Venice, Rome, and the Vatican – May 28th to June 2nd

Finally I've gotten around to writing up something on my trip to Italy, the country I most wanted to visit while studying abroad this semester. The plan was to take a late-night train ride from Vienna to Venice, explore Venice for several hours, and then take another train down to Rome.

VENICE

So, after a very long train ride from Vienna, which among other things consisted of an hour and a half stop in Salzburg for no apparent reason, I arrived in Venice at about 9am (this being after having left Vienna at about 8pm the previous night). Since our train to Rome was going to leave at 1pm or so we didn't have much time in Venice, though from what I've been told there isn't a ton to do other than wander and get a feel for the city.

So wander we did. As with the other European cities I've visited I passed many churches, restaurants and, in more touristy-areas, a good deal of souvenir stands. But Venice is by no means your typical city. In place of roads, there are canals; in place of cars, there are boats; in place of streets there are narrow alleyways; and in place of street names/signs, there are...well nothing really, other than the occasional directional sign pointing to major areas (such as St Mark's Square).

Luckily, my group managed to navigate through Venice to see several attractions. One was the Grand Canal. Unfortunately we didn't have time for a gondola ride through the city, but I did take a few photos and later walked along the canal. Another was the Piazza San Marco, or St Mark's Square. The largest attraction there was St Mark's Basilica, the cathedral of Venice. After walking in the Basilica our time in Venice was almost up, so we headed back to the train station. But, being in Italy, we had to stop to eat some Italian food. Can't remember exactly but I believe I had some sort of seafood salad. After that, I was on my way to Rome.

ROME

After yet another long train ride I had arrived in Rome at about 8pm. We checked into the hostel and then went out for our first Roman dinner. The first and best part of the meal was easily the Bruschetta (grilled bread rubbed with garlic and topped with olive oil and tomatoes). We then headed out to take some photos of the Colosseum lit up at night. But that certainly did not work out. The Colosseum wasn't lit up, there were city vehicles of some sort parked in front of it, and what looked like a group of firefighters, a few with flashlights, was on one of the upper levels of the Colosseum. I'm not sure what they were doing, since there was no signs of a fire or any other sort of emergency, but they were clearly up to something. Anyways, around the area we ran into a group of girls from Boston, a guy from Slovakia, and another guy from Ireland. According to them the Colosseum was not lit up due to a marathon being held in Rome that weekend – the 92nd Giro d'Italia, as I later found out (which ran from May 9th to May 31st, starting in Venice and finishing in Rome).

After some much needed sleep and a refreshingly-inexpensive breakfast at the hostel next morning, we were off to see the Colosseum again – this time to take a tour. I don't remember exactly what was said on the tour, but some impressive details, such as the fact that the Colosseum was built in only 7 years – quite an amazing feat for something that large being built almost two thousand years ago. Another thing I remember is that apparently only two Christians were killed in the Roman Colosseum, making the Christian band that entered while we were there to sing something about martyrdom seem a bit excessive.

After a short break our tour moved on to Palatine Hill, the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome. According to tradition, Palatine Hill is where Romulus founded the city of Rome. On top of Palatine Hill is what remains of the Flavian Palace, the vast residence of the Roman Emperors. I don't remember exactly but I think the tour guide mentioned that, among other things, the Emperor had his own private race track at Flavian. I guess that's the 1st century equivalent to having a private movie theater. We moved on to the Roman Forum, the central area around which ancient Roman civilization developed that was politically and economically the center of the Roman Republic and Empire. Inside the Forum grounds were various temples, basilicas, arches, and other structures.

Later on that day we visited the Pantheon, a temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome built by Marcus Agrippa, the key general of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Today it's used for masses, and in venturing inside we stumbled onto a choir group singing Amazing Grace. Leaving the Pantheon I happened to stumble onto Palazzo Montecitorio, which is a palace currently used for the Italian Chamber of Deputies (the lower house of parliament). The next stop was the Trevi Fountain. A traditional legend about the Trevi Fountain is that if visitors throw a coin over their shoulder into the fountain they are ensured a return to Rome. Not being superstitious I didn't do that myself; hopefully that was not a mistake as I would very much like to return to Rome some day. One random bit of trivia that I found online - approximately 3000 euros (~$4200 USD) are thrown into the fountain each day, which are used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome's needy.

