Dirty Thirty in Roma!

Well well well...it's been a while since I've blogged! Miss me, much? A lot has gone on over the last....hmmm..a little over two months. So I'll eventually post some back logged blogs to get peeps up to speed on what's been going on with us. 

Aside from that, Eric & I just got back from visiting Rome for my thirtieth birthday! Ahhhh! THIRTY!?! Where has the time gone?? Regardless, I still got to visit an AMAZING place that's officially checked off my "Bucket List".

Eric doing what he does best whenever we're traveling somewhere...

We ended up flying in the day after my birthday since I managed to score some killer deals several months ago for our flight through Brussels Airlines. After being here as long as we have been, I've finally figured out that if I buy tickets way in advance, I could get some insanely fabulous deals with 'em AND we don't have to pay extra for check in baggage. Sweet! Then the bed & breakfast place I found, called Vatican Paradise, was in a prime location where it was within an easy walking distance to the Vatican museum. Never mind the fact that it was located in the shopping district and there was amazing bakeries & delis everywhere :)

Our room & bathroom:

 Our room was on the corner of the building & on the fourth floor, so we ended up having two windows to look out and watch some of the insane Italian traffic down below. 

  

Once around 9 or 10 o'clock rolled around, it was almost like a ghost town!

Here's the courtyard of the building where the Bed & Breakfast is located. I couldn't get a snap of it when we first checked in since it was at night and my camera tends to get a little fussy with low lights. 

There is this AWESOME deli right across the street from where we were staying. Honestly, I drooled the second I walked in there because they had fabulous cuts of meat, a slew of difference cheeses and sandwiches all made up. The employees behind the counter were dressed like old school butchers with the white outfits, black bow ties and the butcher hats. They instantly acknowledged you and made you feel welcomed while you glared through all the various deli cases to see what you wanted to take home. 

A few blocks away from there, we found a fantastic little bakery that supplied Eric's addiction to cannolis. Oh my gosh...the things in that place were sinful! I think I gained about 10lbs during our three day trip..no lie. 

Here's a prime example of the goodies we hoarded away in our room fridge...yes...it's all calorie free:

Once we splurged ourselves silly, we turned in for the night since the whole process of traveling tuckered us out. Not to mention, the traffic getting from the airport to our hotel shaved a few years off of my life since Italians drive as if they're using bumper cars for transportation. 

Before we even left for Italy, I went on Romes website and purchased some passes so we could use the transit system at our leisure in addition to getting into two historical sites for free (not to mention, bypassing the lines). If you're interested in doing something like that, here's their site: Roma Pass . I should mention that the Vatican Museum is EXCLUDED from this card, so don't count on using it for that location. 

Prior to arriving in Rome, I also arranged a tour guide through Viator.com since they seemed to be highly recommended after I had done a fair bit of research throughout the internet. After checking out all the various tour options, we opted to do the Ancient Rome Half-Day Walking Tour since it'd take us to the majority of the sites we were wanting to see which included:

- A three hour guided walking tour of Rome's key historic sights

- Maximum of 25 people in the group

- You'd see the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon & Piazza Navona

- Skip the line at the Colosseum & Roman Forum

- See several major sights in a short amount of time

-Entertaining & informative tours led by exceptionally knowledgeable guides, including working archaeologists. 

And, I picked the option where our tour started at 9am and had only a maximum of 12 people in it verses 25. I like having a chance of hearing what the guide is telling us without the risk of more people causing distractions and what not. 

After experiencing the Italian subway system (and I thought the London Tube was nuts), we made it to the meeting point at the Colosseum. It was SO cool to look at! I mean, really...when you see pictures of it, you don't realize how massive that thing really is. Tell you what, some stereotypes ring true when you just watch certain tourist doing dumb things, especially in an area where there's high traffic. After a little while, our guide, Elizabeth, showed up and was able to get the ball rolling. We got VERY lucky...it turned out just to be myself, Eric and a German gal. Score! She was very educational throughout the three hour tour, was interested in picking our brains about Belgium, the states and what we thought of Rome so far. I think we paid €65 in total and it was DEFINITELY worth it.  We practically got a private tour throughout Rome! 

Elizabeth said about 50,000 spectators could be sitting in the Colosseum at one time when events were being held. Oh, and admission was free to the public since it was an appreciative gesture from the government. 

All the various layers of rock that were used to assemble the columns were amazing..

