Roma! part 1

Emily's mom came to visit for just over a week, so Jeff and I decided to take a little trip by ourselves while she was here with Emily. Neither of us had ever been to Rome, so we decided to go.

We left New Year's Day and took the train down. It was about a three hour, fifteen minute ride from Ferrara, with only 2 stops along the way, in Bologna and Firenze (Florence). We had a little trouble getting off, because there was a significant snowfall New Year's night. There is only one taxi company in Ferrara and we tried several times that morning to call and get a taxi, but kept getting a message that we couldn't understand. Finally, we went next door to our neighbors' house to see if they could help or possibly give us a ride to the train station, and they were able to get in touch with the taxi.

We decided to splurge on 1st class tickets, which was nice. In 1st class, you get assigned seats which are larger than the ones in 2nd class, and they also recline. There are attendants in 1st class who bring around newspapers (only in Italian, though) and drinks and snacks, pretty much like on an airplane. The train is a great way to travel, with no worry about directions, tolls, or parking. You can just sit back and ride, watching the scenery. We saw snow until just before Firenze.

The train station in Rome (the Termini) is also the central point for the subway system, which is very convenient. We got off the train, crossed the terminal and bought our 3 day tourist passes for the metro. Three days of unlimited use for the metro, buses, and trams is only 11 Euro. We took the metro one stop over to where our hotel was. The hotel was 50 meters from the metro station, and only one stop from the Colosseum, though we could also walk to the Colosseum. We arrived about 2:30 in the afternoon, checked in, and decided to go do some exploring.

We took the metro to the Colosseum and just walked around marveling at it for a little while. No matter how many pictures you see, you cannot appreciate its size until you are actually there. We wandered around trying to orient ourselves with the map provided by our hotel and finally succeeded in locating the Basilica di San Clemente, a site recommended by a friend. We took the tour of San Clemente, which was fascinating. The basilica itself is very pretty, and can be seen for free, but for a small fee you can tour the areas below the current basilica, which are absolutely fascinating. Under the current basilica, which was built around 1100, are the remains of a 4th century basilica, a 1st century Christian church (from when Christianity was still an underground religion), and a 2nd century Mithraic temple. San Clemente is also the resting place of St. Cyril, of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the missionaries to the Slavs and inventors of the Cyrillic alphabet. No pictures are allowed in San Clemente, so I don't have any.

After the tour of San Clemente, we went and found some dinner. Restaurants in Roma apparently cater to the tourists and are open all day, unlike the ones in less touristy areas that don't open until 7 or 7:30. We walked back over by the Colosseum and took a few pictures.


This was the best picture I got of the Colosseum in the dark. Unfortunately, none of the ones I took from another angle, showing the crescent moon off to the side, turned out.


This one is quite blurry, but is of a tram, entirely covered with Christmas lights that went by while we were out walking.

The next morning, we got out and walked around ancient Rome for a little while, taking some pictures while it was sunny, because it was supposed to rain in the afternoon. We walked over and toured the Jewish museum of Rome, which was interesting, but not spectacular. No pictures allowed there, either. That afternoon, we had booked a tour of the Colosseum and ancient Rome, which was great! Our guide was a Ph.D. in Archaeology and was a native of Rome. We saw the Colosseum (and skipped the line for tickets because the tour had reservations), one of the forums, the Trevi fountain, the Pantheon, and the Piazza di Navone. I won't bore you with a lot of details, though we learned a lot of very interesting things on the tour, because you can look up information on any of these things if you so choose.


Here are Jeff and me inside the Colosseum.

Here are some of the ancient ruins. It is absolutely amazing to walk out of a big, metropolitan street and come upon a scene like this.
This is the Temple of Vesta, where the eternal flame was kept alive by the Vestal Virgins. The Virgins were chosen when they were between 6 and 10 and served for 30 years. They were the only women in Rome with independent rights (such as owning property, writing a will, and testifying in court).

A view of the ruins through the Arch of Septimius Severus, built to commemorate a military victory.

The famous Trevi fountain.

This is the dome inside the Pantheon, which was originally a pagan temple to 12 gods, but was taken over by the Christian church and thus saved from destruction. Yes, it is open to the sky in the middle, originally to let out the smoke from sacrifices.

That night, we went to a restaurant right by our hotel that had been recommended by a friend. It was excellent, though Jeff was a little disturbed when the pork special of the evening turned out to be a roasted pig leg with foot still attached! He really enjoyed the fresh fruit with limoncello cream for dessert, though!