Over Thanksgiving break Sajal and I went to Rome! We are currently living in Barcelona but are planning to travel around Europe on the weekends. Rome has a ton to see so we decided to go there during a long weekend and we had a great time! We ate a lot of pasta and pizza. Did you know the Italian flag is based on the pizza? Red for the sauce, white for the cheese, and green for the basil! I had come to Rome before with my family in 2017 so it was really fun coming again.
The first thing we had to do was go see the Colosseum. The sheer size of the Colosseum blows you away. It could hold up to 80,000 people, had shade, and was covered in marble! We learned about all of the shows, fights, and gladiators. We got a guided tour which was really fun because the guide was really able to paint a picture for us. We also saw the Arch of Constantine which is right next to the Colosseum.
On the walk to the Colosseum, you can see the monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. This a huge monument with fountains. You can walk around and walk up behind the monument as well, where you can see more fountains and structures.
You can also see Cesars' Forum, Augustus' Forum, and the Roman Forum. If you go into the Colosseum you also get free access to the Roman Forum. All of these forums were old temples, office buildings, castles, and open public spaces. They were torn down and built up multiple times to have different purposes. I actually learned the most aobut these spaces when we went to the "Welcome To Rome" Museum. This is a museum with 3D models and videos of what the structures look like now, but also what they looked like back then. It also extensively walks through the history of Rome, from when the city was founded to present day. We walked around the Roman Forum after visiting the Colosseum and got some great views of the city.
On the way home we also walked through Circus Maximus. This used to be an old charriot racing stadium covered in marble but now it's a nice public park. Many of Rome's old buildings were stripped down and the materials were reused for churches and other buildings.
The next day we went to the Vatican. We got a guided tour for this as well and learned all about the competition between Raphael and Michael Angelo. Our tour guide truly believed that many masterpieces of the Vatican wouldn't have been created. The competition itself helped drive the Renaissance. The Vatican was absolutely beautiful and it's crazy to think how many people were on their backs painting the ceilings.
We also saw the Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. I don't have too much to say about these places except that they were really beautiful. It's one of those things that you just have to see.
We also took a day trip to Pompeii and to the Amalfi Coast with a tour group. In total, we drove about 8-9 hours leaving really early and coming home late. But even though we drove a ton, this was my favorite part of the trip. Visiting Pompeii was so cool because the well-preserved ruins showed you how people lived back then. They had theaters with numbered seating, huge houses, to go restaurants with quickly made food, and huge plazas. In the bathhouses women would wear bikini type of clothes. In the prostitute houses we saw many phallic and sexual images. It really made you feel like life hasn't really changed at all. Life back 2,000 years ago was just like how it is now.
We also went to the Amalfi Coast and that was gorgeous. The Almfai Coast is made up of a couple of cities and we went to Positano. This was such a cute town and we had the best time exploring it and walking around. Something to note is that many shops close down during the slow winter season. We were still able to see everything we wanted to, but it's something to keep in mind if you're going to stay in the Amalfi Coast.
And that was our trip to Rome. I really learned a lot on this trip and had a fabulous time seeing the 2,000 - 3,000 year old sites!
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