I was lovin' all the arches throughout the place..

This fragment of a marble sculpture was unearthed at the Colosseum in only 2008!! It's amazing to think that there is more to be found at a place that was never really "lost". In fact, more archaeological discoveries are expected to be uncovered as the city proceeds with construction of its third subway line near the Roman Forum, in the heart of the Italian capital.

Construction on the 30-station line has already been interrupted several times as archaeologists have uncovered ancient and medieval treasures.

Arch of Constantine is right outside the Colosseum..it was erected to commemorate Constantine's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312AD. The arch contains an inscription dedicated to the emperor which can still be read today.

From there, we walked over to the Roman Forum which, honestly, didn't seem like much at first...then when you walked further into it, you realized how huge the area really was. As the guide talked, she was referring to a diagram that showed what the buildings would have looked like as a whole, then when she flipped the page, it showed their current conditions with the rubble. Holy gawd..those buildings were MASSIVE! I mean, just the steps to where the building would have been are huge, then the frame work is enormous...so you can only imagine the sheer size of everything all together. 

The Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum was a sacred Ancient Roman temple dedicated to Saturn, the god of seed-sowing.One of the oldest of the Roman Forum structures, the Temple of Saturn was originally built sometime between 501 BC and 497 BC and reconstructed in the fourth century BC. However, this second incarnation burned down and the Temple of Saturn was restored in 42 BC by Roman senator Lucius Munatius Plancus.

Used as the treasury and the seat of the financial overseers of the Roman Republic, the quaestors, the Temple of Saturn was also closely linked with the celebration of Saturnalia, during which slaves and masters would dine together.Largely destroyed in the mid-fifteenth century, all that remains of the Temple of Saturn are six of its Ionic granite columns crowned with a frieze thought to date to approximately 30 BC

The Arch of Septimius Severus is a Roman triumphal arch built by the Emperor Septimius Severus to celebrate his military victories. The arch commemorates the short war between Rome and the Parthian Empire, fought by the Emperor between 194-199AD. The brief conflict resulted in victory for Severus, who sacked the Parthian capital and reclaimed territory in the East. The arch was completed in 203AD and remains in good condition despite all the time that's passed by. 

Once we got our fill of the Forum area, we headed down towards the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II. It's a MASSIVE tribute to the Italian king known as the “Father of the Fatherland”. When you see it, it makes you stop dead in your tracks because of the sheer size of the building. 

Victor Emmanuel II reigned from 1861 to 1878. He was the leading force behind the unification of Italy and served as its first king following the establishment of the unified kingdom.The Monument to Victor Emmanuel II is an ostentatious white marble structure inaugurated in 1911. A statue of the king himself sits in front of a stairway leading up to a large, ornate white marble building with Corinthian columns.

The Forum of Trajan in Rome was built by the Emperor Trajan from 107 AD and it was inaugurated in 112 AD. Trajan, who reigned from 98 to 117 AD, built his magnificent Forum of Trajan after emerging victorious from several military campaigns, particularly the conquest of Dacia.

The crowning element of the Forum of Trajan is colonna Traiana or “Trajan's column”. Dedicated in 113 AD yet still incredibly well preserved, this impressive structure comprises a 98 foot column adorned with elaborate friezes chronicling the Dacian Wars down to the very last detail, including the final expulsion of the Dacians from their native soil.

It is worth noting that the statue at the peak of Trajan’s Column is not of the emperor, but of Saint Peter, an addition of Pope Sixtus V in 1587.

Originally, the Forum of Trajan would have contained several buildings, including the two libraries which would have flanked Trajan’s Column. The remains of one of these can still be discerned today near the Foro Imperiale as can some other buildings.

One of the more visible sets of remains belongs to the Basilica Ulpia, an administrative centre, the foundations and some granite columns of which are visible next to Trajan’s Column.

However, it is Trajan’s Markets, the Ancient Roman centre built in the Forum of Trajan, which forms the star attraction. The brick walls of the semi-circular structure of Trajan’s Markets stand in the centre of Rome and, whilst historians once thought that this was the Roman equivalent of a shopping centre, recent evidence suggests it may have played more of a financial or administrative role.

At the moment, only the lower section of the Trajan’s Markets is open to the public, but the whole site can always be viewed from the streets above.

The Trevi Fountain (Fountain di Trevi) is an iconic eighteenth century monument in Rome. It was designed by Nicola Salvi, but following his death in 1751 it was continued by Giuseppe Pannini and completed in 1762.

