My first impressions of Rome were that it was a dirty city and filled with tourists. The streets seemed unclean and anywhere close to a major monument or ruin (which is basically the entire boundaries of Rome) there were people wearing hawaiian shirts and wearing cameras around their necks. In Paris, you only notice tourists when you're at a major exhibit, on my walk to school every day, even though it is located in the heart of the Paris, I rarely see a person snapping shots of the city or wearing and outlandish shirt. But in Rome, it felt like they were everywhere. I was being trapped by tourists and the city became something other than "Rome", it felt like tourist central.
We started our journey at the Vatican, the world's smallest country. I'm not a religious person, but standing in the Piazza de San Petro gave a very powerful feeling. A colonnade wraps around the plaza like arms, encompassing you into the space. We were there on a Tuesday, so the Pope was not around, but you could see the jumbo trons already set up for Sunday Mass. Unfortunately, the Cistine Chapel was closed for the day, but we were able to go into St. Peter's Cathedral. The mere size of this building, decked out in marble and gold gave an overwhelming feeling. It truly showed the power the Church has and how much influence they have on the world. It was creepy in a way, to be standing in this church and see how much power it has on this large society of the world. The building itself was worked on by several architects throughout the years, including Michaelangelo. It was definitely a beautiful building, not the most amazing church I've seen, but just its size and grandness made it something not to be forgotten.
Before I passed out for the night, we went down to the Colosseum to see it all lit up at night. We took the metro to the "Colosseum" stop, and long and behold, the first thing when you leave the station is the Colosseum- it just hits you like a brick. But it was gorgeous at night to see it all lit up- something I could never forget.
The next morning was the first of three days of class. Our Urban Exploration teacher came with us this time to walk us throughout the city. The first day's walk was mostly to see the ruins throughout the center of the city. We saw a lot of buildings, monuments, and culture throughout the three days, so I'll run through my favorite of all. We started at the Piazza del Campidaglia, one of the main plazas of the city. The facades of the buildings were built by Michaelangelo and direct the view of the plaza towards the Vatican in the distance. As we sat there waiting for everyone to show up, there was the funniest little pigeon. This pigeon was the best "homeless" pigeon I have ever seen. He had mastered the art of a fake injury and the art of begging. He walked around like he had a bad wing, but as soon as he saw something he wanted, he flew right to it. And then- this pigeon just jumped into some woman's purse! I have never seen a pigeon act so human, it was the funniest thing.
Right behind the Piazza is the Roman Forum. This is where the downtown was located back when the Romans settled. There really wasn't much left other than ruins, but it was beautiful to look down upon. You could see how buildings were added throughout the years and how others were changed to adapt to the architecture.
Just around the corner was probably one of the worst buildings in the entire city. It's known as the "typewriter", built in the 1920s with the worst architecture in all of Rome. It stands out over most other buildings in the city for its mere size and pure whiteness, but there's nothing more to it than looking like an unusable typewriter.
As we walked through the streets, we came upon a huge foot in the middle of the street. Oddly enough, the street was named something like "Big Foot Street", but was a piece of a statue with nothing left other than the foot. Romans today believe that if you rub the toe, its good luck. This is definitely not something you'd see in any normal city!
We stopped at a little cafe for lunch where I had my first gelato. All throughout Rome there were gelaterias, with every flavor you could think of. I tried chocolate, caffe, and tiramisu. Honestly, this wasn't the best gelato I had in my time in Rome, but the best I had was honey and chocolate marange- with real pieces of marange mixed in, just amazing!
Right after lunch we went straight to the Pantheon. This was the one building I couldn't wait to see. All throughout my history class second year, we studied and studied this building over and over again. What is so unique about this temple built in 31 B.C. is that it is built as a triangle overlayed on a square overlayed on a circle from the exterior. But perhaps what makes this building even more well known is its massive dome. It stands almost 44 meters tall, about 120 feet and was the largest dome in the world until the 20th Century. And on top of that, there is an oculus in the center which is completely open through the roof. It is a magnificent building and the most preserved Roman "Ruin" in existance. It literally looked like it could have been built 100 years ago. As we stood inside, it began to rain out, and it was a beautiful site to see the rain sprinkle through the roof onto the marble floors. It felt like one of those once in a lifetime experiences.
Next we went to one of Borromini's churches. There were two famous Baroque Roman architects with two similar sounding names, Borromini and Bernini. They both invented a lot of Baroque architecture with similar ideas, but different approaches. Borromini was a little more free form than Bernini, and for that, I think I appreciated his work slightly more. This church was the church of the Sapienza University. We were not able to go inside, however there was a beautiful courtyard. At the top of the church was a spiral drawing your eye to the sky, very unique for its time.
We continued on through the street of Rome to what use to be the large theater. Nothing of it truly remains, but it was interesting to see that the building there today took on the shape of the seating that used to be there of the theater. All throughout Rome it was interesting to see how the new worked with the old- but this was one of those cases where there was no sign of the old other than the shape the building took.
We ended the day at the Castle of Sant'Angelo. It was built in 400 A.D. and the wall of the vatical runs all the way to the castle as a quick escape fo the Pope if need be.
The following day we started at the Theater of Marcellas. This is another one of those buildings were you could easily see the addition of new upon old. The lower half of the building is the remains of the original theater and on top, a rich family built their mansion. The entire top half was their home and used as protection from the ground. It was one of the most interesting buildings I saw in Rome for the fact that you could easily see the transformation throughout the years.
We walked to another part of the Roman Forums where Julius Cesar was killed. It again, is mostly ruins and was discovered only recently. This part of the Fourm, you were not able to enter, but instead is being used as a cat shelter. It was so unusually to see all of these wild cats climbing through and sitting upon the ancient ruins.
