Eating Our Way Through ROMA Pt. II
05/04/2012
TREVI FOUNTAIN
After seeing the Pope on Easter (who am I?!), Shelby, Kelly and I were all ready to attack Rome and all of the food and history it had to offer, and it had an abundance of both. On Monday we went to the Trevi Fountain to make some wishes then we went to the Spanish Steps. The Spanish Steps span the slope between the Piazza di Spagna and Piazza Trinità dei Monti, with the Trinità dei Monti church at the top and are the widest staircase in all of Europe. The Steps were packed when we went but we did get some good pictures. I can tell you that Rome has A LOT of steps. I mean, seriously. Everywhere you went there were steps to climb, like hundreds of steps to climb. I would suggest only travelling to Rome if you’re fit and able to trek up a bunch of steps. The good thing about all of the steps is that they help you cancel out all of the fat and calories from the gelato and pizza you are required to eat when visiting Rome. But ok, back to whatever I was saying? The Steps! I think they would’ve been a lot cooler if there weren’t as many people covering them, but hey, I saw them, they were cool, and I’m happy to say I have been there! Now onto the Trevi Fountain. Like most things in Rome it was gorgeous! The statues, the size, the water, all beautiful. I threw in three coins; two wishes for me and one for my sister. The traditional legend holds that if visitors throw a coin into the fountain, they are ensured a return to Rome. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. Taming of the waters is the theme of the gigantic scheme that tumbles forward, mixing water and rockwork. Tritons guide Oceanus' shell chariot which is taming sea-horses. Oceanus was a pseudo-geographical feature in classical antiquity, believed by the ancient Greeks and Romans to be the World Ocean, an enormous river encircling the world. The center frames Oceanus and has free-standing columns for maximal light and shade. In the positions flanking Oceanus, Abundance (like the Earth’s abundance; Nature’s abundance) spills water from “her” urn and Salubrity “favorable to the preservation of good health” holds a cup from which a snake drinks. The tritons and horses provide symmetrical balance, with the maximum contrast in their mood and poses. That was all from Wikipedia, could you tell? Haha. But I think you get the gist. We visited the Fountain twice, once during the day and then we went back at night to see it lit up and again, it was so pretty. That night while we were trying to figure out how to get back home, a man from Bangladesh fell in love…with me. There are guys all over Rome trying to sell the dumbest things. They’ll shove roses in your face and tell you that you are beautiful and when you don’t tip them they yank the rose away from you, or they have these gummy things that splat on the ground when you throw them. The essentials for life, you know? But there are also guys who walk around major monuments with cameras and ask if you want your picture taken and will then ask for a tip. Well one of these guys happened to approach our circle and my back was towards him. He came right up behind me and started to ask a question and when I turned around he stopped and said, “Wow. You are beautiful. Your mouth, your eyes, they are so beautiful. Are you Italian? Where are you from?” So I got all shy (and slightly creeped out) and told him my name and he kept asking questions like what I study and what it’s like living in America and blah, blah. He told me he was from Bangladesh and doesn’t make very good money trying to sell to tourists in Rome (um, DUH?). But as flattered as I was, I wanted to leave and as we started to move away he hugged me sideways and laid his head on my shoulder and told Kelly and Shelby to take good care of “his girl.” Now don’t get me wrong, I had just wished for some true love at the fountain earlier, but this kid from Bangladesh was NOT what I had in mind. Regardless, it gave Kelly and Shelby a good laugh.
TREVI FOUNTAIN
On the Spanish Steps
TREVI WATER
On Tuesday, I didn’t find love, sadly enough, but I did get to see The Vatican and The Sistine Chapel which was LOVELY. The Vatican Museum took awhile to get through, especially since all I wanted to see was Michelangelo’s masterful paintings. One uber cool thing about the Vatican Museum was that I was able to see authentic Roman statues of the Greek gods I had to study first term. That was definitely surreal. After walking through the museum, which took hours, we were finally able to enter THE Sistine Chapel and as I walked into the door I lost my breath; I had no words. The chapel is MASSIVE and I felt like I was in the beginning of The Pagemaster, you know, the movie where Macaulay Culkin enters the library as a human and then turns into a cartoon? It’s an amazing movie if you haven’t already seen it 50 times (guilty) and it felt like that to me. The ceiling is domed and white with paintings too perfect to describe and I felt like this small, little person in a huge world. A world where someone with such talent, years before, could transport you to a place that seemed imaginary and all I could do was stare. It was the weirdest feeling (that I obviously didn’t want to voice outloud) and I sort of felt like I was floating or something. The paintings seemed dreamlike, like they were too good to be real. You have your head tilted back because you are constantly staring at the ceiling and you are surrounded by a sea of people and I will never EVER forget how I felt in that moment. I felt weirdly fuzzy inside, let’s just say that. It was crazy, but awesome. I left the Chapel feeling all fuzzy AND hungry so of course we ended the day with pizza at the best pizzeria in Rome, Da Francesco’s, tiramisu AND a nice big scoop of gelato but after walking up and down a million steps, making guys from Bangladesh fall in love and not being able to speak we deserved every bite. Till next time!!
Kels xx
SISTINE CHAPEL
SISTINE CHAPEL
SISTINE CHAPEL
TREVI @ NIGHT
IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM
CREATION OF ADAM, ANYONE?
