My last morning waking up in Rome... I had a delicious breakfast, then packed and headed straight to the airport with the entire class. Long travel day and long flight home. I was content to leave Italy. I felt like we had done as many things as we possibly could; there was nothing left undone that I had wanted to do. By the end, I was sad to leave the wonderful group of people I had spent the past ten days with. On the bright side, I made new friends that I wouldn't have made if it wasn't for the class. I'm so happy I was able to have this Roman Experience, and I can't thank Kristi, GA, and (big) Jim for making it such a memorable and life changing trip. With love, Jessie
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Our last full day in Rome was almost entirely free time. A group of us decided to get up early, take the metro to the Vatican, and climb the dome of St. Peter's. This was one of the best decisions we made! We were the first in line and were on top of the dome before 8 o'clock in the morning! The view was amazing (although nothing can beat the view on top of the Duomo, for me), and we had the entire day ahead of us to do whatever we wanted. After descending the dome, we found that a celebration called the Jubilee of Mercy was going on! We were in the right place at the right time to see the parade passing by through the Holy Doors. Allegedly, we missed the Pope by twenty minutes. . . . The group that climbed the dome split up; me and three others decided to walk to the Jewish area to see the synagogue. We followed the Tiber River and for thirty minutes we walked and soaked up as much of Rome as we could. The synagogue was beautiful, and a nice change from the hundreds of churches we had seen. In the Jewish area we saw ruins, which we did not expect. Unfortunately, because it was a Saturday aka the day of rest, the shops and restaurants were closed when we walked by. Our small group decided to head to Tiber Island, then walk to the Pantheon, and then the Trevi Fountain to find a place to eat. (Fun Fact: by the end of the day we had walked over 16 miles and more than 38,000 steps). After our lunch, we walked back to the Pantheon, listened to the performer (this time it was a guy who played songs in English), then bought our last gelato of the trip! Heartbreaking. At 1:15pm, we met back up with the rest of the class and the tour guide for our last planned activity: a tour of the Quirinal Palace. This house is the equivalent of the White House, the President of Italy lives there, although the president has less power and is more symbolic than the American president. Every room was more ornate and decorated than the last! After that, our last evening in Rome began. I started it off right by buying my second pair of Birckenstocks. A majority of the class and I had our last dinner at a restaurant on the roof of a hotel. The view was perfect and I enjoyed the sunset while eating my last gnocchi in Italy. Once our stomachs were full, we walked around to visit the Colosseum and the Forum to see what they looked like all lit up at night. Needless to say, they were beautiful. (Have I used that overused that word? Probably not. Italy is beautiful, if I didn't make that clear enough). On the morning of our second to last full day in Rome, our teachers led us, instead of the tour guide. We visited four churches, one of which was definitely my favorite. Its interior decor was nearly entirely white, with an oval dome featuring geometric shapes on the inside. This church was so different from any we had been to and it stuck with me, although not its name, unfortunately. We walked to the Spanish Steps; however, they were under construction so we weren't able to sit on them like so many people recommended doing. The Piazza di Spagna was still impressive even without the steps. The next plaza we went to, Piazza del Popolo, featured an obelisk and a tennis court! The tennis court was only temporary though, but I was jealous of whoever got to play in the beautiful plaza. We broke for lunch, and after getting obligatory gelato, we walked through the Parco di Villa Borghese. The park felt like a giant Central Park, and we were surrounded only by vegetation and trees. Unlike in the city centers of Florence and Rome, there were many people exercising in this park, running or riding bikes. After strolling through the Borghese gardens, we went inside the Galleria Borghese. This museum housed my favorite works of art: intricate marble sculptures. Again, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. After leaving the last art museum of the trip, we traveled by bus to the Caracalla Baths. Like almost everything from ancient Rome, they were enormous. The weather was perfect as we walked between the old walls. We took one last UC flag picture in front of the baths, and left on the bus to go back to the hotel. Only one more full day in Rome left! Whe started off our eight day by taking the metro to Bernini's Triton Fountain, which we had passed on the bus when