Week Four (ii) - Bella Roma! Architecture, History, and Food

Th 31.1.13:
Arose early to (once again) write my German journals, and after a German politics lesson, I went to the bank (ATMs are scary when they're only in German!) and grocery store with Sherri, returning with a lunch of bread and cheese and apples and peppers. Attempts to work on E40 were easily dashed when the field in front of the center began calling us to play football - Kennan, Nish, and Iqbal squared off against Shane, Anna, and me, with Spencer joining as an all-time offense, and we had several fun drives :)
After discussing climate change in Econ, we suffered through a three-hour lab in E40, ending at 10:15pm... and then Susan, Molly, Shane, Iqbal, and I needed to finalize our Rome plans! Since Susan, Molly, and I would be staying together (we booked after Shane and Iqbal), and wanted to see everything possible in Rome, we researched sights and finalized our itinerary around 2, when we were evicted from the center and took various night buses home to begin packing.

Also, the week's favorite E40 quotes:
"There's a stapler upstairs" - Shane, as we prepared to turn in our homework
"Wait, what do you mean??" - Iqbal... uhh what else could Shane have meant? Hahaha

"You're going to Amsterdam? Are you going to the coffee shops?" - Timur, what a perfect troll :)

Fri 1.2.13:
We made it in time to the airport, although I passed out even before take-off on the flight to Rome. After some minor bus issues (Shane and Iqbal got on one, which was then full, so Susan, Molly, and I had to refund our tickets and get an earlier, different bus) we arrived in the city center. On the drive in, I was surprised at how undeveloped the region around the Fiumicino airport was, but as we approached the center we could definitely sense the history and culture. Our hostel was conveniently situated a block from the main Termini station, so we dropped our bags and around 2:30 set out on our itinerary to see all of the things!

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

One of the Naiads

We walked down the street to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, built in the 5th century and the largest Roman Catholic Marian church in Rome, past the Piazza del Viminale, and onto the main Piazza della Repubblica. We hazarded the Rome traffic to approach the Fountain of the Naiads at the center, and sighted the Basilica Maria degli Angeli across the piazza. Next up we passed by the Palazzo delle Esposizioni and another, smaller museum that seemed to be constructed in some ruins - very cool! - on our way to the Spanish Steps. We eventually arrived at Trajan's Column, and the gorgeous weather offered beautifully illuminated views of the tower and surrounding area. We progressed 100m along the street to another majestic monument (Monumento alla Vittorio Emanuele II) and goggled at its beauty - immense statues, a guard over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a pair of Eternal Flames, and massive bas-reliefs on each corner each weighing 50 tons! - and the views it afforded from the roof. We really lucked out with weather on this entire trip - not only did the blue skies make for gorgeous photos, they also allowed us to see the Colosseum, the Vatican, and numerous other cathedrals from the roof.

Attempting to be artsy at the Monumento

Alongside the Fora Traiano

Columna Traiano

Part of the Roman Forum and - the Colosseum!

Once we had had our fill of viewing Rome from above, we returned to the front of the Monumento and began navigating to the Trevi Fountain. However! Our itinerary had us visiting the Spanish Steps prior to the Trevi Fountain, but somewhere we had taken a wrong turn and we wound up at the Monumento alla Vittorio Emanuele II instead. Of course, none of us had had the foresight to look up what the Spanish Steps looked like, so we essentially traversed the entire Monumento, wondering why the 'Spanish Steps' seemed to have a lot of Italian influence... hahaha. In any case, the Monumento is forever now known to us as the 'Not-Spanish Steps.'

Molly, Susan, and I

Anyway, we successfully reoriented ourselves and found the Trevi Fountain. Despite the distraction of hundreds of tourists milling around, I was fascinated by the artistry of the fountain; such intricate sculptures and architecture, offset by the cerulean of the sky mirrored in the fountain below, was simply breathtaking.
We got some gelato to complete the picturesque Italian experience (we'd been there 5 whole hours without any!) - hazelnut (my favorite), tiramisu, kiwi, and blackberry - which we savored while listening to the soothing flow of water and enjoying the warm air.

