Relief and Nostalgia: Homeward Bound

It's weird to be sitting on my couch right now, writing this blog in the spare time I have before I head out to a movie with a friend. Yesterday was kind of a sleep-deprived blur, listless and heavy-limbed as I spent my day alternatively struggling not to take a nap and trying to slide myself off my couch. Today's the first day that I'm alert enough to write this blog, not stumbling over luggage as I make a beeline toward my bed or dialing the obligatory numbers to tell everyone that yes, I'm at JFK/Logan/home, I had fun/missed you/will see you soon, and the bittersweet feelings of Saturday's Romekids farewell ache even more-so because of that.

I think the weirdest thing of all is that it feels normal, for the most part, to be doing nothing but blogging on my couch. I didn't have to be up at 8:30 (though I was anyway) to meet up with everyone downstairs and from there walk halfway across Rome by noontime. I don't have to visit a small church or open space today, or even do anything, because for the first time in two weeks I don't have an itinerary to map out my day. Today is what I make of it, and it feels strange not to have any concrete plans except watching a movie—and it's not like I need to take a thousand-something pictures of a movie so I'll remember it in years to come. But this is what I did before I went to Rome, before I grew to love the Romekids who shared misery and laughter and partying experiences with me, and in some ways it's easy to just sink back into the routine. All I've had to do these past few days is sleep, eat, and talk with my mom and brother when I've had the energy. Tomorrow I'll go back to work, and Rome will start to fade little by little, until it's not so jarring to not hear Italian on street corners or nearly get run over by a motorino.

Right now, though, it's difficult to adjust. I miss the chaos and frustration, the culture shock, the difficulty of getting to know twenty-some-odd people when we have to parade through all the time periods of Rome in two weeks. I miss taking buses and subways, miss the adrenaline rush of fear I always got when a transport vehicle was so crowded you had to hockey-check your way in just so you weren't left behind. I miss damning the accursed 280 bus to a special vehicle hell with Carolyn, Alissa, Katie, and Guerry as we sat on the sidewalk, praying that we wouldn't have to make the half hour walk from Trastavere to Prati. Hell, I miss being able to tell where Trastavere and Prati are, feeling experienced as I walk back and forth between the Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori, knowing that Termini is always, always our first stop on the subway, give or take an exception or two. I won't get to pass by the Area Sacra or the Colosseum or the Roman Forum or the Pantheon on a night walk or a bus ride. I won't get to waste my euros on shopping, because I won't want to go shopping here for the next few weeks. And when I go to restaurants, like I did Saturday night, it will feel weird to speak with servers, to see them entertain and over-exaggerate as they try to sell their selections rather than expect that we know what we want. I miss everything about Rome, from the blisters on my feet to the frustrations of walking non-stop through the eighty-degree weather to humiliating myself in a supermarket that first day.

And I miss our group —the friends I never really got to socialize with outside a classroom setting. I won't get to try to outrace Allan on the Circus Maximus again, or snuggle with Jordy, or room with Nicole, or complain about the Vatican with Emily and Erika, or laugh with Curley and the rest of the Romekids in a bar on Nicole's birthday. I won't get to see Dan and Jackie squabble while the rest of us look on less-than-secretly, wondering when Mom and Dad will stop fighting and if we somehow did something wrong. I won't get to walk down the street and order a sandwich and gelato from two different shops, loitering outside as I eat my lunch and talk with Carolyn, Alissa, Katie, and Maria. I won't get to see anyone until the spring, and maybe even a while after that, and it hurts to have loved everyone so much only to have to start all over again in a new country for an entire semester. I wish those weeks could have lasted longer, even if I was homesick and exhausted and maybe a little hung-over by the end of the trip. It may sound cliche, or trite, banal even —a million other adjectives for something that has been said too many times —but Rome was a gift for me. I know I almost didn't go, and I know I'm such a paranoid traveler, but I'm glad I gave myself this chance. That I worked my ass off for it, both to earn the money for the trip and to pass the course in general. Because once we got there, once I saw Rome as more than a high school memory, I truly fell in love with it. I experienced independence and friendships in ways I never before thought I was capable, and I'll always be thankful for that.

