Rachel's Adventures in Rome!: The first few days

Ciao! I am spending the spring term of my senior year at Carleton College in Rome on a Medieval and Renaissance history program. I will use this blog as my travel journal, sharing my adventures, meals, and lots of pictures! I will tell you about the same things I might in a letter, but this way I can use visual aids!

I have now been in Rome for four full days, and am starting to settle in quite nicely. So far, it's been a whirlwind of city sites, lots of walking, and good food! On our very first day we went to the local villa where we will be having classes for orientation. We were treated to a welcome lunch at a restaurant in on the grounds of Mussolini's summer villa (which has since been turned into a park). We ate and chatted for several hours, and the food just kept flowing. This was an important day because I had my first espresso of the trip!

Mussolini's summer villa (now a park)

The next day we took our first trip into downtown Rome! Several of us headed down early and grabbed lunch to go at a bakery. I had a slice of focaccia bread with grilled vegetables. During our two hour walking tour we crisscrossed the narrow cobblestone streets, taking in the sites of the Eternal City along with many other (mostly European) tourists. We saw the spectacular capitol building, a monument to Victor Emmanuel, who in 1861 became the first king of a unified Italy since the 6th century. We also saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the site of Caesar's murder. Finally, we stopped for gelato in Campo di Fiori! I had a combination of chocolate and nocciola (hazelnut). Yum! This walking tour was especially interesting because it gave our first sense of Rome as a city of layers. Modern Rome was built on top of ancient Rome, and modern shops inhabit old and beautiful buildings. There were places that had been excavated, and we were able to see columns and ruins going down to the original street level. I really had the sense that I was standing on history, and I could feel the blending of old and new all around me.

Monument to Victor Emmanuel

Lots of people at the Spanish Steps!

At the top of the Capitol steps--quite a view!

Friday, after our first Italian class with Mario, Noah and I ventured to Villa Borghese via the Metro. Villa Borghese, Rome's second largest public park, is extensive and full of beautiful gardens, fountains, cafes, statues, a lake, a dog park, and a zoo. In 1605, the nephew of Pope Paul V began to the former vineyard into the most extensive gardens built in Rome since Antiquity. In the 19th-century, the garden was re-landscaped in the English style. In 1903, the gardens were officially bought by the commune on Rome and given over to the public. Noah and I explored the gardens for over an hour, ultimately finding our way to the top of the Spanish Steps and then the Piazza del Popolo. My favorite part of our walk was seeing dozens of (talkative) green parrots flying from tree to tree.

Villa Borghese--it's daisy season!

Villa Borghese--one of many fountains

Villa Borghese--the lake

Villa Borghese--a green parrot

Today, we visited the colosseum and Basilica San Clemente. The Colosseum was, of course, amazing! From my trusty guidebook, I learned that the Colosseum once seated 65,000 people, and that because there were 80 different entrances, they could all be seated in a matter of minutes. People were seated based on social status, so senators and other important members of society sat closest to the arena, while the lower classes sat up top. What I found most amazing was that not only did gladiators fight lions in the Colosseum, but it could also be flooded for mock naval battles. How cool is that? Next we walked a few blocks to the Basilica San Clemente (sadly no photos allowed). Here again, you get the sense of the layers of the city, all in one structure. The basilica on the modern-day street level is from the twelfth-century. It's gorgeous--much of the ceiling is covered with a mosaic full of golds and blues. In it, Jesus is depicted with his apostles, and then above the figures, each is depicted as a lamb. Below the twelfth-century basilica is a fourth-century basilica, and below that is a first-century Roman street including rooms used by the Cult of Mithras. Being able to go down into the excavations was amazing, and seeing the way that the city was layered was like looking at a geological formation as new sediment has settled on top of the old while leaving it intact underneath.