Next on the agenda were the Spanish Steps. The Scalinata, as it is called in Italian, is the longest and widest staircase in Europe. I was quite confused as to why they were called the 'Spanish' steps, and I now finally got around to looking that up. The history was not quite what I was expecting to find - evidently they were only built in 1723-1725 when French diplomat Étienne Gueffier bequeathed funds to link the Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Holy See. As you can see from the photo the area was extremely crowded when I visited. Only on the way back from some later travels did I notice the Fontana della Barcaccia, a fountain at the base of the steps which, at the time, was completely obstructed by visitors.

VATICAN

The next day we headed out to the Vatican. Conveniently enough, on the last Sunday of each month entrance to the Vatican museum is free. Unfortunately I guess that is also when most Italians choose to go, so we had to wait somewhere around 2 hours in line. The museum itself was really an overwhelming experience – tons of artwork, sculptures, and statues. There was even a whole Egyptian section for whatever reason. As you might be able to tell from the photos I took I initially tried to get everything, but that quickly proved impossible. Here's one example that stood out to me that underlines just how extensive the Vatican's collection is: with the exception of a little bit remaining in some pillars at the Roman Forum, the Vatican holds the vast majority of the world's supply of Egyptian Marble – one of, or perhaps the rarest form of marble in the world, worth about as much as gold per ounce.

After a quick gelato break we then went on to St Peter's Square. Other than a long line wrapping around for entrance into the Basilica it was not all that crowded which was interesting, although I guess that makes sense given that at that point we were well into the afternoon. Apparently the Pope or someone else of significance had been there earlier, as chairs were lined up outside the Basilica, but whatever was going on was long gone when I arrived. I took some photos inside the square and then moved on to the Basilica. The Basilica itself was, of course, very impressive. For whatever reason it seemed larger up close than when I took photos of it from a distance. And the ceilings were very, very high inside the Basilica – obviously the designers focused on form above function when designing the place.

LAST DAY IN ROME

Monday dragged on a bit, a combination of having seen most of the major attractions the previous two days and rainy weather. But as the train back to Vienna left at 7pm, we had some time to make the most of the day by taking a tour of one of the Catacombs of Rome. The catacombs themselves are massive – had I been separated from the tour guide I imagine I could have easily gotten lost done there. One interesting tidbit – even to this day small mass services are held down in the catacombs. I don't think I'd like to go there for mass regularly, but it would be a neat, if a bit morbid, experience.

Finally, after the catacombs tour we checked out of the hostel and headed back to the train station to board the long, long train back to Vienna. It was a bit of a mixed experience – on the one hand, for the first few hours I had to put up with the ventilation not working and a rowdy bunch of American backpackers. But those problems eventually resolved themselves. One random but interesting experience was having an opportunity to use my limited Spanish with a couple Argentinians who were sitting next to me. They were importer/exporters vacationing in Europe. Given the state of my Spanish we eventually reverted to English, but I did get to have an interesting chat about South America with them before falling asleep for the rest of the ride back.

One random concluding thought: it was not until passing a calender for sale that had a picture of Mussolini on it that I gave any thought to that dark period in Italy and Rome's history. I guess that is because, to me anyways, he and his fascist state seem quite insignificant when looking at the broader history of Rome and its impact on the world – being among other things the seat of one of, if not the, most influential civilizations in world history, then capital of Christianity for nearly a millennium, and later, through the Vatican, the capital of Catholicism.

So that was my trip to Italy. As much as I liked Greece, all in all if I had to choose between the two I'd definitely pick Italy – or at least I'd rather study or live in Rome than in Athens. I hope not throwing a coin into the Trevi fountain doesn't come back to haunt me...

Additional photos from Venice - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32227991@N02/sets/72157619293657926/

From Rome - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32227991@N02/sets/72157619212453651/

And from Vatican City - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32227991@N02/sets/72157619213289809/