Giornale 5: Campo de Fiori

It's easy to find yourself in the many open spaces of Rome: the first night we arrived in the city, a few of us, led by Dan, walked home, weaving our way through the vacant piazzas to get back to Prati. Since then, it's been typical of us to stumble into some piazza or another without intending it beforehand. The Piazza Santa Maria in Trastavere is perhaps my most frequent haunt, since I so often go with friends to Trastavere for dinner, passing by the tall church and the fountain that we sat around on our first day nearly two weeks ago. The Piazza del Popolo snuck up on me when I, with a small group, took the Metro to Flaminio in order to find the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna—a rather barren piazza to be honest, compared to the tiny but beautiful Piazza della Rotunda and the proud Pantheon that overlooks it and its obelisk. But the Campo de Fiori is the one I love the most, I think. If I had been to the Piazza della Rotunda more, maybe sat by the temple's massive columns or curled up on the stairs of the obelisk, maybe I'd be writing this journal about that square. Because I love the Pantheon and its odd shape, its maintained exterior that is so at odds with the church that lies within, and the clouds that pass over the oculut thes. But the Campo de Fiori has so much life to it. I never fail to feel happy when I find myself there.

The Campo de Fiori is atypical of all other piazzas because it houses a fleet of markets every day, selling anything from cookery to penis-shaped pasta to fresh fruit. The obvious tourist tents are there, selling miniature models of the Roman lupa and the Colosseum, as well as the abundant tents displaying clothing and jewelry for "cheap." Unfortunately, the markets close at two or three, but when I go (and it's always around lunch for some reason), negotiations and advertising are in full swing. And the food is my favorite part. The oranges are huge, far bigger than my head, and the strawberries practically melted in my mouth when I bought them, so soft and ripe. They're so full of color and health, and some places even sell fruit cups, teeming with watermelon, grapes, strawberries, pineapple, and anything else, always fresh. There are shops along the side streets, one of which I bought a dress in, and there's even a crepe shop (and I regret not returning to buy a crepe there); there are bars and restaurants lining the square, forni (bakeries) that sell delicious sandwiches, sweets, and cold pizzas, and even a deli, where Alissa, Carolyn, and I one day stopped in and then subsequently stuffed ourselves on salami (sans Carolyn), a mozzarella ball, and cheese puffs. At night, when the tents are cleared away, the square fills with people enjoying their (somewhat expensive) meals and 5+ euro drinks, strolling around without fear of open container laws. It's a whole different world in the Campo, bustling with people in a way that the other piazzas—save maybe Trastavere—really experience. It feels far less tourist-y, even if it attracts many tourists (myself included), and it's just fun: easy to immerse yourself in the culture of buying and eating fresh food, of window shopping and lingering, of getting a drink at night and watching some friends cartwheel their way down the square. I've been to the Campo several times now, and I have a lot of good memories of it. When I go home Sunday, I will sorely miss it.

Space and Place in the Vatican Museum

Oh, the Vatican Museum: as frustrating and overcrowded as I remember it, and yet just as astonishingly overwhelming as it was the first time. I'll be blunt. I don't like it. For all the gems it has in there, from the room of ancient animals to the Laocoon to the absolutely stunning Prima Porta statue of Augustus, somehow the Museum feels overrated. Sure, maybe it's worth it to go during whatever kind of winter Italy has, when the tourists aren't swarming around the rooms in hoards of ramming elbows and overheated bodies, but in the beginning of June when the weather is eighty degrees and the line to get into the Vatican stretches about three blocks around, I would have rather passed on the opportunity. It sounds terrible and ungrateful. Hell, it sounds spoiled to say. "Oh, I went to the Vatican Museum, and I've seen better" isn't exactly what comes up in casual conversation with people (even if it's true).  And in all honesty, the museum is beautiful. It has incredible exhibits, much like the Met in NYC, with cases filled with gorgeous pottery and jewelry, Egyptian relics, and statues of the gods and prominent historical men—enough to send a Classicist into ecstasy. But it is miserable. Horribly unorganized, confusing to navigate, and so crowded that you could start the trip out as jovial and high-spirited as freakin' Santa Claus and end up in the Sistine Chapel a tired, sweating, swearing misanthrope.

