Rome
Coming to Italy was a huge mistake. I don’t know how I am ever coming back to the States. Right now I am in Cortona. It has been almost four weeks of being in this country and we’ve already had two weekends of travel (so I have lot of catching up to do). I am having a hard time processing that fact that I am in ITALY and also keep pushing off starting my blog. So I decided to start writing to help the fact sink in a little more than it has been, and to show you how it’s been going so far.
Let’s start with landing in Rome at 7:30am. I was pretty sure our plane crashed and that we had all died and gone to heaven. It was literally a fresco straight from the ceiling of a Baroque church. The atmosphere was illuminated in pastel pinks, purples and blues, soft and glistening. All the mist, clouds and fog painted the landscape in silhouettes of blues and hints of green. I am sorry I keep describing Italy in terms of colors… You will have to get used to it.
If you have ever read Eat, Pray, Love, Rome is exactly how she describes it in the book. It is fast paced, heavy, rich and absolutely stunning. After landing we were all running on 24 hours of no sleep and were starting to feel the drunken delirium of insomnia. What better time to go into town than right now?
It was actually a great idea to do so. We were with a few girls who landed and toured Rome the day before. It was so stereotypical Italy to be walking around picturesque alleys and streets and to suddenly turn into a piazza that housed some monumental Bernini, or the Pantheon from our friends the ancient Romans.
One morning, those who wanted to, left at 7am to check out the cupola of St. Peters, a total of 551 stairs to the top. Greatest 5 Euro deal of my life! It was impossibly small, and there was no turning back, which was the perfect time to have a panic attack. Though I didn’t actually have one, just imagine all the reasons why I should have; I was stuck in between a brick wall and the dome of St. Peters, in a walkway that was no wider than my shoulder-span, with people above and below me, a one-way street, in the sky.
The Sistine Chapel nearly brought me to tears when I saw it in person. A few hundred of us tourist just sat with the same expression, looking up and mouths open, while the Italian guards shouted “NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!” Because I don’t feel safe messing around with Italian authority, I didn’t sneak a photo like everyone else. However, I appreciated the time I had at hand to just do some old-time looking and staring. I love how Michelangelo didn’t actually consider himself as a painter, but more so a sculptor. That’s his way of basically telling every painter in the world to go ____ themselves. Being so close to this artist’s hand by seeing the Sistine Chapel in person, felt somehow like finally meeting a celebrity, like Leonardo DiCaprio or Mickey Mouse. Except, it’s even more amazing because this celebrity is a few hundred years old, and still kicking!
One thing that I would recommend for everyone to do before they die is to go see Bernini’s jaw dropping sculptures in the Borghese Gallery. Again, not a place I could take pictures in, or even carry my camera, but that was actually a blessing. Bernini, not Michelangelo (in my opinion) is the God of all sculptors. There is nothing closer to perfection. If you ask me, his David is SO much more handsome and Michelangelo’s.
Of all things, I did not expect to love the Coliseum. I think I am like my art teacher “Mz. RLll,” who loves ancient and torn down buildings. Whenever I am in an ancient place, I like to pretend I am someone from that time period, walking around and doing what people did back then. In the Ruins, I pretended I was going into town on the main “artery” or street of downtown Rome. In the Coliseum, I had a really easy time pretending I was someone in the audience, maybe because of the masses of tourists that filled the place. I kept being so intrigued by the whole idea of how OLD the place ways, and how I was living and walking within a structure that once held a civilization so different from ours today. Then that got me thinking to how the entire world is ancient, and that everything we stand on are ancient elements recycled and used to build with again. After that profound moment, the two girls I was with and I decided to have a mini dance party so we could say that we did, in the Coliseum.
Let’s start with landing in Rome at 7:30am. I was pretty sure our plane crashed and that we had all died and gone to heaven. It was literally a fresco straight from the ceiling of a Baroque church. The atmosphere was illuminated in pastel pinks, purples and blues, soft and glistening. All the mist, clouds and fog painted the landscape in silhouettes of blues and hints of green. I am sorry I keep describing Italy in terms of colors… You will have to get used to it.
If you have ever read Eat, Pray, Love, Rome is exactly how she describes it in the book. It is fast paced, heavy, rich and absolutely stunning. After landing we were all running on 24 hours of no sleep and were starting to feel the drunken delirium of insomnia. What better time to go into town than right now?
It was actually a great idea to do so. We were with a few girls who landed and toured Rome the day before. It was so stereotypical Italy to be walking around picturesque alleys and streets and to suddenly turn into a piazza that housed some monumental Bernini, or the Pantheon from our friends the ancient Romans.
***
One morning, those who wanted to, left at 7am to check out the cupola of St. Peters, a total of 551 stairs to the top. Greatest 5 Euro deal of my life! It was impossibly small, and there was no turning back, which was the perfect time to have a panic attack. Though I didn’t actually have one, just imagine all the reasons why I should have; I was stuck in between a brick wall and the dome of St. Peters, in a walkway that was no wider than my shoulder-span, with people above and below me, a one-way street, in the sky.
***
The Sistine Chapel nearly brought me to tears when I saw it in person. A few hundred of us tourist just sat with the same expression, looking up and mouths open, while the Italian guards shouted “NO PHOTO! NO PHOTO!” Because I don’t feel safe messing around with Italian authority, I didn’t sneak a photo like everyone else. However, I appreciated the time I had at hand to just do some old-time looking and staring. I love how Michelangelo didn’t actually consider himself as a painter, but more so a sculptor. That’s his way of basically telling every painter in the world to go ____ themselves. Being so close to this artist’s hand by seeing the Sistine Chapel in person, felt somehow like finally meeting a celebrity, like Leonardo DiCaprio or Mickey Mouse. Except, it’s even more amazing because this celebrity is a few hundred years old, and still kicking!***
One thing that I would recommend for everyone to do before they die is to go see Bernini’s jaw dropping sculptures in the Borghese Gallery. Again, not a place I could take pictures in, or even carry my camera, but that was actually a blessing. Bernini, not Michelangelo (in my opinion) is the God of all sculptors. There is nothing closer to perfection. If you ask me, his David is SO much more handsome and Michelangelo’s. ***
Of all things, I did not expect to love the Coliseum. I think I am like my art teacher “Mz. RLll,” who loves ancient and torn down buildings. Whenever I am in an ancient place, I like to pretend I am someone from that time period, walking around and doing what people did back then. In the Ruins, I pretended I was going into town on the main “artery” or street of downtown Rome. In the Coliseum, I had a really easy time pretending I was someone in the audience, maybe because of the masses of tourists that filled the place. I kept being so intrigued by the whole idea of how OLD the place ways, and how I was living and walking within a structure that once held a civilization so different from ours today. Then that got me thinking to how the entire world is ancient, and that everything we stand on are ancient elements recycled and used to build with again. After that profound moment, the two girls I was with and I decided to have a mini dance party so we could say that we did, in the Coliseum.  |
| Some gelato pictures for your viewing pleasure... |
Your writing is beautiful. the chic in Eat, pray, love doesn't hold a candle compared to you! I can't wait to read about more adventures!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, I miss you, keep writing.
ReplyDeleteLove you, Imma.
The gelato looks delicious! And the photos are gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteSam
Awesome Maya! Love the writing and the pics! Can't wait to hear and see more!
ReplyDeleteLove ya, Lauren