So this post is meant to be a reflection on our entire trip, good thing too because I spend this entire day on a plane and I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t yield for any interesting post topics. Where should I start? Honestly there is so much I experienced here. It wasn’t just an amazing trip because I’m a history lover; it’s an amazing trip because it’s an amazing place. I have never been so entertained by just simple buildings. So how do you reflect on an experience that enriched my life in a multitude of ways? I think the best way to start is by saying that the only way to experience Rome is by going there yourself. Rome has such an amazing atmosphere that it’s almost impossible to describe. The history it holds is amazing; there have been a multitude of beliefs, cultures, and ideologies that have run through their shaping it for over 2 thousand years. This place has seen more Gods go through that it’s a testament to how much religion both influences us and changes through time. There have been so many cultures that they just blend into Rome becoming something bigger. And there have been so many ideologies that have influenced the way the people think that it’s impossible to find were the mindset of Rome originated. In the end all I can say is this, Rome is an amazing place with amazing people and if someone ever wanted to know what it is like to be in a place that truly represents humanities greatness. Then go to Rome.

On this day we left to see everything we haven’t yet to that point, again; it was relevantly short due to the fact that the only thing that we didn’t see was the Pantheon. Which is a really interesting building, I know that there was a time that Christians shunned anything related to paganism so it surprises me that the Pantheon was still allowed to stand, which shows how important it was to the Romans and their culture. It was really cool looking in the building and seeing where all the old gods would have been and also seeing how it has transformed to a more Christian building. Though I do find it a bit ironic that there are church ceremonies that take place there; in a building that used to be a hug pagan worship sight, though I may be the only one that finds that really funny. After we got back we went to a small town on the outside of Rome for dinner and a nice night out. This town was amazing, the view it had was so spectacular that I marveled at it for a good 15 min. Then there was also how beautiful the town was on its own, which was amazing. Finally and probably the best part was the food, while being in Rome I have had some of the best food I have ever tasted but the place we went to tonight had the most amazing food I have ever had in my entire life. My mind was blown by how good it was. That have had to been the most perfect way to end our stay in Rome.

Florence itself is awesome, it’s small and smells like leather. The place is really cool looking and fun to walk around at. The museum was really interesting and the art was very phenomenal. The buildings were really close together and I enjoyed how that looked. I could go on all day about how much I enjoyed walking around in Florence but I really don’t have the time too.  It was just all around a really cool place to go to. Everything about it was great down to the roads we walked on. If there is one downside it is that I spent almost every dime I had there, down to about 5 Euros.

Today was a very fun day, it was the “hay we got to see this stuff before we go” type of day, even better is that we have two of these. So as you may be able to tell we start off going to a bunch of different places. The ones that were the most memorable was first the Trevi fountain. It was really cool looking, it is a much different experience when standing next to it, the main thing that got me is I always imaged it smaller in my head but it was pretty large. The second thing that got me was the Spanish steps because I had no idea what they looked like. This was the first time ever that I saw (or that I remember seeing) the Spanish steps. Now I may have seen it in some form of media before but I didn’t remember and I was interested to see what they looked like.  I wasn’t disappointed, they were really cool looking. After our general tour of Rome we went to eat dinner and watch a firework show that was made by Michelangelo. Now THAT was the highlight of the day for me, that show was so awesome. The beauty in the design and way everything was used left me awe struck. I at times really couldn’t believe how wonderfully beautiful it was.

Today was an interesting day; there was actually a long break between class and the tour for that day. Though I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed that we had no more classes in the morning, I really did enjoy the conversations we got into. After class the day was nice, we went to look at a bunch of different shops and vendors that were around so I was able to get a real feel for what it was like during the day in Rome. I enjoyed walking around and looking at the people move, there was a huge difference between the tourist and the residents. The residents were more go go go and the tourists tented to look around more. It led to an interesting thought, how much of my own home town do I not notice.

When I’m back I should try to look at where I live in the eyes of someone new to the States, I may gain some perspective. After the shopping we went back to the hotel, then to dinner, and finally to our tour of the day; The Vatican museum. Now I’ll be honest I really didn’t know what to expect from the Vatican museum, with everything else I had something to compare it too, like a movie, book, game, ect. Everything else we saw were things you’d see often in media but the Vatican museum was something that I didn’t see in media very often. So it was a nice surprise when I walked through it and saw things that I didn’t know the Vatican had. For example the map room was awesome, I love how it was the Vaticans way (in the older days) of saying “these are all the people that will come to save our us if you try to do anything stupid like attack us, so behave yourself”, they didn’t play around back then. The one thing that was really awesome though was the Sistine Chapel. It was at the very end of the museum and was worth the weight; it was so cool looking and had such great art work that I really enjoyed being their looking at it. I find it funny though that Michelangelo didn’t even want to work on it but did an amazing job none the less, he just could not really do much wrong when it comes to art could he?

