Spring Break Part 1: Welcome to Roma!

And so it begins: The Epic Saga of Spring Break. Fasten your seatbelt dorothy, because Kansas, is going bye-bye.

Arrival Day: March 31st

I met up with my parents at the Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Rome around 4:30pm - 5:00pm.  The moment I finally saw them coming out of the arrival gate, I felt like I was home.  Instantly. All was right with the world; almost three months of separation erased in a second.  

That night, we checked into our hotel, and then had an absolutely FANTASTIC dinner at a local hole i the wall restaurant. We walked in, sat down, and the food just kept coming.  Course after course of deliciousness; a cheese platter, a bread platter, different greens, different beans, a few types of pasta, several meat courses, and then of course dessert.  Throughout it all, they kept bringing bottles and refilling our glasses with their House Red Wine, which was absolutely fantastic.  After dinner, we wandered the streets around our hotel (partially because our sense of direction wasn't quite working after that filling dinner...and partially because it was a beautiful night)  and then checked in for the night and slept.  

Day 1: April 1st - Church & The Colosseum! 

We woke up early (7am) for breakfast at our hotel - not just your average continental.  Pastries of every sort, several kinds of fresh juice, and other goodies (along with plenty of coffee) waited for us in the morning.  After eating, since it was Sunday, we went to a nearby church names Santa Susana for church.  It was a gorgeous church - every surface of the interior was painted and decorated.  I will never forget that I heard Palm Sunday mass in Rome, in the heart of the Catholic world. 

After mass, we hopped on the metro to head to the Colosseum.  The familiar sounds and smells of the subway were a welcome reprieve from the taxis in Jordan.  As interesting as the cabbies are here, give me a metro any day of the week - especially one as well run as the one in Rome (if a little confusing at first).  

Then...we arrived. I will let the pictures speak for themselves: they're worth a thousand words, afterall. 

The Colosseum!

The floor in the bottom of the picture is what used to cover the arena; you can see the ruins of the arenas stony bowels now, where the gladiators lived and the animals were kept. 

Ezio Auditore da' Firenze in Roma....

The Colosseum is a wonder to behold.  It's amazing this much of it has survived for so long; and eve more amazing and astounding that is used to be even larger.  Just imagining the crowds that used to fill the Colosseum makes football stadiums and even the Superbowl seem infinitesimal in comparison.  After taking our time strolling around the Colosseum, we made our way outside.  

Right outside the Colosseum, the arch of Constantine and the Ruins of what used to be a church.

Momma and I by the Constantine Arch!

Next we visited the Palantine and Roman ruins by the Colosseum.  There was so much to see here, we were exhausted by the end of it.  Next time I come to Rome, remind me to bring another pair of feet so I can explore longer!

This *might* be me posing in front of the Temple for the Vestigal Virgins.  Mum thought it was funny for some reason....

This used to be a Palace

Palantine Ruins for the win!

Ruiny ruins are....ruined

Momma and I catching a breather

The Steps to Nowhere...

As we got back onto the metro to go back to our Hotel and take a well earned Siesta, I spotted a guy reading a book with a very familiar cover...

Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks, the third book of the Night Angel Trilogy! (READ IT NOW...well, read the first two first.  Then read this one.)

Brent Weeks in Italy! I never would have thought.  This about made my trip.  Talk about cross-culturalism!  Italians have very good taste in books. :D

Day 2: April 2nd - Walking Tour of Rome


After another hearty breakfast, we set out on a bright sunny morning for our second day in Rome with nothing but our feet and Mum's travel book to guide us.  We led ourselves on a quite thorough and amazing walking tour of the Heart of Rome.  If Mum ever feels like retiring in Italy, she could do wonders as a tour guide! :-P

Before starting our official walk, we wandered into the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum near our hotel.  It was awesome.  They had recreated most of Leonardo's inventions to scale! Most of them never even got off the drawing board when Da Vinci dreamt them up.  (And of course, I was geeking out the entire time since many of Leonardo's inventions are featured in Assassin's Creed II and AC: Brotherhood...)

Christopher Harvey - does this look familiar?  The one and only Da Vinci tank! It fired cannon balls.  Yowch!

This bike is sure to win Dad the Tour De France :-P

I don't know exactly why Leonardo made a box full of mirrors...but it sure was entertaining! 

After the museum, our true tour began.  First we walked into what I can only describe as an Italian Souk; a vegetable, fruit, food and souvenir market in a plaza surrounding this statue of Bruno.  There was pasta of every size, shape and color,colorful veggies and fresh fruits, and bunches of other Italian staples that added a flavorful touch to our morning.

Is it just me...or does this statue look vaguely Assassin-y?  It's of St. Bruno...apparently...

Then, on to the Four River's fountain!

This isn't the Four River's fountain.  It's another fountain....and the building to the left is a church if I remember correctly.

That is the Four River's Fountain.  Note the Egyptian Obelisk!

