Squish all the sightseeing activities you can into two days!
Rome is unlike any city Italy has to offer. It's completely different. It's extremely odd, because you'll be driving along and all the sudden see ancient ruins next to the side of the road that have been there since 500 AD or something like that. Just ridiculous.
I have done tonnes of stuff. Yesterday I went to catacombs a fair ways outside of Rome. That was really interesting - it was basically an underground cemetary four floors big, with aboug half a million graves in it. Some on the public route were still sealed, but most of them had been opened and plundered by raids. The government removed all the bones ten years ago due to tourists who would steal them as souvenirs.
After that I went to the Basicillia di San Giovanni in Laterno, which was amazing. Absolutely stunning on the inside. Outside of that was a domed bapistry that was built by Constantine.
Also extremely interesting was something called the Scala Santa ("The Holy Stairs"). People used to make pilgrameges to this place because it was believed to be the holiest in the world. Somewhere around 200 AD the stairs were removed from Jerusalem and brought to Rome. They are believed to be the stairs that Jesus walked up in Pontius Pilate's palace. Because of this you are only allowed to go up them on your knees, which is very painful I might add.
I also went to the Pantheon, one of the best preserved and most recognizable buildings in Rome. The inside was beautiful, although someone had decided to have their wedding there. I can't figure out why they would want to have their wedding in a tourist attraction during high tourist time, but I suppose that they must have thought about it beforehand.
The day before I went to an extremely old castle that was where the Popes would flee when Rome was under attack. I also did a bunch of other things, including going into the Vatican and seeing the Sistine Chapel. Next to Trevi fountain, that was probably the highlight of my trip (so far). I've never seen anything like it before. The Vatican is room after room after room covered in phenominal artwork. And the Sistine Chapel - I couldn't believe that Michaelangelo had actually been up there painting the brushstrokes himself.
What did get to me, though, is the people that would take pictures in the Chapel knowing that they weren't allowed, as well as those who would removed the coverings off of their shoulders. It's about respecting the place. Even if you don't agree with it, you should have enough care for the place to simply do what you're told. I had to hold my tounge to stop myself from telling people off.
There was more - so much more - but I can't be bothered to write it all. Rome is amazing, peoples. I highly recommend it, but maybe not in peak tourist time.
Anywho, I'm done in Rome, and am off to Naples, Capris, and Pompeii. I'm hugely excited for both, actually. And then it's on to Greece!
posted by Lisa @ 12:49 AM
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