When In Rome: Day 1

Sorry I’m not keeping up with my blog as much!! It’s coming to end of the semester here, meaning juries, finals, and a huge history paper.  But anyways, here’s a little about my weekend in Rome!

Rome was absolutely fantastic! It’s somewhere I was really excited to visit before I came to Italy but that excitement continually decreased as people kept talking about how awful it was. However, I loved it, well besides all the floods. Seriously. I mean the Coliseum and the forum were closed when we first got there due to flooding.

So our first day, after dropping off our things at the hotel, we took a bus to the Pantheon.  This bus was so crowded. I’m the type of American who likes having their personal space, however, I don’t think the elderly man behind me understood that concept. He was definitely intruding my personal bubble.

The bus ride was worth it when we reached the Pantheon.  This building is so ancient and yet so beautiful.  It’s one of the oldest churches in Rome, otherwise known as “the big church with the hole in the ceiling.” Which is true, but is part of what makes it so special.  The dome of the Pantheon has a large, natural sunlight to bring in light, or that day, rain.  The Pantheon is also home to Raphael’s tomb, another special factor. And if you’ve seen or read Angels and Demons, it’s one of the places the main characters travel to in both the book and movie.  I could go off about the history of the Pantheon, but I won’t bore you.

The outside of the Pantheon

The natural skylight in the dome

Selfie just because

Raphael's Tomb

If you notice the little hole in the dome on the right, that is the hole that Brunelleschi cut when designing the Florence Duomo

After touring one of the other presented churches (in case I haven’t mentioned, each person had to give a presentation on a different church in Italy), we had a wonderful lunch. The best gnocchi con quarto formaggio (a cheese sauce) I have ever had.  We also had a glass of strawberry infused wine, which the Italians liked to call “sexy wine.” It was delicious and didn’t even taste like wine. So, if you’re not a big wine drinker, this is one to try.

After lunch, we had some experiences chasing after buses, almost dying in taxis and whatnot until we finally made it to the Borghese Gallery. Here we escaped the torrential downpour and saw many pieces of art by artists such as Raphael and Bernini.

Borghese Gallery

My favorite piece of art in the Borghese, Bernini's Apollo and Daphne

Later that evening, we made a trip to the Capuchin Crypts. Yay, another trip through a crypt and to a monastery, right? No. This was completely different than any experience I have had. These crypts are elaborately decorated with the bones of Friars from the monastery, dating back to the 1600s. That's right, human bones. Even the chandeliers were made from bones. It was just so eerie seeing real skeletons, actual bones that once was a real person. Also in the first crypt there was a sign that read "What you are now we used to be; what we are you will be." That was scarier than any movie or haunted house I have ever been it, yet it was so amazing. There is nothing else like that in the world. Also, I do not have pictures, because it's obviously forbidden for people to take pictures something so scared, but here are a few from Google I found

Everything you see in these pictures are made from human bones, to the obvious skeletons to the little decorations on the walls

 

The rest of the night consisted of dinner, gelato, and seeing the Trevi Foundation, which to our disappointment is under construction for a year.  One of the items on my bucket list has been to make a wish in Trevi Fountain, I guess I’ll just have to come back at some point to complete it!