Any readers out there might recognize the Four River's Fountain from Dan Brown's book, Angels and Demons.  We didn't happen across any conspiracy theories while admiring the beautiful stonework, but it is the same fountain referenced in the book.  More interesting I think it the Egyptian Obelisk on top of the Four Rivers - stolen from Egypt!  Why?  Well because Bernini felt like it. And because the four rivers including the obelisk are meant to represent how far Papal Authority had spread; from the Nile, to the Danube, to the Ganges, and lastly the Rio de la Plata.  

Pantheon! 

If you can't tell from the picture, our next stop was the Pantheon!  So cool.  It is huge beyond reckoning; those stone pillars you see in the front three people to wrap arms around them!  And the inside was absolutely beautiful; how they managed in ancient times to create such magnificent stonework is beyond me.  How do you even build a dome like that?  

After seeing all of the absolutely astounding and amazing architecture and art both in Italy and in Jordan, I wonder what our age will be remembered for.  We don't seem to create the remarkable like they did in ancient times; what are the roman columns of our age?  Maybe the problem is perspective; I don't see the marvels of modern day mankind in the same light as I do the Pantheon or Petra because I'm alive right now, in the modern day.  Maybe italians walked into churches in their day and age and saw the Sistine Chapel or (really any church in Italy...) the gorgeous, intricate paintings that spanned wall and ceiling inside most buildings and didn't even take notice.  But after experiencing all of the history I have in the past few months, I just wonder; who are the Da Vinci's of our time?  Do we even have them?

Oh...right...the Pantheon.  I wish I could have seen it when it was originally built; of course all of the (Roman? Greek? Bah! Greek...Romans steal everything) gods were taken out by the Vatican and replaced with more "appropriate" statues. Those, of course, were also beautiful, including one of the (if I remember right) the first two Kings of Italy.  

The Altar inside of the Pantheon; the cross was covered because it was Holy Week

After the Pantheon, it was Snack Time! Mum and I both indulged in a frappecino-esque beverage at this wonderful little cafe, La Casa Del Caffe.  Literally, The House of Coffee.  It was delicious!  And I felt right at home in this authentic Italian coffee house. Definitely check this place out if you're ever in Rome!

Yummmmmmm Coffee

As we were strolling, we came across a very peculiar site.  This, a Franklin & Marshall store.  And yes, to all of you Pennsylvanians out there, yes, this is Franklin & Marshall like the College of Franklin & Marshall in Pennsylvania.  Why is there a store selling F&M gear to Italians who will never go there? That's a good question.  This was made even more hilarious by the fact that F&M is one of the four college I applied to.  Weirrrd. 

But you don't even go here!

Next:  The Trevi Fountain! Legend says if you toss a coin over your shoulder at the Trevi Fountain, you will be sure to return to Rome one day.  Here's hoping! 

Fountains are cool.

After idling at the Trevi Fountain for a while, enjoying the cool mist from the water while people watching and resting our tired feet, we continued on to the Spanish Steps.  I wasn't super impressed by them...because they were just...steps....but they definitely seem to be a hangout during the day, and there was another Egyptian Obelisk to oogle at!

There wasn't anything spectacularly Spanish about the Spanish Steps, but at least we got to rest for a  bit!

We went to the top of the steps and enjoyed the view of the city sprawling below us, and so was the end of our official Heart of Rome tour.  We consulted our maps and made our way back to our Hotel, through what used to be (and still seems to be) one of the ritziest areas of the city.  While standing on the street corner, I saw a military guard in oddly familiar camo.  I wandered around the corner to get a better look, and sure enough, waving in the wind was the American Flag!  We had stumbled across US Embassy Rome. 

The embassy was a literal palace; it took up at least two street blocks and definitely is in the running for fanciest, most elaborate building I've seen in Rome (well, outside of the Vatican, at least).  I was struck with a wave of longing; I had not seen the American Flag since January.  Somehow while in Jordan I haven't managed to run across our Embassy, so it was a bit of a shock to suddenly see US Embassy Rome, just a magnificent and imposing slice of America in the middle of Italy.  

Home away from home :)

After I finished geeking out over my homeland, we continued our stroll back to the hotel, stopping at a small pizzeria for a late lunch.  The restaurant was about to close but they stayed open long enough to feed us starving tourists. 


We made it back to our hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening, eventually going out to dinner at another local and delicious restaurant named Cantina Cadorno.  We returned to our rooms and prepared for the day ahead: a visit to the Vatican.

Day 3 - April 3rd - The Vatican

We rose early yet again for breakfast and set out into Roma.  Before heading to Vatican City itself, we visited the Victor Emanuel Monument and took the elevator to the very top for an absolutely gorgeous panoramic view of Rome.  

St. Peter's Basicilica and Castel Gandolfo from the top of the Victor Emanuel Monument...

The Colosseum and surrounding streets from the top of the Victor Emanuel! 