The problem with the Vatican Museum is that it herds you along like you're cattle. Forget spending half in hour in front of your favorite relic (let's say, for instance, the Prima freaking Porta). That's not happening. Instead, you're likely to catch the room fairly uncrowded in certain spots for scarce moments only—a nice little pocket of space interrupted every so often by a wayward tourist—so as to get pictures and stand in wonder for a minute or two until forced to move on. And maybe you can catch a glimpse of it on your way out of the room, but once you reach the stairs—and I mean any stairs—you're sucked up into the crowd with no hope of turning back. The museum has a very straight-forward goal: get you to the chapel, and then to the gift shops. So even if you don't know where you're going, you'll find yourself being squeezed into a new room soon enough—provided that it's not corded off for some inexplicable reason—nearly on the heels of the person in front of you as you try to shuffle your way forward and maneuver picture-taking at the same time. Some rooms aren't bad. The first few, lined to the ceiling with sculptures, statues, and fragments (and that is not even hyperbolic; every room is brimming with artifacts, a fact that is impressive, pompous, and overall disappointing), don't feel too hectic. There are people, a great many of them, but you can still put your foot down without entangling your ankles with someone you'd rather not. However, the further you go into the museum, the denser the people get—which is an obvious result anyway, but in the Vatican Museum it's like going from stumbling upon a few bees hovering around flowers to being thrown into the entire freaking hive. There's one room, a circular room not unlike a rotary, that is the most frustrating room in the history of architecture. A huge crowd bottlenecks by the double doors, and because every single person wants to take a picture of the statues that line the walls your progress onward becomes pretty stagnant. I didn't even worry about taking pictures at that point. I just walked through the shortcut security opened up, cutting my losses to save my sanity. My patience, however, had long since fallen victim.


Perhaps the most overrated sight of all in the Vatican Museum, though, is the Sistine Chapel. And no, I'm no Philistine. The art is phenomenal. The side wall when you first walk in (and immediately keep your back to because your eyes are on the ceiling) is stunning; absolutely breathtaking; so full of color and emotion and movement, not talked about at all because of the over-hyped scene of God and Adam. But it is damn frustrating, and it honestly isn't worth the wait. Not because the art is somehow inferior to your expectations. Yes, there is far too much to see in one viewing, and yes, the depiction of God and Adam kind of slaps you in the face when you realize it is merely a panel in the scheme of the many panels, not some wide blue ceiling with only God and Adam inhabiting it. I was there before, and I was absolutely miserable, offended, pissed off, when I realized that I had had to endure so much pushing and shoving to get there.

And that's why it's not worth it—because if you go in the height of tourist season, and you have to deal with all the ignorant and disrespectful people leaning on artworks and taking pictures when the signs clearly forbid cameras, you'll hate it. You'll never want to go back. People have said as much. And honestly, I don't know if I will go back again, if it means waiting in the three-block-long line and having to wedge my way through doorway after doorway without being able to stop and just relax for a minute, appreciating the ceiling art of all the rooms that get neglected on the interminable pathway to the chapel. Going a second time has given me a new perspective, because I knew what I didn't before, and I couldn't be disappointed. Sure, I was sweating in jeans and dizzy with hunger, but I wouldn't have minded lingering in the chapel this time: find some pocket somewhere in the sea of flashing cameras and obnoxious tour groups, so that I could just tilt my head back and stare for a while. Honestly, it's disappointing how many people just want to get in, see the ceiling, and leave in five minutes, because they're so exhausted from the ridiculous hike to the chapel. It shouldn't be that way. The museum shouldn't ruin art for people, but ultimately it does. So if I ever come back, and if I ever have the chance to experience a blissfully uncrowded walk to the chapel, I'm making a promise to myself that I'll enjoy it—appreciate all the nuances that I haven't been able to see. Because as it stands right now, the Vatican Museum has yet to redeem itself to me. And no amount of (stolen) Prima Porta can ameliorate that.

