23 Days of Travel: First Stop Rome

When you study abroad in Architecture you honestly do study most of the time. The entire month before I left for winter break I did not leave Barcelona, but I did use that time to finish graduate school applications, study for final exams, and finish my final project of the semester which is the first part in my portfolio that I updated for graduate schools this break.

Since I did use my time wisely the month before winter break, I got to travel for 23 days straight starting on January 22nd and ending on January 13th. My break started with my boyfriend, Ryan showing up at the airport on January 21st to visit me for my 2-week break of no class. We left the next morning to go to Rome for Christmas. Then we went to London for New Years, and headed to Amsterdam a couple days before I ended the break in Paris where I attended a traveling workshop with one of my professors.

This first post out of a series of 3 post will include my trip to Rome that Started on December 22nd and went to December 28th.

Walking through the city of Rome is almost like walking through a museum, there is something new to look at and learn from in every direction you wonder. The first day in Rome we arrived at the most wonderful air bnb on the Vatican side of the Tiber river. From our location, Ryan and I could walk to almost every landmark in the city.

The second day in Rome is one of my favorite days from my break. We started the day at Palatine hill. I booked us tickets online ahead of time to the Palatine Hill, Roman Forum, and the Colosseum. Not liking to wait it long lines, I did a lot of research before I planned this trip. I learned that the ticket for all those landmarks are the same, and if you start the day by redeeming or purchasing your ticket at the Palatine Hill you will not have to wait in the long line to buy a ticket that wraps halfway around the Colosseum. Below are pictures from the Palatine Hill.

Getting to the Palatine Hill right at the time the gates opened we explored the ruins in a very surreal and quite setting. Beating the crowds that morning was very much worth it. After exploring the Palatine Hill, we walked over to the Roman Forum. The forum contains ruins of the buildings that were the center for day to day life in ancient times.

(Pictures of the Roman Forum Below)

After the Roman Forum we headed to the see the Arch of Constantine and then Colosseum where I had booked us a tour of the underground level, and one of the 3rd and uppermost ring.

The third ring is the top level of the building that has only been open to the modern public for a couple months now.

During the tours we learned that the games that were held in the stadium were a free event that the Emperor of Rome would hold as entertainment for all his people to keep them happy. The wealthiest men got the best seats closest to the action. Women and slaves were then in the nose bleed seats towards the top while everyone else filled the spaces in-between. Pictures from the nose bleeds below, and still not the worst seats if you ask me.

In the underground tour Ryan and I got to see the trap doors (pictured below) that would spring out wild animals for the Gladiators to fight. Apparently the Colosseum floor was filled with many exotic plants and trap doors to provide more excitement for the people. Probably one of the first signs of show-business. There were 3 types of matches to go on in the stadium; man verse man, man verse animal, and animal verse animal.

The stadium is overall an architectural masterpiece that could be filled and emptied in just 15 minutes time. It was used as many things throughout the years, and even protected by the pope at one point. The pope protected it to keep people from using the material to build other buildings, but also because he believed that Christians were once killed there. Though that was just a very strong rumor.

Christmas Eve Ryan and I woke up early to head over to the Vatican City so we could pick up our tickets from the Vatican for Christmas Eve mass. The tickets were free, but not easy to get. The Vatican is not only old school in its values, but also in its technology. In order to get the tickets I had to fax in a request months in advance. The main problem with that is that no one has a fax machine anymore! I ended up having to go to a place downtown Sant Cugat called a locutorio. A locutorio is a call center for people who do not have phone or need to call long distance. They also have computers you can rent and a fax machine. At the locutorio I had the worker try and fax the request for me for a hour till I left and came back to try the next day, but the line was always busy because apparently the Vatican gets a lot of faxes. I ended up sending the request paper to my mom and having her try to send the fax from our local library because the fax number for the United states was different than the rest of Europe so I figured she might have better luck on a different number. The librarian and five points ended up being able to fax it for me after many times.

The next step was waiting for a letter in the mail saying that my request was accepted and they had seats reserved for us. It took a couple weeks, but I finally got my mail from the pope! The letter then had very specific instructions for how to pick up the tickets.

On the morning of Christmas Eve, we had to go to the right side of Bernini’s colonnade in the Vatican City and walk through the bronze doors to pick up our tickets. Getting to the colonnade we were greeted with security like an airport. Then when reaching the door, we were greeted by one more set of modern security guards, and then swiss guards after that who asked for my letter. They then told us that only one could pass into this normally restricted part of the Vatican, and then take the first right to pick up the tickets. I didn’t take a picture of this in fear of the Swiss guard that was holding the assault rifle behind me, but the hallway I walked down to get the tickets looked endless. It honestly looks like the hallway that I imagine takes you to the afterlife. At first it was all white marble floors and pilasters between the windows. My door was in this section, but what I saw after me about 100 meters ahead was a hallway that started to slant up. This slant made it so you could not see the end of the hall, but only see blackness. The walls in this hall changed to blue, and a luxurious red carpet lined the floor with a colonnade on the sides taking you to the next place.

