Friday, July 1, 2011

Carpe Diem pt. 2


… but this time I wasn’t taking classes to get a ticket expunged. 
Three days ago, after saying goodbye to Mom and Dad in the wee hours of the morning, I took a 6:00 am flight Madrid to Rome.  The European adventure begins.  Although I only spent two seemingly short days in Rome, I accomplished everything I had hoped to: saw the Vatican, Coliseum, Circus Maximus, Pantheon, smaller basilicas, and other Roman ruins and I also ate an authentic Italian Panini, pizza, and ravioli. 
Surprisingly, the fact that I was running on 3 hours of sleep when I touched down in Rome did not bother me at all.  I met up with Jorge at the hostel and we immediately made our way to the Vatican.  We hopped on board with a big tour group that led us through the museum and Sistine Chapel; the tour was worth it in the sense that we got to skip the loooong line to enter the Vatican City and we got at least a little bit educated on the art there; however, the tour guide seemed to be more worried about getting through the museum within some sort of time limit than he was with letting us appreciate all the sculptures, tapestries, and paintings. 
The Sistine Chapel made it worth the price of admission though.  I honestly had no idea what the Chapel looked like underneath the famous ceiling.  Michelangelo’s other fresco, the Last Judgment altarpiece, is just as awesome as the ceiling.  From the overly muscular, nude woman (because women were forbidden from being models) to the Virgin Mary’s look of desperation, the enormous, painting is absolutely spectacular.  The small room is almost too much to fully take in and appreciate because every square inch is filled with immaculate detail.
After seeing the chapel, Jorge and I split apart from the group and went into St. Peter’s Basilica.  I feel like I’m running out of adjectives that I can use to describe the Basilica that I have not already used.  All I can say is there is no more fitting of a place to have such important, special works of art than the Pope’s home city.  Pictures do not give Michelangelo’s Pieta credit.  The near life-sized, impeccably detailed statue obviously drew an enormous crowd, but it was worth the wait to get a front row view of it.  One thing I thought was really cool about the Basilica that I had not seen in any other cathedral yet, especially one that is visited as much as this one, is that they designated one capilla (the most beautiful one I think too) exclusively for prayer.  Even more surprising was that the rule was actually well enforced.
I’m not going to go into much detail about the other sites because the Vatican was far and away the favorite place I visited.  The Pantheon was the biggest surprise; I had no idea that the inside had been converted into a modern, Catholic sanctuary, so that was really cool too.  Overall, the city of Rome was unbelievable.  Its crazy seeing ancient ruins and Michelangelo sculptures everywhere you looked.  But wherever there is a yin, there has to be a yang and the yang in Rome is the people.  Sure they sound like they’re singing when they talk, but they’re harmonic speech masquerades their pillaging personality.  Twice we were horrendously ripped off by cab drivers and when we tried to catch our flight, the bus driver told us he would take us to Fiumicino Airport, but then took us to Ciampino Airport.  Also, at one pizza parlor, I ordered a 5 euro meal and Jorge got a 7 euro one; when both of us tried to pay with 10 euro bills, he said he did not have change and tried to take the full 20.
With all said and done, I’m glad I saw Rome; it was hands down one of the coolest, most historic cities I’ve ever been to.  However, I do not miss it now that I have left.  I’m in my hostel room in Prague now after spending a few hours walking the city last night.  First impression: I love this place – it’s probably going to be my favorite stop to date.  I’ll tell you about it on the 4th.

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