We arrived in Rome around noon on Monday (the 9th). Once we got settled, a group of us set out to find the Trevi Fountain, one of the most famous fountains in Rome. I got several pictures, but unfortunately the fountain is so big (and the area around it so bloddy crowded) that it was impossible for me to get a picture of the whole thing. So, courtesy of Wikipedia, here you are:
According to legend, if you toss a pair of coins over your left shoulder with your right hand into the fountain, then you will fall in love with the next single Italian woman (or, if you're a woman, the next single Italian man)you meet, and she (he) will also fall in love with you. It doesn't work; I tossed in said coins using the proscribed method, met plenty of single Italian women, and none of them fell for me. Which was just as well, because I didn't fall for any of them either.
Anyway, the rain we thought we'd left behind in Florence caught up with us, so we went back to the hotel.
Tuesday, we went to the Archaeological Zone. Got to see the Colosseum, as well as ruins of the Roman Forum, Domus Aurea, Domus Flavia, as well as what's left of the Circus Maximus (which sadly isn't much).
Wednesday, the whole group spent Wednesday in Vatican City, which as many of you know is the home of the Pope. In fact, we all had invitations to a Papal Audience that day, which was pretty cool.
Here's some pictures of St. Peter's Square:
The Papal Audience was... interesting. First, we had to get through security, which took about an hour and a half (thank God we got there so early), and consisted mainly of us being jam-packed in a crowd like sardines in a can that slowly pushed its way towards a row of metal detectors and x-ray machines. I swear I will never, ever complain about airport security after that again. Anyway, then we were jam-packed into a giant auditorium with a couple thousand other people. When the Pope entered the room, the place went nuts. I tried to get some pictures of him, but we were seated way towards the back of the room, and my camera has a crappy zoom, so they didn't really turn out that good, but even so... (the Pope's the guy dressed all in white, btw)
Anyway, the Audience itself consisted of about a half-dozen archbishops reading a passage from the book of Psalms (each archbishop spoke a different language; I picked up English, Spanish, French, Italian, and German, but there were others), and then pointing out various groups of pilgrims and visitors who spoke their same language. When a group was called, they would all stand up, cheer, and wave signs, flags, and banners while the Pope acknowledged them by waving at them. Honestly, it felt a little like I was at some kind of sporting event.
After the Audience ended, we walked around to the other side of the Vatican and checked out the Vatican Museum, which includes the legendary Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, photos were once again absolutely forbidden. Sorry.
Thursday, we left for Naples. That'll be tomorrow's post, but just as a preview, we didn't spend much time in the city itself; we toured the ruins of Pompeii and saw a small coastal town called Sorrento.
So, until tomorrow, peace.
-Raptor
1 comment:
that's so awesome! i learned about some of those places in my senior year Latin class so it's nice to see pics of them again. too bad about the Trevi fountain, haha maybe next time. even given the security check and excessive amount of screaming foreigners, that papal audience is pretty cool. how'd ur group get invitations?
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