After finishing my second block in London, it was finally time for the long-awaited trip to Rome! Our tickets for Rome were booked not long after we returned from Paris, so it was on our minds for a while, and finally we were through with final papers and were ready to go. Here is a recap of my second block break in Italy from March 31 to April 4.

Friday, March 31, 2017

After finishing my two classes for the day an hour early, Erin and I left the Global Institute to walk less than three minutes to Russell Square station. From there, we hopped on the Piccadilly line, which brought us to Heathrow Terminal 4. Fun fact: Erin did trip and flail around as we were getting off at our stop, and I told her that I would mention it in this article. After going through security and getting onto the plane for our flight — we had to wait an hour before actually taking off — we finally took off for Rome for the next two and a half hours. Despite being exhausted, we were hardly able to sleep due to the group of students that we ended up next to who were standing by each other’s seats as though they were hanging out in a pub.

Once we landed and Erin got her suitcase at baggage claim, the next “fun” part of our evening happened: getting a taxi to our hostel. I am not entirely convinced that we did not have blaring sirens over our heads indicating that we are Americans who had no idea where we were, but a driver came our way and it was several later when we were leaving our hostel to return to London that our suspicions were confirmed that he was absolutely ripping us off. Cheers. We finally made it to our hostel,

Orsa Maggiore at approximately midnight, so once we dropped our bags off, we decided to go find some pizza to bring back to the hostel so that we could eat and then go to bed after a long week and a long day of classes and traveling. First, though, we needed to go to an ATM to get more euros, which seemed good and well until the machine rejected my debit card — apparently it was not transitioned to the local country even though that was addressed weeks before we left: go figure. I should probably mention that by this point, we were fairly aggravated because it took us at least 30 minutes to find the ATM in the first place, and we still had not found a place to get take-away pizza. After another half an hour, but what felt like three hours, we finally found a place and got a margherita pizza, which was absolutely delicious and what we needed to put an end to the long day that we had experienced.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

After our first night in our hostel — we were lucky enough to have our room to ourselves the first night before our first roommate arrived — we woke up to prepare for our first full day in Rome. We started our day off at Caffé Settimiano, where we each got a croissant, and we tried a delicious ham and cheese quiche. I realized as we sat outside enjoying our breakfast two things: the first was that Rome is incredibly warm in the spring and the second is that I should not have brought my raincoat with me that day. It was still relatively early and it was already 70 degrees Fahrenheit, so we would be in for a hot day.

After leaving the café, we made our way to the coliseum, where we got a ticket not just for the coliseum, but also for the Palatino and the Roman Forum. We went to the former first and walked around the expanse of it, taking in the ruins and the fully bloomed nature. The lilac poppies were my particular favorite, which brightened up what could easily appear dreary, but added to the beauty of the area. After the Palatino, we made our way to the Roman Forum, which embarrassingly enough, we did not know what to expect or how we would even recognize it since we kept seeing signs, but no actual indication of it. Finally, we did see it, and it was certainly impressive, but we were most looking forward to the main stop: the coliseum that was across the street.

I visited the coliseum the first time that I went to Rome the summer before my senior year of high school with my parents. Despite nearly four years having passed since that visit, I still remembered it like it was yesterday (I’m fairly certain that my skin is still bubbling under the surface from how unbearably hot it was at the top of the coliseum all of those years ago). When we entered the coliseum, it was as though I was taken back to that day — it was not quite that hot, but it was definitely warm — and I immediately had to take an identical photo to the one that I took the last time I stood there. We stayed there for a while, admiring the view and also the objects and models that are within the coliseum corridors. By the end of our time spent there, we determined that we are grateful not to be gladiators.

After we left the coliseum, we planned to visit Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. On our way there, we came across a Gelateria, where Erin had her first gelato and I returned to Heaven on Earth. While we continued on our way, we finally arrived at St. John Lateran, and looked around the basilica, as well as stayed for Mass. I would like to give a special shout-out to the person who, by the Grace of God, returned my phone that I idiotically left in the restroom facilities to the information desk. You saved both my life and me from what would be a well-deserved, long lecture from my parents.

