Cumulonimbus: Rome (pt 1)

Day 1

We reached Rome Ciampiano Airport at about 5pm. After retrieving our checked in baggage, we boarded a bus which took us to Agnagnina, the nearest Metro subway station. From there we went to Termini, which is the transportation hub of Rome. The subway system in Rome is worse than New York’s; not only is it dirty, it actually stinks. Once we reached Termini, we followed the instructions given by the hostel’s website and boarded bus 310 to our hostel. Unfortunately for us, we alighted from the bus too early and ended up having to walk to our hostel in the dark. Luckily we managed to somehow find the hostel. To our relief, to receptionist speaks English, and we were promptly checked in even though we didn’t have enough cash to pay for our dues. We were assigned to a 6 bedroom room with a French couple already occupying two of the beds.

Once we had everything settled down, we headed out again to Termini for dinner. The food there was quite cheap, we had kebab for less than 3 euros. Since the night was still young, we went to Piazza de Repubblica, which is within walking distance from Termini. There is an impressive looking fountain right at the center of the piazza, and the Santa Maria degli Angeli is just right opposite the fountain. Since everything was already closed, we just took a couple of photos before going back to our hostel.

Day 2

We had breakfast provided by the hostel, which was really nothing much but bread and cereal. From Termini, we took Linea B to the Colosseo stop, which was right in front of the Colosseum. I was left without words when I first saw the colossal Colosseo; I actually could not believe that I was there, standing in front of the magnificent building that I’ve seen so many times in postcards or pictures. The line towards the entrance was long, but I couldn’t complain as I needed the time to let the fact set in: I’m in Rome!!!

After Colosseum, we went to the nearby Palatino and Forum Romanum, which was basically a vast site of what used to be the central area of ancient Rome. One could only imagine how majestic the ancient city would look like standing there surrounded by those gigantic slabs of marbles, huge columns and arcs, and ruins of once imposing structures.

We proceeded to the Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II, a monstrous monument dedicated to the first king who of a unified Italy. From there we went to the first grand church of many more to come – the Ara Coeli. Again I was awestruck as it was the first time that I observed such opulence in a catholic church; the interior was basically splattered with ornaments, paintings, and sculptures that could leave any casual observer dizzy and humbled. Since this was the first church of all in our trip, we were quite appreciative of the architecture and all, but eventually that feeling turned into a dreaded sense of déjà-vu. Ask Shermern about it, who in the end wouldn’t even want to enter anything vaguely resembling a catholic church.

As night falls, we made our way to probably the most famous fountain in the world: Fontana di Trevi. The fountain was so packed with tourists, presumably not to admire the art behind the fountain but to perform the famous coin-throwing ritual. I did my part to contribute to the estimated 3000 euros thrown into the fountain daily.

Places that we have visited the same day includes:

Palatino – Circo Massimo – Arco di Giano – Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II – Ara Coeli – Foro Traiano – Fontana di Trevi – Fontana del Tritone