Saturday, January 22, 2011

Off to go roam around Rome!

Rome-Day 1 (Jan. 18, 2011)
Samantha Hubbard (sophomore), Paige Hamilton (first-year), and Alexi Saganich (first-year)

As we arrived in Rome we took a wonderful panoramic bus tour of the city. Who would ever think that one city could contain so much history?
We were able to see the ancient sites of the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the balcony from which Mussolini gave many historical speeches, the REAL Caesar’s Palace, as well as St. Peter’s Basilica and Bernini’s St. Peter’s square located in the smallest country in the world, Vatican City.
The Colosseum, wow. The age of the gladiators was sitting right there in front of us all to see. Gnashing lion’s teeth, Caesar, gladiators fighting for freedom they would probably never see. It is hard to take it all in that that was a way of life.
Also, the Colosseum is massive. Seeing it in person gives you a completely different perspective. Granted parts of it have been taken apart to use the material for churches in the city, it is a part of an architectural time period that has shaped our buildings today. They didn’t have cranes or computer programs to make all of the measurements of the building perfect, but somehow it was.
Most of the coliseums that we watch football and basketball games in use relatively the same interior structure as the ancient Roman Colosseum. The Roman Forum was originally used as a town square. It was a place of legislative offices as well as markets for the town.
It is a shame to see that it is in ruins today, however it was still a wonderful site to see. Our hotel was only a couple of blocks away from the Vatican and from our balcony we could see Michelangelo’s dome on the top of the Basilica.
At night we went on a walking tour of Rome to see the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. The Pantheon was once used as a temple and is today used as a church. The Trevi Fountain was many of our favorite sites. And we all threw coins into it. We all made it to the top of the Spanish Steps and got to experience a beautiful view of the city lights, including the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Rome is full of history and today was so much to take in!

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