we first arrived in Rome. In America, it's rare to see fountains as beautiful as that one, casually in the middle of a roundabout (especially one from the 1600s, before America was even close to being colonized!). We walked from the fountain to the two thousand year old Pantheon, which was just as awe-inspiring as the Colosseum. It's easily one of the best preserved structures of Anceint Rome and its dome is still the world's largest unreinforced concrete dome. One of my favorite moments from the trip happened on the plaza just outside this impressive building. With the backdrop of beautiful blue skies and warm sun rays, a fountain, featuring an Egyptian obelisk, took up the middle of the plaza. While Margaret did her presentation about the Pantheon, we sat on the steps surrounding the fountain. All around us, the plaza was completely packed with people from numerous countries, all speaking different languages. I heard not a word of English, except from those in our group. It was so humbling to be surrounded by people of so many different backgrounds and cultures. In addition to this chatter, a woman was playing a guitar and beautifully singing songs in a language I couldn't understand, I assumed it to be Italian. One song ended and she started the next, which I immediately recognized. In French class, my teacher played us a very important and famous song by Edith Piaf entitled "Non, je ne regrette rien," The woman was performing a beautiful, slow, acoustic rendition of this song and it took my breath away. In that moment, I would have been content to sit on those steps facing the Pantheon. listening to live music with the sun warming my back for the rest of my life. . . . Unfortunately, we had to leave the Pantheon. Fortunately, the next thing we saw was the Trevi Fountain. The fountain and the crystal clear water looked so pristine and impressive. It was much, much larger than I thought it would be. Of course, I had to do the three-euro coin toss over my shoulder into the fountain. After viewing more churches and paintings, we made our way to another fountain in Piazza Navona, the Fountain of Four Rivers. Navona was one of the largest plazas and the fountain was the second biggest fountain we had seen so far. From there we walked to the Campo de' Fiori. We had been there at night before, but had never seen it by day. It looked like a completely different plaza. Instead of being empty like it was at night, the plaza was full of tents with vendors selling everything from fruits to pasta to olive oil. We had lunch in the plaza and could watch people browsing the products, shoppers carrying their purchases, etc. After getting gelato, we looked inside more churches. It started to rain so we took a bus back to the hotel. The bus was very long, so long that it had a circular, spinning platform that rotated during turns. GA was standing on the platform the entire time and was having the time of his life! It's the small things. Never a dull moment in Rome! Yesterday, we started with the biggest amphitheater in the world. Today, we started with the biggest church in the world. Today was the first day we used public transportation in Rome. Fortunately, we all received a 7-day pass that included unlimited use of the metro and bus systems. I'm a big fan of public transportation, and was excited to see what it would be like in a different country. As expected, the metro station was bustling and the compartments were jam-packed. We all had to squeeze together like sardines. I loved it, though. Above ground, we walked to the Vatican. The high security walls were intimidating, and it was cool to enter into yet another country, technically. We explored the square and the museums of the Vatican, before entering into what we had all been waiting for: the Sistine Chapel. We weren't allowed to take photos or talk while in the room, yet many people did. I did neither. I stared up at the infamous Creation of Adam for the next ten minutes, in an attempt to burn the image into my memory. After the Sistine Chapel, we entered into St. Peter's Basilica. I still cannot fathom the size of the church and space it encompassed. Everything was massive: the sculptures, the posts, the columns outside. The grandness was overwhelming. Leaving St. Peter's and entering upon the plaza was another magical moment. The plaza was so expansive and it was easy to imagine the hundreds of people gathering to hear the pope speak. After St. Peter's, we broke for lunch, then the tour guide took us to the Castle Sant'Angelo. When we reached the top, we had an incredible view of Rome and the Ponte Sant'Angelo, which we crossed after we descended the castle. Our free time began and we took a bus back to the hotel. I'm slightly obsessed with Indian food, and I was dying to try some in Italy. A friend and I had Indian for dinner. It was surprisingly different from Indian food in America, but delicious. It was also a nice break from Italian food I'd been getting at the restaurants we had been going to. We