Starting the first weekend we were there I learned most about the cultural aspects of Rome. Our first full day here we went to the Borghese Gallery which I really connected to. This wasn't a home to the Borghese family but just a place where they kept art and sculptures. Our tour guide's name was Frederica and she gave us all headsets so we could hear her from far away. She was an art history major in college and was born in raised in Rome. I was absolutely taken aback by so many pieces of art. One of my favorites was the 'Venere che benda Amore' by Tiziano Vecellio. This painting shows two cupids, one of which is blindfolded. The blindfolded cupid represents irrational love which is blind whereas the other cupid represents rational love. Another one of my favorites is the most popular sculpture by Bernini, who was featured throughout the gallery. This sculpture was called 'Apollo e Dafne'. It shows the god Apollo (who was known to be rather ridiculously good looking) chasing after Dafne, a nymph. He was madly in love with her but she hated him...poor guy. She hated him so much she prayed to the gods to turn her into a tree to get away from him. In the sculpture you can see her toes turning to roots, her hair turning to leaves, and her body turning to bark. It's absolutely magnificent. The detail in the marble was astounding. Frederica told us that the symbolism behind this sculpture is, "When you chase after beauty you may end up with dead leaves and dust in your hands". I also loved his sculpture called 'Pluto e Proserpina'.
Another one of my favorite events the first weekend was when we went to the catacombs. We were heading towards the Saint Callisto catacomb, which is one of the underground tombs for Christians in earlier centuries. The pagan followers allowed the Christians to bury their dead because they also had some superstitious beliefs as to care of bodies after death, and they held respect for the dead. So Christians would bury their dead down including two popes in this catacomb. There are 59 in all of Rome, and only 5 have been excavated. It's incredible how much history hasn't even been touched yet! They literally are underneath the city and they can't be excavated because public and private property rests on top of them. The Saint Callisto catacombs run 30 miles...can you imagine that many bodies?? 50% of all the bodies buried in the catacombs are children due to such a short life span. It was heartbreaking to see small tomb after tomb. We weren't allowed to take any pictures down there because its sacrilegious, but they began digging into the ground and there were rectangular tombs in the walls for the bodies. The bodies have since disintegrated and they used to be covered by a slab of marble but when the barbarians took over Rome they raided the catacombs taking out all the marble so now its just hole after hole in all the walls. There were many beautiful things associated with such a dark place. Our guide told us that families would place oil candles next to their loved ones to symbolize eternal life. There was also a well preserved marble plaque for a 15 year old girl's grave. It was written from her father to her. He called her his, "dolce cuore", meaning sweetheart.
Those two tours were just a glimpse of everything we saw that first weekend but they were my favorite. We also went to the Forum, Palatine Hill, Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, and many piazza's in Rome. After the first weekend I felt like I had been living in Rome for weeks already.
Everyday after school some of the girls and I would try to make plans to eat out, or explore something new to keep ourselves involved in the city and not just relax at the apartment. The littlest excursions such as going to the market were still cultural excursions in my opinion. We had to dicepher what the labels meant, and what everything was while working together as roommates or a group to feed ourselves for the week.
And every single time we went out to eat it was a math lesson. They never split checks so you had to divide everything amongst everyone, and with the added coperto charge, the service fee, there was more to take into account. I really learned a lot about visiting a foreign city but even moreso how to live in a city at all. Walking from place to place was refreshing instead of having to drive everywhere like I do at home. You can also find many peaceful and serene places in such a busy city such as Rome. When the whole group got together to eat dinner watching the sunset, I realized that I could live in a place like Rome for longer than a month.
The last few weeks we visited the spanish steps and the Vatican which was beautiful. It was a wonderful way to end the trip because we were able to see the last few major attractions in Rome. I felt I got a lot away from the trip from these experiences, especially being together in a group. When we tour these places together I'm able to feed off of the other girls and maybe learn something new not just from the guide but from each other. I've also learned a lot from the people of Rome, both the children that I worked with and just the average person you'd meet on a street. The night we went to the spanish steps an older woman I offered my rose to told me to live a beautiful life. It's moments like that I'll remember for a long time. Every waiter, guide, or concierge we meant made an impression on me. I feel I can learn most about the city from the perspective of the Romans. Going to a restaurant with legitimate Roman food and waiters can be such a cultural experience.
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