After the stress and subsequent relief from that experience, we then went to dinner, which we could fully enjoy. The restaurant that we ate at was called Pasqualino, and we sat outside and enjoyed the warm cool evening, which felt great, especially next to the space heaters that were provided at each table. The food was to die for as well. We did not have a single bad meal in Rome, and that first night set us off to a great start. The caprese starter that we ordered and the seafood pasta dish that I had for my main course were incredible, making me realize how much I had missed Italian food during our last 12 weeks in London. Even the bread and olive oil were perfect additions to the table. I am not entirely certain that I did not die right then and get sent straight to Heaven. Our waiter was incredibly nice as well. We have realized during our time abroad that many Europeans either sigh when they realize that they will be serving us Americans or become endeared when they realize that we have no grasp of the customs of ordering in Europe. Thankfully, our waiter that evening was the latter, but it was also refreshing to have a waiter who engaged with you — or a waiter at all, since while it is common to sit down and stay for a while in Italy, London is the exact opposite when it comes to dinner.

We wandered the streets for a while after we finished dinner, and as we did, we came across some truly talented street artists. As we walked by the coliseum, we saw a handful of them spread out and spraying designs of the coliseum, with different backgrounds and color designs. One was so impressive and only cost £5 that we felt bad for not being able to buy it since we would have no way of bringing it back with us. From there, we continued to make our way back, where we passed the Alter of the Fatherland — we thought the name was more amusing than is probably appropriate — and stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain, which we had planned to visit at some point. I had forgotten how beautiful the fountain is during the nighttime, and I also took another photo similar to the one I took last time I visited there at night. Perhaps the best way to describe the experience at the fountain is a sense of camaraderie. The second someone hears that you speak the same language; they immediately ask if you will take their photo, and the favor is always exchanged afterwards. After taking these photos, we each threw a coin into the fountain with the hope that some day we would return to Rome, which worked out well for me the first time. After spending some more time there, we then made our way back to the hostel to turn in for the night since we would plan an earlier day for the next day.

Sunday, April 2, 2017

Sunday was a perfect example of what you dread whenever you are planning a trip: bad weather. We woke up in our room to the sound of thunder and rain pounding on the windows, sporadically accompanied by flashes of lightning. To top it off, we actually had strong Wi-Fi by our beds for once, so the lack of motivation felt between the two of us was off the charts. After we finally pried ourselves from our beds, we ate a quick breakfast and then went to Museo di Roma, figuring that anything indoors would work well today. When we got to the museum, we remembered that we had seen signs for Maratona di Roma 2017 while we walked back the previous night. The marathon was occurring that day, and as we arrived at the museum, we saw the runners going by, while watchers were cheering for them. Perhaps the top two highlights of seeing the marathon were when a young girl in her father’s arms was giving the runners high-fives and when we saw a guy dressed as Spiderman running in the middle of the group.

After watching the runners for a while, we then went into the museum where we saw a collection of artwork by Artemisia Gentileschi. Gentileschi was born in Rome in 1593, and was part of the Baroque period. Her artwork greatly reflected the period, as she portrays drama in her paintings, where she shows women “slaying” men. Likewise, many of her paintings reveal a revilement of repression, injustice and her experience being raped, denoted by a reversal of gendered power and sexual tension. One painting in particular has one woman holding down a man while the other slays him with a sword. Her paintings were, by and large, grotesque and macabre, but they did offer an interesting perspective on her life, and how any power that Gentileschi had as a woman in the 17th century was taken from her, yet ultimately reclaimed through oil.

After leaving the museum, we went to a café to warm up after walking in the rain. There, we both got a cappuccino, which I had never had before, but I was so desperate for something that was warm. In a true reversal of our roles, Erin warned me like a mother would when I did not get decaf that she wouldn’t drink it if I didn’t like it. Unsurprisingly, I’m still not a coffee person and as we left, I had a Tic-Tac to rid myself of the taste.

Next, we started making our way to the Video Game Museum. My communications lecturer had mentioned during Block II that her daughter loved visiting the museum when they went to Rome, so we trekked through the pouring rain in our rain slickers — which believe it or not, did not help all that much. By the time that we arrived, our jeans and socks were soaked, which did not help us while in an already chilled basement. The museum was incredibly cool; there were posters with history about different games. They also had past and present video game consoles, some of which I grew up using or watching my cousins’ use, including the Nintendo 64, GameCube, Game Boy and Wii. Once you get through the historical and contemporary part of the museum, visitors are then able to play classic and popular video games, such as Fix It Felix Jr. and Guitar Hero. Sufficed to say, it was hard to drag us away from the games, especially when the weather was so unbelievingly unappealing outside.

