Rome!

Another week and another city!  This time Rome.  An amazing town.  Ancient ruins sit next door to modern buildings and neither one feels out of place.  Turning a corner can mean running into a Bernini sculpture and walking into a church can meaning facing a Carravaggio painting.  

We started out the week on Saturday with a walking tour around Rome to see some of the sights and artworks of the city.  Highlights included the many Baroque churches with their ornate and undeniably ostentatious gold interiors and painted ceilings and reading Paul's letter to the Romans in the Roman forum while sitting on ancient ruins.  We finished the evening off with one of the most bizarre sights yet, an 18th century church crypt that was decorated with the bones and bodies of the Capuchin monks that lived there.  On Sunday we attended high mass at St. Peter's, an absolutely amazing experience.  Monday we walked around the heart of Rome to see more churches containing yet more great art by the masters, and finished off the day with a coin tossed into the Trevi fountain ensuring, as the legend goes, my return to Rome someday.  Tuesday we spent the afternoon at the Bourghese Palace; first poetry class on the massive lawns of the estate and then art history in the palace itself.  The collection boasts some of the finest marble statues in the world.  The delicacy of the work was truly awe inspiring, it's hard to believe that it was all sculpted out of hard marble.  Wednesday we visited the Vatican to see the ancient collection and the Sistine Chapel.  The artwork was amazing but the crowds were terrible.  After navigating the maze of the Vatican, pushing your way through the crowd past Raphaels and Laöcoon and countless other pieces, you find yourself in a dense crowd attempting to push itself through into the chapel.  Once you finally make it in, you're met with even thicker crowds and guards yelling "no photo!"  Before you even have time to look at the art you're trying to avoid getting hit with one of the flags or umbrellas that tour guides throughout europe use to gather their groups or trampled by a tourist with their eyes on the ceiling and no idea what was happening on the floor.  Luckily we found a quiet(er) corner and we actually were able to appreciate the mastery of Michaelangelo's work. Today we had a free day so my roommates and I decided to have an adventure to visit the old port of Rome, Ostia Antica.  We had a great time climbing around the ruins and finding ancient mosaics and frescos.  I feel like I kind of fulfilled my childhood dream of being an archaeologist.  I just finished packing and now it's movie night with the roommates.  Tomorrow afternoon we leave for Vienna, with a short stop in Venice before we get on our overnight train.

I would have to say Rome is up there with my favorite cities I've visited so far.  As Audrey Hepburn's character in Roman Holiday replied when asked what was her favorite city she visited "Rome! By all means, Rome.  I will chereish my visit here in memory as long as I live."  Next stop: Vienna.  

Before church at St. Peter's

 The Spanish Steps

 Throwing a coin in the Trevi fountain to ensure my return

 A very sneaky picture of the Sistine chapel

Exploring the ruins

Some of the group