Another part of the ancient city was the Circus Maximus. This long stretch of open land is where races took place, such as chariot races. Today, it just acts as a park, and supposedly an exhibition space. The three armies were setting up a show to open the next day.
We walked to the top of one of Rome's seven hills and were able to get a view over the city. I must say, it wasn't like the view you get from Paris, not nearly as immense, but it was still a pretty site.
Before we took a lunch break, our professor told us she had a surprise for us. We walked to the Piazza de Cavalieri di Malta where a large locked door stood in front of us. She told us to look through the keyhole and that our surprised awaited. When you look through this little hole, it was like an entirely new world. It appeared as if it was a secret garden- you would never know this view occurred on the other side of the doors. The keyhole framed the Vatican perfectly on the other mountain across the city.
After lunch, we walked to Mount Testaccio, a man made hill built by the Romans out of old ceramic pottery. You could never tell, but the public isn't allowed to occupy it out of fear that they will dig up the pots and the hill will come tumbling down. We walked through a market in the area and came upon a vegetable that only exists around the Roman region. It's kind of a mix between a broccoli and a cauliflower. It looked strange, but it also had a beauty about it to.
We ended the day on the top of the opposite hill than we started on at the Tempietto San Pietro. This was another one of those buildings I learned about in my history class. It was the first Renaissance building to ever be built. It was a small church- only big enough for really two or three people. It was simple yet intricate and a little gem sitting inside a Spanish Courtyard, just where you would never expect it.
The next morning, before class started, a couple of us decided to talk a walk through the interior of the Colosseum. It was a pretty rainy morning, yet alone day, but it made the ruins look even more "authentic". I never expected what I saw in the inside. I had seen the Colosseum in Nimes, but this one was so much larger and much more grander. It was not as complete as Nimes, but you were able to see below where the stage stood to see the cages and pathways underground. It was such a large space inside, I felt overwhelmed and over taken, yet at the same time it felt very calming and welcoming. It was another one of those views that could never be forgotten.
The last class day was the longest of the two. We started the walk in the center of town and walked to the outskirts which felt like the suburbs. We started off by comparing the churches of
Borromini and Bermini. The first was the church that contained Bermini's statue of Saint Theresa in Ectasy. It was a powerful piece of work, it appeared so real, even the cloth made of marble seemed like it was made of silk.
Borromini and Bermini. The first was the church that contained Bermini's statue of Saint Theresa in Ectasy. It was a powerful piece of work, it appeared so real, even the cloth made of marble seemed like it was made of silk.
Next was Borromini's Church. I loved this building. The dome in the ceiling was shaped as an ellipse instead of circle. The detail in this building, although all painted white, gave the impression of being grandeous and rich. It was simple, complicated, and pristine all at the same time. In the basement was a cript that matched the similar shapes as the main church, but in a much starker way. I found the stairs in the back of the building and followed them down to the basement, not knowing where they led- it was an ombiance unlike any other.
We walked right down the street to Bernini's church. It definitely wasn't as appealing to me, however had a beautiful dome as well. The entire church was shaped as an ellipse in place which made the interior space feel shrunken in and a little awkward. This was decorated in gold and marble and much more rich than Borromini's, but didn't have as simple detail which I truly appreciated from Borromini.
We stopped for lunch by the Trevi Fountain, Rome's most famous fountain. It was enormous, so large that it took up an entire side of a building. It was just surrounded by tourists, it almost felt like a zoo. With the shape and stairs leading down to the fountain, I felt like I was in line waiting to see the polar bears at the local zoo. It almost felt unrealistic and so touristic that it almost became an object seperate from the city.
We walked to the Spanish Steps leading from the Spanish Plaza to the French Quarters. It looked like a painting of the steps proceeding upward.
Upon winding up and down numerous little streets, we came upon probably the only modern building in the entire city center of Rome. It was the Ara Pacis Museum designed by Richard Meier. Here stood this large white modern box sitting at the edge of an ancient city- feeling as though it didn't belong. In the center of the museum stood the Alter of Augustus Peace, dating all the way back to 13 B.C. Meier chose the perfect materials to match the alter, not overtaking it, but rather complementing it in a beautiful way.
As we walked to the outskirts of town, towards the last two modern buildings of Rome, there was a flock of birds, hundreds of them that flew overhead. Luckily (which is rare with me!) I didn't get hit, but it created an interesting view of the sky.
After a lot of walking, we finally made it to the Renzo Piano Music Complex. It is comprised of three auditoriums, all with similar shapes that look almost like lady bugs. All of the auditoriums are connected through a glass lobby situated underneath another outdoor auditorium. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about these buildings. I like the lower portion, but the auditoriums themselves look almost too mechanical. We weren't able to see the interior, but the auditorium is supposed to make you feel as though you're sitting inside the belly of a cello.
The last building of Rome was one by Zaha Hadid- the second building I've seen by her in my life- both within a week of each other. Unfortunately, this museum was set to open the week after we left, so we were unable to go inside, but we could see it from the street. It was honestly too dark and we were too far back to make any judgements, other than it had similar ideas to her firestation I just saw. There were several people inside- workers setting up exhibits- and with all of the lights on in the interior, shining through the angled columns, it gave an interesting perspective.
Overall, Rome was amazing. From an architectural point of view, it was a trip that truly showed me the basis of architecture today. To be able to see all of the ruins and churches and architects in work was a lifetime experience in it of itself. Rome was a very dreamy place, filled with tourists, but also filled with gelato, which makes up any hurt feelings. We spent our final night eating authentic Italian food, with the best tiramisu I have ever had, and a glass of wine. Saturday morning we took a train to Venice- our last city of the trip. I miss you all at home and can't wait to see you soon! Thank you for reading!
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