somas see italy: rome *pt 1*

I could sugarcoat Rome.  I mean, where else do you literally run into ancient ruins around every turn?  The Coliseum, Roman Forum, and Palentine Hill, along with the Vatican, Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, Spanish Steps, Pantheon and Tivoli Fountain…  these are once in a lifetime things to see that only Rome affords you.  But, as you can tell, I have a buuttt coming.  We loved the things we came to see, our checklists runneth over, you could say.  Yet, we had a really hard time there.  The pace of the city, its people and traffic, is unsettling and I longed for some sort understanding between us and everyone else.  We had a couple major culturally naive moments that really got us into tizzies, like not knowing restaurants suddenly close for siesta time from 6-8pm and that you’ll be called out and persecuted (ok, not persecuted but humiliated) if you dare sit on a stair and open a map at the Victor Emmanuelle monument.  And if you were hoping to see the Vatican Museum and then exit, eventually, good luck, it’s a winding maze that we took for four hours until departing; that actually turned out to be a blessing, because we ended up viewing the Sistine Chapel twice!  Overall, I just got the feeling that we were inconveniencing everyone, or maybe being a guilt-ridden Midwesterner, I projected this in some way.  We tried to take solace in our hotel room, find maybe a little English on the TV… and what was the only thing we could find in English?  Hahaha, the Jersey Shore.  Sad.  We definitely hit a low in Rome, but I think we wallowed a little bit too long; we missed home and Rome just wasn’t as accommodating as we had ideally hoped for.  But there’s a saying for all of this, that we clearly overlooked!  “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”  We didn’t.  I regret not trying harder on this point.  No, I wasn’t about to take up chain smoking, wear Adidas shoes and sun myself too much, but I could’ve learned more Italian, understood when they eat and their perspective on the annoyingly constant stream of tourists they have to deal with.

Anyway, contrary to my rant, we did have some really great moments in Rome.  Because, common, it's Rome for heavens sake!  Here they are, documented!

 {theme of trip: old & important stuff... broken up.}

 {theme of trip #2: m impersonating ceasar, quite impressively i might add.}

  {hello pantheon!  i've dreamt of you!}


The Pantheon really puts life into perspective.  This one building has been in continual use for 2,000 years.  When its revolutionary design was constructed, Romans were still worshipping pagan gods and wearing sheets.  Wow!

  {the eye to the sky}

  {neato architecture}

  {trevi fountain!  are we in a movie?}

  {throw a coin in to have successful marriage & return to rome.  check.}

  {spanish steps!  & people!}

  {back at it!}

  {i'll run over you, trust me!}

  {piazza navona}

  {why hello.}

 {umbrella trees!}

 {hello you, pope.}

 

  {hello michelangelo.  you done good.}

  {impressive.  even the sun thinks so!!!}

  {once you enter, you'll never get out!}

  {where is the fig leaf?}

  {raphael's rooms!}

  {school of athens!!!  whaaaattt??}

  {uncanny.}

 {again, uncanny!}

See part 2 for more excitement;)