The thought of the catacombs left my soul at home
Without planning on doing so, I toured the ancient Roman catacombs where early Christians buried their dead, deep, deep underground. A wise to decision to finally do something that cost money, but more on this later...
Rome has been hard on my feet and legs, with ancient rocky roads, cars and vespas swerving from all directions, narrow highways, darting around branches and treks up stairs, but I like it. Unlike many cities that require a bit of searching to find "the good stuff," in Rome, ancient or Rennaissance ruins are everywhere! For this reason, it is difficult to not spend one's time gawking upwards at the monuments for the first half of the day, and being much less easily impressed the second half.
I began the day with a search for a cheap breakfast near my hostel so I wouldn't have to spend any cash, found a 70 cent croissant.
Then a walk down Via Corso, which conveniently led me to many of the sights I wanted to see such as:
The Pantheon
Wow! I'm like totally impressed! The thing is 2000 years old, it's a perfect half sphere of poured concrete. I wish I know how far it spanned horizontally, but it is a LOT. I think it might be 43 meters. I entered through a grand facade of columns, and entered the largest enclosed space I've experienced since the Ontario Convention center where I took the bar exam. Space everywhere. I mostly ignored the decorations, where were mostly added later when it was converted into a medieval church, but the ceiling and the light that comes in were what made the Pantheon special. I totally dug it.
Palazzo Venezia
So, I guess I saw this thing the previous night around the time I was lying on the grass and had no idea what it was. Great big Rennaissance palace. According to the Guide book Mussolini used to give speechs from there. Big and white with an equestrian statue in the front.
Piazza Navonna
Actually, I saw this the day before. I didn't look at it too closely, but is used to host wrestling matches. Now it is full of touristy attractions like people who pretend to be statues or guys selling cheap jewelry. The best part of it was Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, which if I were only slightly dishonest I would have claimed to identified from my Art History studies.
The Ancient Roman Ruins
Yes, I am giving all of the ancient Roman ruins one section here because I was too tired to figure out what each thing was and had no map of the area and my Let's Go Europe was useless. I know I had to climb up and down a hill to get there. i know the "roads" were rocky. I know I saw words like "curia" and "fori" around, Latin inscriptions carved into stone. I could tell that the ruins were in a mixed state, some of it very ancient, some from the early centuries A.D., columns and concrete mixed with brick and mortar. I liked it a lot, but after a while it all looked the same. If only I remembered my Roman history slightly better, so when I saw the Arch of Titus or the Arch of Constantine, I could remember much anything they did. Wait, did Titus sack Palestine? I vaguely remember that...
The Palantine Hill
Only saw it from the outside. No way was I going to pay an entrance fee to walk up a hill that I could see from the outside.
The Colosseumรน
This time during the day! Impressive work or architecture. But I couldn't help but thinking of all the slaughter that took place inside. While as a teenager I probably would have said "AWESOME!" when reading about all the people who fought to the death in there, now it made me just feel sad. I also felt sad thinking about the miserable people carving all the stonework I saw yesterday. Yeah, it's pretty, but even the ruins of the Roman empire give a sense of what a cruel place it was.
I did not enter the Colosseum, of course, but I could see a lot through the arches.
Lunch in Testaccio again (just like the previous night)
Restaurant called La Cestia (that took credit cards.) So I went wild. Some sort of expensive and delicious fish that I chose out of a display. Potatoes. Beer. An espresso. 26 Euro! But worth it. I was full and energized for my hardest Roman walk so far.
The Catacombs of San Callisto
My guidebook had a section on the "Appian Way". I read it and thought "hmmmm...I've definitely heard of that! And I can see in the lower right hand corner of my map the words 'Appian Way.' It cannot be too far away!" It was too far away. I walked for probably 2 miles down what were at first the busy Roman street I was used to, but which became a narrow road heading out to the Roman countryside. Cars and Vespas speeding past me with only a rocky wall to my right and a 1 foot shoulder to protect me. I only stayed my course because of the signs pointing towards the "Appian Way" and the reasonable looking American couple I encountered taking the same treacherous trip.
After what seemed like forever walking past a grassy field, I came to a sign for these famous catacombs and supposed that after having walked to far, it was in my best interest to check them out, no matter how much they cost.
For only 5 euro, I took a tour underground. I witnessed 3rd Century A.D. frescos in the underground tombs of the Christians and even got to see an early depiction of Christ without a beard. The tour guide's English was funny. She actually finished every word with an exclaimed "-a!" " Here-a! Is-a! the tomb-a! of St. Cecili-a!"
If I had to walk all the way back I probably would have died. Luckily, an older woman in the group started talking to me and mentioned that she was taking a cab back and offered me a ride. I warned her that I had no money and would be unable to pay, but she said "but I am going anyway! It makes no difference."
Her judgment seemed a bit off though, as she took the first cab offer we got, which was clearly a gypsy cab. I had the presence of mind to ask for the price before we started, but she did not have the presence of mind to inform the cabbie that it was twice the price she paid to get there until we had already started on our way. Still, the cabdriver was friendly, and took us safely to central Rome, singing in Italian almost the entire way.
Fontana Di Trevi
Legend says something about throwing a coin over your shoulder into this fountain and ensuring a rapid trip back to Rome. I don't exactly understand how this works, but I found this famous fountain and threw in my 5 cents (which I thought generous considering my cash situation).
The Spanish Steps
It's a bunch of steps. With as many people sitting on them as there are pigeons in San Marco square. I sat with them. And then I left.
Went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food for dinner and breakfast, took a shower, had nothing to do.
I wanted to go out for the tonight, but ended up talking to three Minnesotans (a daughter, a mother and an aunt) until fairly late in the evening.
Rome has been hard on my feet and legs, with ancient rocky roads, cars and vespas swerving from all directions, narrow highways, darting around branches and treks up stairs, but I like it. Unlike many cities that require a bit of searching to find "the good stuff," in Rome, ancient or Rennaissance ruins are everywhere! For this reason, it is difficult to not spend one's time gawking upwards at the monuments for the first half of the day, and being much less easily impressed the second half.
I began the day with a search for a cheap breakfast near my hostel so I wouldn't have to spend any cash, found a 70 cent croissant.
Then a walk down Via Corso, which conveniently led me to many of the sights I wanted to see such as:
The Pantheon
Wow! I'm like totally impressed! The thing is 2000 years old, it's a perfect half sphere of poured concrete. I wish I know how far it spanned horizontally, but it is a LOT. I think it might be 43 meters. I entered through a grand facade of columns, and entered the largest enclosed space I've experienced since the Ontario Convention center where I took the bar exam. Space everywhere. I mostly ignored the decorations, where were mostly added later when it was converted into a medieval church, but the ceiling and the light that comes in were what made the Pantheon special. I totally dug it.
Palazzo Venezia
So, I guess I saw this thing the previous night around the time I was lying on the grass and had no idea what it was. Great big Rennaissance palace. According to the Guide book Mussolini used to give speechs from there. Big and white with an equestrian statue in the front.
Piazza Navonna
Actually, I saw this the day before. I didn't look at it too closely, but is used to host wrestling matches. Now it is full of touristy attractions like people who pretend to be statues or guys selling cheap jewelry. The best part of it was Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, which if I were only slightly dishonest I would have claimed to identified from my Art History studies.
The Ancient Roman Ruins
Yes, I am giving all of the ancient Roman ruins one section here because I was too tired to figure out what each thing was and had no map of the area and my Let's Go Europe was useless. I know I had to climb up and down a hill to get there. i know the "roads" were rocky. I know I saw words like "curia" and "fori" around, Latin inscriptions carved into stone. I could tell that the ruins were in a mixed state, some of it very ancient, some from the early centuries A.D., columns and concrete mixed with brick and mortar. I liked it a lot, but after a while it all looked the same. If only I remembered my Roman history slightly better, so when I saw the Arch of Titus or the Arch of Constantine, I could remember much anything they did. Wait, did Titus sack Palestine? I vaguely remember that...
