Roman Holiday

I'm not exactly the most accomplished world traveler, but I have been around just a bit in the last year. And I must say I have found in Rome my favorite city to date. The monuments, art, and history are all terrific, but the best thing about it is being part of Italian life. The people are for the most part good looking and lively, the food is simply delicious, and even the language is beautiful. It was a quick trip, but I managed to see and do a lot in just a day and a half, and I will certainly return. I threw a coin into the Trevi fountain (an Egyptian pound) so that means I'm destined to return!

The Trevi fountain was my first stop in Rome. I knew of it only from the famous scene in La Dolce Vita, and I was surprised how big it was. I can't describe it adequately, and the pictures don't do it justice. Watch the movie, and then go see it for yourself!

I also went by the fountain the next day, so here is a picture in the daylight:

Another sight I saw my first night in Rome was the Column of Marcus Aurelius. You can't tell from the picture, but the column has pictures on it from top to bottom that tell the stories of Marcus' campaign in the Danubian wars. The column was built in 193 AD, and restoration work was done in 1589.

Piazza di Spagna was my first stop the next day. It is a beautiful square, with steps leading up to a church. 

There is a famous street leading away from the square. I asked an Italian the name of the street, and she told me the name in Italian. Seeing the puzzled look on my face, she said in English it is "Let's go shopping!" I walked down the street later and saw what she meant--the street has all the famous high end shops like Gucci, Bvlgari, Aramni, etc. I noticed a pair of ladies sandals in a window selling for 450 euros. That's about $500 bucks for a pair of shoes. Needless to say, I the only shopping I did was window shopping.

Here is a picture from the top of the steps, looking out down the "let's go shopping street."

I made it to the Coliseum on Saturday. Quite an amazing sight.

Next to the Coliseum on one of the seven hills of Rome is what seems like a large park but I think it is part of the Roman Forum. There are several houses here where emperors lived and a lot of other sites. But I was pretty tired by this time and couldn't take it all in. My favorite site in this area is a large area that was a private theater for one of the emperors (Domitian?) where he staged gladiator battles and other stuff for his private entertainment. While I was here, a tour group with a guide who spoke English came by and I listened in. Their guide explained that the structure was originally covered in marble, but the marble was later taken to build St. Peter's cathedral. He said that the Vatican didn't like the word "taken," they preferred to say "recycled." I understand that a lot of the original marble at the Coliseum met the same fate.

One of my favorite buildings from this trip is a modern one completed in 1935, the Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II. It contains the Tomb of the unknown Soldier in Italy.

The best site, by far, that I saw this trip was the Pantheon. Several years ago I read a lot about this building in one of my favorite history books, Daniel Boorstin's The Creators. I never thought I would get to see the building in person. Pantheon means "all the gods" and it was originally a temple to all the pagan gods. Somewhat ironically, it has been well preserved because because around 600 AD it became a Christian church and has been well cared for through the ages. You have to see it in person to believe it, but here is a video I took inside the building. You can see and hear a Christian religious service going on in the background while I took the video.

I just scratched the service on a quick 2-night stay, but I will certainly go back. I haven't even mentioned all the delicious food! The ice cream was the best. I don't know how it is that they make ice cream so much better in Italy, but I couldn't stop eating it! It was worth the trip just for the chocolate ice cream I had the first night at the Trevi.

My next trip is at the end of May. I'll have some guests from the US here, and we are going to Luxor, Egypt and taking a Nile cruise. I won't have much to blog about until then. The university is keeping me busy, and I haven't figured out how to get paid for full-time travel yet.