Roma and Homa

Again I apologize for the delay in posts – being behind to begin with, recovering from the travel and subsequent sickness, and having a 10 page paper to write for Sports Marketing class has pushed my blogging back. But regardless, I left you on the train to Rome. Due to a fire at a train station outside Rome, we learned through a half Italian, half English conversation with the conductor that we would need to change trains in Orte and reroute into the city. This was not a big deal, and we would still arrive on time, but it meant getting all of our luggage off the train, to a different platform, and onto another train with very little storage space. Despite a few struggles with stairs and some awkward shuffling down train aisles, we eventually arrived at Roma Termini without a hitch.

Let me start off by making it clear that I don’t regret taking any of the weekend trips that I did. Everywhere was a unique, incredible experience – some of which would not be the same if I weren’t on a trip such as this. However, it did squeeze our Rome trip into just a Thursday afternoon and a full day Friday, before having to make our way to the airport Saturday morning to bring the month to a close. I didn’t push harder for a full weekend like I had originally planned for a few reasons: nobody else seemed up to it, three nights in Rome were looking pretty expensive, and a few who had been before assured the rest of us that you didn’t need more than a day to see Rome. Boy, were they wrong…at least in my opinion. Granted, I was the one who had spent all summer prior working on what would become a 9 page word document filled with trip possibilities, sightseeing ideas, train schedules, possible hotel/hostel pricing, and various other tidbits I found interesting or amusing. Perhaps watching Angels & Demons while compiling the Rome portion of this list was not the brightest idea – seeing him whip around the corners of the city to cool church after cool church with a police escort on the verge of an urgent mission to save the Vatican probably isn’t the greatest guide for a travel itinerary. Regardless, it was a great way for me to try to plan out my trip, it led me to visit Bologna (which the more I look back on, the more I enjoy and am incredibly glad that I went), and as my grandfather says it just gives me more reasons to return.

That aside, we knew by mid-afternoon Thursday that we would have a blitz ahead of us and were all ready to get started. With tours booked for the Vatican and Colosseum on Friday, we headed to explore some ticket-free attractions. We hopped on the Metro for Piazza di Spagna, home of the Spanish Steps. The sun was starting to sink, and it seems that made the steps a very popular option to sit and rest and watch the sunset. Rather than fight the crowds to try to scope out a spot, we became a lot more interested in a unique fountain in the square shaped like a boat, the Fontana della Barcaccia, and an obelisk jutting up from the square. These interesting fountains and obelisks are a staple of Rome and can be found all over the city.

Pictured: Aforementioned mobs of people and cool boat-fountain

We headed down a street filled with numerous stores and shopping options for the girls, Via del Corso. We had plans to go see the Trevi Fountain that night, but Jessica and I kept getting distracted by gigantic monuments and dragging Laura and Jeff to check them out. First the Column of Marcus Aurelius, which looked vaguely familiar to Jessica and just like a cool statue of a guy with a sword to me, and then what we would find out later was the Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II but at the time just looked like a gigantic white building covered in intricate statues that struck our fancy. We all grew hungry and turned our search from monuments to restaurants. We came across two similar places with similar prices but were convinced by the soliciting of a better offer from the funnier owner. The food was very good, but apparently the overly stereotypically German woman at the table behind us did not think so. Disappointed that I had not had an opportunity to use my German up until this point, I was eager to eavesdrop on her complaining about everything from the food to the service and especially the bill – she was convinced that she was being overcharged and had an argument with the owner about it, in English. After she had left, the owner was able to laugh about the whole ordeal and tell us a story about how some guys had come to his restaurant, ordered fish and five bottles of wine, and then complained that the wine was too warm and that they wouldn’t pay for it. After discounting one bottle, they still weren’t pleased and actually ended up taking him to court over the incident – easily the craziest service horror story I’ve ever heard.