headed back to the hotel with our bellies full of tikka masala and naan. Our first full day in Rome started off with a bang. By 10 o'clock we had already seen the most famous and largest amphitheater ever built: the Colosseum. The outside of this 2000 year old structure was striking yet familiar; I,along with everyone in the group, had seen countless pictures and videos of the Colosseum. We knew what it looked like. In real life, what hit me the most was the history and importance of it. Thousands of ancient Romans, gladiators, exotic animals filled the building to the brim. Flash forward to the 21st century, and it's packed with tourists from every country, taking pictures with cells phones that could do things those ancient citizens never could have imagined. Two thousand years has passed, everything has changed, yet the Colosseum remains (well, most of it). After looking at the massive interior of the Colosseum, we moved onto the Roman Forum. Previously, for whatever reason, I had never heard of the Roman Forum and had no idea what to expect. The plethora of ruins from hundreds of years ago blew my mind, and it was easy to imagine the ancient Vestal Virgins and politicians roaming around. It was interesting that entire buildings would be completely gone, except for one lonely column or two. Once we finished looking at the main forum, we walked past fora of many different emperors which were equally as impressive. After viewing the fora, we climbed Palatine Hill. The gardens were beautiful and the view was worth the ascent. Soon after, we parted for lunch and then headed to Tiber Island. The gelato that I got there was by far my favorite (cherry and chocolate chip flavors). Tiber River was a gorgeous, almost turquoise color and put the Ohio River to shame. I remember during one of the first days of class we talked about the importance of Tiber Island, and now are class was standing on it! How time flies. We left Tiber and we didn't reconnect back with the tour guide. Our teachers took over and gave us a tour, featuring GA's hilarious commentary. We viewed more churches, with beautiful stain glass windows and decor. One church had a very interesting feature that no other church we saw had. It included a meridian line on the floor. A hole in the wall let a tiny ray of light pass through, and at noon every day the beam of light would cross the meridian line. giving the date for that day. This meridian line was built by Francesco Bianchini in 1702. This scientific bit of technology required engineering skills, and is still as precise and accurate as it was three hundred years ago. Yet another fact that blew my mind. Once we finished visiting the churches, our free time began. Almost the entire group went out to dinner as one, and it was during this night that I realized how close the group had become. Stony silence at the airport turning into constant chatter and laughter made me so thankful for the great group of people on the trip. Our first fun night in Rome was the perfect end to our first full day in Rome. Today, we woke up in Florence and went to bed in Rome. After eating our last breakfast at Hotel Londra, we had an outside walking tour of Florence. It was refreshing to take a break from museums and be outside. The tour guide showed us the apartment in which Michelangelo lived, we saw the Basilica di Santa Croce and the Piazza di Santa Croce which were both beautiful, and we peaked in two libraries (San Lorenzo and Laurentian). The Laurentian Library was decorated and created by Michelangelo himself, which was very impressive. We broke for lunch, then got on the bus and headed to Rome! The bus ride from Florence to Rome was equally as breathtaking as the one from Rome to Florence. After soaking up the beauty in Florence for so long, I had forgotten about the beauty of the country side, so I was pleasantly surprised and appreciated it just as much, if not more than the first time. Here are my thoughts that I jotted down while on the bus: "the mountains in the far back, rolling green hills like none I've ever seen before it must be the lighting or something magical scattered with orange red white tan Italian houses" After arriving in Rome, we immediately got dinner at a very inexpensive but nice place. I enjoyed the Minestrone soup. It almost rivaled my mom's that she makes at home. We were obliged to get gelato, then headed home to avoid the rain. I could barely fall asleep in anticipation for the next day. . . . Woke up early with a couple of others including GA to make our way to morning mass at the Duomo, or the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. Even though I'm not religious, mass in Italy was something that I wanted to experience. The inside of the Duomo was almost as beautiful as the outside. The mass itself was in Italian, yet I still was moved by the power of tradition and faith. After mass, we went inside the museums of the Baptistery and the Duomo. It was interesting to see the process behind the final products. Once we