Brussell's Travels: 2009

Ok, I am going to start this over again. I wrote this big beginning containing a couple paragraphs of our grand entrance into Rome, but this wonderful Italian keyboard I am working with allowed me to hit some magical keyboard combination that took me to a different web page... And poof! my info was gone.. You would think be a tech geek I would have learned to save often!! Ok, enough of this.. on to some good stuff.. hitting Save now.. :)

So.... We landed in Rome!!! Woohoooo! There just is no way to explain how truly exciting it is to sit for 13 hours on a 747, both of us not being able to sleep at all on airplanes in addition to the captain (or whoever) constantly hitting that "ding" alert button for what seemed like every 5 minutes just before they are about ready to make an announcement.. Funny thing is you would see folks jump out of their headrest when it went off. Kind of humorous, except when you are trying to sleep.. :)

We landed in Rome, obviously overdressed as we were both sweating like crazy with our jeans and sweater.. We got off the plane and after 20 minutes of wandering aimlessly for the taxi driver that should have been holding up a sign with our name on it, we bagged that option and started asking locals how to catch the train.. We then jumped on the train to Termini (the heart of Rome) and were next to our hotel within 30 minutes. What was AWESOME was once we got out of the train station, the colosseum was stairing us straight in the face. What an awesome sight!! This was the very beginning of us looking like the biggest tourists every.. I whipped out that camera and shot that colosseum like no other.. But, we had to find out hotel so we left.. After roaming around just a bit we finally found our hotel.. Hotel Paba is what it is called and it could not be in a better location.. Just minutes away from everything we would want to see. Or at least minutes away from a subway that would take us anywhere..

We got into our hotel room and dropped all of our bags and took a big sigh of relief.. Checking things out here and there. So thankful for air conditioning! One thing we noticed is that the beds in Italian hotels are hard as a rock! And so are the pillows.. So, if you are planning a trip here be sure to do your research on this!!

Ok, so here is all that we saw in Rome during our roughly 4 day stay there:

Colosseum: This is just awesome! The whole time you cannot help but think about the movie Gladiator. This place is just massive and impresses easily as you get to know more about how it was engineered. We learned that this dude Vespasian was in charge of building it. He was a General in the Roman army. Although it was built about 2k years ago it is still able to give you a good idea of how it was used. We took an audio guided tour throughout the place, learning everything from the different events that took place in here (gladiator fights, slave and prisoner events having to battle different animals including lions, leopards, panthers, and bears). Funny thing was that if the dude fighting in the arena was starting to do well (defeating the animals or whoever or whatever he was fighting) they would open up a trap door in the floor of the colosseum and just let loose dozens of bears.. Kind of humorous once you initially hear that, but then your imagination thinks about this fighter must have been having an accident in his shorts having to run from them. We got tons of pictures too which we will post eventually.

Forum and Palatine: This was pretty cool to see. This was pretty much where the daily grind would happen for common folk and politicians. There were several temples where commoners would worship. Also we walked into the building where the Roman Senate would meet to discuss laws and issues going on in the city. What is intersting is that this is not where Ceasar was assassinated.. This building was under construction and the Senate was meeting across town temporarily.

Prison that held Peter and Paul: So this was really cool. This is where Peter was taken when he was a prisoner in Rome. We walked into this dark, ugly, prison where you see a sewer like manhole. This is where prisoners would get dropped in and stay. Peter was dropped in here and we got to see where that was. Funny thing is that there are stairs close to this so not sure why they were not used to take the prisoners there but in any case we went down there and it was definitely not the type of place you would want to stay for any length of time. It really gave us a new perspective to see what Peter went through for his Christ!!

Pantheon: There are several reasons why this was cool. First, Raphael was buried here. This dude was only 37 years old when he died. Seems so strange given how much he did during his lifetime. Also, the first King of Italy (sometime in the 1800s, King Emmanuel) was also buried here. Another thing was the engineering of this place (gonna get nerdy for a minute). This place was very symettrically sound. The dome is exactly a half sphere, you could place a 142 foot in diameter sized ball in there and it would fit perfectly. At the widest point of the dome, the concrete is 23 feet thick as to where at the top it is only 5 feet thick. Also, there is a pattern all around the inside of the dome where large squares of concrete were purposely taken out as to make the dome itself lighter while not compromising the strength of the dome. Also, there was a large hole at the top of the dome that is built into it. So, when it rains, it all comes into the Pantheon.. What was also cool was the sun shining right through the hole in the dome so you could see this cool ray of light in a specific spot inside the building, making a perfect place for a picture.. which we took! you will see later

Vatican: This was pretty cool, but I feel that it would have been cooler had I more patience and appreciation for art. This place is decorated ALL OVER with different paintings on the interior. Of course, what most people go here for is the Sistine Chapel. It is quite the trek to finally get there, miles of walking inside the Vatican just to finally arrive here (this place is freaking huge!). There is no doubt about it, Michaelangelo is a stud! The Sistine Chapel was an awesome sight and overwhelming really. Looking at a work of art that I know took several years in the making makes me think there is no way in the world I could ever do this. It is awesome to see how much thought went into it too. He basically told the story of man one huge ceiling. What is funny is that when you enter the chapel they say no pictures and no video. There is even guards there making sure people are not violating this. But, EVERYONE is taking pictures and using their flash. As if the guards and signs are note even there!! So, what would you do? What did we do? We busted that camera out and shot that Sistine Chapel!!
St. Peters Basilica (church): It really solidifes your personal faith when you see for yourself a place where important people were 2k years ago. It was very interesting to see where Peter was buried, pretty much under one of the most grand and decorated pieces of art. What is also interesting is very close to this is the area where he was crucified, upside down! He wanted to be crucified upside down because he felt he was not worthy to be crucified in the same way as Christ. Faithful dude.. We also took the elevator to the very top of this church which oversees all of Rome. What is also interesting is that Michealangelo designed this dome. We took a very long windy set of steps to get to the top of the dome after the elevator brought us up most of the way. What is also interesting is there is no other building in Rome taller than the Vatican. This is the law in Rome. Oh, another thing too.. There are NO shorts allowed in St. Peters church and everyone has to cover their shoulders. However, tons of folks were wearing shorts, so whatever. But, Brecken was stopped by a guard because she was wearing a tank top.. She had to quickly put her sweater on in order to reenter the church. It is actually great to see the respect that still exists for this place.