Sacking Rome

26 April 2006

In 410AD, the Visigoths led by King Alaric I sacked Rome, in 2007AD Eric (sounds a lot like Alaric) did much the same thing. Though the barbarians came with hordes of warriors, weapons, and desire to bring low Europe’s proud city, Eric came with Euros, an appetite, and a curiosity to try new and exciting things.

My trip to Rome can be summed up in one word: gelato. I have been told by many friends that when you get to Italy you gots to eat the ice cream. I always just nodded my head and said ‘yeah, okay, will do. I’m sure its no Baskin Robbins.’ Well, my friends, gelato makes 31 Flavors look like dirty, frozen bathwater. I ate my first gelato near the Spanish Steps and immediately wanted another one. I pacified the longing by getting another one (less than an hour later) near the Pantheon. As the taste of it dwindled away, I knew I needed another one. I restrained myself because I felt like this amazing treat was really becoming a stumbling block. But I cannot put into words how tasty this stuff really is. It is like growing wings, flying into the heavens, being blessed by the gods and given all the riches of the universe, and then being sent back to earth, to do it all over again with the next bite.

My first day in Rome was spent casually wandering the city. I found out it was Italy’s Independence Day and therefore many shops and sites were closed. But this didn’t prevent me from getting to see a lot. I saw a lot of things I don’t know much about, could hardly pronounce, but still thought were wonderful. The Piazza Navona, the Piazza del Popola, the Piazza Di Spagna, the Trevi Fountain (I threw a coin in, promising my return one day to Rome). I saw a couple churches: the Santa Maria del Popola, the Santa Maria sopra Minerva. I really love the architecture here. I often find myself diverting my attention from the hundreds, probably more in the thousands, of pictures of Christ and God and little Romanist shrines to saints, but the architecture really is glorious. There seems to be some sort of church, or cathedral or something of some significance on every corner. At least, everything looks like it has some historical value.

It began to rain at about 4:30 and we made our way back to the hostel. The staff here is friendly. I would hate working in a hostel, but they seem to not mind it, or are at least making the most of it. We were recommended a restaurant across the Fiume Tevere, which is the main river that flows through Rome. The section of the town is called Trastavere and the street we found the place on, Via Della Scala, was crowded with shops, restaurants, and lovely plant covered buildings. It was a really nice place. I ordered a bottle of white wine, fettucine with sword fish, and finished it off with a cappuccino. The food and the wine is almost the same experience as the gelato. I decided that most of my money in Rome will be spent wining and dining in the city, saving most of my appetite for the late evenings when I can sit back and drink in the surroundings of being in this wonderful city. I ended the night cheering on Liverpool in the Liverpool v. Chelsea game in an “Irish” pub near the hostel.

This morning we woke early to make it to the Vatican before the crowds. I am told that the Vatican is always a tourist hotspot and therefore the lines are usually always long. We seemed to have beat most of the lines because it only took us about 30 minutes to get into St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican was extraordinary. It was just a very overwhelming place, much like the Louvre in Paris. I climbed to the top of the dome and got a delightful view of the city. We waited in line for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel for almost an hour, but it was one of those things you just had to do. I saw Raphael’s famous School of Athens painting which was neat. A lot of the Sistine Chapel’s art was very interesting, I like the story of Moses’ life and some of the things dealing with Noah.

It is a weird feeling being in Rome. I feel like I am surrounded by religion, but not necessarily Christianity. I haven’t made up my mind about it yet, but a lot of stuff you see here just really creeps me out. I’m sure a lot could be said about many Catholics, but things I see here give me the eeby-jeebys. I don’t know about the rest of you, but praise be to God for the Reformation. It seems more like a cult here than orthodox Christianity. But reflections on Roman Catholicism should probably be left for a future blog.

From the Vatican, I strolled over to the Pantheon. It was open today. It was old, impressive, the usual. Something you might expect from something built by Hadrian, the emperor who brought beards into fashion. I dig him. I also stopped into Giolatti which is supposedly one of Rome’s best gelato places. I think I have found paradise. I will be going back tomorrow and probably the next day, and maybe I will get a couple tons frozen and sent back to the States.

It began to drizzle and it was neat to see the rain come down through the oculus in the dome of the Pantheon. I made my way back to the hostel and took a nap. Now I await another night out dining on the streets of Rome…and maybe some more gelato.