Heart of Rome Tour

We woke up on Saturday morning and made some breakfast, eager to get going with our planned self-guided tour. We planned to hit all the big spots and some not so well-known ones in between: Campo De' Fiori, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps (again!) and then some others. Not really knowing where we were going, we hopped on the 62 bus and hoped that we would recognize Campo De' Fiori from the time we had been to the Drunken Ship. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the area, popular among American students abroad at night, is also a very meaningful and historical area.

We were the definition of tourists. As we sat at the bus stop, I read from the Rick Steves' book that we had brought about the history of our first destination. Campo de' Fiori is home to one of the biggest markets in Rome during the day. It was awesome. They were selling all kinds of pasta and spices and truffle oils and clothing and hats. I wanted to buy some spices, but they sold them in such huge amounts that I thought I would end up wasting it all, especially because I wanted multiple kinds. Surrounding the market square were all these amazing restaurants. Everyone was sitting outside, and often times they had these big fires to bring heat under the tents where people were eating. In the center of the piazza is the statue of Giordano Bruno. I read Dante's Inferno in Civ, but I forgot that he had been in it until Alex mentioned it. He is one of the most famous heretics in Italy. He was burned on the spot where his statue stands in 1600, and his outspokenness led him to flee Italy and join (and eventually be excommunicated from) groups such as the Calvinists in Geneva and Lutherans in Germany. His writings  apparently could reach ridiculousness, and he was famous for claiming that he had found the "Great Key" to training the human memory. He was very aware of the scientific ideas coming out, and supported the Copernican view of the earth revolving around the sun. No one really knows what happened to him when he was captured by the Inquisition and sent to prison for six years, but he was probably tortured for some time. According to the Rick Steves' book, after his sentence of death by fire was announced, he stated, "Perhaps you who pronounce this sentence are more fearful than I who receive it," and pushed away the crucifix that was offered to him in his final moments. Apparently in 1889, when the statue was erected, there were huge riots in the square, and the square has remained a place for political demonstrations and free-spirits. I also thought it was interesting the the statue purposely faces the Vatican, Bruno's enemy.

Piazza Novana

We moved on up the street up to the Piazza Navona, which had been an old racetrack in 80 AD. The huge fountain in the middle is called the Four Rivers Fountain by Bernini which represent the four continents that were known by 1650. Apparently, one of the river gods is supposedly said to be gazing up at the Church of St. Agnes in disgust. The church was created by his former student Borromini, who later became Bernini's enemy. I guess that's more of a conspiracy theory, considering the church was created two years later. Apparently, there's a huge nightlife scene here, which I couldn't really picture during the day.

the Pantheon

Next we walked over to the Pantheon, only a few minutes away. At first I was almost disappointed, because it seemed smaller than I had pictured. However, when you stood back from it, I realized how impressive it looked among the newer buildings surrounding it (well, relatively new). It was cool how much had been built up around it, but this monument of the past was still standing, and had not been changed from the outside. The domed room in the Pantheon was the inspiration for St. Peter's Basilica and the Duomo in Florence, and even the U.S. Capitol Building.

domed ceiling

The Pantheon was dedicated to all of the Roman gods. The original one was built by Marcus Agrippa in 27 B.C., and then after a serious of fires and damages, it was redone by Emperor Hadrian in 120 A.D. Because Hadrian was considered a Grecophile (he was obsessed with Greek philosophers so he even grew a beard to look like them), he made the portico in Greek style. All of the granite is from Egypt.
The dome ceiling was the first thing I noticed walking in, once I got through the huge entranceway. Apparently it is one of the biggest mathematical feats in engineering. Before the fall of Rome, anyone could go to the Pantheon to worship any of the gods, and where the Christian altar stands now was once the place where a giant statue of Jupiter, King of the Gods, stood. This made sure that the building was preserved and not destroyed in the Dark Ages. When we got to the altar, we realized that there were containers that had relics of saints in them. I wish we could've seen them, but I can't decide if that's kind of gross or not.

Raphael's tomb

After checking out the altar, we found the tomb of the artist Raphael, which had a statue of Madonna and Child that he had commissioned himself for his tomb. The quote on it reads, "In life, Nature feared to be outdone by him. In death, she feared she too would die." I wonder if he said this himself?
Near Raphael's tomb lies the tombs of the first two modern kings of Italy of the controversial Savoy family. The son, Umberto I, married Queen Margherita, and her tomb lies underneath his. The Margherita Pizza was named for her. There was this tiny little lady guard standing in front of their tombs (I don't know how she was guarding) but she had a book where you could sign for support of the Savoys.