Giornale 4: Santa Maria in Trastavere

Italian churches—whether they're big or small, from modern times or the 5th century, or the magnanimous basilicas of the Vatican and St. John Lateran—oftentimes look quite similar. I'm sure that's true of the U.S. too, if you visit a Catholic church in one state and then for some reason find yourself scoping out another one in the next state over. If you've seen one church, you've seen them all. That's the kind of sentiment you get with any theme-linked structure, which is probably why I enjoy ruins more than modern, perfectly maintained edifices. I won't begin to say that these churches aren't beautiful, because a blind man would swoon within the grandiose, echoing aisles of any Italian church. But a lot of the time there is sensory overload: each church blends together because they oftentimes boast the same style, and that was the problem I ran into in high school, when we spent a day just going to church after church in Naples.

What I've discovered, therefore, is that you have to find certain aspects of each church that really speak to you—that distinguish themselves from the blur of religious imagery, the decorated apses, the caged-off niches that always have some specially-framed paintings of saints, the virgin, or Christ. For Santa Maria in Trastavere, I wasn't so much moved by the ceiling—a glorious, gold plated work that had twisting triangular designs and a depiction of the virgin in the very center, floating above her adoring followers—as by the sculptures (as I so often am), the beautiful apse, the stained glass windows, and the inscriptions on the outside. Before you even enter the church, you have to pass through a door that leads to the marble-floored porch, shaded from the sun and ultimately still outside. And what makes this porch so wonderful are the ancient inscriptions: they line the front and left walls, slabs of marble carved out with ancient Greek and Latin prayers, intentions, names, and symbolic pictures. Even the center door—which remained unused as far as I could tell—sported gold-lettered Latin: "This is the door of God. The just shall enter into it."

 

The inside is full of the standard Italian pomp and circumstance. High-vaulted ceilings throw echoes all around the rectangular room, creating a kind of eerie presence that seems bigger than the crowd; religious chants play from speakers hidden somewhere; marble floors boast swirls of designs beneath the pews; niches cage off beautiful paintings. You feel small inside this shadowy and ominous church, as you perhaps should, the altar staring down at you from the top of the aisle and the iconic images of Mary and Jesus fixed in the ceiling, the dome of the central apse, and the pictures in the niches. The apse, though, is beautiful. Sure, it features the typical Jesus-and-Apostles scene, with a ring beneath their feet of thirteen sheep—the center-most one depicted as Jesus, Lamb of God—but the colors of the mosaic are beautiful. The background is gold, matching the ceiling above it, and reflects the light of the church streaming in through the windows beneath it.

 

Perhaps my favorite part, which is consequently a part you could easily miss because of the way the central apse attracts all attention, are the three stained glass windows that tower high above on the back wall. They depict three men, my guess being Matthew, Luke, and John, whose names are written into the central apse below the decorative mural. They're absolutely beautiful in color, the blue, red, and gold of their respective robes all the more brilliant for the sunlight streaming in through the glass. Their portraits are simple—three men with halos, standing in specific devout poses—and easily overlooked if you consider the size of the hall, the niches that run along the right and left side, and the beautiful statues carved into the wall (which I, of course, loved). But when I looked up at the wall I walked in through and saw those three (and only three) windows, I felt relief settle over me. Mosaics and plaited ceilings are lovely (if abundant) in churches, but they aren't particularly vibrant. The colors are washed out, no matter how beautiful, and become somewhat gloomy after too long--maybe to impose religious solemnity, who knows. But it's nice to have a splash of color thrown in every so often, and I like the idea of three saints gazing out over the church, illuminating the building with light.

