Abbreviated version: Rome was crazy, chaotic, touristy, polluted, and we’re glad to be back in Orvieto. Saw some ruins, saw some churches, fountains and monuments galore, walked 500 miles, and stayed in my first hostel.
Unabridged Version:
Of course there was a train strike the Friday we were supposed to go to Rome, but we went Saturday instead. Early morning bus down the hill the train. And then a very painful train ride as my ears popped every time we went through a tunnel. But we made it to the Termini station in Rome.
We started at the Colosseum with Marco (our Italian art/culture/history/everything-about-anything teacher). We have "whisper tools" which allows Marco to speak into a microphone and then all of us have our own receiver units with headphones. This makes it really nice in such a large group and we can go off exploring a little bit while he's still talking.
Marco insists that it makes no difference if you can identify a buildings period, renaissance or baroque, as long as we are able to go up to it and go "WOW!"(imagine that with an Italian accent). So this is my Marco "WOW" face..
Marco talked us through the ancient forum..
We passed Trajan's forum with Trajan's market and Trajan's column (but I won't bore you with hundreds of pictures of broken columns. We walked towards what the Romans call "The Wedding Cake" because they’re disgusted with this eye-sore of a monument to the first modern king of Italy. And it dwarfs all of the ancient archeological sites.
And Michelangelo's Campidoglio (capitol hill) steps (if you can call those steps). But the square is really neat because its shaped like a trapezoid, so as you enter, it makes it appear as though the facades of the surrounding buildings are parallel (sorry nerdy architecture talk). We also walked through the medieval Jewish ghetto. Not what I expected because the buildings weren’t any different from the rest of town, but I guess this was just the only location where the Jews could live. Marco pointed out the Palazzos of the richer Jewish families. In one of the piazzas was one of the most sought out fountains of the Grand Tour: the fountain of the turtles. Marco also told us the story of the politician Aldo Moro who was kidnapped and killed by the Red Brigades and his body was found months later by means of a mysterious call to the police; now a plaque commemorates the location.
Onward still...The Area Sacra ruins, discovered when they tried to dig a new life of the metro (you can guess that happens a lot in Rome), the site apparently doubles as both a current archeological dig and the location where animal control apparently shelters all the cats… We passed by the store run by the family DeRites who are the personal tailors to the Pope.
And then Marco left us at the Pantheon. This is one site that can only be described a fraction of a bit by pictures.
That’s me doin the “ch ch ch check it out” face towards the Pantheon.
After the group dispersed, we had lunch and went to Piazza Navona where Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers and Borromini’s Church of St. Agnes in Agony both are.
We realized one of the sculptures was doing the wildcat symbol, so we played along.Passed by Fontana del Moro and lots of churches that I don’t know the names of… Walked down the Corso (the mainstreet full of pedestrians) and ended up in the Piazza del Popolo (“the people’s square”).
Did some people watching on the Spanish Steps. 
Had a great view of practically all of Rome from the top.Walked by Villa Medici but couldn’t find a way in. Walked around this weird park that was having some kind of carnival. The paths were lined with busts of famous Italians and I tried to pick out the ones I knew.
One of my favorite church facades (because of its elegant Baroque style – arch nerd alert), Church of San Carlo Quattro Fontane (four fountains because at each corner of this intersection is a fountain sculpture. You can see one on the left side of the church façade there).We then walked to the Piazza della Rupubblica. Just behind me in the picture below is Santa Maria degli Angeli which has a pretty modest brick façade. But I decided to take a risk and walked into the church. It was not at all what I expected. Inside it was incredibly grand and expansive. Beautiful detailing. Just incredible. And while we were in there, a guy sat down and started to play the organ. The sound filled the entire space and made for an incredible experience.
After dinner a couple of us went to what I deem to be the most beautiful site (second only to my mountains, as anybody who knows me will know): the Trevi Fountain at night. This experience is truly beyond words. But the lights, the excitement, the roar of the 14 fountains, not to mention the incredible sculpture of this massive thing that’s only 100s of years old. Perfecto! And as I threw coins into the fountain 8 years ago, the legend has proven true, and I have returned to Rome. So in goes another coin for next time J.
My first hostel experience went well. Eight of us girls got a room to ourselves. Considering the price, not much I can complain about there.
Sunday, as per Marco’s suggestion, we went to San Pietro in Vincoli (“in chains”). And on yet another whim, I walked myself into the church. Much smaller than Santa Maria degli Angeli but still beautiful, and Sunday mass was going on, so it made the experience very real, and might I say multi-sensory :), I didn’t even realize what I was looking at until later but I saw Michelangelo’s Moses sculpture in here.
As we walked along the ancient Appian Way (pictured left) we passed by the Circus Maximus (or what’s left of it anyway). 
We then went to the Baths of Caracalla (also by Marco’s suggestion). An incredibly massive complex and building, you can still make out what room is what and it’s weird to imagine people swimming in the what used to be a large pool but what is now grass amongst ruins.
some of the floor mosaics still remain, but are in pieces when the second floor caved in.And we finished off the day at the museum where there was an exhibit of Michelangelo, Raphael, and their students’ work during the Renaissance in Rome. Unfortunately no pictures from here L and I guess I read and examine art too slowly because I was rushed out so that we could get to the train station in time.
And a good picture to end on… I think we got more Japanese tourists to take pictures of us doing this than of the Colosseum.