Below is a picture of the Vatican and the some of the Colonnade that surrounds it.

After finally getting the tickets Ryan and I headed into the Vatican. A church that truly shows you just how much power the Catholic Church has held in our society. Ornamentation lined every inch of the massive interior.

After visiting the Church we made our way over to the Vatican museum that had the beautiful Sistine Chapel at the very end. As someone who minored in Art and Design I know that Michelangelo did not want to paint the Sistine Chapel. One of my art teachers from the past once made me do an assignment where I tapped paper to the top of my desk and then pained from laying on my back underneath. My arm was dying of pain after the first 20 minutes of painting. I can only imagine the arm and back pain that Michelangelo had while and after painting the Sistine Chapel. The only reason he actually did it was because the Pope at that time would not allow anyone to hire him until he painted the Sistine Chapel, so in order to keep he career going he created a masterpiece. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in the Sistine Chapel, so the one below is not my own. The room was also filled with a lot of people at the time, and guards to tell people to not take pictures and not talk.

After the Sistine Chapel we headed over to the Castello Sant Angelo. A castle just down the street from the Vatican were the Pope used to head to in times of crisis. The pope and many other important people used to live on the top in apartments built in a more modern time then the original fortress. Now a little restaurant sits on top of the fortress where you can eat and enjoy the marvelous views of the city as we did. View from our window below and then the castle. (Side Note: Free entrance to architecture students)

After that we headed back to the air bnb to get ready for midnight mass. We got to the Vatican about 2 hours early to ensure we were able to get good seats inside. The mass ended up being about 2 hours long and almost entirely in Latin. Though many other languages were spoke as small parts during the mass to go along with the homely that talked about immigration and accepting each other. Ryan and I took a couple pictures before mass. I figured it was okay because even the nuns were doing it.

Christmas Day was a day of relaxation considering we did not get home from mass till around 2 am, and also because nearly everything was closed in the city. I did end up making Christmas dinner for the first time ever with red and white pasta we bought from the store that seamed very festive. One thing about Italy, they do make great pasta that comes in so many fun shapes and colors.

The 26th was a long walking day for us, but very fun. We decided to do all the quick and free tourist stuff on this day. That included the Pantheon in the morning to start. As an architecture student I was very excited to see the Pantheon in person after being told by every structures professor that the dome is a structural masterpiece. This dome is the largest freestanding concrete dome to this day! No one knows how the architects did it, but the dome actual has 2 intentional cracks in it as it fell into place.

After the pantheon we went to Piazza Novanna where they had a Christmas market. Then to the Trevi Fountain to make a wish, and then the Spanish Steps. We ended the day at the Santa Maria Maggorie. Another beautiful and massive church in Rome. (All landmarks in the order written above are pictured below)

Our last full day in Italy we took a day trip to Florence. Florence is about as far from Rome as Peoria, Illinois is to Chicago, but because of the high-speed trains it only takes an hour to get to Florence from Rome. The Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore was a sight to see. This is the main church in Florence and their main tourist attraction. The old city spent a lot of money on the Cathedral in order to show the rest of Europe that they could compete with big cities like Rome. In my opinion Florence is beautiful, but it still does not hold its own when being compared to Rome.

Considering the Cathedral is one of the only things to do in Florence the line was crazy long at every corner. Luckily, I booked us a tour to walk up into Brunelleschi's Cupola and be on top of the church and one of the highest points in Florence. We then did not have to wait in such a long line for that, but if we did want to go into other closed off portions of the church the lines would have taken hours of waiting.

Brunelleschi’s Cupola was very fun to walk in if you are short like me. If you are 6’ 4’’ or taller like Ryan you will have to keep your head sideways the entire time in order not to hit your head on the ceiling. These Churches were made in a time when people were a lot shorter and construction methods were very different. The interesting thing about this Dome and main dome’s if that it is made with a double domed structure were people can walk between the 2 domes to get to the top as we did. You can follow our journey to the top from the pictures below.

Other than the Florence Cathedral and the cathedral museum that went along with it we did one other very exciting thing in Florence. We went to the Galleria dell'Accademia, and admired Michelangelo’s David. The sculpture was originally made from extra material that they were not going to use for the exterior of the cathedral, so Michelangelo asked if he could make a sculpture to go in from of the church.

The plaque to the side of David said that this is the only sculpture anyone ever needs to see, because after seeing this sculpture of a perfect man no other sculpture will compare. After seeing David, I had to agree. As I continued my trip no sculpture seems so real, so grand, and so stunningly perfect. Other sculptures are well done and interesting in meaning to me still, but the absolute perfection of David at this grand scale is something incomparable.

Overall, I loved Rome much better than Florence. That could be because of the rain in Florence or because of the unparalleled beauty of all of Rome.

My week in Italy was one of my favorite weeks in Europe thus far. That could be due to the ancestral trophies that wait for you around every corner, to the wonderful weather, or to the company I was with.