Momentary Blindness on the Aventine

The air smells clean, cool wind skirting over the skin of my left arm, my face, and my neck, bringing goosebumps to the top of my flesh as I sit amongst the gravel. The tree at my back is curved enough so that I can recline against it and stretch out my legs, the stiff bark biting at certain angles and digging into my lower ribs, but nonetheless comfortable as I rest my head against it and listen to the soft scritch-scratch of my hair catching on the wood. The gravel grinds under my feet as I pull up my knees to rest my notebook on them, crunching all around me as passersby take the straight path to the parapet that overlooks the city. There's a fountain to my right, filling the air with the sounds of trickling water, as the steady stream splashes against the ground.

The sounds of many people fill the Aventine, including the chatter of an Italian woman as she pushes her stroller around in a circle, the jingling clatter of the wheels bouncing against the uneven ground. As they pass by in front of me, her child babbles nonsense words that grow louder and then fade into the distance, muffled by the crunching rocks and the soft conversations of the park's inhabitants. High up in the trees the birds twitter and sing, one with a musical trill, another with a grating caw, a third with a single chirp every few seconds, and still another with a jackhammer-like cry that jars the air. A bird comes to rest in a flutter of wings around the site of the fountain, its feet silent on the gravel and its beak mute. A muffled laugh and low-spoken Italian pass by, a sneeze sounds behind me and attracts a "bless you" from somewhere to the left, and in the distance the low rumble of an airplane grows steadily louder. The garden is mostly free of the sounds of traffic, the cars below the parapet swallowed up in an ocean-like roar of white noise, though that peace is shattered twice by the siren of an ambulance and the snarl of a motorcycle speeding away. The birds continue to sing from the tree tops, the wind plays with my hair as the shade makes me colder, and from both left and right shared conversations—in Italian, German, and English—float just barely above the rattle of jostled gravel.

Giornale 3: Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

Free for the afternoon, a small group of us decided to knock off one of our required journals by visiting the National Museum of Modern Art, located close to the Villa Borghese. We hopped on the Metro and exited one stop over, in Flaminio, though we quickly realized that we weren't quite sure where to go. Sure, a few people had maps with them, but when we walked outside we found ourselves in a district far dirtier than the Piazza del Popolo, filled with seagulls and cheap markets and a large amount of people. Retracing our steps quickly, we reentered the subway station and took the long tunnel out into the Piazza del Popolo area, though we still  had no idea where the museum was. When we realized that the tunnel had spat us out on the opposite side of the square outside the Piazza, we decided to just brave the untrodden waters, too tired to take the Metro two more stops to the Piazza di Spagna. So we set out, following the map-leader, climbing stairs through a small archway that led to a sidewalk carved up a hill, a large park sitting on the left. The walk was fairly tiring after my 500-something-step trip to the dome of St. Peter's dome, but it wasn't long, and along the way we passed a fleet of tour buses parked against the sidewalk, waiting for their respective tourists to return. As we neared the museum, we passed a beautiful fountain, built out of an almost spongy-looking rock, waterfalls cascading from the top and a fountain sitting on the lower level. A white archway capped the top of the rock-face, an eagle statue sitting in repose beneath the canopy of trees. It was beautiful, and I wished I knew the name of it, or the reason for why it was there. Perhaps it was meant to serve as a beacon into the museum, since its overall appearance was quite modern and unique.

When finally we reached the many stairs that would descend to street level and the museum's crosswalk, we saw two stationary automobiles erected out front: one a subway or tram, the other a locomotive, no doubt symbolizing the mix of new and dated art found within the museum. And I admit, I had my reservations when we were entering the museum. I was hot from the walk, exhausted from our day at the Vatican, and rather uninterested in modern art; I was only really there to fulfill the journal requirement, and I was pretty unhappy with the supposed 12 euro entry fee. However, my feelings for the museum did change. For one, it turned out that it only cost us 4 euro to enter (already enough to gain some of my affection). And yes, the exhibit was rather weird upon first glance. Despite the size of the building, when I entered the exhibit I thought it would be a relatively small trip, filled with displays that looked like giant cotton-balls slapped against a white background and paintings that were just streaks of color against a canvas. And for several rooms, that was what I saw—though I did find some interesting displays that piqued my interest, such as Dominco Gnoli's, whose simple titles like "Newspaper and Shoe" and "Tie" state exactly what they are but do not fully encapsulate how fascinating the pieces are. 