Monument to Vittorio Emanuele II

After dinner we walked through the Roman Forum on our way to see the Colosseum lit up at night. Turns out, that means literally THROUGH the Roman Forum as Mussolini built a boulevard right down the middle of it – no doubt he wanted it for one of his many useless parades that Mr. Rossnagel loved to berate so much. Despite the fact that today it is mainly just a bunch of ruins and/or piles of rocks, it was still amazing to go strolling right through history like that. We stopped off to get some Gelato – a lovely combination of Lime and Strawberry bee tee dubs – and turned a slight corner to be met by headlights coming at us out of the shadow of the Colosseum itself. What an unreal experience. We practically raced there, overeager to be in the presence of this symbol of Rome, highlight of trips, modern tourist attraction, and ancient monument alike. It brought me back to a discussion with Herr Frederick in Deutsch last semester; his point/joke was that because we have reproduced art to the point that we can see the Mona Lisa on a mouse pad, seeing the real thing was not such a big deal as it once was. The fact is that it loses its aura, but not in such cases where the aura is not just the image itself, but includes the feeling and area around it. I have seen pictures of the Colosseum a thousand times, but that cannot possibly compare to actually standing in the presence of it – such a gigantic structure where so many emperors and commoners alike have stood before me – was an unbelievable feeling. I know I am in the midst of attempting to describe it, but it truly is indescribable. With an early morning and subsequent long day ahead of us, we called it a night and started back for the hotel.

It's a blurry picture, but I actually really like the effect it gives

We had a Vatican Museum tour booked for 9:30 in the morning and originally had booked a 4:30 tour of the Colosseum as well, giving us plenty of time to explore the Vatican, make our way back across town to change into something a little less traditional/much more comfortable and get our Colosseum tickets sorted out. However, the 4:30 tour was canceled and we got pushed up to the 2:30 tour instead – still doable but not ideal. As the tour guide for the Vatican went around meeting everyone before the tour started, a lot of people expressed that they were here on a five day or weeklong vacation - I would love to one day be able to spend that sort of time in Rome. Our guide seemed a bit shocked went she got around to us and we told her we’re pretty much just in for last night, the day, and flying out early the next morning. Granted, there was only one other group of students on the tour besides us, so maybe we should be cut some slack. Personally I was only really interested in seeing the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Square/Basilica going in – but since the Sistine Chapel is a part of the Vatican Museums and only viewable with a ticket, we took Rachel’s advice at Umbra and decided to go on the tour so that we would at least know what we were looking at. I was pleasantly surprised by both the museums and the lack of an overwhelmingly abrasive Christian/Catholic vibe or spin on things, but if you are there strictly for the art, I don’t think the Vatican can touch Florence in that respect. Still, they had a lot of bigger pieces and paintings that took up entire walls in rooms where popes had once lived. Some of the art was even painted strictly for the Vatican, rather than being collected for a museum, so that adds a pretty sweet element to things. I was astounded that they allowed us to take pictures inside the museums…for everything except the Sistine Chapel, of course, where all of a sudden the anti-picture/noise Nazis came out. To pretend that it is for “sacred” reasons is ridiculous, considering they jam it full of tourists as much as they can, with numerous tour guides all giving off their own spiel – an impossible environment to pray in – not to mention pictures are allowed inside St. Peter’s Basilica, when many cathedrals in Italy strictly forbid it. They claimed it was for “safety reasons” that cameras weren’t allowed, but I’m not sure what threshold we crossed from one room to the chapel where pictures were suddenly a terrorist agent. Oh well, I still snapped some sneaky photos – even if they turned out blurry or my inconspicuous camera angle caused the photo to be off center.

St. Peter's Square

I wish we had more time to hang out in the square or see some more sights on that side of the river – it was the “true Rome” as my Italian professor had told us, after all – but alas we had an earlier Colosseum tour to catch. Unfortunately, the camera that Jessica had lent me was dying, and because it was a rechargeable battery I couldn’t just pop a new pair in. I grabbed my original camera, despite its mysterious inability to read my SD card that had just started a few days prior. Coming to terms with the fact that I might not be able to take any pictures of some of the things I was most looking forward to, I grabbed my old camera and decided to test the internal memory…turns out, it can hold seven pictures. So now I have seven pictures held hostage on my camera until I can find the right cord to connect it to my computer, which may or may not be in storage in Clemson currently. Oh joy. Luckily, I just nicked some of the pictures that Laura and Jessica took to even out the gaps of the Colosseum tour and Trevi Fountain, so huge thanks to them for being such avid photographers where I had failed. We had plenty of time to pick up our tickets, grab some lunch from a nearby stand, and eat it in front of the camera like it was no big deal. We sprang an extra few Euro for the three level tour, and it was certainly worth it. Just opened this summer, the tour included a trip down to the dungeons where we saw the tunnels where the animals were kept, where the trap doors were located beneath the stage, an aqueduct that was used on special occasions to flood the Colosseum for naval battles, and where the little ships were built for said special occasion naval battles. I legit got chills as we stood in the tunnels, looking up at where the floor once was, imagining what could have possibly gone through the Gladiators’ minds as they prepared to fight for their lives.