A stunning depiction of several ancient deities and resplendent with frescos of legends and myths, the Trevi Fountain attracts floods and floods of tourists, eager to throw their coins into the water to assure their return to Rome - or so goes the myth.

The Pantheon in Rome is one of the most famous and well-preserved ancient buildings in the world.

Originally built by Marcus Agrippa in 25BC, the Pantheon served as a temple to the many gods of Rome. The original Pantheon was destroyed by the great fire of 80AD and the structure which stands today was completed around 125AD during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. 

In 609AD the Pantheon was converted to a Church and this helped to preserve the building from the destruction of later times. In the middle ages the Pantheon was also used as a burial chamber for notable figures and even Italian kings.

Today, the Pantheon remains as a magnificent site in central Rome, and one of the most popular destinations for tourists. The Pantheon’s vast structure is topped by the spectacular original domed roof which contains a circular opening (oculus) at the peak. Made of cast concrete, it is a monumental engineering feat that is a testament to the technical expertise of the Roman Empire. Indeed, the roof of the Pantheon remained the largest dome in the world until the 15th century.

Raphael's Tomb

Raphael died on April 6th 1520 at the age of 37 and, such was his fame, that the leading scholar of the age, Cardinal Bembo, wrote the epitaph for his tomb.

 This is Raphael's tomb, while he lived he made Mother Nature fear to be vanquished by him and, as he died, to die too

I actually took a 360 picture inside of the Panteon, but for some reason, it's not wanting to load on here properly. Just take my word for it, the inside was absolutely gorgeous and stunning. 

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi and Sant'Agnese in Agone

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi or "Fountain of the Four Rivers" is a fountain located in the urban square of the Piazza Navona. It was designed in 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza as did the church of Sant'Agnese in Agone of which Innocent was the sponsor.

The base of the fountain is a basin from the centre of which travertine rocks rise to support four river gods and above them, an ancient Egyptian obelisk surmounted with the Pamphili family emblem of a dove with an olive twig. Collectively, they represent four major rivers of the four continents through which papal authority had spread: the Nile representing Africa, the Danuber representing Europe, the Ganges representing Asia, and the Platte representing the Americas.

Sant'Agnese in Agone is a 17th century Baroque church. It faces onto the Piazza Navona, and the site where the Early Christian Saint Agnes was martyred in the ancient Stadium of Domitian.

The rebuilding of the church was begun in 1652 at the instigation of Pope Innocent X whose family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced onto the piazza and was adjacent to the site of the new church. The church was to be effectively a family chapel annexed to their residence (for example, an opening was formed in the drum of the dome so the family could participate in the religious services from their palace).

A number of architects were involved in the construction of the church, including Girolamo Rainaldi and his son Carlo Rainaldi, and two of the foremost Baroque architects of the day; Francesco Borromini and the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini.

The name of this church is unrelated to the ‘agony’ of the martyr: in agone was the ancient name of Piazza Navona (piazza in agone), and meant instead, from the Greek, ‘in the site of the competitions’, because Piazza Navona was built on the form of an ancient Roman stadium on the Greek model, with one flat end, and was used for footraces. From ‘in agone’, the popular use and pronunciation changed the name into ‘Navona’, but other roads in the area kept the original name.

Overall, the tour was awesome and was most definitely worth the money. Elizabeth was extremely entertaining because not only was she very educated on the sites (she had several degree's in history and did archaeology), but she'd also put her own spin on things to help you understand the Roman logic for why things were done a certain way. One thing she said that made us all chuckle is, "When in Rome, do like the Romans. BE SUPERIOR!"

Once the tour ended and we all parted ways, Eric and I poked around some of the local street painters since we like decorating our house with water color pics from trips. There were SO many painters, it was a little overwhelming! After strolling and peeking around, we found a gal who had some beautifully done pictures of Trevino fountain, the Colosseum and the Monument to Victor Emmanuel II.I think they'll go perfectly with the ones we picked up from Venice and Brussels. 