However, even this modern art museum, with its expressionist and abstract pieces, displayed works that I could enjoy. There were rooms upon rooms boasting paintings and statues, and there simply wasn't enough time in our two hour visit to see or appreciate them all. Nonetheless, I found two statues among all the ones in all the rooms that intrigued me the most—for the expression in the statues' features to the emotions that lay behind their simple actions. I found, while viewing these pieces, that they evoked far more feeling than what I'm used to with ancient Rome's statues, and I appreciated that difference; I also very much enjoyed the influence of ancient Rome on modern art, as that will always be my soft spot no matter the exhibit. One such statue that I enjoyed, and that mixed the Classical influence with the modernist range of emotion, was Benedetto Civiletti's Giulo Cesare Giovinetto (Young Julius Caesar). The boy Caesar, likely in the sixteen to twenty age range, sits sprawled against a chair, his chest naked as the cloth of his toga spills out around his waist. On his left hand, dangling in the air as he leans his arm against the chair back, a ring is visible on his ring finger, perhaps indicating his new marriage to his first wife, Cornelia. His expression is troubled, brow creased and hair rumpled, as if the artist means to indicate that young Caesar, who has lost his father and is in uncomfortable position around Sulla at this age, already has too many burdens that weigh him down. It's beautiful, black stone so unlike the marble statues of antiquity, and dares to depict Caesar not as the wizened imperator of his final years but as an uncertain teenager, poised on the edge of some decision. It's really quite intriguing, and his puzzled expression feels so life-like: as though you're standing there, witnessing him work through some profound calculation.

Another art piece I loved, actually in the same room, was Emilio Franceschi's Fossor. It seemed less like an artistic sculpture and more like a sarcophagus, dug up from some excavated site or else erected in a cemetery, like those in the Protestant Cemetery. It's a companion piece to Franceschi's Eulalia Cristiana, the depiction of a woman crucified on a cross, and it is a sculpture of a sarcophagus as it is being engraved by a fossor, or gravedigger. The worlds carved into the front read hic resquiescit virgo sanctissima, have et vale—here rests a most pure/sanctified maiden, hail and farewell. On the sides, Christian imagery—the Chi-Ro with an alpha and omega on either side, a fish, a dove, a lamb, and a cross—mix with the words pax tecum (peace with you) and Eulalia ancilla dei in pace (the slave-girl Eulalia [is] in the peace of God). And on the lid of the sarcophagus, still carving the name Eulalia, the fossor sits and lets his right leg overhang the side, his eyelids drooping and his lower lip protruding in a pout, as though he is fighting off tears. It's a very unique and heartbreaking piece, revealing both the tensions of pagan vs. Christian Rome—a theme near and dear to our class's heart—and the kinds of people who go on even after the death of martyrs. It was incredibly thought-provoking, and I'm quite glad I didn't just walk by the little details in the stone.

The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna certainly had more than these two sculptures, all different from the last in size, color, expression, and genre. To be quite honest, the museum was exhausting—even the exhibit part—because there was just so much to pack into one trip. However, even though I felt no real love toward the more abstract paintings and sculptures, I truly enjoyed a great portion (maybe even the majority) of the displays we saw.

Voyeurism: It's Not Stalking if it's for a Grade

There's a cafe within viewing distance of the Asia-and-Africa side of the Fountain of the Four Rivers called the Cafe Domiziano, perhaps named for the remains of the Stadium of Domitian we passed on our way to the Piazza Navona. Red-and-white checkered tablecloths are everywhere, tables shaded by a white canopy, and through the street separating the cafe from the square clusters of tourists linger and crowd around for minutes at a time, juggling their cameras or staring up at the Fountain's tall obelisk. In this cafe, a man sits in the front row, the sole inhabitant of the establishment, while an eye-catching number of policemen (polizia) and soldiers mill about in the side street beside the cafe. This man sits sprawled in his chair, sunglasses on despite the shade and a cigarette dangling from his right hand as he leans against the back of his seat and crosses his leg. His pink polo shirt, complete with popped collar, stands out brightly in the shadowy exterior of the cafe, and beyond his table in the open space in front of the door a waiter stands looking out at all the tourists, lightly tapping a menu against his thigh as he waits to be necessary. 

