When in Rome

This post will be pictures of our first day in Rome. Boy did we do a ton of walking! We took a bus into town from the airport and then we tried to check into our hostel to hopefully take a nap because of our early morning. We went to our hostel, only to find out that we couldn't check in until 2pm. We got a bite to eat and then got started site seeing. Some of these pictures I really don't know what they are, they just look neat. We walked around until 5pm I think! It was a long day but we certainly got lots of exercise. My dinner never tasted so good. 

 Some cool ruins I saw on the bus ride into town.

 Entering the city....here we go!!

 The coolest thing about Rome was all the Christian history. I think that this is a church. Everything is so old!!

 Walking through the train station. This picture was not staged at all...haha

 Mopeds and motorcycles everywhere!!

 The sight seeing begins!

I will be borrowing some information for Wikipedia for some of these pictures... Santa Maria Maggiore. Santa Maria Maggiore ( Latin : Sanctae Mariae Maior , dt : Great Saint Mary's ) is one of the four patriarchal basilicas of Rome and one of the seven pilgrimage churches . 

 Just walking the streets of Rome. It was cool because it was just so different, but really pretty dirty.

 I love the way this ivy looks growing on old buildings.

 We climbed up a ton of stairs through this tunnel to see....

 ...this. It didn't look like much on the outside, and we nearly didn't waste time going inside. I'm glad we did! This and the pictures that follow are in St. Pietro in Vicoli. The Basilica of Saint Peter in Chains ( Latin : Sancti Petri ad Vincula , dt : St. Peter in Chains ) is located on the Esquiline Hill near the Colosseum in Rome and is called The Church of the Roman Catholic Church .

 Everything has so much detail. Beautiful paintings everywhere, even on the ceiling. I wish I knew more about art.

 View of the front of the church.

 The sides are lined with tombs and pretty morbid (to me anyway) art above.

 Like this for example...These two skeletons are holding  picture of this guy. Weird. What is that about?

 I wish it wasn't so dark, but this is the the front of the church up close.

 Now this was for sure the coolest thing in here. This is was done by Michelangelo!! It is the tomb for Pope Julius II.

More cool ceiling pictures.












The below picture is awesome. I didn't know what it was at the time. I just looked on wikipedia which said.... Decisive name for the church are the chains (lat / it. Vincoli ), which are kept in a glass container under the altar. They are revered by pilgrims as those with whomPeter was shackled in Jerusalem until his miraculous deliverance ( Acts 12,6.7 EU ), and at the same time as those which he in prison Mamertine wore in Rome.

 Ok now for the stuff everyone knows about. The Colosseum!!!!

 I couldn't believe how big and how old it is. To imagine how many people it took to build this, and how long is just unbelievable.

 Me and two other girls on the trip. Far left Beth, and middle Aubrey.

 Just me in front of something I've only ever seen in textbooks.

 Lots of pictures inside. I don't think any explanation is necessary. Just look...it's amazing.

 The Arch of Constantine (Italian: Arco di Costantino) is a triumphal arch in Rome, situated between the Colosseum and thePalatine Hill. It was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312. Dedicated in 315, it is the latest of the existing triumphal arches in Rome, from which it differs by spolia, the extensive re-use of parts of earlier buildings.

 I went to a balcony of the Coliseum and saw this view. Then I went back inside for more pictures! 

 Aggie pride even in Rome. This was etched into a Coliseum wall.

While we waited for our tour of the Palatine hill, the boys messed with Pigeons.






 

The above is the entrance to the Palatine Hill. On the left we have our tour guide and a Roman soldier! He explained his armor and that the Romans had the first professional army. Below is the inside of the Palatine hill entrance.

The arch of Titus. It was constructed in c.82 AD by the Roman Emperor Domitian shortly after the death of his older brother Titus to commemorate Titus' victories, including in the Siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD. 


I liked this because it is an example of biblical history in ancient architecture. I believe there is a scene on this arch of the Romans carrying off spoils of Jerusalem including the arc of the Covenant. 

 Our tour guide was so good. He was supposed to give a 30 minute tour, but he really cared about the history and so we got an awesome 3 hour tour. I wish I could write everything he said but I definitely can't remember it all! Hearing the history really added to all that we were seeing.

 He said that the Romans built their palaces on the Palatine hill, and eventually they had to add on land to the side of the hill so they could keep building their palaces.

 Below is the Roman Forum, where all the decisions and laws of the Roman Empire would have been made. the building on the right is the Roman Senate.

Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele. The Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II ( Italian ; dt: National Monument to Victor Emmanuel II ) is the National Monument inRome , the founding of the Italian government movement in the first half of the 19th Century, the Risorgimento (Museum, Monument), and the first king of the newly formed Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II , from the House of Savoy is dedicated.

 Statues of the Vestal Virgins of Rome.

A look back over all that we had seen....so much!

 Me in front of "The white marble Arch of Septimius Severus (Italian: Arco di Settimio Severo) at the northeast end of the Roman Forum is a triumphal archdedicated in AD 203 to commemorate the Parthian victories of Emperor Septimius Severus and his two sons, Caracalla and Geta, in the two campaigns against the Parthians of 194/195 and 197-199."

 Heath, Andrew, and Mark making the Italian flag.

 Another view of the arch.

View up close of the Monumento Vittorio Emanuele II, and that was all of the sight seeing for day one. We finished all of this by about 5pm. We walked a long way back to our hostel where we just relaxed for a little bit before going to dinner. Me and my two roommates went to a nicer sit-down Italian restaurant with a pasta, side-dish, and dessert. I told the waiter I wanted that combination and that I didn't care what it was...I just wanted what he recommended. He said that in Italy they eat how they feel, and he asked me how I felt. I said, "Tired and hungry." He recommended the Tortellini. I got spinach for the side dish upon his recommendation, and he said he had just the dessert for me, but it was a surprise. He brought me a cooked creme. It was like a flan I guess with chocolate sauce. Very good. After dinner we went back to our rooms and showered. I was out by 7pm and I slept until 9pm the next morning. That's all for this post. The second day will be posted tomorrow. I'm going to bed!