Rome, The Eternal City

Together with my friend Bart, I’ve visited Rome from 1 – 5 march. We departed from Eindhoven, with Ryan-who-wants-to-pay-30-euros-for-a-suitcase-Air. Well, I certainly didn’t want to pay 30 euros for a suitcase, so I used the biggest daypack I had and stuffed it full with clothes, books and my two camera’s. I hate flying a lot, it’s boring and there’s never enough legspace! We met a very nice Greek girl on the flight, so it turned out to be a pleasant trip after all. Difference between now and 10 years ago: these days people want you to add them on Facebook after hanging out with them once. I think it’s kinda nice though, it shows that people want to keep in touch with you somehow. Not that you’ll become friends (probably), but it can be fun to see what people are up to. The Greek girl was studying abroad in Utrecht, so who knows Bart and I will see her again!

Our hotel in Rome was very close to Termini Station and not hard to find. You see, I am a woman who can read maps! Yes, you read that correctly. Unfortunately, it’s mostly because I am a control freak and want to know where I am heading. The hotel was basic, nothing special, except for the gnome housekeeper maybe. The breakfast turned out to be a joke though. The served pre-packed croissants (heated a bit in the microwave) as food. You gotta be kidding me, Italy, the country with the best food and you give me this sugary crap? I refused to eat it. To save some money, we usually ate bread with cheese and some fruit in the mornings and afternoons, so we could go to restaurants in the evening. I ate the best pizza’s in Rome, my goodness. The last two nights, we ate in a restaurant near our hotel where the service was excellent and the pizza even better. They gave me a flower at the end of the meal, they knew how to flatter the women!

I don’t even know where to begin to describe what we saw. It’s simply too much. I can’t recall any other city being so full with art. I mean, in Rome you literally stumble upon one historical monument after another. Art and culture is everywhere! This is awesome at first, but somehow it can also be ‘too much’. You just don’t know where to look, and it is impossible to know the story behind every thing you see. So, it’s just a matter of relaxing and enjoying what you see. In my case it’s also taking pictures of everything. Although I have to admit, Bart was sometimes taking more pictures than me.

Our first aim was The Colosseum. I had already been there once when I was 17 and I wasn’t interested in culture back then.

I was curious how I would experience the colosseum now. We walked from our hotel, and it took us some 30 minutes to get there + 30 minutes of stopping and taking pictures. The best thing about going to Rome in march is that it isn’t crowded at all. There was virtually no queue for the Colosseum and that made it easier for me to enjoy it all (I hate crowded places). Bart really liked the Colosseum as well. We wanted to go to the Forum Romanum after this, but it was already 4:45 pm. The guards didn’t let us in anymore. We decided to walk to Piazza Venezia, where it was pretty crowded because of some demonstration. The view was nice though, and there was a church we could visit. The biggest and most preposterous building in Rome is also there: Il Vittoriano.

The Trevi Fountain was just how I remembered it; packed with couples kissing each other. I don’t see how it is in any way romantic to kiss each other while hundreds of other people around you are doing the same thing, it looked rather comical to me.

We decided to get something to eat and we found a nice little restaurant, in a street somewhere behind the Pantheon. Only locals were there, usually a good sign. The food was splendid, and the electricity failed too. It was funny watching the two owners babble in Italian really fast while they tried to fix the power. We headed back to the hotel, because it had been a very long day (I woke up at 5 am). Thankfully, the bed in the hotel was okay and we slept for 10 hours or more.

The next day we visited three museums, where I saw so much sculptures! The best was Villa Borghese of course. I’ve never seen such splendid works of art together in one place. The whole villa is art, every little thing decorated. I’m so sad that you couldn’t take pictures there, but on the other hand I could focus completely on the art. We took an audio guide with us. Audio guides are seriously a superb addition to museums, they make it so much more fun!

With one statue in particular I had a wonderful experience. It was the statue of Apollo and Daphne by Bernini (foto invoegen). I had an experience that I usually only get from classical music. I thought it was so beautiful that I felt shivers through my body, tears and all that. I felt very delighted. Aside from music there are now other art-forms that can make me feel in heaven. Visitors in the Villa are only allowed in for two hours. The time passed way too quickly, I was very reluctant to leave….So people, if you go to Rome, be SURE to visit the Villa Borghese. It is something you will never forget!

Another thing I’ll never forget is the Vatican and the museums. The St. Pieter is even bigger than I expected, and the museum are enormous. It took us 20 minutes or more from the entrance to walk to the Sistine Chapel and 20 minutes to walk back. I can’t even begin to tell about what I’ve seen there as I’m getting a bit tired of writing now. Aside from the museums there was also the Pantheon, which I liked very much from the inside. The giant hole in the ceiling is quite a sight to behold!

I’ll stop writing here for now, maybe I’ll write a post later about the Vatican museums, I don’t feel like that now!