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Roaming around Rome, Florence and Pisa!
Friday 13th July 2012 | Osh
During the month of May, I along with 12 of my peers went on a trek around Rome, Florence and Pisa. To be fair, we spent the weekend in Florence, half a day in Pisa and 3 weeks in Rome so I can safely say that I have seen everything that’s worth seeing in Rome. The main point of this trip was to learn about the history, art and architecture which Italy has to offer so our first stop was, of course, the Colosseum.
Stepping into the Colosseum for the first time was epic! The sheer size of the building just took my breath away. We were given an opportunity to walk onto the arena taking the same paths the gladiators once took. There is only one word to describe this experience…amazing! Walking through the paths of the Colosseum and onto the arena is something, I feel, everyone should experience as it’s the closest you will ever get to feeling like a true roman gladiator, and everyone should feel like a gladiator once in their life.
Whilst in Rome, we visited a number of churches but for me only two of them were memorable. First is St Peter’s in Vatican City which we visited one early morning on a Sunday. But this Sunday was like no other Sunday because it was on this Sunday that we got blessed by the Pope! We arrived in St Peter’s square which was packed with people wanting to catch a glimpse of the Pope. After waiting for about an hour, a window in St Peters opened and a red rug was draped out of it, the Pope then came to the window and gave a wave to all his followers. He then addressed the people in a number of different languages and then blessed us all. I am not a catholic but this was still an experience I will never forget. A few days later we returned to St Peters…at 6am in the morning. The church was very quiet, as there were few tourists present so early in the morning, so we were able to walk around and fully appreciate the beauty of it without having to avoid bumping into someone every step of the way. When you first walk into St Peters, you notice just how big and colourful the cathedral really is. As you enter the church, on your right stands Michelangelo’s Pieta. This magnificent sculpture depicts Mary holding a dying Jesus. It is suggested that Michelangelo’s work is so amazing that if looked at for a while it seems as if Jesus is actually breathing. A friend and I attempted this and I have to confirm that this is true. It was absolutely magical, almost like the sculpture came to life before your eyes.
Another church, which is forever embedded into my memory, is the Capuchini Bone Church. Words can’t describe this church but I will give it a go. The Capuchini Bone Church is a small space which has several little chapels inside it. These chapels contain the skeleton remains of over 4000 Capuchin Friars. Now when I say the chapel contains these skeletons what I really mean is that the chapel is decorated with these skeletons. Here is a picture which can show you exactly what I mean. Even though this was one of the most horrendous things I have ever seen, there was also something very sad about this chapel. These monks, who lived here, all died here and will now have their remains decorating the walls of these chapels. In the last chapel of the church there is a very eerie message on the floor. It reads ‘What you are now, we used to be; what we are now you will be…’ the only thing I can say about this message is… creepy.
Now to move onto something completely different, the night we went on the Colosseum Pub crawl. As the saying goes ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’ so we thought the Colosseum Pub crawl was very appropriate. The night kicks off at small bar then onto a different bar and then finally at a club all these places are in walking distance from the Colosseum which made it that much more exciting.
Whilst in Florence we got a chance to see some amazing art. First stop was to see Michelangelo’s David. This sculpture was incredible, it’s huge in size and you can walk around the entire sculpture and see everything in detail. David is allegedly modelled after Michelangelo’s secret lover so he was very detailed in ensuring that he did his lover justice. Next we visited the Uffizi art gallery; here we had the opportunity to see work by world renowned artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Botticelli, Michelangelo and Raphael. During the night we visited a club called Space Electronic, it was very much RnB and Hip-hop and had a lot of students. It was cheap at just 10 euro’s which included a free drink so definitely worth a visit if you’re ever in Florence.
During the Sunday afternoon, of our weekend in Florence, a few friends and I decided that it would be a good idea to have a quick visit to Pisa. This was an hour’s train journey away but here is one tip when travelling in Italy, validate your ticket! Unlike England, after buying a ticket it isn’t enough to just display the ticket, you must validate the ticket before boarding the train otherwise you will have to pay a fine.
When we arrived at Pisa it was pretty much like a ghost town. The streets were empty and the shops were closed. We walked closer to the leaning tower and started seeing more people. When we arrived at the tower, which was surrounded by tourists, we stopped to take pictures. These were of course the classic style pictures in which the person is made to look like they are pushing the tower. As there wasn’t much else to see in Pisa we headed back to Rome.
Italy is an incredible place to visit which is packed with history, art, architecture, fashion and lots of fun. So if you want a great place to visit where you can have a great day at the beach and a fun night out but also a place to immerse yourself in culture and history then Italy is the place to go.
By Ramya Nair