View from the dungeons!

In a seemingly recurring Italian theme, we had an amazing tour guide. As luck would have it, he was originally from Sorrento. He was well spoken, even if he was self conscious about his English and his Southern Italian accent, and incredibly knowledgeable. Although I am a little bitter to learn that the Colosseum did not get its name how I thought it did – turns out, it was just a translation by medieval monks that gave the name of Colosseum, which was known simply as the Flavian Amphitheater in Roman times. Even if it’s not true, I prefer the story that the name comes from basically a “fuck you” to the former emperor Nero who had a 30 meter bronze statue of himself, the Colossus of Nero, which stood in the same plaza until it was eventually scrapped for the metal after the fall of the Roman Empire. Now I’m not all too familiar with my Roman Emperor history, but general consensus seems to be that Nero was kind of a dick…so much so that the next emperor tore down his house, drained his personal lake, and used the site (and corresponding 2000+ year old aqueduct, which I freaking saw!) to build the Colosseum instead, a place for emperors, commoners and slaves alike to enjoy free entertainment. And as the ultimate “I know you’re currently six feet under, but you just go to hell anyway” move, this structure was known as the Colosseum because, even though it towered over it in reality, it actually was “small” as compared to the bronze statue of Nero because he was such a swell guy and all – Colosseum being the Latin equivalent of little Colossus based on my limited understanding of Latin endings. Unfortunately, it seems this origin is not true, but I’d still like to believe it is. Turns out, the tour we were on normally is about 30-40 people…the amount of people on our tour that day? Nine. Five were a group of Canadians from Calgary, and we made up the other four. Not gonna lie, I felt like a VIP as our baller tour guide led our nearly private tour past all the locks and gates down into the dungeon and then up to the third level, away from all the tourists who were milling about the first level.

Us and our amazing tour guide :)

There are plans to reinforce the fourth level, which collapsed in the middle ages, and open that up for an even more extensive version of the tour in the near future. The fourth level used to stretch all the way around, but now the portion remaining is propped up with a slanting brick wall. This is not the only modern(ish) modification to the Colosseum. In its heyday, it was actually completely covered in marble, until the Vatican made up rumors about Christians being killed within in order to justify stealing the marble to put in St. Peter’s Basilica, selling the dirt and sand from the floor as relics, and in an attempt to turn the Colosseum into a church…keep it classy, Christians. Turns out that despite popular beliefs, not a single Christian was killed inside – not because of being Christian at least. Yes, there were Christians killed by the Romans, but not in the modern vision of cheering pagans releasing lions on them. In fact, the Roman Empire was Christian before the Colosseum was put out of use. Luckily we got these trivia questions right because we had heard the exact same story out of the tour guide from the Vatican earlier that morning. The tour was amazing and definitely a highlight of the trip. To be perfectly honest, I’m glad it was just the four of us, because with anymore to coordinate with, this tour could very well have been scrapped after someone started bitching about a five Euro increase or did not feel like going on a full tour, and that would have definitely put a damper on my Rome trip if I had not had the chance to go behind the scenes like we did.

Our ticket included admission to the Roman Forum, but as our luck would have it, it was closed on Friday due to a strike. Now, I’m still not sure who exactly could be striking to close down the Forum…the tour guides? Architects? Ticket tearers? It does not make sense to me. Either way, we at least got to snap some pictures – er, Laura and Jessica did – of the Forum as we walked along the road that cuts through it, so there’s that. We did some more shopping as I tracked down the final installment in my scarf collection, AS Roma, and looked for some last minute gifts on our way to the Trevi Fountain. There were indeed a lot of people there, but we still were able to scope out a nice picture taking spot up front. The fountain was unlike any I’ve seen before, even in Italy – it was so intricate and seemingly came flowing out of the building behind it rather than being situated in the middle of a square so like many of the fountains tend to be. Legend has it that if you throw a coin into the fountain, you will one day return to Rome: here’s to hoping that my Euro will draw me back! After some photos, just chilling by the water, grabbing a drink, and even more photos, we took back to the streets and continued our shopping kick. As the sun dropped, we made our way back to the hotel to game plan and drop off our new gear. I was also able to pick up the charged camera and was once again a photo taking fiend.

