ROMA
Liisa and I, after succesfully completing our first semester (she goes to sciences po as well), decided we deserved a short vacation someplace unkown to both - and Rome it was. Thank god for internet booking and Ryanair; 75e flights, 60e hostel. Travelling is just so much more possible, especially for students.
Well, don't thank Ryanair all that much. We woke up at five a.m. on saturday morning, to get the metro, to get the bus, to get to the Ryanair airport (1,5hrs!!). There were two boarding gates, side by side, one for Rome and the other for Lisbon. Now, Ryanair doesnt have seating places- its free game - so people were all lined up in amorphous mobs waiting to get in. We knew that we were going to Italy, when at the last minute, they changed the gates and the two crowds started running to the other gate with their luggage, and from somewhere in the crowd, a loud yell was enounced: ”BASTARDI!!!”.
As our plane was landing to ciampino airport, it suddenly, steeply, pulled up. The runway was fogged up. We waited half an hour and tried again. Liisa said she could already see the buildings when we pulled up. Then we tried the other airport at Rome. Finally, they took us to the other side of Italy, to what must be its ugliest coastal town Pescara. From pescara, we got a bus to the airport in Rome (mind you, not to rome itself – we had to take another bus for that). As a frenchman eloquently put it, when we got lost on the way to the airport, and came back to the same crossroad: ”they need multiple approaches in this country”.
Well, needless to say, we were quite tired, and when we got to our shitty hostel (’enjoy hostels’), Saturday had been pretty much travelled for us.
Well, don't thank Ryanair all that much. We woke up at five a.m. on saturday morning, to get the metro, to get the bus, to get to the Ryanair airport (1,5hrs!!). There were two boarding gates, side by side, one for Rome and the other for Lisbon. Now, Ryanair doesnt have seating places- its free game - so people were all lined up in amorphous mobs waiting to get in. We knew that we were going to Italy, when at the last minute, they changed the gates and the two crowds started running to the other gate with their luggage, and from somewhere in the crowd, a loud yell was enounced: ”BASTARDI!!!”.
As our plane was landing to ciampino airport, it suddenly, steeply, pulled up. The runway was fogged up. We waited half an hour and tried again. Liisa said she could already see the buildings when we pulled up. Then we tried the other airport at Rome. Finally, they took us to the other side of Italy, to what must be its ugliest coastal town Pescara. From pescara, we got a bus to the airport in Rome (mind you, not to rome itself – we had to take another bus for that). As a frenchman eloquently put it, when we got lost on the way to the airport, and came back to the same crossroad: ”they need multiple approaches in this country”.
Well, needless to say, we were quite tired, and when we got to our shitty hostel (’enjoy hostels’), Saturday had been pretty much travelled for us.
Rome was unbelievable, maybe even absurd. We thought hard, and came to the conclusion that there is probably no other city in the world, with a span of some 3000 years of civilization (Roman empire, the vatican and the papacy later, and then Italy as a nation). And unlike many cities, old monuments or even ruins have been left to stand. You can stand at the piazza di venezia and be surrounded by an eclectic, epoch-littered view. Pieces of old aqueducts, old houses, churches, national monuments.. all around the city. And after you visit the vatican, and the vatican museum (take an audiotour, tagging along other people’s guides is embarrassing), or fontana di trevi, passing an ancient church will seem trivial, and the things-to-see-list becomes absurd. Luckily, on the first day we had Liisa’s friends, Salvatore and Giulia (who is a professor, and has studied roman history), who kindly helped make all the ancient stuff a lot more understandable.
One of the thoughts that struck me most, was thinking of Rome in view of our present civilization, which we easily consider the peek of human history and progress. Yet comparing occidental society over the last century to the thousand years of peace of the Pax Romana, seems quite ridiculous.
Truly an amazing, beautiful, colorful and personal city. I think i have found another city where i want to live at some stage in my life.
And the food.. Pasta amatriciana and artichokes, buffets. We ate at least once a day at a restaurant, guzzling down crispy white wine. White wine seemed appropriate, since it was close to 20 degrees, even in february.
Its good to be back too. Seeing all of Rome in 6 days was no easy task. And if you know how much i like walking, and how fast i am at it.. I think i will spend the rest of my vacations by being lazy.
Take care!
And it goes without saying that we saw tapirs as well.
5 Comments:
The nerdy "I do study history" -intervention: there are several cities that have a longer life span than Rome, even ones that can compete with Rome in their historical significance.
For instance Damascus in Syria was founded around 3000 BCE and has been the capital of Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates which held geografically about as large area as the Roman empire under their control.
In India Varanasi was founded around the same time and has continued ever since to play a key role in development of the Indian culture. It is still today with its 10 million inhabitants the holiest city of all to Hindu religion. Actually, even the history of Athens does date back for four thousand years.
But never mind the bollocks, Rome is something beyond understanding. We spent there six days with Elina in 2002 and the place still blows my mind away when I think of it. You would definately need a month or so (and a thick wallet) to explore Rome so that you would understand it some way. Did you check out the crypt that is built out of bones of the members of some christian brotherhood?
(Kuhan nyt vain sain huomioo ja pääsin vähän pätemään)
8:06 AM
The Sistine Chapel and all that around that makes the Vatican is still the most awesome experience of my life, in the true meaning of the word.
2:16 PM
Naw! they just showed me the crypt, they didnt tell me it was built out of bones!
But hey, it seems like i have friends who actually know relevant stuff. Thanks for answering that joni, we were really thinking about it.
Niklas
3:33 AM
The crypts name is The Capuchin Crypt and it lies under the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/tapholov/pages/bones.html
And yup, Vatican wasn't bad. At all. But it was definately stupid to try to explore it all during one single day. There really is a limit how much one person can handle of the cultural owerflow.
And wouldn´t know about relevance, anyways this sort of trivial information doesn't seem to get me anywhere, especially considering summer jobs..
7:58 AM
mom, liisa is a girl who goes to my school, just like i wrote on my blog.
8:07 AM
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