Roma Part 2

I'm probably going to have several more parts about Rome... I've decided that I will be going back next Sunday to make sure I don't miss out on anything. It's crazy to think this might be the only opportunity in my life to see Rome...no pressure!

So, after our tour of the Vatican city, we walked across the Tiber river on our way to tour the sites of ancient Rome. I successfully navigated our way to the Pantheon:

This is the oldest Roman building still currently in use. It was constructed in 80 AD:

The tombs of Raphael, Umberto I (Italian king), and Vittorio Emmanuel II (man who unified Italy) are here.

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Then we saw the Trevi Fountain:

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After Trevi Fountain, we made our way to the Roman Forum/Palantine Hill/Colloseum:

View of the Roman Forum.

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It's E in Italy!! (note the letter in E in the bottom left of the Colloseum.

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By now it was about 7ish, and we had already been in Rome for almost 12 hours. We made our way up to Circus Maximus, enjoyed the amazing view of the temple of Venus and Rome, and made our way back to the Termini:

You can see a little of Circus Maximus (large open mall) and the Temple of Venus and Rome.

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Next Sunday I plan on paying to go inside the Colloseum and Roman Forum, see St. Peter in Chains, go to southern Rome to see the Appian Way and Catacombs, up to northern Rome to see the Villa Borghese gardens, and if time permits, back to St. Peter's Basilica one last time.

This Friday I am performing Peter and the Wolf! And we are rumored to be fitted for character costumes......YES. Really pumped about this.

Until next time!

Roma Part 1: The Vatican.

So on Sunday, Mario, Tiffany, Pam, Jeremy, Austin, Ben and I made a day trip to Rome. Our morning started, oh, about 4.5 hours after our Saturday evening concert...no joke. We got up around 4 AM in catch a 5:50 train from Spoleto to Rome. On the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museum is FREE! We really wanted to get to the Vatican City as early as we could so we could get in line before the Vatican Museum opened at 9. The line was pretty terrifying when we arrived at 8:30ish, but it moved fairly quickly and we made it inside the museum around 10:30.

I had no idea how GINORMOUS the Vatican Museum is...literally miles and miles of hallways covered from the floor to the ceiling with art. My favorite room was the Map Room....and the Sistine Chapel:

The Map Room.

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The ceiling/wall of the Last Judgement of the Sistine Chapel... with the help of my panoramic software.

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We had packed food for the day, so we decided to take a lunch break in St. Peter's Square... no biggie.

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Then we entered St. Peter's Basilica. I remember Cecilia telling me how overwhelmed she felt when she first walked through the doors...I can't begin to describe how I felt when I first walked in. Walking through the Basilica was a very emotional experience. To give you an idea of the sheer size of it, the Duomo in Florence and St. Mark's in London could both fit inside of it. The columns inside St. Peter's are 7 stories, and the gold band on top of them is 7 feet tall.

The main altar. Beneath the altar, about 20 feet is the remains of St. Peter the Apostle. As in THE Peter. As in the first pope. Wow. Totally mind blowing. We went to the crypts below the church and saw every pope's tomb. Every single pope. Unreal.

Remember how I mentioned that the Duomo in Florence was the most amazing thing I've ever seen? Yeah, doesn't hold a candle to St. Peter's. I have to go back. I have to go back. Um, I have to go back.

After the Vatican we went to see the ruins of Rome, which I will update with pictures when I have more time!