Rome

Pepperdine gives us about three days and a weekend off called travel break, which most of the students use to travel farther than we normally could. I decided before the year began that the two things on my  "have to" list were Rome and Paris. I decided to spend my travel break in Rome. I really wanted to do more than just Rome, but  we could find plenty to do in Rome. To try and fit in three Italian cities in three days would be to miss a lot of what the cities have to offer.
So I went to Rome with two other people, and we had a great time. I have to say that planning out all of the travel and worrying that I'd forgotten my passport stressed me out quite a bit, but I can happily say that we survived.
We had two full days and two half days to spend in Rome, and we walked our feet off seeing as much as possible. When we got to the city at around noon we spent some time trying to figure out public transportation and I had a panic attack when I couldn't find the Air BandB, but we did eventually find the charming little apartment. We spent the rest of the evening exploring a large part of the city and walking into history around every corner.

Day 1
The first thing we went to see were the Spanish Steps and we were a bit dismayed to find them under construction. These steps are normally filled with people and not blocked by fences. A bit of trivia for you, the top window of the yellow building on the right (the one nearest the edge of the picture) is the place where the poet John Keats died. There is a museum there dedicated to Keats, Percy and Shelley that cost about 5 euros to enter, which we didn't want to pay. I came very close to sneaking in and made it to the second floor before getting caught, but for a second I got the same view or Rome Keats did for the last part of his life.
The next thing we went to see was the Trevi Fountain. I didn't know what to expect when I saw this, but I was not expecting it to be as big as it was. The legend of the fountain says that if you throw a coin into the fountainvover your shoulder, you will return to Rome one day. Fingers crossed. We hung out at this fountain for about an hour, watched the sun set and the lights turn on, ate our first Italian gelato, and watched a lot of tourists take thousands of selfies.





Next we went to see the Pantheon. What's cool about Rome is that all of the huge historic sites are only a few steps away from each other and there are Piazzas, huge statues, and monuments on every block. It really is incredible just to walk around this city. The Patheon is a building that has been used as a church or a really long time and is one of the best preserved Ancient Roman buildings. When we visited, there was a guy playing "Hey Jude" on the guitar, which made me extremely happy. The inside of this building is also incredible, but difficult to see in a picture. It's one big, circular room with a huge dome. I'll leave it to your imagination

We spent the rest of the evening exploring the city for as long as our feet would carry us. There are a lot of piazza's in Rom, like this one called Piazza Navona, that are good places for shopping and eating.











Day 2
This is the day we spent in the Vatican City. We started at the Musem and spent most of our day here because it was absolutely the most amazing thing I've seen. I really didn't know what to expect when I walked into that museum. I knew I was going to see the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael Rooms, but... Wow. It was all so incredible and I have way too many pictures from that day. There were a lot of incredible paintings and sculptures and I wish I knew more about all the art I saw. I'm just going to share a few pictures of some of my favorites, but it will not include the Sistine Chapel, as we weren't allowed to take photos.        


After that, we were pretty exhausted so we fueled up with some gelato and headed to Saint Peter's Basilica. I'm not Catholic, so really elaborate churches are not something I'm familiar with. However, I can say that after seeing St. Peter's, I think I can understand why these places exist. I walked into just the outside and nearly lost my breath because it was so amazing. The outside was set up with a lot of chairs because, not surprisingly, A LOT of people attend Mass there. We spent a lot of time just hanging out in this place, enjoying the nice day and the beautiful view, then finally went inside.









It's impossible to capture in a picture how awestruck this place made me feel. There was a lot of incredible art, and the place made my stomach sick with how large it was. I have a weird thing where I get nervous when I look up at really high things. I imagine it all coming crashing down and I definitely had that feeling here. I was shocked with how big this church was. It really reflects the immensity of God and makes you think about how powerful he is.

This is Michaelangelo's Pieta, one of my favorite statues, which depicts Mary holding Christ after he has been crucified. It holds a lot of emotion, and it moves me every time I see it. I did not know that this statue was here, and it was a pleasant surprise to see it in Saint Peter's.














The last thing we did that day was to climb to the top of the Dome and watch the sunset. It was amazing and I will let this picture speak for itself.

Day 3

On our last full day, we went to see the Ruins and a few more monuments. We started with the Colosseum, which was very cool, but I have to say that the most exciting part of the Colosseum is the outside of it. It was incredibly nice that day and there were very few people there, so we got to go in almost immediately. Rome is really nice in the fall, as there are not as many people there and the weather is great. 

I took this picture from above the Roman Forum, which is really a fun place to walk around because you get to see what it was like way back in the day. Below are the pictures of the Mouth of Truth and the Altare della Patria. The Legend of the Mouth of Truth is that if you are a lier and put your hand into the mouth, it will be bitten off. I still have my hand if you're wondering. 

Day 4

We didn't have a lot of time on this day, as our bus to the airport left around noon and in light of the Paris attacks, I wanted to give us plenty of time to get through security. So, we went to see this guy. This is Bernini's David, which we talked about in Humanities class that year. He can be found at the Galleria Borghese, and he's just a really cool version of David and seems very Biblical and realistic. After that, we made our way back to Termini Station and headed back London. 

This was a brilliant, stressful, overwhelming, and amazing trip. I hope the legend is true and that because I threw a coin into the Trevi Fountain I will return someday. 

Cheers, 

Sarah