To the left of the cafe (from my vantage point), two policemen wander the alleyway, their uniforms dark blue, medals on their chests, smart collars flanked by copper-colored rectangles. Their hats are white with a dark rim, and the slightly shorter one stands close to a middle-height, rather portly man, conversing with him as the taller detail wanders back and forth along the street. The conversation ends quickly as the portly man walks away and through the doors of the cafe: perhaps the owner of the establishment, though his dress isn't too elaborate. Maybe the man had been upset by the presence of the policemen—asking why they were standing there, attracting attention, when there were even more policemen in the middle of the square, doing a good job of ignoring the tourists who crossed over the fence surrounding the Fountain. Or maybe he's asking about the so-called workers' strike, wondering where his customers are if the transportation is apparently still running. 

Meanwhile, the pink-shirted cafe customer, still enjoying his solitary coffee, is joined suddenly by a short-haired woman, who seats herself familiarly in the chair across from him. They exchange a word or two, and then she leans over something, sunglasses hiked high on her head and periwinkle shirt wrinkling as she stairs at the table —a map, perhaps, or a guide book. The sight of them sitting alone in the cafe, as tourists mingle together in swirls of sneakers and shorts and camera lenses and awkward hats, seems odd; at some moments they seem Italian, completely at ease with the way the piazza slowly fills up, while at other moments the woman's dedicated perusal of her papers makes them seem like tourists. It is clear, though, that she is doing most of the work, as the man continues to lean back against his chair, yawning widely before turning his head to look out at the square and the merchant tents. His hands link together behind his head, his body language relaxed and disinterested, while his companion —a lover or wife —scribbles something down.

Maybe they're on their honeymoon. Or a renewal of their wedding vows. The man, content with his surroundings (and his coffee, from the way he takes a sip every so often and smacks his lips), busies himself with the sights of Rome just as we Romekids have, no concept of time on his mind as he sits in a cafe earlier than is decent. He lets his wife plan the trip, because she's kind of a control freak anyway, from the way she keeps her hair boyishly short to the way she exercises every day to maintain her slim physique, and he doesn't really know where to start. He's just here for a nice vacation, nothing too stressful, enjoying the more visceral pleasures of Rome while he can.

Giornale 2: Castel Sant'Angelo

Sunday, May 29.

After a morning filled with dead things—from the obsolete Aurelian wall to the haunting pyramid of Gaius Cestius to the graves of non-Catholic foreigners—we ended our group trip at Testaccio, amidst the more residential neighborhoods and the site of ancient Rome's mountain of pottery. From there, the itinerary was open-ended: we could go back to St. John's to sleep, go shopping in Piazza Navona or the Campo de Fiori, maybe eat lunch in some cozy and secluded restaurant. I, with a group of numerous others, decided to make my way back to St. John's, but it was only for a brief recuperation period: I needed to trade jeans for shorts (because it was 80 degrees out and hot as Hades), bandage my blisters, and get rid of my backpack, since the pickpockets had been out in full force this morning, nearly stealing from two Romekids on the train. Then it was off to the Castel Sant'Angelo, which many of us had been itching to see for days but always missed the chance to go. We met up at the bus stop at quarter to 1, got quick and cheap sandwiches from Mondo Arancina, and then crammed into the 280 when it finally came.

