Today was technically our second day in Rome, however, I am counting it as the first because it was the first full day. As in, we woke up today in a convent turned hotel, and started walking the streets of Rome, Italy.
From 9 am to 12 pm we had our classes at the Vatican University. It was interesting seeing all the priests, nuns, and monks in their full robes. From our window we could see St. Peter’s Cathedral where the Pope gives his speeches on Wednesdays and Sundays, it was quite beautiful. Dr. Stark taught us about Zoroastrianism and Judaism. It was very cool learning about how Zoroastrianism influenced a lot of popular religions in modern times yet, I had never heard about it before. Mr. Hesting taught us about Foreign Policy and how it is almost directly related to domestic policy. Foreign policy brings me back to how great Rome is. Italy was an Axis country. Meaning that it fought with Nazi Germany against our Allies in World War II. This fact amazed me, I don’t really know why but the fact that it was an Axis country is really cool to me.
After classes we had some free time and I had a super amazing sandwich, one of the best I have ever had I believe. Then we went to the Wedding Cake, Roman Forum, and the Coliseum. The Wedding Cake has an official name but it escapes me right now. It was a huge white building that has a lot of architecture that was built in order to pay respect to the first King of unified Italy. The Wedding Cake was finished by the dictator Mussolini, again, a participant in World War II.
The Roman Forum was also really cool. The detail the Romans put into the columns is remarkable. My favorite part of the Roman Forum was seeing the place where Julius Caesar got cremated. I found it amazing that here, right where I was standing, one of the most famous men in all of history was cremated. That here, in the Roman Forum, people openly wept and cried for their leader. I saw so many brilliant things that spanned from hundreds to thousands of years old and it was all beautiful.
The Coliseum is perhaps what I was looking forward to the most for today. The Coliseum has so much history and bloodshed that, for me at least, it was impossible not to feel the whole energy of the place. I could easily open my imagination and see the packed people in the stands and the gladiators on the floor. The Coliseum is only a hundred years younger than Jesus Christ himself. It’s amazing how so much history is placed in one area. Thousand of people died there and that is so shocking but it feels old and ancient with everything that went on.
All together, Rome is a fantastic place. It’s fascinating how much history surrounds everything and that everywhere you walk in Rome, you are connected to things that happened thousands of years ago. Plus, everything is huge. In Rome nothing is small except the cars. When I got up close to some of these ruins I felt extremely small and insignificant amongst the massive pillars.
