When in Rome...

So, we are back-tracking a little bit here. :) At the end of September and beginning of October we had a week off of school in which 10 of us girls went to Rome and Paris. It was amazing! So amazing in fact, that I didn't really now how I could condense it all into one blog. :) But, here goes!

In Rome, the first night we were there we did a night walk around the city. We saw the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps (in Italy...I know) as well as some of the more famous buildings such as the Pantheon (from the outside of course). We also made a wonderful stop at the world-famous gelato shop Giolitti's. Sooooo good! I even made friends with one of their Italian waiters. haha! He gave us special seats inside, kissed me on the cheek like 4 times, and kept saying, "Ciao, Bella!" Oh, dear...it was a riot.

The second day, we went to the Colisseum in the morning. What history! Wow. I can't believe how old it is and the activities that took place there. They told us that throughout history there were "only 80" people who died, but on one of the sides of the Colisseum they erected a cross years later to commemorate the people who lost their lives. Also, fighting as a gladiator to the death was a way for slaves to be freed. If they won, they were free. I also found it interesting that the games were a sort of political propaganda for the emperor who wanted to make the citizens feel like they had power as the sort of "god" of the games. The emperor had the opportunity to give mercy to the gladiators and let them go without dying at any point in the fights. He would put his hand up in a specific gesture that would signify mercy or no mercy. However, he would purposely choose whatever the crowds did not want, then the crowd would shout, and he would change the decision. This of course made the crowd feel as though they had power over all including the emperor and the life or death of the gladiator. Interesting.

To kill some time, we headed to St. Peter in Chains Church which houses Michaelangelo's Moses (a HUGE sculpture of Moses) as well as the supposed chains of Peter when he was imprisoned and the angel came and freed him without the guards taking notice. It was so strange to be in all of these places that are from the Biblical time period. Seeing as the history of the United States is relatively young, it was hard to imagine how long ago all of this took place.

We walked across the stones to Domitian's old palace which now lies in ruins as nothing more than some pillars and half stone walls. This palace in its day was covered completely in marble and was the most beautiful site in all of Rome. Interesting fact about the marble: Domitian was so paranoid of being murdered he had the marble polished daily so that he could see the reflection of any attacker at any moment. Ironic fact: He was killed by his wife. The palace sat on the highest hill for all to admire. However, when the 'Christians' and barbarians entered and conquered Rome, they destroyed everything and took all of the marble for the Vatican City. (Not so surprisingly, the Roman citizens do not have a high opinion of the Vatican City.) Seeing this "palace" reminded me of just how utterly short our time is here, and just how true Christ's words are: "Do not store up your treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven." Domitian's life looks pretty sad from today's point of view.

We ate a crazy little Italian restaurant that wouldn't let us share our food with one another, but we did it anyway. haha! Then we went to an elevator that goes to the top of a building which is the highest point in Rome. We took a look at the city for bit, and then headed to see the Pantheon which is the only building in its time that wasn't destroyed during the invasions. Inside is the painter Raphael's grave.

Oh dear, this blog is getting long. Sorry, I didn't think there was this much to write! Well, to sum up, the following day we went to the Vatican City and saw St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museum, but no Pope. There was a heck of a lot of marble and really expensive artwork (especially for a church to have)! :) My sentiments in leaving the Vatican City: I sometimes wonder if we aren't missing the point of the church when we are storing up our treasures on earth just as much as everyone else.

Well, this was pretty much my three day trip to Rome in a nutshell. I think I only left out a couple of details. haha. If you wanna know more, just comment! :) I will be sure to make the following blogs shorter, so people actually read them and get to the bottom to read things like what I am writing now. haha. Thanks for reading!