After a heavy downpour the night before causing some difficult traffic circumstances for some of us, we all made it safe and sound to Newark around 3pm to start our adventure together. We made it through ticketing, checking bags, and security all without a hitch and made it to the gate with over an hour to spare. We gave the kids some free time to get some food and drinks before meeting us back at the gate for boarding. The flight was a little bumpy at times but overall a great flight. The service was awesome and everyone caught some z’s at some point for varying amounts of time. When we arrived in Frankfurt, we deplaned and headed down one of the longest hallways I’ve ever walked down to finally find our gate to, once again, set up basecamp and let the kids have some time before the boarding process. As we walked around the airport, the smells of bread and wursts were very welcomed by all. Our plane was a little late getting cleaned before we boarded so we were a little later boarding than scheduled but we were off without a hitch, on to Roma! Everyone fell asleep on that flight! The process of collecting our bags, finding our guide and getting on the bus was very painless. We then got on a coach bus that was much too big for our small group of 14 and headed to Trastevere, where our hotel, Villa Riari, awaited. On the drive, we saw a few sights such as Mussolini’s “colosseum,” the Circus Maximus and the outskirts of the Forum Romanum. Upon arrival at the hotel, we all dispersed to get our bags in our rooms, clean up a little bit and then we hit the road for a nice walking tour. We stopped off to grab some pizza to hold us over until dinner time and quickly set back on the trail towards the Largo Argentina. We read Suetonius’ account of how Caesar was murdered somewhere near that site. For being extremely tired and jet-lagged, the students really jumped in to offer guesses and answers to Latin grammar and contextual questions about the passage. After looking at the site, we made our way to the Piazza della Rotonda, where we saw an obelisk sitting atop an elephant designed by Bernini and went into the church nearby (Santa Maria Sopra Minerva). There was a Michelangelo sculpture in the church, in addition to the rare-in-Rome Gothic architecture of the building itself. After those stops, we rounded the corner of the Pantheon and gazed up at the magnificent building. We deciphered the inscription on the frieze of the building and then went in to marvel at the design and layout of one of the most technologically-advanced buildings of its time. After making our way through the Pantheon and listening to the electric violinist in the piazza, we made our way to the Piazza Navona, where we were excited to find the church of St. Agnes aperto so we took a peek inside and saw a beautifully painted dome and the relic of St. Agnes. After that, we looked at the Fountain of the Four Rivers, also by Bernini. We talked about which statues meant which river and finally headed off to a well-deserved dinner in the Campo dei Fiori at Da Fortunata, a place known for the little lady in the window making the pastas by hand. We all enjoyed some delicious handmade pasta and some mozzarella di buffala. We then walked back to our hotel, but not before stopping and getting our first helping of gelato. When we returned to the hotel, we all made sure that we were informed of breakfast time and what the plan of tomorrow would be. Everyone is really tired so there should be no problems in terms of sleeping tonight! What a great first day in Roma!
1 Comment
|