finished touring the museums, we waited in line to climb the Duomo. Like I mentioned before, this activity was high on my list of things I wanted to do. Numerous friends and peers said this was their favorite thing to do in Florence. It's safe to say, the Duomo did not disappoint. After climbing five hundred steps, including narrow spiral staircases and old stone steps, we finally reached the top. The view was breathtaking, and I will let my pictures speak the "one thousand words" instead of me attempting to capture it. . . . Despite the rain yesterday, the weather in Florence today was perfect for being on top of the dome of Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore. The mostly blue sky contained beautiful wisps of clouds, the wind caressed our faces, and the sun warmed our bodies as we gazed over the entire city of Florence and the far-off countryside. Sounds of casual chatter and live music floated up from the plazas below. Birds flew by and chirped at us as we stood on top of the world. After descending the dome of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, we toured the inside, where I went to mass that morning. We then ended the organized part of the day and broke for dinner. A small group of us went to the leather market (which terrified me after being ripped of the day before), ate a delicious dinner outside, then walked around and explored parts of Florence we had never seen before. We ended up in a residential area and even came across a fairly large grocery store, something we had not seen before in the city center. I ended the night by buying myself the best Nutella crepe I had ever eaten. Success. Day Three marked our first full day in Italy. Waking up in Florence felt like a dream . . . I still couldn't process that I was actually in Italy! Being in Europe was a feeling entirely new to me. I had learned about its culture and history in school for so long, and now I was actually there! I don't think the magic of being in a place so different and far away from home ever wore off. To start the day off, I had my first experience with the complementary hotel breakfast. The quality and variety food was markedly different than the free breakfast buffets in America. This particular hotel, Hotel Londra, served diced mix fruit, peach slices, pear slices, prunes (a favorite of mine, never found in American buffets), a variety of non-sugary cereals, yogurt, a plethora of croissants and pastries, eggs, sausage, etc. In addition, a variety of cold cuts, sliced cheese, and tomatoes was also offered. In America this would be a rare site. In addition to clothing, another pretty good indicator of who was European and who was not was what they selected for breakfast. Europeans seemed to tend to pick the savory options like meat and cheese, while others picked sweet options like Nutella (fun fact: Italy is obsessed with Nutella) pastries and fruit. Although bananas and peanut butter (my normal breakfast option) were not offered, I ended up getting used to and enjoying my usual breakfast of a croissant (or two..) and a bowl of yogurt, fruit, and cereal (After the trip, I found myself craving a quality croissant. I am still on the hunt for one. If anyone has any recommendations, let me know...) I'm so thankful for having a high quality, complementary breakfast to start our day every morning. We met the tour guide in the lobby, who led us to get in line at the Galleria dell'Accademia. While waiting, there were street vendors selling posters that were laid on the ground. I spotted a poster of Heath Ledger as the Joker and got very excited. On an impulse, I started talking to the vendor. He asked for twenty five euros and I lowered that down to ten. Although I clearly still got ripped off, he ended up being a nice guy to have friendly conversation with, and I told myself that as a tourst, the experience of being ripped off by a street vendor was a necessary one. We crossed paths again later that day and exchanged a friendly high five. Once inside the Galleria dell'Accademia, the viewing of Renaissance art officially began. My favorite part of this museum was seeing Michelangelo's work, including David and the unfinished sculptures ("Hall of the Prisoners") we walked past in order to view David. I'm partial to the unfinished sculptures, because - despite the work not being complete - Michelangelo still managed to express and convey intense emotion. Our tour guide explained that to Michelangelo, the works were not unfinished because they fully expressed his frustration and anger at being forced to create art he did not want to create. The twisting, contorting, smooth human forms combined with the rough, un-worked marble conveyed the depths of Michelangelo's angst. My favorite among the Hall of the Prisoners was The Atlas. The head of the figure remains uncarved, leaving a giant block of heavy marble on top of the figure's torso for him to hold. The tour guide told us that it not only refers to the myth of the Atlas, who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, but the idea that we all carry around a burden with us: our mind. The big takeaway for me from these sculptures was concisely worded by our tour guide: "the human condition of being unfinished." In stark contrast to the Hall of Prisoners, the completed work of David was the epitome of perfection and. Michelangelo's work was more beautiful and grandiose than pictures in textbooks could ever capture. Viewers had the ability to walk around the entire statue and look at every detail of his work. This past semester, I took Anatomy and Physiology, which helped me to appreciate the accuracy with which Michelangelo depicted the human body. I questioned the tour guide, and she explained that Michelangelo (and Da Vinci) dissected human cadavers and studied anatomy in order to more properly replicate the human form. If I remember correctly. Kristi explained that for Michelangelo, the human body was the highest mode of expression. That explains why it was so important for him to accurately portray the human form, and why David is such a landmark sculpture. After exiting the Galleria dell'Accademia, we peaked inside the Bargello chapel, which housed the oldest depiction of Dante, a fresco by Giotto (from around 700-800 years ago). In the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, we saw the highly important panels created by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti during a competition that determined who would decorate the doors of the Duomo, or the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore. After the museum, we had lunch at a casual place similar to the autogrill we had been to before. While walking from lunch, we passed a beautiful market that I had to buy an apple from. It happened to be my favorite type, and I savored the taste of fresh fruit so lacking in Center Court. We made our way to the Ponte Vecchio which was incredibly picturesque (basically, all of Italy is picturesque). Even though storm clouds and a few drops of rain were coming in, that didn't stop us from being able to appreciate its beauty. Once we crossed the bridge, the tour guide took us to Pitti Palace. We saw hundreds of works of Renaissance art, which was overwhelming. My favorite by far was Sleeping Cupid by Caravaggio. By the end of the trip, Caravaggio became my favorite artist, due to his different style of work and more realistic depictions. Despite the rain, we headed outside and walked around in the Giardini di Boboli. These gardens were enormous and we saw only a bit of the landscape and sculptures before we left. A few other people and I walked to dinner, but we had to stop in a McDonald's to let the rain lighten up. I try to avoid McDonald's in America as much as possible, so I never thought I'd end up in one in Italy. . . . We eventually made our way to a giant indoor food market and had dinner there. While waiting in line, I ended up having a conversation with the woman ahead of me entirely in French. It was exhilarating, and although my accent was awful even after six years of French, we still communicated our thoughts to one another pretty successfully. I geeked out hardcore. An experience like that would be extremely rare in the States. April 30th happened to be the day before Labor Day, and there was a celebration going on called Notte Bianca (or "White Night"). There was music and dancing in various plazas, book readings in libraries, free theater performances, etc. all around Florence. Some of us went to the Museo Novecento which was free and open until around 11pm. It was refreshing to see works of art from the 20th century, after viewing endless works of the Renaissance. After getting gelato, we came back to the hotel and hung out with the group, all of us playing cards in one hotel room. We eventually decided to go out, it was during this night that I became significantly closer to a majority of the group- we had a blast exploring Florence and seeing the Notte Bianca celebrations. We began our second day 45,000 ft above sea level, in neither the US nor Italy. However, before my head hit my pillow that night, I was already in love with Florence. The eight hour flight from New York to Rome was the longest flight I had ever been on before and I hadn't flown international before either. The flight was an overnight flight, but I wasn't able to sleep, which was unfortunate. I survived, though. One of the best moments was being able to see the Swiss Alps (!!!) while we flew over them. After landing in Rome at 11am (5am US time), we immediately took a bus to Florence. I desperately wanted to sleep, but instead I made myself look out the window. I could sleep in the US, but I wouldn't be able to see those sites anywhere else. The Italian country side was more gorgeous than I had ever expected. The green rolling hills intermingled with small, orange farmhouses was picturesque. In the back of my mind, I swore that I had seen paintings in museums of the very same landscape. I understood why so many artists wanted