Flipping a coin into the Trevi Fountain - props to Jessica for catching it mid flight with the picture!

Faced with the reality that our month would soon be up, we took on the theme to “go big AND go home” in what I must take credit for as an off the cuff joke I made. In the definition of class, we grabbed a bottle of wine and went off in search of a nice place to have our own little going away dinner. Unfortunately the hotel staff was not too helpful in locating a place to eat, so we decided to just hop on the metro a stop away from the Colosseum where we had not been yet and wing it from there. We strolled down the wide open boulevard complete with trees that reminded Jeff and I both of an African Savannah type of feel, wound up at the Colosseum(third time in two days for the win), and realized that though there is a lot of space for cars, there really aren’t any permanent standing businesses or restaurants nearby…just food/souvenir stands during the day and sketchy mob guys trying to sell various junk as is custom in Italy – so thanks for taking out attention grabbing fountains and the Roman Forum for some extra traffic space, Mussolini! However, we did come across a couple having the time of their life taking wedding pictures, which we not so subtly also snapped some photos of, and met an interesting British couple who gave us some tips in exchange for legitimately taking their picture in front of the Colosseum. I don’t think we ever really found the place he was trying to direct us to, but we did come across a little church and outlook point over the Forum where we took the opportunity to naturally take even more pictures of ourselves. We also came across a statue of the symbol of Rome, the wolf with children Romulus and Remus underfoot, famous from the legend of how Rome was founded. Finally just ready for food, we made our way back to a restaurant near the place we had gotten gelato the previous night. Despite my dislike of eggs, I decided to suck it up and see what all the hype was about over Carbonara – spaghetti with eggs and bacon. I’m convinced that it was the only thing Dr. Baker ever ordered, and Ryan was always raving about it, so I decided, “what the hell, it’s my last night. Let’s give it a shot.” Needless to say, it was amazing. I didn’t necessarily taste the eggs, but who knows maybe my dislike of eggs is coming to an end, at least in small quantities – on the plane over, I ate the egg based breakfast sandwich, and I didn’t think it was that bad. Then again, I was fighting off early symptoms of a circadian reset, so I don’t think taste was on my brain’s mind at that point. I’ll have to give eggs a fair chance to defend themselves soon enough. Jessica finally got the tiramisu she had been talking up since the Cinque Terre trip, it seemed, and I obliged and went for some tiramisu as well…when in Rome, after all. Unfortunately, not a lot happened after dinner. We had, in true Italian fashion, gotten a late start on dinner and sat there for quite a while. Turns out, sketchy mob guys have bedtimes too, I suppose in order to be up early peddling to the next day’s wave of tourists – it would be a Saturday, after all. With all the regular shops closed and no 20 Euro or less “Louis Vuitton” “Gucci” or “Prada” bags to be found, we meandered around for a little while but eventually called it a trip. I think it was definitely about that time to head back home, but I really did not want to do it. Starting to talk about leaving for good, I could already hear my voice starting to fade out as emotions poured over me. The last thing I remember thinking of the night was how glad I was to be lying in a bed after an awesome few days with this group of people, rather than on a bus with a group of people that things had turned so sour with, all no doubt getting hammered beyond belief.

