Rome: July 2

Thursday July 2, 2009

We arrive in Rome about 10:45 am after an entire day of plane rides and almost no sleep. Our group of 29 Interior Design students and teachers board a bus to take us to our hotel. We are given a few hours to get settled in and I immediately fall asleep. After the much needed nap, our group is off to tour Rome. We get off the metro and walk out, and there is the Colosseum, in all its glory, right off the road by the station. It surprises me that it would be right in the middle of the city, surrounded by busy roads. It is so large and breathtakingly beautiful. We start walking down the street, looking at ruins and old building when it starts raining. I confidently pull out my umbrella, grateful I had packed it. Within a matter of seconds, the storm turns from a light drizzle to unbearable downpour. Rain is falling hard, mud is splashing, wind is fiercely blowing. We all pile up against a tall wall, trying to get some form of shelter, but it is hopeless. The rain continues for what seems like an hour. We are all drenched, sopping with water, covered in mud, our umbrellas useless. We finally decide it is time to trudge on, forging streets in ankle deep water. We finally make it to the Musei Capitolini and despite the water dripping from our bodies, we are allowed inside the museum. Upon first entering the museum, you walk into a little courtyard filled with broken pieces of what were once large sculptures. Broken off heads, feet and hands, all larger than me, are lined up against a wall. The fact that these sculptures are not in their original context might make them even more interesting and beautiful. It’s like a modern display of ancient sculptures.

After the museum, we divide up and go to dinner. After getting lost several times, we finally find the Hard Rock Café, only to discover that the wait is over an hour. So Josie, Scott and I decide against staying and go off to look for some dinner. We find a nice little shop still open that sells something half between a sandwich and a pizza. It is amazingly delicious. Then we catch the shuttle to our hotel and pass out from exhaustion.