All Roads Lead To Rome

Honestly, I don't remember too many huge events that happened between our Cinque Terre trip and our trip to Rome. Except we did have an Italian band come up the villa and put on a concert for us. The band was Passogigante, and they were a really entertaining funk band. They got the audience involved a lot, and I ended up with 3 other guys up front singing a high falsetto "Lets Groove" by Earth, Wind, and Fire. It was a lot of fun.

One of the best parts of the summer was the trip to Rome. I have visited Rome once before, but barely scratched the surface on things to see and do there. The way they organized this trip is they gave each student taking the full Humanities course a certain location or monument to learn about, and when we visited the location they would be our on-site teacher. It was a fun, interesting way to learn about all the places in Rome, and I didn't have to present anything since I am taking the smaller version of the class. We visited TONS of sites across Rome, which I found really fun and educational. I'll try and limit myself to talk about the main highlights.

A block from our hotel was a cluster of ruins from old temples. This wouldn't be terribly interesting except for the fact that one of those temples was where Julius Caesar was murdered. I slept less than 100 yards from that spot. Pretty cool.

I have always enjoyed St. Paul Outside The Wall, which is a large dedicated to... well I'm sure you can guess. The portrait of every pope that ever lived is on the wall lining the church, and there is a spotlight on the portrait of the current pope. However, much more interesting than any pope related thing was the main attraction and purpose of the church: the burial place of Paul. Yes, THE Paul. The writer of the majority of the New Testament himself. I always find that to be a humbling and interesting experience.

You can't mention Rome without discussing the Colosseum. I love that amphitheater, and enjoyed learning about it and going inside. However, it is also important to think about the number of people that were persecuted and executed for sport there, including hundreds of Christians. Something to think about.

We also got to go to a crypt where many Christians of the day were buried. The crypt was 8 miles long and had over 60,000 bodies (when occupied). It was pretty cool to visit (not to mention get out of the sun and underground in the cool area.

Just to mention some of the other famous monuments visited, I also went to the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon (which I love), and Piazza Navona. In Piazza Navona, there are a lot of artists that set up and paint and sell their art. I love that modern artists can still find a place in the Italian culture, and I supported them by buying a couple pieces.

I also have to mention going to Hard Rock Cafe. I always love eating there, mainly because it is the ideal American restaurant. This is also the second time I have gotten a free meal at Hard Rock while overseas. The first was in Paris thanks to the Moon family, and this time thanks to the Waugh family who got to go along with us to Rome while they were visiting Europe. It was great to see them again and I am really thankful for their kindness.

We also visited the Vatican Museum, which is one of the most important museums in the world. I actually enjoyed going through and learning about so many of the important works of art. But of course, even cooler than the museum was the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. I cannot begin to describe to you how large St. Peter's church is. Not only is it the largest church in Christendom, but they also have lines on the floor showing where the next several largest churches would fit INSIDE of this church. Pretty incredible. It is vastly ornate, and you can't help but realize how small you are and reach your vision to the heavens. However, I do question what Peter's reaction would be if he saw how much money was spent creating a monument of this size for him....

We also went to the museum in Villa Borghese (the Borghese were an important papal family that were great collectors of art, much like the Medici of Florence). I wasn't expecting much, but I thoroughly enjoyed the museum. It still had a Caravaggio exhibit on display from earlier, which I loved. If you get a chance, look up some of the art Caravaggio has done. It is really incredible how realistic his depictions are and how unique the lighting (much like stage lighting) is used. Also in this museum were some of Bernini's most important sculptures, which were fascinating.

Finally, I want to mention one of my favorite parts of the trip. Throughout our 4 days in Rome, I went to several site on the "Path of Illumination." This is from the book 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown (author of the Da Vinci Code). In it he tells a story of how an underground society killed the pope and the 4 main cardinals at various monuments across Rome, which was deemed the "Path of Illumination." I found every single location, and got to see a few churches and monuments that no one else on the trip went to. I found it a lot of fun, and it helped me better depict in my mind the action from the fictional novel.

Rome is such a wonderful city, and I loved every bit of travelling there. I certainly hope to go back one day.

Ciao!

Taylor