roaming in rome.

Last week was my fall break and I spent the week exploring Italy. I took more pictures in the eight days in Italy than I have in two months in London. I will attempt to choose the best pictures and the main highlights for my blog so that the posts don't get incredibly long and monotonous. I hope you enjoy!

The first stop on my Italian adventure was Rome. I have wanted to go to Rome for an incredibly long time and ended up only have a day and a half their, so I was busy the entire time. I spent the first day walking around the city, exploring the monuments and buildings that were free. It was really awesome to see things that I have learned about in my art classes. It made my major real and relevant in a way that is sometimes missed when looking at pictures of art in text books.

The first big stop was the Pantheon. Not only is this structure free, but it is absolutely beautiful. It would have been worth paying a few euros to go into. I love the idea of a perfect structure being comprised of a circle inside of a square, and this building shows an attempt to obtain this perfection. [yes, my art history background is coming out here]. Also, it is one of the oldest buildings around, as it was built in about 126 AD. THAT IS SO OLD! I have a difficult time comprehending the pure age of the structure. It was a great introduction to Rome.

 The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city and seeing more churches and landmarks. This picture was taken above the Spanish steps, where I had a great view of the city. I did not have much time to purely take in the beauty of Rome, but it is a really nice place.

On the second day, we got up early to go to the Vatican. St. Peter's Basilica was closed in the morning for a private mass so we started in the Vatican Museums, which also include the Sistine Chapel. We were not allowed to take pictures in the Sistine Chapel but we could take pictures in the rest of the museums.

This is the School of Athens by Raphael. It is a gorgeous piece. I was surprised, however, at the little amount of lead up to the image. I had totally forgotten that this painting was in Vatican City, and I almost missed it. It is towards the end of the fresco galleries, and I was just ready to see the Sistine Chapel. Many people breezed right by it, not realizing what they were missing, and I almost did the same. I happened to glance back to try to located Liz, the girl I was with, and I noticed it on the wall behind me. I am really glad I did, as I would have been very disappointed to have missed it. I love learning who all is depicted in the painting, and although many of the figures identities have escaped me, it is still a very impressive piece.

 After we got through the Vatican Museums we got in line for St. Peter's Basilica. This basilica is the largest Catholic church, and no other catholic basilica is allowed to be bigger than this one. I was very impressed by its scale and grandeur. I remember first seeing this particular altar piece in an art history class and, while thinking it was pretty, not totally understanding the fascination with the object. I understood when I saw it. The piece is HUGE. I was immediately drawn to it, even though it is located towards the back of the basilica. I walked directly to it, ignoring the rest of the art around me, and I was still looking at it long after Liz had seen half of the entire church. I could have spent even more time staring up at the impressive piece in front of me. Hand carved and absolutely massive, the piece is very incredible.

After we finished in Vatican City, we went to the Colosseum. We knew we did not have much time left before it closed, and we were getting very tired. At this point I had been on my feet for at least 8 or 9 hours. We were in line for tickets and one of the staff made the announcement that anyone who was willing to pay 5 more euros for the audio guide could skip the line and enter immediately. That audio guide was a great purchase.

Not only did we get to enter far faster than we would have without the guides, I learned a great deal about the landmark. I knew generally what it was, but, honestly, I had no idea just how significant it was. All of the stories and facts were fascinating, and I think I would have been confused and rather disappointed without the guide. Yes, I would have gotten to see a really impressive old building, but I would not have understood the significance and history of what I was seeing. I have been skeptical of audio guides in the past, but this one made all of the difference.

And the Colosseum is a great place to watch the sun start to set.