Where All Roads Lead...

I finally arrived in Rome! I would be meeting plenty of familiar people here and the afternoon was just the start! I met up with Bethany, Ben, and Carolyn from DIS at noon and we all went out for lunch. I had my first italian food in such a long time, and it was delicious... I missed it so much. Props to you Mom and Grandma, you raised me on good food. We took the metro over to the Colosseum and Bethany and I went on our way as the other two went on their own. We started out with the Basilica of San Clemente which is this multi-layered church that goes back in history through it three levels. It is absolutely insane, with structures from the first century at the bottom. THAT is history. Then we went to the Circus Maximus and the Mouth of Truth. When I was younger, I went to Italy with my family. I went with my Dad to wait in line at the Mouth of Truth and it was so long that we did not want to wait. So my Dad tells me "Adam, run up to the front of the line, snap a picture, and come right back! What are they going to do? I will jsut pretend that I couldn't stop you." And so I did. We have been laughing about that stupid statue for years now. I finally got to visit it the proper way, and got a nice photo opportunity. Then we went to the Spanish Steps at around sunset and found our way back to the hotel. I had very little time until I had to go to the airport to pick up Emily for her visit! I left my gear in the hotel and took the train to pick up my girlfriend and got there jsut in time because her plane was a bit early! It was so nice to have her with me in another country and on vacation. The adventure was only beginning, and it was her first time in Europe!

It was officially the BIG day in Rome! We went everywhere! The Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Palatine Hill, The Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and The Vatican! What a huge day. The Colosseum was a marvel and so beautiful to behold. It was absolutely massive and we got to explore as much of it as we could. I tried getting the student discount with my Danish ID by handing the man my Danish temporary citizenship card... He had absolutely NO IDEA what it meant, so he just took my word for it and gave me the discount! The Roman Forum was a lot like the Agora of Athens, a wide open area with ruins scattered about. It was once a central hub for the city, but has since crumbled into bits.

We then had a ticket appointment at the Vatican Museum. We took the metro to the museum and walked right in! There was no line... but if there was, we'd be VIPs... Anyway, the entire place was beautiful. Famous sculptures and paintings lined the halls, everything was beautifully decorated and ornamented, there was gold, silver, marble, and much more. The sheer amount of money that the church had in those days is incredible. From there we went into St. Peter's Basilica, which was filled with even more wonder. The halls were as high as you could see, and twice as far. Walls were decorated with even more beautiful paintings and of course La Pieta was encased in glass to the right of the entrance. The choir was singing in the back and everything was very sacred.

We ended the night by walking to the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon. The fountain was under a TON of construction, I shed a single tear... The Pantheon was closed. We tried looking through the slit between the doors and only saw so much! On the way back after an evening of disappointment, we got gelato and cannoli! I tried my very best to communicate in Italian. It was going so well until the man preparing the cannolo after if I wanted it "For here or to go?" I was so close! I said "That's all I can say, sorry" We both laughed and he gave me an Italian lesson, saying that the translation for "to go" means "for the road." We went back to the hotel and got ready for Florence the next day!