So.. today started out a little rough….Me and Ashley woke up like 20 minutes before we had to be ready. Luckily I had showered last night. After that we headed down to the continental breakfast. Totally not like I had expected, there were eggs and fruit, yogurt, and orange juice; not anything like the US. The eggs were runny scramble disgusting, the fruit ok, and the yogurt was runny and sour. I find it almost a miracle that my body is handling this all so well. We took a taxi to the metro station and rode the train till we got to the Borghese park. Ashley’s ticket was ruined from yesterday’s rain, and she got left behind. I didn’t even notice until we got to the park! Such a horrible roommate I am. The park reminded me a lot of central park, only taller skinny trees…. And more Italian of course. We went to the Italian Borghese Museum which was so adorable and had Bernini statues. My favorite was the Apollo and Daphne. (no photos :(!)The story is that he loves her, she no love him, and he turns her into a tree. The delicateness in the leaves is incredible. One of the other statues has such realistic qualities as the man grabs the girls thigh, you can see the indents. The reclining Aphrodite was also incredible. It’s hard to imagine that these were done in the 1600s. The museum itself was detailed in every way imaginable down to the window sills.
After that we sat in the park for a minute and headed to the coliseum… again! This time we went inside. Pictures will never do anything justice, but it was huge, like 80 Energy Solutions Arenas. I was horrified to think that gladiator battles happened in such a beautiful place. Every brick was laid so perfectly and the plan was so well thought out.
After that we went to get lunch but I decided to just get gelato and save for dinner. Gelato probably changed my life! I had strawberry, SO GOOD! After that we just hung out and waited for our tour lady. She was very personable and a professor at the architecture university. She took us to three churches. The first one was the church of San Clementine which is the first basilica. Underground is two layers that were found in 1800, and was originally a pagan church, kind of ironic but it was a church designed to honor Mythra, who was going to save the world by killing a bull and cleansing the world with its blood. His birthday was Dec. 25. When Constantine made Christianity the main religion, they took control of the original church and buried it. Also, many of the early followers followed with Mythra and the thought of Jesus and combined them into one… hence Christmas on Dec. 25. They rebuilt a church on top which now sits on roman level. The funny thing about Rome is that they tear things down and just build on top so the city has ancient cities below and wavy streets. The church was also the first one commissioned by Pope Clemente.
The next church was St. Peter in Chains. This church is famous because it has the original artwork by Michelangelo, Moses. The sculpture was originally supposed to be looking forward but David later changed it so he was looking to the left. He has a funny pose because of this; his arm and beard are still faced forward. It’s a beautiful church. Also it holds the chain of St. Peter… go figure. The story goes something like… he was in chains but broke away, the two pieces were moved apart and somehow came back together as one chain later on. Sounds fishy right… totally.
Next we came upon the Cathedral of Mary Major or Mary in the Snow. This story goes that the pope wanted to build a cathedral to honor the Virgin Mary. This came to him in a dream and he didn’t have the money or place to do this. He looked for a place and it snowed on the current location. Now the money part was… he ran into a wealthy street merchant in front of the place who said he would take care of the cost. Ta-Da! It’s one of the Papal Basilica’s meaning that every 25 years it holds a jubilee and the pope will bring out the relics of Christ’s birth… a wood piece from his cradle. It has the sacra, sacred pope doors that they open for the jubilee. So every Christmas the pope chooses this church to attend as it focuses on Christ’s birth. It’s the only church that holds a fresco where Christ and Mary are the same size. It is also the burial ground for the Bernini family.
We stopped by the Church of... something Vittoria. This is the church where Bernini did the Ecstasy of Teresa. It was so beautiful; a light was built in to make it glow. The entire chapel glowed; it was small but filled with light. Bernini was criticized for this piece because the people feel that it’s too sexual due to the position of Teresa. I thought it was gorgeous. Her face was in ecstasy! This is also the church from Angels and Demons where they hang the cardinal and light him on fire…
After this we walked by the Presidents palace. The changing of the guard was incredible! It made me feel so patriotic and I’m not even Italian. Their marching was so in sync and they looked so professional and proud. The palace was beautiful with a secret garden.
