WHEN IN ROME. . .

... DO AS THE ROMANS DO.

Well, here I am in Rome... the center of the greatest empire in the history of the world. As they say, all the roads lead to Rome - and I now understand why. Once upon a time, this place really was the center of the universe. Today, the city seems to function pretty normally, with the exception of a 2000 year old Colosseum in the background. Although there's nothing extremely groundbreaking about Rome during this present day and age, its profound history makes it incredible to be here today.

There is much to see here, and I'm only about half way done making my rounds, but thus far, here's what's stood out to me...

A couple days into our stay here, I was coming around a corner, and I saw from afar, the Colosseum. As I grew closer, its grandeur was more and more apparant. Only about a 1/3 of it actually remains today; the rest has been lost in earthquakes and what not... but this thing has been around since 72AD. While I walked around the inside, book in hand, reading about it and trying to imagine the events that took place, I had lots of conflicting emotions. In some ways, it deserves awe and respect for it's architectural genius and 2000 year old history(It once held 50,000 screaming fans, or 100,000 thumbs).... yet at the same time, it's weird celebrating a place that was primarily used for the entertainment of the Romans by way of horrendous bloodsheds... The fights pitted men against men, men against beasts, and beasts against beasts. The gladiators were usually slaves, criminals or poor people who got their chance for freedom (or at least fame) while in the areana. Animals were brought in from all over the world for the fights - such as, Lions, tigers, bears (oh my), crocodiles, elephants and hippos - just to name a few. When the stadium first opened, they had a 100-day festival in which 2,000 men and 9,000 animals were killed! The Colosseum employees had to squirt perfumes around the stadium just to mask the stench of blood. (Disgusting, huh?) It's even speculated that Christians were murdered here... Christians were undoubtedly persecuted during certain Roman times - they were thrown to lions, made to fight gladiators, crucified and even burned alive... but it's not certain whether that actually took place in the Colosseum or not. It was an incredible/bazaar experience to stand inside and imagine what used to take place here. I recommend seeing Gladiator for a realistic idea of what it was like if you've never seen it, or you could wait till I get home as I plan on watching it again (along with another 2189573 movies that this trip has made me want to re-watch.) :)

The day after Kayli arrived, she - along with Michelle, Jeanette, Christina and I went to Saint Peter's Basilica.... where we saw the POPE! He was barely 15' away from us - we were 2nd ROW! I turned around in my seat and took a good little self-portrait picture with him in the background. haha He came down the aisle in an electric wheel chair as the church chanted and cheered upon his entrance. When he spoke, it was nearly impossible to understand him - but the church sat still to listen. He said a blessing over us all. At one point he coughed.. it startled everyone and due to his age and condition, I think the whole congregation (including myself) put our hands over our hearts worried we were witnessing his final breath. Thankfully, he resumed his message.... and the congregation let out a big sigh of relief.

Another highlight was seeing the Vatican. We waited in a forever long line to get inside... I felt like I was at Disneyland - but it was worth it. The Vatican is actually it's own country - meaning, if you buy stamps inside the walls, you better mail them before you leave (a lesson I have finally learned - 12 countries later.) The two best things inside were... Raphael's "School of Athens" painting... which we're all in the process of writing a paper on, and the second, of course, being the Sistine Chapel. Ok, so I've seen A LOT of art on this trip... LOTS, LOTS, and LOTS... at times it's a little (dare I say) redundant... yes, i appreciate it... yes, it's amazing, beautiful, brilliant, history changing, timeless, blah blah blah... but some days, you just feel like, "youve seen one - youve seen 'em all." ( I know, what an awful thing to say... but it's an honest admission... thankfully, not too familiar a feeling.) Well, anyway... the point of all that was to say that in all the time Ive spent looking at art, never have i felt more appreciation and awe for it than i did inside the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling is insane... Michelangelo spent 4 years hanging from the ceiling, on his back, as paint dripped in his eyes and the fumes filled his lungs, until he completed it... it truly is brilliant. It's said to be the greatest piece of art by one artist... To that i say, Amen. There are 9 scenes from Genesis down the center of the ceiling, the central and most famous being "The Creation of Adam" with the hand of God reaching out to give life to Adams hand. And then, the wall along the alter side of the chapel has the Last Judgment Day painted on it.. another incredible portrayal of what Michelangelo envisioned that day looking like. There's a book titled, The Agony and The Ecstasy , that is all about the life of Michelangelo. I'm in the middle of it right now, and I highly highly recommend it.

Anyways, my friends are waiting on me... so it's time I bundle up and be on my way. Ill have to write about the rest later. Daniel Acuna, I haven't forgotten you. (I couldnt think of anything clever - hope that was okay.) :)

Tonight I depart for Naples, Pompeii and the island of Capri where I plan to rent myself a vespa and zip along the island tomorrow... making the most of these final few days!

Love, love, love,
Melody