Roman the Streets.....

Hello everyone! THis is Kirstin. We finally have access to a computer for more than fifteen minutes, so I thought I would update our blog...finally!!! From Venice we took a train to Rome, a big city with lots of history. During our first day in Rome, we went on a bus tour. The day was HOT and muggy. Rome was much different than I had anticipated. The city is so busy and huge and right in the middle of big shopping malls and houses you see these huge monuments that are hundrends of years old! I couldn't believe it. Our bus tour took us to the Colloseum...wow! When we got off the bus we were swept into a picture with a Gladiator...who obviously wanted a tip for our picture with him! He was very affectionate and wanted a kiss for the picture. We said tough luck!!!!




The Colloseum was huge and amazing. We couldn't get over the fact that people had built this huge structure. Mostly slaves and servants. It was sobering to realize how many people had been exploited to create the monument. For hundreds of years, Gladiators had fought to the death. Only 2% of the Gladiators survived the death matches. The Christians were persucuted and many were fed to lions and other beasts as the crowds cheered on. It's sad to know that people enjoyed watching the torture and deaths of other people.



We stopped many places along the way and each place had some huge statue or monument. I thought I would take a little break on this bench and work on my poses for my upcoming modeling headshots. I think I look like a Roman, eh?

Along with the many sights, there were Vespas everywhere!!! Dodging the Vespas was a constant task!!! They come out of nowhere. In the big city, I now understand why people use them. You can't drive anywhere in Rome, it's so busy.



One of our last stops for the day was Trevi fountain. This was an amazing sight. The pictures don't do it justice. We were in awe of the beauty. The stairs around the fountain were absolutely packed with people. We managed to get down by the water and threw two coins each into the fountain for good luck and future romance!! Oooooh la la. The coins in the fountain are collected each night and are given to a supermarket in Rome that supports the poor and other various charities. Roughly three thousand Euros are retrieved from the fountain each day. Wow!!
Toward the end of our tour we met three guys from Kentucky, all backpacking to some of the same places as us. They were going to be leaving for Cinque Terre the same day we were. We all joked we might see each other there...and you'll have to stay tuned to find out if we do see them!

By the end of the day, were so exhausted from the heat and crowds that we bought some food and had a feast in a little park we found. We had quite a feast...and looked like a couple of bums. We had trash scattered around our feet, were sweaty, and were covered in bug bites. Rome has tons of mosquitos, and we all looked like we had chicken pox. Haley purchased this little device that is supposed to helo ease the itch of bug bites. It sends a small electrical shock to the bite. They didn't mind using it, and thought it would be hilariuos to randomly shock me with the zapper when I wasn't expecting it!!! Little stinkers.

THe next day we traveled to Vatican City to see the Sistine Chapel. We waited in line for about an hour and a half to get in, and just barely made it in time for the last visitors to get in. Vatican City is the smallest country and has an estimated population of only 826 people, most who work directly for the Roman Catholic Church as clergy or Swiss Guardsman. Vatican City houses some of the most famous art in teh whole world...and we got to see it. I was in awe. While studying at Willamette, I took a course on Renaissance art history and studied all of the art we saw. The

This fresco is Raphael's School of Athens. I never believed I would be able to see any of this in person. I was speechless. The Sistine Chapel was enormous. When we walked into the Chapel, the security guards told everyone to be silent and not take any pictures...we accidently took one!
If you look closely, you can see Michelangelo's famous The Creation of Adam. So cool.

After Rome, we left for Florence for one night. Florence is another city rich in Renaissance art and home of the famous statue The David. Unfortunately, we arrived on a day when all museums were closed and didn't get to see any of the art!! Our night in Florence we took a bus to a lookout point above the city. You could see all of Florence...the famous Duomo cathedral, theSanta Maria Novella, the Uffizi, and the Pitti Palace. Florence is one of the last preserved renaissance cities in the world. Some of the most famous Renaissance artists were from Florence.
That night we ate pasta on a terrace overlooking the whole city. We watched the sun set at the lookout and stuffed ourselves with Italian food!!! Yum. It all felt surreal.

The next day we walked around Florence and visited some of the famous sites such as the Santa Maria Novella and the huge and famous Duomo cathedral constructed by Brunelleschi. We also saw the Basilica of Santa Croce, the famous Bapistery, and the Santa Trinita.

After our exciting excursion, we headed off to Cinque Terre!!!!!