It took me equal time to write the above rhyme as it took our Monte Gang to get to Rome. Which turned out to be worth every second. I was very excited for this excursion, as Rome has always been a top 10 city in the world that I wanted to visit. When we got to Rome we immediately took the metro to get to our hotel. When we got to Termini (metro station next to our hotel) we were starving and got to eat our first American meal in three weeks. I have never been so happy to see a McDonald's in my life! I never really ate McDonalds back home but a little bit of processed food from home was something I was not prepared to pass up. I got my first ever Big Mac, and enjoyed every second of it! The McDonald's was a lot nicer than the ones back home as well. It had its own Cafe that sold pastries and cappuccinos like the cafes I have grown accustomed to in Montepulciano. After we ate we roamed around the train station. Im not sure what it is about train stations, but I have always have enjoyed them. It's probably all the people watching I can do, or maybe the New York-like hustle and bustle. Finally, it was time to head to the hotel, put our stuff down, and head to the colosseum!
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| My girl Rosa hooked me up with the premium Mickey D's Latte |
Roman Colosseum and Forum
Upon Arrival to the train station where the colosseum is located, Zeus decided to appropriately send us some rain. That didn't stop us however, we bought extremely stylish, fluorescent ponchos and were on our way. We just got to see the outside of the colosseum as we waited for our tour guide to show us the forum, but I was mesmerized by the size of it. I was totally clueless before seeing the size and capacity it could hold. Our tour guide arrived and we headed to the forum. He was the most knowledgeable human regarding history that I have ever seen. He took us through the forum and explained to us how the forum is a "place". A place is a location of meaning. Unlike the United States, Rome is full of "places". I thought it was really cool to look at all the ruins and visualize what was once there. Thinking about all the famous emperors you grew up learning about, and picturing them walking right by you was significant to me. My favorite part of ruins was seeing where Julius Caesar's body was burned. It is absurd to me that I was looking at the rock that a historical legend was being burned on thousands of years ago. After we finished with the forum we went up to the palatine hill and learned about its history. Nothing necessarily stood out to me there if I'm being honest. I did enjoy the view from the top looking down at the forum though! After a quick rest at the top we headed back to the colosseum and got to finally go inside! I was super pumped to walk up and see the inside of the very first dome. We got up and I was immediately taken back. Once again astonishment set in just visualizing what went on here hundreds of years ago. To think that people were getting ripped apart my lions, and battled to the death in front of thousands of people is stunning. I thought the different trap doors and barrier that were under the battle field of the arena was interesting. There was a lot more that went into the structure of the colosseum than I thought. Not that I love death, but I would of loved to be apart of the spectacle of a gladiator fight back in the day! I probably could of taken on a lion....
RIP to Julius Caesar and the Gladiators
These all have something in common. They make for a kick-ass day! We started out the day with the enormous Vatican City Church AKA St. Peter's Basilica. Not only was it the biggest church I have ever seen, but it was the biggest one anyone has ever seen. According to our tour guide it was the biggest church in the world, and had the biggest dome in the world. I loved the symmetry the outside possessed, and the massive stone statues that covered the outside of the entire structure. Before we toured the inside, we waited in a line that took about an hour to get through (maybe an hour and a half due to some Chinese confusion) so we could go to the tope of the dome. We took an elevator half way up and walked the rest to get to the top of the dome. I usually am not afraid of heights, but being inside the dome looking down had me feeling really light-headed. It was beautiful inside, but I was relieved when we hiked up some more steps to go to the outside of the dome and get fresh air. The top of the basilica was without a doubt the best view of Rome you could get. It was absolutely breathtaking! You could see everything in the city from there. After a few minutes and pictures, we headed down to meet the rest of the group who did not go to the top (the really missed out). We grabbed some quick grub and headed to take a tour of the Sistine Chapel and its surrounding museums. The Sistine Chapel is the main attraction of the tour, so that is obviously saved for last. The many different museums were jammed packed with paintings and statues from famous Renaissance artists. It is insane how much art and history is located within half a mile. It is unfair. They hog all the art from the rest of the world. I Think I enjoyed the paintings the most out of all the artwork I saw in the colosseum. The amount of time and concentration, let alone patience you have to have to paint some of those masterpieces is unknown to my brain. I would lose it if I had to even paint something half the size, so paintings of that magnitude and beauty really mesmerize me. Speaking of big paintings, the Sistine Chapel is unrivaled. Michelangelo out did all his previous artwork with this one, even though he apparently never wanted to paint it. You are not aloud to speak when looking at the painting, but I do not think I even could if I wanted to. Just looking at it you can truly feel a holy presence. It is massive and the way Michelangelo proportioned it all is unbelievable. You do not get to appreciate the other frescos because of the last judgements beauty. It is definitely worth the long wait. After viewing the chapel we headed into the basilica to view everything from the ground floor. The amount of money that went into that place doesn't exist on this earth. I have used this word a lot, but it is simply just stunning. The colors, the gold, the frescos, the statues, it is all incredible. It truly is a sacred place. Upon leaving the basilica, we split up and went to eat. I do not recall the restaurant, but it was the best pizza I have had so far in Italy. The real treat however was the gelato shop we went to after. I will officially claim that Giolitti is the best gelato shop in the world! It is extremely cheap compared to other places, and they load you up. I got an Oreo gelato with chocolate, and it almost made me cry. I was that happy. We were very full, but we wobbled all the way to the Trevi Fountain. The Trevi Fountain is the least historic cite we visited, but it might of been my favorite. It just looked really cool to me, and I liked how it was a functional piece of art. It is said that if you throw a coin behind your shoulder and make a wish, it will come true. So I obviously had to throw one, and no I will not tell you what I wished for. We headed back to the hotel, and after a little bit of homework, I passed out and had the best night of sleep in my life.
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| Pope Views |
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| Had to channel my inner Zhivko |
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| #Art |
I know you might be expecting me to write about the aforementioned Big Mac as my meal of the week, but I tricked you. I purposely left out detail of Friday night to shock everyone with my meal of the week, which was once again a no-brainer. My meal of the week is courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe. I put my faith in my buddy Matt to order the Ribs. I might have to start worshipping him not because those ribs were legendary. I missed a good southern meal, and that hit the spot. Fall off the bone ribs with baked beans, coleslaw, and fries. Hard Rock knows me so well. I dove into those ribs and enjoyed the perfectly sauced cow every step of the way. The sides were every bit delicious as the meat. The dinner culminated in the biggest sundae I have ever had. I guess everything is bigger in Rome. Although I may have developed the quickest case of diabetes ever, I wouldn't of traded that meal for anything else.
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| I had to eat the beans before I could even photo this masterpiece |
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| *sundaes are not to scale |
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