When in Rome

Friday, June 25

Well we have made it to Rome. We actually made it to Rome after a very long train ride from Paris. Our train from Paris left at 6:54am to Lyon, France. However, before we reached Lyon we found out we had to change to another train in Belgan (spelling?) which luckily was just on the platform across from us. Finally making it Lyon, we boarded a train to Geneve (Geneva), Switzerland. Now I am sure Geneva is quite beautiful, the train station, not so much. It was especially annoying that when you purchased something they paid you back in Francs. From Geneve it was off to Milano, Italy.


Originally we had planned to take a night train from Paris to Florence, Italy. The night train is an experience in and of itself, but of course you miss the landscape. The scenery was breathtaking! We passed along mountains and lakes. The architecture of each little Swiss village just didn't seem real. I expected to see the Swiss Miss girl standing on the side of the road holding a steaming cup of hot chocolate!

When you cross the border from Switzerland to Italy you can tell the difference. The architecture of the buildings change. It's amazing what a line on a map can do in regards to the structure and style of buildings. I think perhaps the most picturesque though was passing through a stop called Stresa, Italy. Imagine a blue lake surrounded by Italian villages with gold, tan, pink, and rust colored builidings nestled in the surrounding green mountains. Now in the middle of the blue lake is a strip of an island with again Italian villas on it! I could only catch a glimpse, but it was stunning!

So we finally reached Milan to then have to board another train headed for Rome. On the way we passed  Bologna, and Florence (which we will get to visit on Tuesday). We arrived in Rome at 9pm. It was a long day!

We were able to eat at a restaraunt close to the hotel called Pagaroma. We had an amazing waiter named Aldo, he was quite a character and was a great introduction to all the "characters" we have met here in Rome.


Saturday, June 26
We started our day heading back to the train station in order to reserve our seats to both Florence and Venice for Tuesday. I am glad we did so, as the train station was a mad house, and I could hear quite a few upset travelers trying to get on full trains to other locations for that same day. After purchasing a Roma Pass, which gets us unlimited metro, bus, and two free entries to two museums, we made our way to Rome's incredible metro system. (I am being sarcastic here...Rome literally has two lines...line A and line B. You might be thinking, two lines, how easy...easy yes, but then you are left on relying on the bus system...which I will talk about later.)

All complaints aside, our first exit from the metro brought us face to face with the Colosseum. Even though only 1/3 of the original structure is standing, it is an impressive sight! Caroline, Yajaira, Joshua E., Charlie, Celeste, Maxwell, Reina, Yiyang, Joshua T., Patricia, Malia, Asem, Shawn, and Zach sent us to the Colosseum. We toured the inside and were able to see the different levels of it. What is amazing is that this ancient structure could once hold 50,000 people in it! That is not far off from today's arenas. There is no longer an arena floor so you can see the spaces where they kept the wild animals and the unfortuate slaves that had to fight for their lives.

We were then off to San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran)  per the request of  Will, Ana, Richard, Kelly, Joshua, Charlia, Caroline, and Yahaira. Built in A.D. 318, this was the first Christain church built in Rome. The style of this church is so different from the style of Notre Dame or West Minster Abbey. While Notre Dame is dark and very gothic, this church is bright and just "over-the-top" in regards to sculptures, paintings, and ornamentation. Every inch of this church is covered in something ornate. We were asked to take pictures of the holy stair case which are believed to have been brought from Pontius Pilate's residence. These stairs are said to have been climbed by Jesus on the day he was sentenced to death. Every day devout believers climb these 28 steps on their knees as an expression of their faith.

Although not at the request of our students, we made our way to the church of St. Peter-in-Chains. There is nothing impressive about the exterior of this church. In addition, when you walk in the church (after having been to St. John Laterno) it is a bit "underwhelming". There is no ornate ceiling with angels swooping down and cherubs smiling at you. There are some frescos on the walls, a few tombs here and there...but then you move to the back right hand side of the church and there you can see what the commotion is about. In the back of the church is a tomb of white marble with quite a few statues...one being Michelangelo's Moses. The statue is simply amazing. You can see the veins in his arms and hands. The way Michelangelo carved his beard with Moses's hands enlaced in the curls, would make one believe that the marble had to have the tecture of clay. You are just waiting for this "man" to stand up...which if he did, he would be 13 feet tall! I think the irony of the whole thing is that this statue and those around it were actually meant to be the tomb of Pope Julius II. But when the Pope died, it lost funding, Michelangelo moved on to other things and the Pope was buried in a simple grave at St. Peter's Basilica. This church is also believed to have the chains which held St. Peter while he was imprisoned in Rome and in Jerusalem.

The Pantheon was our next stop. William H., Daniel, and Matthew C. wanted us to reflect on the architecture of the building. I guess Rome is reflecting on the architecutre of the Pantheon as well as half of it's front is covered in scaffolding! After a great dinner (we ate because we were hungry and to avoid the rain) we ventured inside. The Pantheon is Rome's best preserved monument. The interior dome is 142 feet from floor to rooftop and side to side. The hole in the middle of the ceiling allows light to shine down in the middle of the builiding. There is no glass up there, this was evident from the rain that had pooled on the marble floor. To look up and see this domed roof and know that it was built in 27 B.C. well, you just can't help but be impressed. We learned that this one builiding really was the inspiration behind St. Peter's Bascilica, the Duomo in Florence, and even the Capital Building in Washington D.C. We were surprised to learn that the Pantheon is actually a church which does hold services. In addition, the remains of two of Italy's kings are buried in the Pantheon, but even more exciting is to know that the remains of the great artist Raphael are also entombed in the Pantheon. His tomb is quite simple considering how influential he was and you can clearly see it behind a glass case. In Latin his tomb is inscribed with "In life, Nature feared to be outdone by him. In death, she feared she too would die."

The evening really did cool down for us after the rain. We were quite happy with this as Rome had been quite hot (yes it is hot in Houston...but we get relief when we get in our cars...we're walking everywhere over here!). Our last stop for the evening was to the Trevi Fountain. Let's just say that a whole lot of people wanted to end their day at the Trevi Founatin as well. It was packed!!! Despite the crowds, we were able to see the founatin in all its majesty, and we caught it just as the lights were turning on giving it a golden glow. We decided not to throw our coins in just yet though...that could wait...the crowds were just too big.

So we tiredly made our way to the next metro station, which by the way is not just around the corner. We ended up at Termini Station only to have to catch a bus to our hotel. Well, in all our joy and anticipation of being in Rome, neither Ms. Ballard nor I bothered to right down the name of our bus stop. Needless to say, after getting off at a stop that we thought might be ours, we had to stop in a hotel and ask them to call us a taxi. To our credit, we were only a few blocks off course.

Finally, we apologize for not posting pictures with this post, but it is taking a really long time to include them. So just know that pictures will eventually be posted.