Carpe Diem - Rome, Day 1

We started out the day by taking a train from the airport to the Termini Station in Rome. When we got off the train we had assumed we’d be able to use our GPS to find everything we were looking to find, but the GPS wasn’t picking up a signal so we were o our own. No electronics reliance for us! So we went “old school” and got a map. It took us a minute, but we finally figured out where our hotel was on the map and started walking. On our way to the hotel, we were stopped by a cute old woman. She welcomed us in Rome and told us her story. She said she had lived in San Francisco for 15 years with her husband, but he had passed on so she came back to her home – Rome. She reached in her purse and pulled out a bunch of pictures of her past – when she was young, her house in San Francisco, her family… then she asked if I wanted a piece of candy. I know… you shouldn’t take candy from strangers, but I did : ) I am such a rebel! Then she says… “I don’t have a second piece of candy for your husband, but wait here and I will run to the grocery store to get one.” And we politely said “that’s okay, it was nice to meet you! Thanks for telling us your story!”

What a way to welcome us in Rome eh?

So we started the journey to our hotel and got there in about 15 minutes (after learning to read a map again). I feel so dependent on Google Maps and GPS systems these days.

Our hotel room is similar to what we stayed in in Amsterdam and Prague… small, but a place to sleep : ) The view outside is amazing, though, and we hear beautiful Italian bells all day long.

We were exhausted from the long flight, but eager to get out and see the city. We figured that we should not sleep when we got to Rome because we had to adjust to the time change – even though we REALLY wanted too : ) So we looked at the map and set out on our adventures.

We started walking and soon realized we would not need a map to see all the beautiful things in Rome. There are beautiful things everywhere…. Fountains, statues, beautiful architecture. The first thing we came across was an amazing fountain with four huge beautiful statues coming out of it. We decided to get some gelato and sit next to the fountain. My sister’s fiancé Sam went on his mission in Italy and he said the No. 1 thing to do is eat A LOT of gelato. So no need to hesitate, right? I had the strawberry gelato and Scott had the chocolate and I can tell you that I have eaten gelato in a lot of places in this world, but the gelato in Italy is by far the best.

We then headed to the Fontana di Trevi (The Trevi Fountain). If you don’t know what the Trevi Fountain is, let me tell you… It is a slice of heaven placed on the earth. In fact, I would say that about Rome in general, with its Byzantine art (known for the golden halo around the head in artwork), and renaissance architecture. Scotty and I sat next to the fountain for quite a while and just inhaled the beauty. The Trevi Fountain was one of the major aqueducts that supplied water to ancient Rome. It is the largest Baroque fountain in the city and one of the most famous fountains in the world. There is legend that if you turn your back to the fountain and throw a coin over your left shoulder into the fountain that you will come back to Rome one day. You are also supposed to drink the water from the fountain (not from the actual fountain, but from the right side above the steps). We tried both : ) We were told that you shouldn’t have people take pictures of you because there are a lot of people that will steal your camera, but we just find people who speak English (mainly couples) and offer to take their picture first then have them take one of us. It’s working out well.

Picture from the web:






We then decided to try to find the Pantheon and in doing so ran into a bunch of other famous architecture/artwork. I wish I could have brought my 20 pound art history book with me so that I could dissect all the amazing things we are seeing.

As soon as we walked into the Pantheon we got chills. There is a hole in the top of the Pantheon because the creator was trying to make the dome perfectly spherical (and using the Pythagorean Theorem and other mathematical calculations to do so). Everything here is mathematically perfect in proportion. I think that this hole which the creator considered a “flaw” makes it SO much better because there is sunlight that comes in and hits a new piece of art in the building at different times of day. Also – it feels like the rays of God are shining in on you and on the artwork. It is simply breathtaking. It is the only pagan temple in classical style still almost intact in Rome and was commissioned to be built in 27 BC and dedicated to the guardian deities of the Emperor’s family. After the fire the temple was rebuilt between 118 and 125 A.D. Today it hosts the tombs of famous people, like the artist Raphael (who Scott mentioned is his favorite ninja turtle haha!) and the kings of Italy. Scott said this was his favorite thing we saw all day because he was in aw of the sheer size of the building and the fact that it was still standing after 2000 years. He couldn’t believe that anyone would be capable of building it.

Picture from the web:


We decided to get lunch in a cute little café by the Trevi Fountain and needed to rest our feet… us two overachievers had probably walked ten miles at that point. We enjoyed the people watching and relaxation. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

One other thing that I wanted to mention about our first day – We were looking at another gorgeous monument when we noticed a bunch of police/swat teams swarming in and not allowing people to go in to the monument. We were scared that we were in the middle of a terrorist attack of some kind because traffic was stopped and helicopters were overhead. Then, out of nowhere, we were in the middle of a “Free Palestine” political rally. There were thousands of people marching on behalf of the cause, and a leader yelling through a microphone to “Free Palestine” – we felt like we were in the middle of a 1960s political rally in the U.S.

After the long flight and long day, we both enjoyed a long 11 hours of sleep and are ready for day 2!

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