From there, we caught a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe since we HAD to go there in order for me to get my official Rome bottle opener, lol. Unfortunately, my migraine from the night before was starting to come back and was making me pretty miserable. Once we finished up lunch, we caught another taxi back to the hotel since I wasn't up for dealing with the train system with my head thumping like it was. When I tell you I was scared for my life... It's not an exaggeration. Roman taxi drivers don't give a shit about personal space between cars...the lines on the road are just "suggestions" and you feel like you're in a chase scene from "The Italian Job". Of course, Eric found it insanely entertaining because I'm basically praying that we make it in one piece while he's loving all of the mayhem from our driver flying down narrow streets and dodging mopeds. Got to the hotel..a little shaken a stirred and ended up crashing out for a nap till my head felt a little better. After all was said and done, we walked around Rome for a good six to seven hours! I was tuckered out! 

To kind of give you an idea of how much we walked, the stars on the map are all the locations we went to on the tour:

The next day, we got up bright and early since we were heading to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Those two things have been on my bucket list for years, so I was EXTREMELY excited to go. Keep in mind, I bought us the Roma Passes before we even got to Italy and they said that the fee included entrance to both of those places and we wouldn't have to wait in line. Wrong. When we showed up, there were at least a thousand people in line already at 9am ....best part? I showed my pass and they told me that it doesn't work for the Vatican and we needed to go to the end of the line. I was upset. As in, I was trying my best not to have a total melt down and cry because the line was ridiculously long and we would've stood there for hours. So of course, as we're walking past the enormous line...there's these guys who try to sell tour groups so you can skip the lines and all that mess. One gal was actually really persistent and ended up selling us on the notion...walked us to their travel office and we dished out €80 for the tour.Once we paid, she dropped us off at the office and said she'd get us in 30 minutes...in the mean time, go ahead and use the internet if we wanted to since they offered it for free. The whole time, I felt like something wasn't right...her tourism permit badge wasn't legit looking, the office itself was shady and the guy behind the counter didn't seem to know much about the Vatican...say what? So, I hopped on my handy dandy iPad and started looking for their business...nothing good showed up. In fact, everything that showed up was very very negative. The tour was supposed to last 3 hours, but people reported that the guide would ditch them after an hour and a half, very minimal information when it came to paintings and events, and after a while..their lack of enthusiasm and knowledge would eventually make the tourists just ditch them. 

Annnnnd for good measure, here's what their logo and sidewalk sign look like so you can keep an eye out for 'em. Their office is directly across the street from the corner of the Vatican Museum.

After reading over twenty bad reviews from various sites, we decided to get our money and bail out (the guy gave us our money back without any question since I looked like I was getting sick).

We high tailed it back to the hotel so I could just buy the Vatican tickets straight from the museum online, pick a time slot and just show up. Alessandra, the owner of Vatican Paradise, was SO nice and let me use her computer to get the tickets and print them out since my beloved iPad doesn't have that ability. Oh, and the total for the tickets came to €30 rather than the €80 Maya Tours was wanting. If I had a crystal ball and knew all the hang ups were gonna happen, I would've just scheduled another tour with Viator Tours for the Vatican. Sadly, they were all booked up for the day, so we ventured on our own throughout the museum. 

From there, we had a few hours till our appointed time at the museum, so Eric and I opted to do whatever shopping we wanted because we found some really cool seasonings and decoration stuff for the kitchen. Well...MY stuff was cool...his is rather cheeky. Of all the things to find in Rome, he found a Mammy statue. Prior to meeting Eric, I had no idea what a Mamie was. If you don't know what that is, go ahead and look it up. Like I said...cheeky. Anyway, he bought that thing and I'm curious as to where he intends on putting it in the house. I ended up scoring some cool little spice jars, seasoned salts from all over, habanero powder and some other cooking stuff. While making our way back to the museum, we spotted another shop with random things and I snagged a larger version of a spice jar since it'll go with all the chili pepper plates we have. 

By the time we got back to the museum, it was about 12:30p and the massive line was completely gone. I was flabbergasted because when we first attempted to stand in it earlier in the morning, we didn't move no more than 5 feet in 20 minutes. So to come back with no one really there was shocking.

We flew through the baggage security check point, flashed our printed tickets and we had finally made it into the museum! JOY! OH THE JOY!

I really wish I could write out everything about all the various ceiling paintings, but I'd be here all week ... never mind the fact that the pictures pale in comparison as to how amazing they all are in person. This is the sort of thing I live for..I LOVE history, especially art history and seeing it preserved is definitely something I appreciate because I think *this* sort of talent is lost when it comes to the current generation of artists. 

Vatican symbols are painted EVERYWHERE throughout the museums ceilings and doorways..

