Ancient Rome: Day 1

Today was an ambitious one and it started early! I woke up around 5:30 and couldn't get over the jetlag so i finally gave up around 6:30 and jumped in the shower. The free breakfast was a giant roll which was just the right amount to get me going. I started walking towards Santa Maria Maggiore which is about four blocks away from my hostel. After buying a romapass (which gets me discounts and free entrance to a couple museums) i walked down to the Imperial forums which were built i think as expansions of the Roman forums by several different Roman emperors. At the end of the strip of ruins was Trajan's column!! It's a good feeling when you know what you're looking at and this was one of the key works in my first art history class at wellesley! it's a pretty cool monument...I just wish I could have gotten closer to watch Trajan conquer the Dacians! After that I walked around Piazza Venezia which has this huge building called the Vittoriano...it's kind of an eyesore. It's huge and marble and just kind of overwhelming. I thought about going up to the top because it's supposed to be a good view but it ended up not being open which was fine. Then I walked up Michelangelo's beautiful steps to piazzo di Campidoglio (which he also designed) and saw a reproduction of the statue of Marcus Aurelius (I recommend reading his 'Meditations' by the way). The real statue is in the Capitolene museums which is right on the piazza. After spending about an hour and a half walking around there I broke down and had to get a cup of coffee in their cafe. It was sooo delicious and gave me the energy to spend another hour exploring the world's oldest national museums. After that I walked down to the Roman forums which were neat. I made the mistake of not getting an audio tour so i didn't really know what i was looking at. I think I need a better guidebook so that I don't have to buy an audio tour in the first place... Anyway, after walking around for a bit, I was exhausted and stopped for lunch at a little place just off the colosseum that my guide book recommended. The pasta I had was absolutely delicious! After that I went back to the Palatine hill and wandered around what used to be Rome's Beverly Hills a very long time ago. The Farnese gardens were beautiful and there were some lovely views of the forum and the rest of the city. After that I went down to the arch of constantine and did a tour of the Colosseum. With my Romapass i managed to skip a line that looked like it would have taken hours. After that I walked up to the Baslica di San Pietro in Vincoli where I was asked to wear this weird cover up because i was wearing shorts. I was the only one! I was so annoyed because there were people with way more disreputable clothes. How do they allow mini skirts and not reasonably long shorts? It reminded me of when we had to wear these funny green capes in a mosque in egypt. Anyway, I didn't realize this until I got there, but the church houses the famous Michelangelo statue of Moses which was very cool. I left the church after about half an hour and wondered through the streets. I stumbled on this adorable little shop that had beautiful vintage tin boxes. I've been looking for a nice box to hold my ticket stubs and other things I accumulate in Italy and London. I fell in love with one but decided it was too expensive. I may go back for it later in the week though! What do you think? Is 40 euros too much for a small tin box? After wandering a bit I started walking all the way to Campo di Fiori. It's a pretty reasonable walk but I got very turned around and had to ask several police officers where to go. Anyway, I eventually made it and found it very charming! I got dinner in a little place right in the middle and while the atmosphere was lively and charming, the service was not great and the pizza was only okay. I think the restaurant gets away with that because tourists are fooled by the great location. Well, I'll try something new tomorrow night! Anyway, I really love the city. Particularly the small pretty streets, the beautiful art and the fact that there are nuns running around everywhere! I think tomorrow I will try to make it to the Vatican so it will be another big day for walking. So far so good!