Blogsmeade: Day 1 - When in Rome...

[NOTE: Sorry for the delay! I couldn’t figure out how to connect to the wireless in our Rome hotel. Didn’t want to blog without pictures but now I’ve figured out the wireless situation in Florence!]

Day 1 – When in Rome…

…we must do as the Romans do! No rest for the weary.

After a long flight from DC to Rome (where, in the future, I will gladly pay the extra fee on United for Economy PLUS leg room), we arrived in Rome very early on Friday morning. After we deplaned (and my legs screamed for joy... or is that just lactic acid burning my flesh?), we picked up our luggage and flew through customs faster than the ink drying in my passport.

We found the train station easily and hopped aboard towards Termini station. At Termini, we fatefully decided to save money and take the metro to our hotel. BAD IDEA. Our metro line (Linea A) was at the far end of the station. Lugging 49.5 pounds (yes, you read that right) of luggage through hot underground tunnels, in morning rush hour with a wool scarf and heavy jacket, up and down flights of STAIRS, had me literally cursing our frugality.

But we finally made it to Barberini station and our hotel, the Daphne Inn (which is awesome.) Tired as we were, we pressed on, determined not to fall victim to jet lag. First stop: the Spanish steps. Perhaps it was extreme fatigue, but I don’t see why it’s so famous. They’re steps. Walking up, you reach one of a thousand churches at the top; walking down, one of a hundred fountains splashes at the bottom. Whoopee.

Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti, aka The Spanish Steps

From there, everything else is a blur. We saw the Fontaine di Trevi (Trevi Fountain), the Fontaine di Tritone (Triton Fountain, near our hotel), and walked down Via Condotti, the Fifth Avenue of Rome. Again, maybe it’s fatigue but I was underwhelmed. One thing I did notice, however, is fur. From fur-trimmed parkas to fur collars and stoles to full-length fur coats, EVERYONE was wearing fur in Rome. Fur and over-the-knee leather boots. Another universal truth? You can spot an American from blocks away by her Uggs and North Face jacket.

Fontaine di Trevi

Fontaine di Trevi, nighttime

Fontaine di Tritone, nighttime

By the time we reached the Pantheon, I was ready to breeze through and call it a day. But the interior took by breath away. Here, I was impressed. The sheer size, the marble grandeur, the tomb of Raphael! But most of all, the dome, the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built. It appeals my sense of symmetry – at 142 feet, the height is equal to its diameter. The oculus, “eye of heaven”, illuminates the dome. In its original glory, the dome was supposed to be lined in bronze, which would have reflected the sunlight, setting the Pantheon ablaze. But centuries of plunder by emperors and popes to line their own war chests and bankroll art commissions have stripped the Pantheon of its burnished luxury. I can only imagine how much more splendid it would have been to the ancient Romans.