So now that’s it’s the weekend and not a terribly inviting day outside, I thought I’d sit down and write up some notes on last week’s trip.
The weekend before had been great. Mom and Dad got in Thursday and stayed through Tuesday morning. In the four days they had, we managed to do most of the city, hitting the big monuments, checking out some museums, and even getting down to Versailles. I loved getting to visit with them and being able to show them around.
Then Tuesday, while they made their way up to Germany, I took off to enjoy my week’s break from classes, heading to Italy. My train didn’t leave until early afternoon, so that day was spent just traveling. I got into Milan fairly late in the evening, found some authentic Italian pizza for dinner, and turned in so I would be refreshed for the next day.
Wednesday I wandered around Milan before taking a train to Rome. I first went to the Duomo, the cathedral in the center of the city. Impressive both in size and design, it may top my list of favorite church interiors. The stained glass captured the light perfectly and paintings were hung along the sides of the aisles. From there, I walked to La Scala, Milan’s famous opera house. Compared to other houses I’ve been to and seen, particularly the Met, City Opera, or the Operas Bastille and Garnier in Paris, it’s actually rather small. The theatre itself is probably no larger than a mid-sized Broadway theatre. The intimacy has to be good for acoustics, though. Attached to the theatre was a small museum, with a collection of famous composers’ scores, instruments, paintings, and some costumes and designs from past productions. I wandered back through the historic center of the city, through the Castelo Sforzesco (the moat of which seemed to have attracted a large band of stray cats) and back towards the Duomo. I also found the best gelato I’ve ever had. After a little confusion with train details, I was then on my way to Rome. I got in late there and again turned in for the night.
The next morning two of my friends from the program, Delphine and Jenna, arrived from Florence. We found our hotel, dropped off our bags, and started on day one of sightseeing. We focused on the north-center of the city, walking from the Spanish Steps and Trinitia dei Monti, down Via del Corso to the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon, over to the Piazza Navonna, up to the Piazza del Popolo. One of the best things about Rome is that you can be walking through streets and suddenly, mixed in with the buildings one- or two-hundred years old, there are suddenly ancient remains as well. Even more than Paris, the history of this city was tangible as you passed through it. Another fun moment was at the Piazza del Popolo when we climbed up a hill to see the view and realized the big dome in the distance was that of St. Peter’s.
Day two took us down to the ancient Roman ruins. We started at the Coliseum, which is just as impressive in person as it is in pictures. The classic image of Christians and lions, it turns out, isn’t a terribly accurate depiction of the building. Those were rare, and only under one emperor, while criminals (and later fame-seekers) fighting to brutal public deaths, re-enacting famous fights or showing off exotic animals were much more common. Before the maze beneath the floor was built, it would be flooded and famous naval battles re-enacted. Also interesting, the one emperor (the one from the movie Gladiator, I think) who would compete as a gladiator in fixed battles and the slaves dressed as Charon who would take away the dead after battles. Centuries later, after much neglect, botanists took an interest in the building as seeds that had traveled with the exotic animals had grown up into a botanical gardens.
From there, we climbed the Palatine Hill to see the ruins of Dioceltian’s palace. It must have been one of the most massive structures I can imagine. The social room took up at least two football fields, while the indoor racetrack was the size of another. And the building was five stories in total. One small, but very interesting place of note on the hill was the stone beneath which is supposedly the heart of Romulus, founder of Rome. I also had to notice all the pine trees – Respighi’s Pines of Rome? We then circled down, past the Circus Maximus, of which only a small bit of wall remains. At the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, we saw the Bocca della Verita, a carving of a face, the mouth of which will supposed bite off the hand of anyone telling a lie. While wandering back north from there, we ended up at the Museo Capitolini, where we were able to see Bernini’s bust of the Medusa and the famous bronze wolf sculpture from 5 BC. The museum also gave a great view of the ruins of the Roman Forum.
Saturday took us to the Vatican. We wandered through the museums, which have a great collection of ancient sculpture and artwork as well as Renaissance works. The Sistine Chapel, though small than I expected, is just as astounding as I’d thought it would be. Just the scope of it and the painters who contributed are enough to amaze. Two fun facts: One cardinal became annoyed with the liberties Michelangelo was taking in his depictions and complained, but was not heeded. Michelangelo heard about his complains, though, and painted him with donkey ears in hell in “The Last Judgment.” The other fun fact isn’t really fun; it’s more something I found absolutely absurd. Pictures aren’t allowed in the Chapel. Only this has nothing to do with preservation, but rather than the restoration in the mid-1980s was funded by Fujifilm and for it they were given exclusive rights to images of the Chapel. St. Peter’s was also pretty amazing. While not the most beautiful church I’ve been in, it is still impressive for its size and the amount of art contained in it. There is also at least one mummified saint on display. There’s just something about the Vatican and being surrounded by so much great art.
That afternoon we ended up back over by the Spanish Steps. Delphine took us to this café, famous for the writers, musicians and other people of note who frequented it in the 1800s. Found more gelato by the Trevi Fountain, though it wasn’t quite as good as that in Milan.
Delphine and Jenna took off Sunday morning, while I had the day to wander, as my train wasn’t until the next morning. I retraced many of the places from the first day, glad to do it sun rather than rain. The ruins and Vatican had been great weather, but the first day in Rome had been light rain for most of the day. I also took in a few small churches in the more eastern areas of the city, including Santa Maria Maggiore. While heading back at the end of the day, I ended up near a government building at the Quirinale and happened upon a military band presentation, with full pomp and circumstance.
Monday’s train trip back to Paris was a long one, but the views between Rome and Florence were great and I managed to finish both E. M. Forster’s Howards End and re-reading Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass. It was a trip I was really glad to have made. It also came at the perfect time, just before the last big surge of work for classes hits and gave me a break to get my head clear, relaxed, and ready for the end of the semester.
This past week flew by, with classes, participating in a debate on the relationship of national parliaments to EU decision-making, and a midterm on EU Political Economy. Friday morning we had a nice visit to Chateau Malmaison, the home of Empress Josephine – sort of like Versailles on a more modest scale.
I should hopefully have the last set of pictures up tonight. In the meantime, here’s a famous Rome movie moment, starring the Trevi Fountain:
