ROMA...Part 1

This weekend we went to Rome.  It was a fun trip but exhausting.  I don't think I've walked that much in two days since...honestly I don't think I've ever walked that much.  We managed to see over 15 sites in those two days, mostly the biggies.  Some of my favorite times in the city were either spent people watching at the sites, or meandering (at a fairly hastened pace) through the streets away from the sterotypical tourists (Note: we are not normal tourists, we are students).

Our day started at about 6:00am and a quick walk to the bus stop where we caught the bus to the bottom of the hill.  It was a 'short bus' but we managed to squeeze about 18 people on as it wound through the very narrow streets of Orvieto.  The train left the station at 7:30 or so and we arrived in Rome about an hour later.  I was hoping to catch a few more zz's on the train, but every tunnel we went through (one about every 5 minutes) made my ears pop really bad.  It seemed to only happen to us, the other passengers seemed perfectly fine while we were yawning, swallowing, frantically chewing gum etc. 

When Marco, our history professor, showed up at the Termini station in Rome we followed him to the subway.  The Termini station is the main train hub of the city, it's where the subway, regionale, intercity, and bullet trains converge, as well as a decent shopping center (it also had like 3 McDonalds).  We took the subway two stops to the Colosseo stop.  I figured we would have to walk a couple block to get to the Colosseum, but nope, it was right there in front of us when we got out of the station.  An amazing reveal, except for all the people trying to get you to take a tour of the inside...I will do that Next time.  I was impressed by the size and magnitude of the building of course, but was surprised that it was just as I had expected/hoped it would be.  Other sites we saw were better than expected, but that's probably because the Colosseum is such an iconic structure and I've 'seen it' so many times. 

Marco gave a fairly long winded shpeal about where we were and some of the sites around to help us get our bearings.  We were using those whisper tools where the leader has a microphone and we all listen to them through headphones which was nice because it meant we could hear even if we strayed from the group a little.  We proceeded to walk around with Marco till about 1pm (following is a list of the things we say on the walk).  We mainly just went to some of the less popular sites that Marco was very passionate and knowledgeable about.  Without him I would've probably passed some of these sites so I was glad to have a more unique experience than most tourists.  We ended at the Pantheon.  AMAZING, Definitely one of those buildings that envoke awe.  I've seen photos, slide shows, and scenes from movies of the Colleseum, but nothing compares to seeing it in person.  I did not realize how big the hole was in the ceiling and I was shocked that it was relatively quiet despite all the people. 

What we saw:
Colosseum
Triumphant Arch of Constantine
Palatine Hill (We didn't go up on it though)
The Forum
Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II (the wedding cake)
Campidoglio
The Fountain of Turtles
The store that has been the official tailors for the Pope for a long time
Obilisks, ruins, funny trees, piazzas, etc. along the way. 

Marco dismissed us from the Pantheon and a group of us went to get lunch an plan our next move.  I will post about Saturday afternoon and Sunday tomorrow.  I'm exhausted.  After walking around Rome all weekend someone decided that it was a great day to do our tours of Orvieto that are the final part of our first studio project (5 'districts'....5 groups....5 hour-hour long tours over the entire town).  The initial plan was to do the 5 tours over the span of 2 days, but it's supposed to be rainy and cold the rest of the week so we did all 5 today.  I turned my ankle right at the beginning on the first tour, it was hard to hear and hard to herd the group through the narrow streets with fearless drivers.  I'm not complaining though...it could've been raining...and I did have a delicious 'kebab' wrap thing for lunch!

Anyways!  Here are some cheerful photos of our tour with Marco! 

 The Colosseum.

 From the hill where Villa Medici is.  We walked around this kind of bizarre park and back out to the edge of the hill near sunset for an amazing view of the city to the Vatican.  That's the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

haha.  I can't walk slow up stairs.  I got a couple of these.  Elise is a little dramatic.

 Me :)  I couldn't tell you what these ruins are.  It's a few blocks from the Colosseum.

 The Campidoglio

The Pantheon

 I thought it was bizarre that there were these ornate pieces of stone just scattered hap-hazardly around the ruins.  This particular spot was in the process of being excavated, but in other parts of the city there are huge pieces of column just laying in the parks. 

Cliff Hanger:  More details about my trip to Rome;  More photos!; It's going to rain alllll week...no sunshine in the forcast till next Wednesday....good thing I have an awesome umbrella, Thanks Aunt Sue!