The entire ceiling is painted..not a single piece of molding or carving is present. Eric was absolutely blown away because he could SWEAR that they were carved. The "shadow" lines on parts of the ceiling are re-enforcement "netting" bandages due to stress fractures in the building. 

"Sphere within a Sphere" sculpture in the Belvedere Courtyard is a bronze sculpture by Italian sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro.

The map room, also known as the gallery of maps,is absolutely amazing! The room contains 40 topographical maps of the regions of Italy.

Papal Symbol Statues

Painted Dome Cupola of Angels & Demons

The dome with the Angels and Demons painting was located just down the hallway from the Sistine Chapel. Once you left this area, you weren't allowed to use your camera or video recorder since it was one of the rules to enter the chapel. I really...REALLY... wished I could've taken pictures, but I'd rather be respectful of the rules. The chapel was absolutely gorgeous! I was in awe with the detail of the paintings, the walls had paintings of tapestries that were so lifelike that Eric thought they were made of real fabric. The really cool part is that everyone in the room was silent..not a soul was talking or even whispering! Of course, there were a few people who were trying to get pictures (by not being discreet and using flashes) and the security guards weren't having any of it. For the most part, it seemed like people were respecting the rules..but there's the typical few who try to bend the rules. 

Here's a picture I found online of what the Sistine Chapel looks like:

Once we left the chapel, we went through the rest of the museum and were still amazed with all the various ceiling paintings and sculptures. Something that really shocked me, and not in a good way, was the amount of people who took it upon themselves to TOUCH sculptures, paintings and other historical things that were within reach. I mean, isn't there some common sense of respect where you just don't do that? If it's behind a roped off area, it's for a reason. You'd see them touch tapestries, hanging maps, vases and other things....HELLO! If it's not yours, don't touch it!

The globe - consisting of a hollow sphere in wood, covered with gesso and painted with oil colors outside - bears an accurate, if idealized, map of the constellations visible in the skies of the northern hemisphere. Mounted on a richly covered base and fixed to a gilded brass frame, the instrument was long thought to be by the hand of Giulio Romano (1499-1546) on the basis of a misunderstood passage found in Vasari, that assigned similar works in the library of Pope Julius II to him. The work has, in fact, now been recognized as that of Giovanni Antonio Vanoslo from Varese, an artist who specialized in the production geographical paintings and who worked in Rome between 1562 and 1585. It was made for the Austrian-born nobleman Markus Sitticus von Hohenems, the nephew of Plus IV Medici, six years after he was created cardinal, on February 1561.

We walked till there wasn't any where else to walk and it was time to head back to the hotel. Of course, we stopped off in the gift shop since I really wanted something "cool" as a souvenir from the visit. I didn't want the typical "Creation of Adam" by Michelangelo picture because, let's be honest, you can get a poster of that from anywhere. After poking around a bit, I was really diggin' the Vatican's key symbol (I have an addiction to keys), so I figured it'd be a perfect thing to snag. It's made out of ceramic and has a hinge on the back so we can hang it up. Of course, it's gonna find a nice home on my travel desk, so hopefully I don't have to worry about it falling and breaking. Let's just hope it survives our move! 

The Vatican definitely knows how to leave a lasting impression, especially when it's time to leave. This is the spiral staircase you gotta go down in order to get out of the museum. How pretty is that?? I think Eric and I stood at the top for about ten or fifteen minutes just staring & watching as people went down it. 

It is unlikely that the Vatican realized, when it commissioned Giuseppe Momo to build a staircase in 1932, that it would become one of the most photographed pieces in a museum that boasts 9 miles of art. But it did.The Spiral Staircase, also called the Momo Staircase or the Snail Staircase, is made up of two wrought iron stairways – one going up, one going down – that curve in a double helix. Ironically it was created in a time before the double helix became a symbol for science, DNA and subsequently, all human life.

All in all, this trip was amazing. Absolutely amazing. Out of all the trips we've gone on, Rome is tied as our number one favorite along with Bavaria. The taxi shuttle service we used to get to Rome from the airport was great (the gentleman's name is Paolo and he's awesome), the B&B was fantastic, our tour guide was excellent and the various Romans we talked to throughout the trip were very very nice. Honestly, I hope that we're able to make it back to Rome sometime in our future to be tourists all over again...maybe for our 10 or 20 year anniversary? Fingers crossed!