Some of my favorite things about Italy:
1. The people!- Whether we had lost expressions on our faces in Venice or were confused about a menu in Cinque Terre, we encountered so many really nice Italian people! It was really great and reminded of the southern hospitality back home!
2. Italian food!- Although Italian is one of my favorite styles of food, my opinion had been based on American-prepared Italian cuisine from places like Olive Garden. As you can imagine, nothing could compare to the authentic tastes of freshly made pasta noodles and sauce and non-delivery pizza from the country where it was all started!
3. Gelato! - So I had heard rumors about amazing Italian gelato; but, even that couldn't have prepared me for the wonderful, better-than-ben & jerry's-concoction! From Tiramisu, Nutella, and Cappuchino to Mango and Pistachio, we made sure we didn't miss out by sampling a variety of flavors at least once a day (twice on a few days)! Italian gelato stands lurk around every corner and are hard to resist at around 1 euro for a giant scoop!
4. The history & architecture!- I learned so much by actually getting to experience the accounts of the Roman gladiators, the artwork of Renaissance legends, and the life of a city centered around boats and canals.
For our spring break (April 11-19), I made plans to travel to Italy with Veronica and Heather. After flying out of Geneva on Saturday morning, we made our way to our hotel and to meet up with Heather. She wasn't in the room and we were having trouble with our phones adjusting to a new country, so we settled in and decided to go to the Vatican. As we were walking to the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica, we happened to run into Heather who had just started a tour and was headed to the Musei Vaticani. We followed in with the tour but had to split from the group in order to make it in time for a Rome City Tour we had previously booked. Every inch of the interior was intricately decorated, lined with ornamental sculpting and vaulted by hand-painted ceilings from some of the most renowned artists of all time. The immense collection has been built up over centuries by the Roman Catholic Church and includes works from Greek, Roman, and Renaissance history. We ended up having to rush ourselves though the seven miles of museum but were sure to take plenty of time to admire the Sistine Chapel at the end!
We met our tour guide at Campo di Fiori and took off to see some of the most popular sites in the city. Our tour guide pointed out the Theater of Pompeii where Julius Caesar was killed, now with residence and retail space built into and around the surviving parts. Next was the Panthenon- the oldest, best-kept Roman ruin with the second largest dome ceiling in the world. The occulus, or opening in the dome, emits the only light into the building and to accommodate for the rain, the floor is sloped and has drains at its center. Raphael, as well as the first and second kings of Italy are buried here. I was excited to the Savoie flag on the tomb of Umberto I and his wife Marghuerita (the inspiration for Marghuerita pizza) and asked our tour guide about it. As the Savoie region of France (where Chambéry is located) used to be part of Italy, it turns out that this early king was from Savoie.
Next it was off to Piazza Navona, a lively square built on the foundation of a Roman competition arena. The curved stadium shape is still evident and encompasses three fountains and the Church of Saint'Agnese in Agone. The most impressive of the fountains, Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of the four rivers), was sculpted by Bernini. The fountain features four figures each of which represent a river of the four known continents at the time- The Ganges, The Nile, The River Plate and The Danube. With an open cavity at its center, Bernini was highly doubted when he placed an Egyptian Obelisk (thought to be too heavy for the fountain to support) at the top of it.
Piazza Venezia was next. The square is dominated by the massive Il Vittoriano, a monument dedicated to the first king of Italy. The tomb of the unknown soldier and a huge sculpture of the king on horse lie at the center of the monument. The horse statue is said to be the world's largest and to celebrate the monument's completion, they held a dinner inside its stomach!
One of my favorite sites in Rome was the Trevi Fountain, constructed by Nicola Salvi. It was unbelievable in size and design! At the center of the fountain is Neptune riding in a chariot pulled by two sea-horses. On the right side of the fountain, Salvi intentionally built a wave that rises awkwardly above the others in order to block the view of the shop owned by a stubborn barber who complained of the fountain's construction. Before we moved on, we were sure to stand with our backs to the fountain and toss a coin over our left shoulder, adhering to the legend that says anyone who does so will come back to Rome.
At the end of the tour, we visited the crowded Spanish Steps- the longest and widest staircase in Europe. The steps ascend to the church of Trinitia dei Montia and at the base is the Fountain of the Old Boat. After the tour, I had my first authentic quattro fromaggi (4-cheese) pizza and we returned to the hotel.
Sunday was Easter and one of the main reasons for our visit to Rome- Easter Mass at the Vatican. We woke up early in hopes of getting good seats and even though we had to wait in line to go through security for quite a while, we succeeded! The entire plaza became packed with people from all over the world. Even though the ceremony was mostly in Italian, it was beautiful and so surreal hearing Pope Benedict XVI and other clergy deliver bible passages and the choirs singing responses. At the end of the ceremony, the Pope made his way to a balcony and gave blessings in a number of different languages. We waited around as most people cleared out of the area and got in line for to go inside St. Peter's Basilica. It was beautiful as well with numerous statues of popes & saints, altars, memorials and papal tombs.
It was on to the Colosseum and Roman Forum to walk in the faint footsteps of roman gladiators! The colosseum, home to the Roman games was impressive despite its deterioration. I couldn't believe that we actually could walk around the stadium where hundreds of people gathered to watch. The area around the colosseum, the Roman Forum, is a park-like area that holds other ruins from buildings, arches, gardens and fortresses. After dinner, we returned to the Trevi Fountain for a night view before we left Rome in the morning.
1 comments:
Oh my goodness! This is amazing! You're so luck to be able to travel like this. I would love to travel some day.
I'm interested in some of the meanings you found for "prego". Do you think you could post some of them later?
God bless!
~Kendra
Post a Comment