to capture the beauty of the country side. I'm thankful that we were able to see not only the cities of Florence and Rome, but what was in between, too. In the middle of the bus ride, we stopped at an "autogrill" on the side of the highway. In America, a restaurant that one would stop at during a road trip typically would be a McDonald's or a similar fast food place. The autogrill we stopped at had quick service, yet the "fast food" seemed ten times more fresh and healthy than the food served at a fast food place in America. There were sandwiches, made-to-order pasta dishes, plates with a variety of meat and fresh vegetables. One would never find fresh vegetables among the greasy fries and frozen meat at McDonald's. I thought it was interesting to compare how food and dining is treated in Italy versus the US. This instance was the first among many in which I compared the Italian dining experience to the American dining experience. When we got to Florence, after checking into Grace and I's room (which had an incredible view and a bidet!!), we met our tour guide around 4pm. We walked with her to Palazza Vecchio which was the first plaza of many we went to on the trip. What struck me walking around in Florence for the first time besides the beautiful architecture, streets, and alleyways, was the people. Immediately, you could tell who was European, and who was a foreigner. Europeans, especially Italians, wore dark pants with boots, wore edgy yet subtle clothing. In contrast, Americans (specifically Jim (sorry Jim)), wore a T-shirt, athletic shorts, and gym shoes. Even though most of the group tried to not look like tourists, we did. After exploring Palazza Vecchio for a bit, we went to the Museo di Palazzo Vecchio and climbed to the top of the clock tower. The view took my breath away. The entire city of Florence seemed like a work of art, especially from above. It seemed like every color of each building and roof was meticulously planned and picked out by an artist. The city as a whole was color-coordinated with oranges, bronzes, reds, with green trees and bushes sprinkled between the houses. What took the cake was the Duomo. I had heard about this famous church from friends who had visited Florence before, but I had no idea how grand and beautiful it would be. After seeing it from so high up, I couldn't wait to climb it (another experience my friends said was a "must" in Florence). After descending the tower, me and three others ate outside in the plaza. We all could not believe we were actually eating our first Italian pizza in Italy. The night was beautiful yet cold, and I was delightfully surprised when the waiter kindly wrapped a blanket around me. Dining in Italy is different from eating out in America in three obvious ways: 1. In America, you basically get unlimited water for free. In Italy, you pay by the bottle and typically only drink one or two glasses (aka not unlimited unless you want to spend a lot of money on it). 2. In America, the check is automatically given to you once you have eaten a majority of your food. In Italy, you have to ask for the check, and it is considered rude to ask for it before everyone has finished their meal. ("Il conto, per favore" are the magic words). 3. In America, tip is not included and one must decide how much to tip the waiter at the end of the meal. In Italy, a cover charge (usually between one and two euros or a percentage usually ranging from ten to fifteen) is automatically included in the bill. Many restaurant workers told us that tip wasn't included in an attempt to get us American tourists to tip them in addition to the service fee, but our group knew better, thanks to our amazing teachers! After our delicious meal, we had our first gelato which was an important experience to have. Walking the streets of Florence at night was energizing and exciting, but when we got back to the hotel we all passed out immediately. What an exhausting day. Woke up in Cincinnati, left American soil at 8pm, and landed in Rome at 11am, Rome time (5am US time). Technically, no part of April 28th was spent in Italy, but it was still an important day. Before the trip, I was friends only with my roommate Grace and our friend Jim. In the airport before our flight to Rome, I realized I barely knew anyone's name. Most people's face I could recognize, but even though we had been in class once a week for fifteen weeks, some people were complete strangers to me. I had no idea how close the group as a whole would get, and the friends I would make in the next ten days.
Unfortunately, I have no pictures to share, but if I had pictures they would just be the inside of a CVG, JFK, or an airplane... |
AboutOne of the requirements for The Roman Experience class was to write a journal entry every day of the trip, Thursday April 28th to Sunday May 8th (11 days total). During the trip, I documented my thoughts with pen and paper. However, I'm adding to and converting my journals to a digital format in order to reach a wider audience. Enjoy! |