When in Rome, do as the Texans do

A normal class week, busily working away. Fortunately, it was another short week, this one leading into Easter Weekend. I still wasn’t quite ready for proper school yet, so that extra day off was very much appreciated.

For this holiday weekend I was headed to Rome (I know right? Ireland for St. Patrick’s and Rome for Easter. Great stuff). We flew out in the middle of the day, and then landed about two hours later. Having grown up in a place where planes are expensive and trains go nowhere, it still amazes me how common and easy mass transport is here in Europe. Back home, flying such a short distance would have been absurd. Here, it would have been silly to try and go any other way. Though to be fair, you don’t have to cross the Alps to get to West Texas.

Anyways, Italy! Rome! One of the greatest cities of antiquity! Easily the most encouraging thing after landing was the beams of sunlight on our face. The few stray rays in London had been nice, but this was much closer to home, with only a few scattered clouds drifting lazily across the sky. Heading into the city was interesting. There were ruins everywhere, and they had simply been built around. They hadn’t been torn down to make room, but neither had there been any real effort to separate them from the rest of the city, save for a small fence here and there. They were simply a part of the city.

On the first day we just wandered around and explored, eating pizza and gelato. We tried to visit the Colosseum, but our tour was cut short due to preparations for a speech that would be given by the Pope later that night. We didn’t get to see him, unfortunately, but we managed to have fun anyways. The next day we got to move through properly.

The Colosseum is, well, colossal. The name fits. Even in its ruined state you could see where all the crowds of ancients would have sat and cheered on various sporting events, some bloodier than others. Then it was on to the Palatino, and then the Forum. Each a massive monument to the achievements of the Romans. At the risk of making an understatement, it was all very humbling. In the afternoon we went to the Vatican. We couldn’t look around because of yet more Easter celebrations (who do these Catholics think they are, getting in the way of me exploring the Vatican?). And then, that night, we went on a tour of some of the lesser-known aspects of Rome, such as Michelangelo’s temporary tomb, and the place where Caesar was murdered (it’s not where you think it is).

We spent most of the next day in a park, reading, playing Frisbee, and sleeping in the miraculously ant-free grass. It was all very idyllic. The last day we got up and headed to a noon flight. Italy must have been sad to see us go, because this was the only day things got overcast. No trouble came of it though, and we arrived homme safe and sound, rested and ready for school once more.

Monkey Brain Soup for the Soul – Trapezzoid