The Palantine Hill
Only saw it from the outside. No way was I going to pay an entrance fee to walk up a hill that I could see from the outside.
The Colosseumรน
This time during the day! Impressive work or architecture. But I couldn't help but thinking of all the slaughter that took place inside. While as a teenager I probably would have said "AWESOME!" when reading about all the people who fought to the death in there, now it made me just feel sad. I also felt sad thinking about the miserable people carving all the stonework I saw yesterday. Yeah, it's pretty, but even the ruins of the Roman empire give a sense of what a cruel place it was.
I did not enter the Colosseum, of course, but I could see a lot through the arches.
Lunch in Testaccio again (just like the previous night)
Restaurant called La Cestia (that took credit cards.) So I went wild. Some sort of expensive and delicious fish that I chose out of a display. Potatoes. Beer. An espresso. 26 Euro! But worth it. I was full and energized for my hardest Roman walk so far.
The Catacombs of San Callisto
My guidebook had a section on the "Appian Way". I read it and thought "hmmmm...I've definitely heard of that! And I can see in the lower right hand corner of my map the words 'Appian Way.' It cannot be too far away!" It was too far away. I walked for probably 2 miles down what were at first the busy Roman street I was used to, but which became a narrow road heading out to the Roman countryside. Cars and Vespas speeding past me with only a rocky wall to my right and a 1 foot shoulder to protect me. I only stayed my course because of the signs pointing towards the "Appian Way" and the reasonable looking American couple I encountered taking the same treacherous trip.
After what seemed like forever walking past a grassy field, I came to a sign for these famous catacombs and supposed that after having walked to far, it was in my best interest to check them out, no matter how much they cost.
For only 5 euro, I took a tour underground. I witnessed 3rd Century A.D. frescos in the underground tombs of the Christians and even got to see an early depiction of Christ without a beard. The tour guide's English was funny. She actually finished every word with an exclaimed "-a!" " Here-a! Is-a! the tomb-a! of St. Cecili-a!"
If I had to walk all the way back I probably would have died. Luckily, an older woman in the group started talking to me and mentioned that she was taking a cab back and offered me a ride. I warned her that I had no money and would be unable to pay, but she said "but I am going anyway! It makes no difference."
Her judgment seemed a bit off though, as she took the first cab offer we got, which was clearly a gypsy cab. I had the presence of mind to ask for the price before we started, but she did not have the presence of mind to inform the cabbie that it was twice the price she paid to get there until we had already started on our way. Still, the cabdriver was friendly, and took us safely to central Rome, singing in Italian almost the entire way.
Fontana Di Trevi
Legend says something about throwing a coin over your shoulder into this fountain and ensuring a rapid trip back to Rome. I don't exactly understand how this works, but I found this famous fountain and threw in my 5 cents (which I thought generous considering my cash situation).
The Spanish Steps
It's a bunch of steps. With as many people sitting on them as there are pigeons in San Marco square. I sat with them. And then I left.
Went to the supermarket and bought a bunch of food for dinner and breakfast, took a shower, had nothing to do.
I wanted to go out for the tonight, but ended up talking to three Minnesotans (a daughter, a mother and an aunt) until fairly late in the evening.
posted by Jed at 11:59 PM
3 Comments:
when i was at the trevi fountain, they were filming an episode of "sabrina the teenage witch" there. it was sortof annoying, but funny.
I think I would have liked seeing something like that. When I was in Reykjavik, they were filming a Clint Eastwood movie and I met some of the crew at a bar.
Ah, so you had the privilege of meeting and talking with some of the coolest people on Earth! (yeah, I'm biased :) )
Both times I was at the Pantheon I ordered a coke from the McDonalds. It's so wrong, it's right.
By the way, agree with you about Venice. I went there in the winter and it was better, though -- right before Christmas, not too many tourists, didn't smell bad b/c it was cold. Can't imagine being there in the summer, though. Are you hitting Prague on this trip? You might have similar feelings there, if you're like me...
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