Roma

Rome has the same unreal quality of Venice. The immense history surrounding this city makes it a strange place to visit. There are so many monuments and ruins it is a little bit like walking through a dream.

Hannah picked me up at the train station yesterday and we took the tram back to her apartment, where she lives with eight other girls. I bought some groceries and got situated, and Hannah and I arrived at the Coliseum around eight thirty to hear the Pope do the Stations of the Cross. We had intended to meet up with Lilly, my friend from USC also studying at Queen Mary, but the crowd was enormous and we gave up. The service was held on a crumbling platform just outside the Coliseum, well above the crowd below so everyone could see. We got to see the Pope, though we only stayed for about an hour. The service was in Italian so we didn’t understand what was going on, but it was fun to be there anyway. The Coliseum was, once again, unreal, a little difficult to grasp that it is an actual place and not just an icon.

Today has been a laidback day. Hannah, Julie and I left in the early afternoon to do some sightseeing. First we visited the Pantheon, a huge domed building constructed as a temple for all the gods. I was impressed by the amount of color involved in its construction. Many different types of stone were used in the floor and walls, creating a space much more expressive than the stereotypical cold, white marble used in most ancient Roman buildings. The dome was gigantic, with a large hole in the center.

After the Pantheon, we went to the Trevi Fountain, which was extremely crowded by the Easter tourists. The fountain is popular with wishing tourists, who throw copious amounts of change into it. Hannah said they pull over three thousand euro out of the fountain every night.

After stopping off at the shop with the purported “best gelato in Rome,” we continued on to Piazza Navona, a large public square, once again crowded to overflowing with tourists. We wandered through the street vendors and eventually sat down near the fountain in the middle of the square and people-watched for awhile. Then we came back to their apartment, stopping off again at a gelato place, which was cheaper and tastier than the first one.

These kind girls let me wash my clothes here, but they don’t have a clothes dryer (hardly anyone in Italy does, it seems), so they are air-drying right now. I’m really glad Hannah and Julie have allowed me to stay with them for a few days. Rather than turn around and tell them right now how grateful I am, I’ll just say it on here and hope they read it sometime in the near future. This is probably simpler. Thanks guys!

As Hannah pointed out, there are many things in Rome which could be historic highlights of other cities which are practically ignored because of the enormous surplus of history in this area. The things which actually are popular tourist attractions are so over-the-top that it’s almost ridiculous, such as the Coliseum, the Trevi Fountain, and Piazza Venezia. I’m really enjoying walking around the city though, there is no shortage of things to see.

Tonight we cooked some hardboiled eggs and colored on them with marker for Easter tomorrow, and packed up some plastic eggs that the Honzels sent. Hannah wants to hide them for her roommates to look for. Easter is so cool.