|| Rome Trip - January 2014 ||

A thousand apologies for the lack of posting, I’m very ashamed.

Nice wet morning in Rome

I know I always say this, but I have been incredibly busy – A Levels are not fun. And that is a fact. I’ve been very bogged down with coursework, homework and a week of work experience at the Wilts & Glos Standard (more to come on that later.) I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, and have been putting it off for ages. I’m sorry.

Anyway…

At the end of January I was fortunate enough to go on a trip to Rome with my Classical Civilisation class. We stayed in the beautiful city of Rome for four nights, and just around four days and I have to say it was one of the most wonderful cities I have ever been to (it may even top Paris…)

Admittedly the weather was appalling. It rained the whole time we were there, with the exception of the sun making an appearance on our last day in the city – typical. The rain unfortunately caused a few problems to our schedule, for example we were not able to visit Ostia Antica because the rain had left some “puddles” which meant we couldn’t look around. It’s safe to say my lecturer was extremely irritated. However, we didn’t let the weather affect our spirits as we traipsed around the city of Rome with our troop of umbrellas and soaked shoes.

Initially we couldn’t get into the Forum, again because of puddles. The Romans must not be as well adjusted to the rain as we Brits are. However we did eventually get a chance to take a tour around the political centre for the Roman Empire and it was absolutely mind-boggling. 

Me and a bust.

It was absolutely fascinating to see where Cicero would have performed his speeches, where the Caesar was cremated, where the Vestal Virgins lived and prayed, and all the other bits of history that I got far too over-excited about. Along with the Forum, we also visited the Palatine Hill and the Colosseum, which were all valid for our knowledge on Roman History.

Amongst all the Roman historical sites, we all visited all the ‘typical tourist’ sites of Rome including; the Sistine Chapel, St Peter’s Basilica, the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. We also went to many other churches and fountains but unfortunately I can’t remember all their names. 

One of my favourite places was definitely the Vatican and the Vatican Museum. It was so unbelievably mesmerising and everything was so beautiful. The Vatican Museum in particular was astounding. There was so much to see and there was art and history everywhere; on the walls, floors and ceilings. I would be walking down a corridor and my eyes would be automatically drawn to a painting on the ceiling, and then to the main features on the walls, and then to some more art dotted around the whole area. Just incredible.

(L-R) Me, Zeus, Georgia

We were lucky enough to get a guided tour around Cinecitto Film Studios (kind of the Hollywood of Rome.) We went into the studio’s mini-museum which had props and costumes from various films filmed on the location, along with information about the films and a short documentary about the studio’s prime set designer Dante Ferretti. Cinecitto also happens to be the location where HBO’s series ‘Rome’ is filmed and the set is still currently up. This proved to be very interesting as it gave us an insight into what Rome would have looked like ‘back in the day.’

Other than all the touristy and historical sites, we also got the “real Italian experience” when we went out for pizza and pasta for every meal. I’m pretty sure I doubled my weight out there with the amount of pizza, pasta, ice cream and wine I had. It was so worth it though. 

The Colosseum

On one night we went to this restaurant owned by a short, slightly chubby and very loud Italian woman. She clearly had owned the restaurant for a very long time, and probably with her family, as there were hundreds of pictures dotted around the walls with various people amongst pictures of the various Popes. 

Anyway, in short it was one of the strangest and possibly most terrifying experiences of my life due to her shouting the menu at us: “PASTA! PIZZA! RAVIOLLI! TORTOLINI!” My poor friend simply asked what one of the pizzas was, and the woman shouted in response: “YES! YOU HAVE THAT!” Terrifying. I have to say however, that the pizza was the nicest pizza I have ever eaten.

I also got a big fangirl moment when we went to the ice cream parlour from Eat, Pray, Love. I probably got way too over excited about the fact the parlour had been mentioned in my favourite book, and completely disregarded the actual price of the ice cream... 

With the combination of appalling weather, carbohydrate-packed food, beautiful sites, tons of ice cream, loud restauranteurs, lots of eye-balling men and a jam packed metro cart and bus (I have to add I have never been in a more packed metro carriage in my life. I couldn't move. My friend was squidged into the armpit of a sweaty Italian man,) the trip was absolutely amazing and as soon as we arrived back in England, I wanted to be back in Rome. It is definitely a city I want to go back to and explore as much of it as I can. I implore every one of you that has never been to Rome to go – you have to. Really, you do.

I’ve included some more pictures below for those of you who wish to take a peek - I took far too many photos. 682 to be specific.

If you have ever been to Rome please let me know what you thought of, I’d love to here from you!

Panoramic picture of the Colosseum

Panoramic picture of a pretty little courtyard in the Vatican Museum

The Roman Forum - looking rather wet

The Trevi Fountain 

(L-R) Beth, Matt, Georgia and myself. This was taken on our
last day outside the Colosseum. To quote my lecturer:
"this is the perfect spot to take a Colosseum Selfie."

Fun Fact: Mussolini's House

The Carcer - the old Roman jail cell. Such a depressing a
morbid place.

My first cappuccino in Italy. Possibly the most
delicious coffee I have ever tasted - despite the
small size...

Bernini's Fountain

Moses (with devil horns)

A side picture of one of the set structures in
Cinecitta.

HBO's set of 'Rome' - The Forum