Nonetheless, we eventually left and returned to our hostel to shower and change so that we could warm up. Once we did that, we then went to a restaurant called Magnolia, where I got another sublime shellfish pasta dish. While at the restaurant, we also met a family of grandparents traveling with their granddaughter for her 12th birthday, and had a nice conversation with them both about where they are from in the U.S. (the granddaughter was from the East Coast, but they live in Los Angeles) and our time that we have spent abroad so far. After dinner — which believe me, lasted for a while because we were convinced that we were inconveniencing the waiters simply by being ready to leave — we walked for a short while before stopping for our gelato-of-the-day. The place that we went to for the gelato was better than the previous day, and we had the cold treat while walking back in the already cold rain.

Monday, April 3, 2017

We started our third day in Rome by enjoying an American breakfast — I can already picture my parents rolling their eyes — at Mercato Hostaria. From there, we started going in the direction of where we thought the Holy Stairs resided, and came across Chiesa S. Luigi del Francesi, a French chapel that was overseen by armed guards. One thing that I noticed about the places of worship in Rome is that they always seem to have these guards with machine guns, which is a stark difference to what we are used to back home in the United States. Deciding to go inside, we admired the church, and although I could not understand the plaques since there were no English translations, it almost did not need context to stand there as an impressive piece of architecture.

When we left the chapel, we continued to walk in circles, unable to find the Holy Stairs, so we put that off and instead walked toward the Fountain of the Four Rivers, which was incidentally right next to Museo di Roma without us realizing. There, we got a caricature by a rather perverse man who decided to draw us as “sexy dancers” (I’m still cringing), and then we kept going to the Spanish Steps. The view from the Spanish Steps is still as impressive as I remember from the last time I visited with family, but sadly, the gelato stand that used to be at the top is no longer there (the best marketing scheme I’ve ever encountered). We did eventually get gelato when we got down, though — chocolate for myself, and pistachio and tiramisu for Erin — and then finally found the Holy Stairs, which naturally was next to St. John Lateran.

The Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs) enabled a great deal of reflection, since visitors are meant to say a prayer on each stair as they walk up on their knees. The 28 marble steps were brought to Rome in the fourth century, and were stepped upon by Jesus on his way to be condemned by Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. It was remarkable how many people were on the stairs while we were there, all with a similar devotion or purpose.

As our day concluded, we sat on the grass outside of the coliseum to enjoy the fresh air and warmer weather, and then we made our way to dinner at Antica Trattoria Polese. There, I was able to get pizza again, which I had craved more of since our first night, and we once again, enjoyed the warm evening at our outdoor table on our final night in Rome.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

We planned to go to the Vatican on our final day in Rome, so we began to make our way there, eating at Antico Caffé San Pietro prior to our entry time at the Vatican Museum. There, I enjoyed some schnitzel and French fries at 10:30 a.m. with no regrets.

Vatican City was one of my favorite places that we visited during our time in Rome. However, the one aspect that frustrated me beyond belief was the amount of people trying to get us to buy tickets that we already had for the museum. As we arrived, we saw how long the line was and at first thought that it was for the museum, but then realized that it was for St. Peter’s Basilica, which we would visit at the end of our day. After that realization, we went to the actual museum, where we saw the many corridors of tapestries, ancient and historical objects, and extraordinary architecture. However, all of that was inconsequential when we finally saw the Sistine Chapel. I can’t put into words how incredible it was to return to the chapel, but one quote that ran through my head during our time there was from Good Will Hunting, when Robin Williams’ character says:

“So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I’ll bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that.”

After we finished touring the museum, we spent time in the garden outside, sitting on the fountain. From there, we went back to St. Peter’s Basilica, where we waited on the line for two hours behind a group of French schoolchildren. Once we finally got inside, we got to admire the architecture, and we also saw Mass beginning right as we were about to leave, which was a scene since we all had to move to the side when what appeared to be alter ministers entered from the back. Since it was approaching 5 p.m. at that point, though, we left and went to get our last gelato before taking a car back to the airport.

Our visit to Rome was easily one of the best experiences of my time abroad over those 13 weeks that we had spent in Europe. It reminded of me of why I loved Rome when I went the first time and it was a great opportunity to get in touch with my Italian roots again.