Tuesday, May 11th we tried to make the 7:30a train, but with what seems to be a growing trend we missed the train by a matter of minutes. We took the 8:15a train to Rome and arrived at 11am. We found our hostel almost immediately; it was very near the trenne stazione and not far from the sights we wanted to see. The hostel was very large and consisted of 6 floors. The lowest floor was a terrace conceding some of its floor space to a bar and a check-in desk.
Checking in we found out some tours of Roma were offered through the hostel. Since hostel tours tend to cater towards the young backpackers he thought this would be our style of tour. Farther pushing our decision in this direction was the fact that we were going to try to conquer Rome in two days. Feeling touristy to the extreme we signed up for all three possible tours.
Our first tour left at 2pm and was going to cover ancient Roma. Our group consisted entirely of Americans and Canadians. Our tour guide, Justin (Canadian), knew his facts and added a great sense of humor to the tour. I guess this was lucky for us, because he was leading the other two tours we were going to take as well. Justin explained to us the truth and myth behind the founding of the city, showed us the original cattle market, described in length an excavated site that was the center of ancient Roma, showed us the sight where Julius Ceasar was murdered, took us into the Parthenon which most people agree was the greatest building the world will ever see back in it's heyday, showed us the coliseum of course, walked by an ampitheater where the actors in the play were so dedicated to their cause that if the play called for their character to be killed... they would be killed, and finally the Mouth of Truth. There is an interesting story to go with this Mouth of Truth. It is believed that it was used as a sewage drain in ancient roman times. It was discovered later in history and labelled the Mouth of Truth. It was used during the Spanish Inquisition to see if people were lying, and the papalcy would put hungry rats on the other side that would bite the hand of the heretic, thus proving him a liar. It was later in a classic movie called "Roman Holiday" and because of this movie tourists now line up to put their hands in an old sewage cap (can't make this stuff up). This tour ended around 7pm.
Coliseum and Constantine's Arch
built to celebrate a united Italy (1881-1921) Locals hate it b/c it was a money-drain
At 9pm our night tour began of Roma. Same tour guide, Justin. For a little over two hours he showed us some of the best places to see at night in Roma. This included the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain (look this up - probably the best fountain I've seen), a memorial to Marcus Aerelius, and other various fountains around the city. I think this covers everything we saw. At the end of the tour he pointed us to a bar. Brandon went back to the hostel and I checked out the bar. It was a pretty quiet Irish pub where everyone spoke English, so I think it's safe to say I didn't get the best feel for the Roma nightlife. I went back after a couple rounds with some UofM students and a kid from Oregon.
The next morning (Wednesday, May 12th) we had to meet our guide, Justin again, for a tour of Vatican City. We met at 10am. including Brandon and I, there were 8 UofM students on this tour. Today was a Wednesday, the day the Pope holds his weekly sermon. He were supposed to be able to see this, but the Pope bailed on us for Portugal. We took a tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica while our guide explained significant pieces of art and the story behind the Vatican's declaration as a sovereign nation. We noticed all the penises we saw on the statues in Greece and in Rome had been removed and covered by a leaf on some statues. Our tour guide explained that the church deemed them inappropriate and had the removed from the statues. He joked that there was some room in Vatican City that was full of penises... but that we would be unable to see that room because it was the Pope's bedroom. He said this inside Vatican City! I wouldn't have been surprised if lightening rained down from the sky and smote him then and there. He was full of jokes like these, though, and it made for an entertaining tour. This tour ended around 5:30p I think.
After the tour, we and two girls from UofM tried to make it into the Colosseum and The Forum to see a little more of Roma before our train left at 8:30p. It cost 12 euro to get into the Colosseum and The Forum so we opted out because we didn't see anything too special about going into the Colosseum (we had already heard about it and could see some of the inside from the outside. the inside looked pretty overgrown). We left Roma for Bologna to stay at a girl from California's house that we had met at the Athens airport.
Bridge to Vatican City
Old Fortress on the Tiber + Bridge of Angels
Street to St. Peter's Basillica
Inside Vatican City. Since they are an independent country no one knows how much money they have, but the value of all the buildings in Vatican City was estimated at 4.5 trillion alone. And they likely have more property around the world then the USA.
Inside Vatican Museum
Sistine Chapel Ceiling
Chapel Ceiling #2
St. Peter's Basilica
Remains of the last Pope inside St. Peter's Basilica... creepy
Altar at St. Peter's
-Jeff
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