Rome Field Trip

Alright, so I took something like 200 photos in Rome on Saturday and most of them are crap so here's a condensed and glossy overview of the day. It was a very cold and early morning when we arrived in Rome after a 2 hour train ride. 

First thing we saw after we hopped of the metro was of course the Coliseum. Our tour guide spoke to us through personal radios, which was a bummer since it could be hard to hear her sometimes. Also a bummer is the fact that we did not actually get to go inside, something about a logistical problem. That didn't stop me from being blown away by its sheer size and magnificence. Our tour proceeded to Palatino Hill, the hill on which Romulus founded Rome. Everywhere you looked was stock full of ruins. Below is a panorama of what I believe was a palace but don't quote me on that.

 A walk down the other side of the hill took us to the Forum, kind of like the Parliament building for the Romans. The place was littered with half-obliterated columns and fallen monuments. We got to see where Marc Antony gave his speech over Caesar's corpse and the tour guide told us that people still bring flowers to the spot. I'm pretty sure just to taunt me, the tour guide walked us through Capitoline Hill, home to 3 separate art museums, pictured below. Rest assured I will be returning there.

Our tour concluded at the Pantheon, which is way bigger than I had imagined. I tried to take a panorama in there but it didn't really turn out so that's on my to do list next time I go to Rome. After that we were given maps and left to our devices. Needing a map in Rome is almost irrelevant since every piazza seemed to have either a church, column, fountain, or statue. Of course, we had to act like tourists and see all the typical stuff, like the Trevi Fountain.

It really is the most beautiful fountain I have ever seen. The downside to being the most beautiful fountain is the amount of people who swarm around. EVERYBODY was intent on doing the whole "throw a coin over your shoulder while your picture is taken" thing. The rest of the day I played tour guide (I had the only map in our group) and checked out a number of piazzas, parks, and churches. At one point, we just happened to be at the right place at the right time to witness the changing of the guard at Quirinal Palace. 

Our day ended at the Spanish Steps, another popular tourist spot. We climbed all the way to the top of the steps and checked out the church at the top before coming outside to catch the sunset. 

All in all, I think I walked upwards of 5 or 6 miles during the day. Needless to say, the bulk of Sunday was spent in recovery. Classes start this week and for once I'm actually excited to go to class. I spent part of today (Monday) getting lost in Viterbo so maybe I'll post some of those photos in the next day or two