Then, it was off to the Vatican!  We walked all the way to Vatican City.  It was a long hike but the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and we stopped a little closer to Castel Gandolfo for photo ops and delicious Gelato!

Castel Gandolfo...we didn't get to go inside of it; so that would be on my agenda for my next Rome trip, along with seeing Tiber Island!

And so we came to it at last: St. Peter's Square.  I'm going to let the pictures here speak for themselves, be sure to read the captions for extra info.

St. Peter's Square! To be honest, it looks larger from pictures.  It was packed with people, of course. 

We entered the Museo Vaticano - Vatican Museum - and toured our way through to the Sistine Chapel.  The following is just a small selection of pictures from the museum; I took so many!  The Vatican has EVERYTHING.  Their collections are pretty darn amazing. I could have done without the crowds, though.  

I loved this ceiling.  It's beautiful!  Just imagine how many hours, days, weeks that must have taken!  

Chillin' with an Anubis Guard in the Egyptian section

Hall of Statues: Animal Edition! 

Hall of Statues.  Men, women, saints, random commoners, greek gods, roman gods, popes, philosophers...you name it, there's a statue of it in this hallway.

The Altar in St. Peter's Basilica :)  The Basilica can hold 60,000 people!  That's 10 times the size of American University's undergraduate population! 

Dome of St. Peter's Basilica :)

School of Athens painting, up close and personal!  It was awesome to see this in person, because I had studied it in several of my classes.  Chris Harvey eat your heart out!

A note:  Before we saw the Basilica, we went through the Sistine Chapel.  The Chapel is at the end of the Vatican Museum tour; the Vatican Museum ends in the Sistine Chapel.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside of it; but it was amazing.  We probably spent a good half hour - hour in there, just looking.  The chapel was packed like sardines with people, and the sanctity was somewhat spoiled by an Italian guard yelling "Be Quiet!" in various languages ever five minutes or so; of course there was always a buzz of whispered conversation.  

The paintings have been somewhat recently restored, so it was a new experience for all of us, even my Dad who had been in the chapel before, but before the restoration.  The painting were crisp and clear, and the three of us huddled around Mum and her guide book as she explained what all of the different sections represented.  Simply amazing. Though, I was slightly distracted - and blasphemous - as I remembered and recognized how Assassin's Creed II ends...in the Chapel...it's a good thing when video games enrich history, right? 

Then, after the Basilica, I wanted to go to the very top - the Cupola.  So Dad and I climbed up several sets of increasingly winding and narrow staircases until we reached the very top!

Climbing the Basilica

As soon as I reached the top, I fought my way through a literal wall of people to get to the edge and gaze at the breathtaking views beyond. 

After I had taken my fill of the view, I realized something...I didn't know where my Dad was.  In my excitement to see the view from the Cupola, I had forgotten he had been a few people behind me!  Now he was gone, vanished in the heavy crowds.  I circled the Cupola several times searching for him, but he wasn't anywhere to be found.  After twenty minutes or so, I assumed he had gone down the stairs to the landing halfway up the basilica, on the roof (where the elevator lets out) and so I trotted down the stairs in search of him, and my Mum who had been waiting for us on the roof.  When I got down to the roof...no one was there.  No Dad,  no Mum.  After searching the corners of the roof I was on, I looked up at the basilica and had a realization; I must have come down the opposite side of the dome, and must therefore be on the opposite side of the roof from where my Mum must have been waiting.  My Dad clearly wasn't on this side; but he had to be, right?  I waited for another ten or fifteen minutes, wondering if I had somehow missed him at the Cupola.  Finally I bit the bullet and took the stairs all the way down back to the basilica floor.

After practically running down the stairs, I ended up again on the complete opposite side of the Basilica from where we had originally entered to go up to the roof, and then the Cupola. Furthermore, the steps coming down had definitely been different from when I ascended, cementing my belief that we had ascended on one side of the dome, and descended on the other. To my horror I still did not see my Mum or Dad anywhere in sight when I reached the Basilica floor.  I was just about ready to spend the rest of my days lost in St. Peter's when I saw my Dad, and ran to him like a toddler lost in a grocery store.  It was another hour or so before we found Mum, and the Saga of being Lost in the Vatican ended.  

Moral of the Story:  If you get international numbers when traveling, probably share them with the people you are traveling with. And St. Peter's is HUGE. 

As the sun set over Vatican City, we returned to our Hotel for one last night, and said our goodbyes to the beautiful city of Roma. 

Day 4 - April 4th: To Firenze!

We left Rome today, and in true European fashion enjoyed a train ride through the Italian Countryside to reach Firenze :) (Florence)

Our train was the 9426 at 12:45!

Bye bye Roma!

The rolling hills of the Italian Countryside

Clear skies and a small town

So concludes the first half of my Italian Adventure over Spring Break; stay tuned for Part 2! Moreover, the pictures here are just a small sample of the ones I took over Spring Break.  For family and friends, be sure to stop by over the summer if you want to see the full slideshow! :-D