Katherine and I outside the Patheon

The Savoys (Savoia family), are some of the most controversial royals in history. They ruled from 1870 until WWII, and in 1946, they were all exiled until 2002. No male Savoia could set foot on Italian soil until then. Why? They did some reeeaaally stupid stuff.
1. King Victor Emmanuel III asked Mussolini to form a government after Mussolini marched on Rome in 1922. Someone needed some help...
2. Mussolini was famous for issuing anti-semitic laws. Guess who signed them into law? The Savoy king.
3. When the Nazis took over Rome in 1943, the king actually abandoned Rome for Allied protection.
4. Apparently, even the most recent Savoy heirs are still saying stupid things, and supporting the anti-semitic stances their ancestors supported.
5. In 2002, they came back to Italy, and they visited the pope instead of the Italian president.
6. Lastly, they are one of the wealthiest families in the world in Switzerland, but they still complain for more repatriations from Italy (up to $260 million "because of their exile").
I didn't really know people still got exiled like that, and I couldn't believe that they literally were not allowed in Italy until I was 10 years old. That seems so recent! Maybe this is naive or stupid, but I didn't realize the people actually still got exiled in the western world.

Making a wish!

We finished up at the Pantheon (there were so many things that we still need to check out in the building!) and headed up to the Trevi Fountain, probably one of the most famous symbols of Rome. We came around the side of it, and I was both surprised at how huge the fountain actually was, and how small the surrounding square was. I always pictured a ton of steps leading up to it, but there really wasn't a ton of room. There are also no streets with cars on them near the fountain at all. You can really only walk up to it through various piazzas.
Obviously we dug for some coins, and all posed and made our wishes. Throwing a coin not only represents a wish, but apparently ensures that you will return to Rome someday. Unfortunately, I got a little too excited to throw my coin over my shoulder for the picture and forgot to make a wish the first time.. oops. When I looked back in my purse, I had quite a few coins, but realized they were all worth way more than 25 cents. I'm not gonna lie, I panicked a little, knowing that I had to make a wish in the Trevi Fountain and that I might have to use a 2 Euro coin up (nooo! what a waste of two cappuccinos for a broke college girl!). Luckily, just when I was about to sacrifice one for the sake of tradition, one of the girls donated an American penny my way, and I made a real wish.

We were absolutely starving by that point, so we sacrificed our cheapness and went into one of the touristy sandwich places next to the Fountain. Weirdly, the sandwiches were only 4 euros (not bad, considering that ends up being less than a typical Panera sandwich). The drinks were where they killed ya though. Some sodas were four euros, and the water bottles were 3 euros. It was fun though. We sat on the wall of the Trevi Fountain and ate our sandwiches, spying on a model photo shoot that was happening there. I still have yet to figure out what that was for.

We headed over to the Spanish Steps (for the second time in less than 24 hours) and explored the street that had all kinds of amazing shops. While we were standing outside of Cartier, Danielle all the sudden walked up to this man on the sidewalk near us and went, "Excuse me, are you an actor?" He smiled and said yes, and she pretty much died, though she was very polite. She asked me to take a picture of them (I still had no idea who he was), and he stood and talked to us for a little. She was said that she loved his show, and that she was really excited for the next season. He laughed and joked that he wasn't as excited, considering he wasn't in it anymore. I guess he got killed off in the last episode this year?

Danielle and David Harewood!

When he walked away, we still had no idea who he was, and she said that he was David Harewood from Homeland. He was really nice, and had said something about working in Rome. We later found out that he's filming a movie with Liam Neeson, Mila Kunis and Olivia Wilde. Gotta find out where they're shooting...

We finally got home and decided to go to the Gran Sasso, which is right across the street from our place. It is a family-type restaurant, so we expected no one to speak English. The man at the front didn't really understand what we were saying at first, but then another man came up and helped us. We met up with some friends and ended up splitting a bunch of pizza and orders of bruschetta- super good. We decided it would be our new place; whenever we don't feel like making dinner or the weather's bad, we're going there!

We walked over to the boys' apartment after, and all took a cab to a club. We were so confused when we realized that it was closed (on a Saturday night?!), so we ended up hopping in a cab and heading over to a club called White. Ironically, this was the place that we had gotten gelato. When we walked in, we passed all of the counters that held gelato and treats during the day, and were empty now. Downstairs, the club was all white, and some of the music was American. We ended up leaving really late and took a cab home in the rain.

When we got home, I realized that the score of the Ravens/Broncos playoff game would be available now- Ravens won! After making Peter feel bad about his team, we headed off to bed.