Eric’s Journal

I had been to Rome once before, but it is one of those amazing cities you can visit repeatedly. On our first evening there, we did a walk-through of some famous sites such as the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. All of the sites were almost too crowded to be enjoyable, so we didn’t spend very much time at each one. At Trevi, we managed to squeeze our way in just long enough to toss a few coins in with a wish and take one of our patented self-portraits by holding the camera at arm’s length.

We woke early the next morning, pressed ourselves onto a rush-hour metro car, and stood in line for the Vatican Museum. Despite being there before it opened, we had to wait for two hours in a line that wrapped around the fortified walls of the holy city. The Vatican Museum has an an impressive collection of religious art and Greek/Roman sculptures, but everyone is really there for the Sistine Chapel. After passing through room after room of paintings, tapestries, and maps, you first enter the Papal apartments that were painted by Raphael. My personal favorite fresco there is The School of Athens. A few corridors later and you enter in the Sistine Chapel, packed with tourists standing shoulder to shoulder and bending their necks back to look at the ceiling. The ceiling fresco by Michelangelo is easily one of the most impressive and awe-inspiring works of art in Europe, though I personally consider The Last Judgment, painted on the wall 20 years later by Michelangelo, to be more powerful and thought provoking. I was also impressed that the museum guards made a strong effort to keep the tourists from taking photos, unlike the museum guards in the Louvre.

After a really bad lunch in a touristy restaurant nearby, we returned to visit the basilica of San Pietro, which is the largest Catholic Church in the world (though I read that there is a replica of San Pietro somewhere in Africa that slightly beats it in length). The mosaics here were the most realistic we had seen yet. We then climbed the steps of the dome, which was designed by Michelangelo, to the highest point in Rome. The view was great, but the platform was really crowded.

The next day, our last full day in Europe, we set out to visit the ruins of ancient Rome. We toured through the Coliseum, wandered the ruins of the forum, then explored the rubble of emperors’ palaces on the Palatine Hill. According to Roman legend, Rome began on this hill when Romulus and Remus were found by a she-wolf. For us, it was nearly the end. We then made just a few quick stops by the Victor Emmanuel monument, Trajan’s column, and one more Michelangelo statue, Moses, at the Saint Peter-in-Chains church.

From there, we had one last pasta dinner then headed back to the hotel to pack. Our flight the next morning was pretty much uneventful, which provided many hours to read. After sighting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the window of a bookstore in Venice, we decided to purchase it in Florence. By reading during our train trip and at night, LeAnn had read over half of the final installment in the Harry Potter series, and I had finished a few chapters. Since I was further behind, I got first turn at reading it on the flight, and was able to finish it. LeAnn almost finished it too, but she needed a nap so she had to finish it at home. I don’t want to say too much and risk giving away secrets, but I thought this was by far the most exciting book and the ending certainly did not disappoint (though I am puzzled about a few events in the end).

Oops, I almost forgot this was a post about our Europe trip… We are home now, after 20+ hours of travel from Rome with a layover in Philadelphia. I’ve uploaded 1,400+ pictures to my computer, and now I need to edit the collection down to a more manageable size. Hopefully, I will be able to post some pictures of our adventure in a week or so!

Update: view photos of Rome.

Filed by Eric at 10:23 pm under Europe 2007
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