We then took a trip down to Trevi fountain. I tossed my little coin into the giant fountain, biggest one I’ve ever seen, and wished for health, wealth, and happiness. I probably shouldn’t say that, but now you know. We also got water from the fountain and drank to health. It was nice to relax after a long day. We proceeded to dinner at Il Chianti. It was an adorable small little restaurant with ivy and umbrellas and candles. The food was excellent. I had the traditional lasagnette, which was not traditional to me. It had peas and meatballs and more of a shepherds pie feel. We also ate tiramisu… not my thing, too coffee mush tasting, the cream was good though. And like I say… when in Rome! We then just headed back to our shuttle with about 12 girls. These people decided to be jerks and not wait in line and push us out so we lost some of our girls. Needless to say we made it back in time and are now just taking care of the days work. New word… Buonanotte… Goodnight!
After that we sat in the park for a minute and headed to the coliseum… again! This time we went inside. Pictures will never do anything justice, but it was huge, like 80 Energy Solutions Arenas. I was horrified to think that gladiator battles happened in such a beautiful place. Every brick was laid so perfectly and the plan was so well thought out.
After that we went to get lunch but I decided to just get gelato and save for dinner. Gelato probably changed my life! I had strawberry, SO GOOD! After that we just hung out and waited for our tour lady. She was very personable and a professor at the architecture university. She took us to three churches. The first one was the church of San Clementine which is the first basilica. Underground is two layers that were found in 1800, and was originally a pagan church, kind of ironic but it was a church designed to honor Mythra, who was going to save the world by killing a bull and cleansing the world with its blood. His birthday was Dec. 25. When Constantine made Christianity the main religion, they took control of the original church and buried it. Also, many of the early followers followed with Mythra and the thought of Jesus and combined them into one… hence Christmas on Dec. 25. They rebuilt a church on top which now sits on roman level. The funny thing about Rome is that they tear things down and just build on top so the city has ancient cities below and wavy streets. The church was also the first one commissioned by Pope Clemente.
The next church was St. Peter in Chains. This church is famous because it has the original artwork by Michelangelo, Moses. The sculpture was originally supposed to be looking forward but David later changed it so he was looking to the left. He has a funny pose because of this; his arm and beard are still faced forward. It’s a beautiful church. Also it holds the chain of St. Peter… go figure. The story goes something like… he was in chains but broke away, the two pieces were moved apart and somehow came back together as one chain later on. Sounds fishy right… totally.
Next we came upon the Cathedral of Mary Major or Mary in the Snow. This story goes that the pope wanted to build a cathedral to honor the Virgin Mary. This came to him in a dream and he didn’t have the money or place to do this. He looked for a place and it snowed on the current location. Now the money part was… he ran into a wealthy street merchant in front of the place who said he would take care of the cost. Ta-Da! It’s one of the Papal Basilica’s meaning that every 25 years it holds a jubilee and the pope will bring out the relics of Christ’s birth… a wood piece from his cradle. It has the sacra, sacred pope doors that they open for the jubilee. So every Christmas the pope chooses this church to attend as it focuses on Christ’s birth. It’s the only church that holds a fresco where Christ and Mary are the same size. It is also the burial ground for the Bernini family.
We stopped by the Church of... something Vittoria. This is the church where Bernini did the Ecstasy of Teresa. It was so beautiful; a light was built in to make it glow. The entire chapel glowed; it was small but filled with light. Bernini was criticized for this piece because the people feel that it’s too sexual due to the position of Teresa. I thought it was gorgeous. Her face was in ecstasy! This is also the church from Angels and Demons where they hang the cardinal and light him on fire…
After this we walked by the Presidents palace. The changing of the guard was incredible! It made me feel so patriotic and I’m not even Italian. Their marching was so in sync and they looked so professional and proud. The palace was beautiful with a secret garden.
We then took a trip down to Trevi fountain. I tossed my little coin into the giant fountain, biggest one I’ve ever seen, and wished for health, wealth, and happiness. I probably shouldn’t say that, but now you know. We also got water from the fountain and drank to health. It was nice to relax after a long day. We proceeded to dinner at Il Chianti. It was an adorable small little restaurant with ivy and umbrellas and candles. The food was excellent. I had the traditional lasagnette, which was not traditional to me. It had peas and meatballs and more of a shepherds pie feel. We also ate tiramisu… not my thing, too coffee mush tasting, the cream was good though. And like I say… when in Rome! We then just headed back to our shuttle with about 12 girls. These people decided to be jerks and not wait in line and push us out so we lost some of our girls. Needless to say we made it back in time and are now just taking care of the days work. New word… Buonanotte… Goodnight!
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