an hour, Carrie hooked up her computer with her portable internet key and found the hotel phone number.  30 minutes later we had a cab and were on the way to the hotel.  This is the link in case you are curious.  5 star is not a bad way to stay. 

Day 2- We slept in a bit after the previous late night.  But we were out the door by 10:30.  After a long meander to the Vatican by way of the Spanish steps, we arrived at the Vatican Museum around 11:30.  That place is overwhelming in the best possible way.  I was stunned by the sheer quantity.  Plus, it was surprising how much of it was not necessarily religious or Christian.  But it is also clear that Christianity has very deep roots.  Evidently, the mummies and ceilings impressed me the most as I look back through my pictures since I seemed to photograph ceilings exclusively.  Well, almost.  The School of Athens was nothing to sneeze at.  I was delighted when Kyle reminded us that it was there!

mini mummies

Ceiling

Another ceiling

And, yep, another

School of Athens

 

After the excitement of one masterpiece, we ended up at another one you may have heard of:  The Sistine Chapel.

the whole room

That was pretty exciting.  Rick Steves' free audio podcasts are really the best and we spent a good 45 minutes there straining our necks.  I was surprised that the Oracle of Delphi made it up onto the ceiling.  See what I mean about it being not just Christian?  Also, just a helpful tip, the cafe right before the Chapel is cheap (for Rome) and has seating downstairs.  

After lunch, Kyle and Jeff headed back to the hotel while Carrie and I went to St. Peter's.  Again, wow!  It too is a bit overwhelming.  Luckily, there was a mass going on so we could only go to a limited part of the Cathedral.  From Peter, the 1st Pope, to Charlemagne, to Pope Benoit.  It has quite the history.     

Marble where Charlemagne was crowned

Michelangelo's Pieta

St. Peter's Square

Cheese!

That night was the best dinner I've had since living in Italy.  Cannot wait to go back this spring.  Wish I knew the name of the restaurant.  Passing the Trevi on the way, didn't hurt the charm of the evening.  The charm was disrupted temporarily by the 4 am wake up call we didn't order and the front desk asking what to do with the cab they ordered for us.  Not. My. Problem. 

Day 3-  After a mistake in speeds on a km/h (not mph) treadmill, I got my semi-long run in.  (It turns out that training for a marathon on the road is a bit tricky.)  Then off to the Colosseum.  It was incredible!  (Thanks in part to the free podcast.)  I could not imagine the terror of fighting in front of full stadium.  There is a great view of Hadrain's Arch and ruins of a temple to Venus from the upper tier.  It is tricky to find the stairs though.  Taxi strike over, we found one to take us back to the airport.  The 7th generation Roman explained that the strike was over the new tax Monti (new head of government) imposed.  

Bottom line:  Not a coincidence the letters of Roma can be rearranged to spell Amor!  I love Rome!