Trevi Fountain - one of the most beautiful sights in Rome

Next stop: the actual Spanish Steps! We arrived just as dusk set in, making for beautifully backlit photos of the steps themselves, the surrounding streets, and us with the Italian Carabinieri (police). We paused a few minutes at the top of the steps to gaze out across the city. I like Rome (and Istanbul) because its layout - flat with a few elevated points - allows for great panoramic views, day and night, that are absolutely gorgeous.

After a brief stopover in the Rome Disney Store (cute kid costumes! and hilarious Roman-style plaques of Goofy and Donald Duck romanized with oak laurels and togas), we found the Palazzo Montecitorio, an old Italian palace and currently one of the Houses of Parliament. It was impressive, but we were much more interested in the nearby Pantheon. I was surprised that the Pantheon is set very unassumingly in a small square away from the main traffic, but it was just as regal from the outside as I expected - tall, ancient columns with an illuminated interior beckoning one in for a glimpse of the gilded walls, arching rotunda, and religious artwork and tombs.

Modeling in front of my store!

In the Roman Disney store :D

Within the Pantheon!

After eating our fill with our eyes, we passed the Palazzo Madama - the Italian Senate building - en route to the Piazza Navona, a stadium-like city plaza (constructed in the 1st century CE!) with numerous street artists, fancy-schmancy restaurants, and - but of course - artistic sculptures and fountains. As we wandered the streets in search of a particular garage-turned-cafe with free food apparently, we were amused as each restaurant would try to entice us inside with offers of free champagne. The place we had in mind was closed, so we ended up sharing some crostini (drenched in olive oil - I actually had to wring mine out), a pizza capricciosa (ham, salami, mushrooms, olives), a gnocchi with red sauce, and a tortellini in cream sauce that were all pretty respectable but not fantastic. We have perfected the triangle dish rotation though!
Onwards! En route to Campo di Fiori (another plaza), we found several more apertivo bars that we promised to return to tomorrow, but most importantly we discovered Il Fornaio, an amazing bakery with all things delicious. Not willing to pass up the opportunity, I selected a black cherry almond torte - nomnomnomnomnom :) Also, this street had two Blue Ice gelato stores barely 100m from each other - interesting business model haha. Notably, however, we had observed some 5kg Nutella jars throughout the day, but here we found one as large as Susan's stomach (not even joking - pictures to come) that must've been at least 15kg! We continued through the plaza and past the Palazzo Farnese to the Tiber river, admiring the views from the numerous bridges - Ponte Sisto, Garibaldi, and Cestio.
On the way back, we chanced upon the Portico d'Ottavio, an ancient structure from ~27 BCE (!), closed for restoration but we got some pretty photos nonetheless. We also passed the Largo di Torre Argentina / Area Sacra, consisting of the remains of four Roman temples and the believed site of Caesar's assassination. Nearby was the Teatro Argentina opera house from the 18th century. We trudged back and tiredly collapsed on our beds; nonetheless, Susan and I stayed awake - motivated by XKCD comics and my remaining Turkish baklava - to plan our itinerary for tomorrow, which includes the Vatican!

Near Trajan's Column

Seagulls were straight up modeling for the photographer
And this one nearly hit our heads as it flew away

Other random thoughts for the day:
Our footwear is atypical for Rome, I suppose - everyone is surprised by Susan's and my flip-flops, but Molly's Vibram Five-Fingers actually provoke conversation (and, in one case, earned her calves a feeling-up... very awkward).
Several waiters, upon seeing Susan, mentioned "Oppa Gangnam Style" - definitely *not* racial profiling...
In terms of seeing things even when tired, eating scrumptious food even when full, or just generally doing things we wouldn't normally, our catchphrase for the trip has become "When in Rome..." thus justifying any action :)