Today was my first day in Rome and after 11 hours of flying to get there and not sleeping on the plane, the only site I wanted to see was the bed but then I saw that Saint Peters Cathedral was 3 minutes away from us. That kind of made it hard to think about sleep. After we dropped off our luggage we went on a quick orientation tour, it was nice to see around the area and hear the Pope speaking to the public later that day. The crowd to see him was massive, it astounded me that one man can have such an impact on people, it was really cool to see all these people from different nationalities join to see one person. Though I couldn’t understand a single word the Pope said I bet it was holy and wise. After that we took a break.

When we were all settled in we got ready and went to Saint Peter’s Cathedral for mass. Now that was an amazing site, that church was so mind blowing beautiful and astounding that I have trouble putting it into words. No picture in the world can catch what it feels to be in there. It’s like the world around me was so much bigger and my world seemed to freeze. It was wonderful; I was astounded that this was built so long ago.  Just the sheer magnitude of the church is so jaw dropping that there is no way to describe it. After heading back to the room, me and my roommate Ben laid back and talked about everything we saw that day. Then after a nice conversation I slipped into a comforting sleep.

This trip is going to be amazing.

Today we went to see the Coliseum and the other ruins around it. It’s so hard to explain what it is like in the Coliseum, but for starters it was defiantly smaller than most pictures make it out to be. Not in a bad way but in a “huh I wonder how they did navel battles” type of way. It still was big but you could tell they wanted all the people that went to be able to see in some way.  I found it interesting that all the signs in the Coliseum had Italian and English translations under it.  That’s not the case for a lot of Rome so it was really cool. I’m guessing the English tourism is the main selling point for the Coliseum so to make it easier they have translations.  Even though we went to a lot of ruins there were one in particular that really had me awe struck. It was Julius Caesar’s resting place (grave). It was simple but I found it very wonderful how the people of Rome still put flowers on his grave. That amount of respect is so, in a way, touching that I had to take a picture of the place. You cover him in like 15 minutes in most history classes but you never are able to truly understand how important he was to the Roman people unless you see his burial with new flowers on it. It’s so fascinating to see that people are often giving him flowers like he is a family member. But unfortunately I am unable to show any of my own pictures due to technical issues with my camera, where all my pictures were erased. It’s a shame but the memories that I have are what’s important.

Today we went to the Jewish ghetto and I have to admit this was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The area was really cool, the buildings were literally right next to each other. They were so close you could almost touch two building on the opposite ends of each other. Everything looked like old and new Rome had a child and then decided to have fifty more. It was really cool because when you looked at a building you could almost point out the new stuff and the old stuff.  Along with looking at the building we went to a synagogue witch was a new experience for me. It was interesting to see where and how the Jewish faith practiced their religion. After the synagogue we walked around the town some more and saw some more building. I almost could not believe that a lot of this stuff has been up there for hundreds of years.

Today we went to the U.S.A embassy in the Vatican. That was an interesting experience, I was always curious on what type of diplomatic issues we discuss with the Vatican. To start the U.S.A
embassy was really nice; it was simple which made it pretty. The staff was really nice and patient with us and answered all of our questions. The lady who was talking to us was very nice. It was interesting to learn that what the U.S and the Vatican focus on as companions. The topics they talked about were very complex but simple; topics like world hunger, AIDS/HIV, and poverty. Simple in idea of its not a long word but complex in how to handle it. At the end of our time at the U.S. embassy it was asked what their favorite gelato place was and that pretty much put an end to the international relations talk. We went to a few other places, like the smallest country in the world and a really beautiful church. Though I have to say the embassy was really interesting.

So today was the third day of being in Rome and what are we doing today, climbing the Saint Peters dome. Well I’m both terrified and exited at the same time. This activity mixed 3 of my least favorite things in this world: small spaces, heights, and exercise. Like I stated in a previous post Saint Peters Cathedral is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, almost nothing in this world compares to it and certainly no building in the world compares to it. As stunning as it is you don’t quite understand how huge it is until you go up to the top. Now before we get to the top let me share what it was like getting there. For starters it is terrifying, you start off with this nice wide stair case that gets smaller and smaller to a point that you have to squeezes your way in. It was to the point where there were no hand rails but this piece of rope going down from the top for you to hold on too, and that was to save space. If that’s not enough there were theses windows that had a view of how high up you are! Then there is the fact that it is a LONG walk up, it made you so very tired at the end. Tough I have to admit that it was funny that at certain points the room was slanted to keep the shape of the dome, so it looked like a Tim Burton movie. But once you get to the top it was all worth it, I can’t really explain what it’s like but if I had to try I would say it was like looking over a city and having a sense of power because you can see so much, being up their made you feel powerful. Though I can’t explain what it’s like I can tell you what I learned from being up there, one is that Saint Peters Cathedral is much bigger than you can imagine. It really does feel like you are on top of the world and that in itself was amazing. The second thing I learned was that we as human being are able to really make some awesome things when we are not fighting. I can’t even explain how great the church is. This day so far had to have been the hardest but most rewarding day of my life. I can’t wait to see what else is in store.