The Castel, as I wasn't truly prepared for, was teeming with people. The bridge nearly buckled under so many tourists making their way through the heat and merchants shouting out their wares from both sidewalks. Statue people, dressed as Egyptian sarcophagi or metal cowboys, sat in front of their donation buckets, and to the far right the markets filled up the entire sidewalk with tents and shoppers. Thankfully, the line into the Castel was short enough, and we only had to stand beneath the blazing sun for five to ten minutes before we were all able to move in through the wide gateway toward the ticket booth. The walls rose at our backs, the towers casting shadows into the courtyard as we followed the marked lines toward the ticket booth and into the fortress itself, and everything was complete brick. Far from being bland, however, the inside was an impressive serious of arches and tunnels. It marked the mausoleum part of the structure, and as I climbed each steep ramp I found myself recognizing the many small side rooms that seem standard in ancient Roman architecture: like the Colosseum, Hadrian's mausoleum had many nooks built into either side of the walls, and there were multiple layers to the structure. It was shadowy, a sallow yellow lighting illuminating the walls (as windows were not very large in ancient buildings), and it was cool, refreshing and calming compared to the hectic commotion going on right outside the building.

When we reached the second courtyard, up a few floors but not yet near the top of the fortress, we milled around to admire the stature of the angel with copper wings, placed in the center the area, and the wooden catapult to the right of it, with plastic-looking cannonballs piled up against the wall. Placed together, these two sections expressed the turn of an era: ancient Rome, represented in the levels of Hadrian's mausoleum, has given way to the Christian empire and the medieval warfare that came with it. From here, mainly Christian influence would reign within the walls of what was once a Roman emperor's tomb—and that is made quite obvious once you enter the museum attached to this courtyard, where the paintings of saints, the Virgin Mary, and Christ line nearly every wall in every room. Pope attire has been encased in glass, crosses too, and only one amphora from Attic Greece is present. Ancient Rome is far less prevalent now, as the Castel leads higher and higher up.

 

To go to the next level, we walked out of the museum back into the courtyard, passing the copper-winged angel and taking stairs up to a beautiful corridor that circled the entire castle. Half of it was exposed to the air, so the sun shined in over the walls and cast shadows onto the brick floor, while the other half was covered to create a roof for a cafe (because whether this building was the tomb of deceased men or the site of Christian warfare, people need to refresh themselves). We passed small doors marked for the popes, most likely the papal apartments the brochures noted, and through the open windows on the left-side wall we were granted a breathtaking view of the Tiber and all the land that lay beyond it. If ever anyone has an undying urge to see the best view of Rome, the Castel Sant'Angelo is a great place to relieve that itch (so long as said person has 8.50 euro on hand). 

There were more stairs to climb, and more museums to see, filled again with papal outfits and Christian imagery, followed again by more stairs passing another museum. Beyond that narrow and steep staircase, though, breaking out into the gleaming, painfully bright sunlight, rests the roof of the Castel Sant'Angelo, where the world of Rome stretches out toward the horizon, literally beneath your feet. It's difficult for me to choose my favorite spot in Rome, because the Palatine, the Ara Pacis, and the Colosseum are all incredible experiences that resonate with me for one reason or another: the gardens of the Palatine and the ancient palaces make me feel peaceful and show the side of Rome that isn't loud traffic or congested tourist areas; the Ara Pacis is an Augustan propagandist masterpiece, simple in size but elegant in its decoration; and the Colosseum is simply a must-see, for its view of Rome and its impressively preserved remains. As for the top of the Castel, for all that it hurts to keep your eyes open for two long, since the sun flashes off every bright surface and sears your eyes no matter what direction you turn, the climb turns into one of those this-is-it moments. The Castel Sant'Angelo, representing numerous eras of history and changes of empire, leads you up to a panoramic view of Rome that you just can't get anywhere else. The heat is scorching, the rare breeze is delightful as you lean against the railing, and up top you can experience the entirety of Rome's glory: counting the arches as they cluster together on the left, finding the Vittorio Emanuele (your Roman Waldo, since it's everywhere) in the distance, and seeing the Vatican as it stretches out on the right. The sky never seems so blue as it does from the roof of the Castel, the Tiber winding its way around the castle down below and Rome cradling the monument in a mosaic of multi-century buildings. The Castel Sant'Angelo really helps you gain a perspective in all ways.