One last tiramisu in Italy

That’s not to say I didn’t get along with them while we were there, and I hope to remain friends with some of them in Clemson; but it was pretty clear that I did not fit in well with them from the beginning, and it was a very empowering moment when I stopped trying to be a part of their thing and instead started to do what I wanted to do. Individually, I never had a problem with anybody – but when the group came together, it was a different story. It’s amazing how much people talked about each other behind their backs and how cliquey things turned out, after such a wonderful start. But hey, if you want to talk behind my back about the decisions I make and what I choose to do, go right ahead. You don’t know me, the reasoning behind what I do, or the things that have made me what I am; you can only judge by the standards of how you live your life, and frankly I don’t give a damn if you approve or not. I’ve picked up sort of a life philosophy from an Angels & Airwaves lyric – don’t laugh. It goes, “If I had a chance for another try, I wouldn’t change a thing. It's made me all of who I am inside.” That really speaks to me – I’m not one to believe in fate or karma or some sort of guiding power, but I like this idea that if I changed one thing, even if it was a bad experience at the time, I would be a different person for it today. For me, that means living with no regrets, even if I may have them, and knowing that if I’m not happy with myself, I can always change it through experiences. So I’m happy that I went to Bologna on my own, even if I caught shit for breaking off from the group and traveling by myself – it gave me freedom to do exactly what I wanted to do when I wanted it without worrying about pleasing anyone and gave me the chance for a few days of self reflection and personal exploration. I’m happy that I chose to hike the Cinque Terre with someone who always puts a smile on my face and makes me laugh, even for some ungodly reason the rest of the group seemed to have a problem with her and the rumor mill started turning – I enjoyed myself a whole hell of a lot more, felt better that someone was lagging back to make sure she was okay (even if I should have been concerned about myself), and if you want to take the time out of your day to giggle and gossip behind my back, you go right ahead, it does not affect me in the least. And if you have a problem with the way I live my life, the people I associate myself with, the way I dress, the fact that I’m not in a precious fraternity – you go ahead and have that problem, because this is who I am, and I’m happy with who that person is. J I’m sorry to the rest of you for ranting, but it’s good to get those thoughts out on some virtual paper.




As a part of aforementioned life philosophy, I mentioned at the airport as we were getting ready to head off our separate ways, that I’m glad how everything turned out, that I wouldn’t change it for anything. Do I have regrets? Yes. Are there things I wish I had done that I didn’t? Of course. But as the reality of leaving washed over me and the waterworks factory began, I knew that everything I had went through would continue to shape me. It was such an amazing experience to be in Italy – from the sight-seeing (both historical and natural) to the classes that gave me a better vision of my future through dynamic professors. From being thrown in with 14 other people I didn’t know before and seeing how I interact with them, how quickly relationships form, and how I react to these new situations to all the things I learned about myself as a traveler, a leader, a problem solver, and dreamer. One overarching thing I am taking away is an urgently burning desire to visit Germany. Just the glimpse of the Alps in the north and the skyscrapers in Milan were enough to push me over the edge, but even after just getting by on about a month and a half of Italian lessons, my fear of a language barrier completely dissipated. Now, I cannot wait to make it to Germany and put my Deutsch skills to the test. Who knows, maybe I’ll find some sort of Maymester trip that works perfectly into my schedule and course needs; perhaps after graduation I’ll take one of those soul searching backpacking trips to figure out my direction in life before entering the real world; or maybe I’ll be lucky enough to find a job that lets me travel, preferably with plenty of downtime for sightseeing. But I know trying to fit everything I want to do into just one trip, even a lengthy one, is going to be a bitch beyond the level that even this Italy trip proved to be. I don’t even want to imagine how long that document would be, covering interests from Berlin to München to Köln to Hamburg to Frankfurt and beyond…Essen, Stuttgart, Nuremburg, Bremen, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, etc. The list goes on, and let’s not even think about all the other countries and cities and sites around the world I hope to experience before I leave this Earth. I have a lot of ground to cover ahead of me. This is just the beginning.




So I thank you, readers, for sticking with me on this through the very end. The delayed posts, the sometimes aimless and confusing rambling, I’m sure, as I tried to express everything I did and saw into words. I’m glad that you took the time to take this journey with me, as I have greatly enjoyed logging it down and will without a doubt nostalgically look back on it from time to time as day to day life grows dreary and I yearn for the time a slice of pizza or a gelato were just a short walk away from gigantic cathedrals, centuries old palaces and fountains that have served as meeting grounds for countless others. I don’t know if I will continue blogging – certainly not on this site if I do. Sometimes it seems like a great place to get my thoughts down and wrap my head around the latest happenings, but I’m not sure if I will have the determination to sit down and hammer out all my thoughts. I also don’t know if I would be comfortable putting content out like that for readers, even just friends and family, and if you want to keep things private, the worst place to put them is over the internet. So who knows, the internal debate rolls on. Maybe you’ll find a link to a blog of my mundane life at some point, maybe it’s just an idea I toy around with but never commit to. In any case, I must leave you here. Grazie per l’attenzione è arrivederci, mi amiche.