Vatican City/Rome, Italy

"SPQR" - Senatus Populesque Romanus
"The Senate and the Roman People"

The events leading up to this latest installment began approximately nine years ago. I was 12 years old at the time, sitting in my middle school guidance counselor's office, looking over my schedule for the next year. It was that following year, my 7th grade year, that I decided to start my foreign language requirement, which would follow me throughout the rest of middle school and to the end of high school. Most people here chose between Spanish, French, and German. However, I decided to take a more interesting approach by choosing Latin, a language that, at the time, I figured was "dead" as they all say. Nine years later, I can really thank myself for choosing this course, as it is by far the main event that even makes this post possible. Maybe you will understand why by the time you are finished reading this exciting new adventure, which I undertook this passed weekend...

It was 2:00 AM Friday morning, the 21st of October. As I let the cold, German air seep through my open window, I packed the last of my things into my backpack. I had not slept that night, as I was preparing for an intensive seminar that I would have the next week. I met my friends travelling with me, Christina, also from UNCG, and Andrew, a good friend from Scotland. Together we set out into the crisp, 35 degree air and began our one hour walk to the main bus station (no public transportation was running at this time of the night), located near the main train station. From this bus station we rode two hours to Frankfurt's smaller airport, Frankfurt Hahn.

As we walked in, we checked the boards of departures, and saw that our 6:20 AM flight to Rome, Italy was on time. We checked our boarding passes and passports, went through security, and waited about an hour before boarding our Ryanair flight south.

We took off into the dawn, racing south to our warmer destination. About an hour into our trip, I looked down during a break in the clouds and saw, in all their majesty, the snow covered peaks of the Swiss Alps. As a kid, Dad always told me of his encounters with these mountains whenever he travelled to Switzerland. It felt good to know that I can share this fact now as well, although they take on a completely different view from the sky. Nevertheless it was a nice sight, and I drifted into a light sleep.

I was awakened suddenly by the announcement of our landing into Rome. As I looked out my window, a mountainous terrain turned quickly into a large city, with buildings and ruins alike, racing passed us. And then for a split second, in all its glory, passed the great Coliseum, as if it were a tiny toy. Ten minutes later we had arrvived at Rome - Ciampino, and from there we took a convenient bus into the main city. Literally two minutes from the let-off station was our hostel, and we walked in and checked our stuff in. We were not allowed to move into our room right then, so we decided to go out and see what there was to do.

So we decided to leave Italy. Technically, yes, but in reality, no. We bought ourselves an in-depth tour of the Vatican (Vatican City).  We walked around the walled border of the nation first, with only a small curb separating us from Italy. Our tour guide was excellent, and so knowledgable. At the very beginning he went over the history and founding of Rome, which I was very pleased to already have known, thanks to my language that I decided to study nine years ago.  We went through halls and halls of art, sculpture, and history. We walked down a narrow passageway and emerged into the Sistine Chapel. I was seeing things that I had only previously seen in textbooks. The Sistine Chapel is considered a Holy Place, and therefore all the crowd was occasionally hushed by the guards, and we were prohibited to take photos. (Of course I didn't obey this one...)

Inside Vatican City

From there our tour ended, and we decided to walk into St. Peter's Basilica, and marvelled at the structure and art of the interior. We then walked back outside, crossed the curbed border back into Italy, and began walking back towards the hostel (it was nearing dusk). On our way we decided to stop and see two important structures. We winded through the tiny roads and alleys, and came through an opening. There in front of me shown the Latin words "M.AGRIPPA.L.F.COS. TERTIUM.FECIT." (English: Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, having been consul three times, built it). These words I knew well to only be inscribed on the Pantheon, and here it stood before me. Inside I saw the famous dome as it bent upwards into an oval opening to the sky.

Pantheon, with Latin inscription

The opening in the dome

From there we walked to the Fontana di Trevi, the famous Baroque fountain. I threw two coins into the fountain, and you would be interested in what they represented. The first: a twenty Euro cent coin, symbolizing the full years I have lived, and the year of my life that I came to Rome. The second: a ten Euro cent coin, symbolizing ten more years that I hope to live, and as many years that I hope to one day return to Rome. We walked through the busy nightlife back to our hostel, stopping at a small restaraunt on the way, and then went to bed early. We had been awake for more than 36 hours...

In front of the Trevi Fountain

Andrew, Christina, Paul in front of the Trevi Fountain

We woke up early and set out into the morning air. Our first stop, the Coliseum. It no longer looked like a toy passing underneath a plane, but rather a huge, intimidating structure. Unfortunately heavy rains from a few days before had forced them to close the inside, so I was rather upset about this. But just seeing it was something that I will never forget. I stared at the thousand year old stones, imagining the stories they could tell me if they could talk. We got our photo taken with some Roman soldiers and set out down the road.

In front of the Coliseum

Preparing for battle

Unfortunately the long line was too long to get into the Forum, but we were able to grab lunch nearby and go for a quick lap around the Circus Maximus. I imagined myself in the midst of chariots racing by, with a crowd surrounding the entire complex, and hearing the roars of their voices. From there we visited the Terme di Caracalla, the site of the public Roman baths. It was quite amazing at the feat of architecture and layout. We walked on preserved flooring that once lay underneath steaming water, touched by the feet of bathing Romans. It was very impressive. We hung out here for a while and looked around, before taking the bus back to our hostel.

Circus Maximus

We relaxed for a while here, and left soon after to go to the Capitoline Museum. I saw some impressive artwork, including the famous she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. Many paintings and sculptures, some that must have been absolutely huge when they stood, were plentiful and interesting. One exhibit allowed us to put our face into a camera, and we fit our head into a picture on the wall. They were of people or soldiers, and the results were quite funny. The highlight of this museum was being able to go out onto a balcony and stare across the ruins of what I believe were the Forum (not sure about this). From this place we saw two lit archways, the lit up Coliseum in the distance, and an impressive area with nothing but ruins and diggings (there were no modern buildings in sight). We just stared out this window and took in the history that was sitting in front of us. The wind was light, and everything was quiet. We tried to imagine a bustling city center of Romans going about their daily business. I imagined everything I learned in my Latin textbooks and my history lessons. We stood here for quite some time.

Illegally pedicuring a sculpted foot that once served as the base for  what must have been an incredibly huge statue

the rest of the recovered parts. from left to right: a bicep, the bust, a knee cap, a hand with a pointing finger.

Statue of Numitor, the she wolf, nursing Romulus and Remus

Preparing for battle, for real

a goofy one couldn't hurt

Afterwards we went to dinner at this nice place. We tried different Italian beers and wines, and treated ourselves to quite a feast. We wanted to make the most of our last night in Rome. We stayed here and talked late into the night, and just enjoyed each others' company in that great city. It was passed midnight when we went back home, and I was not tired at all. I told myself that I would sleep, given how miserable I was with the lack of it going to Rome, but even then I just wanted to stay up and just think about all I had dreamed about Rome, and how satisfied I was at that point for having achieved the dream of seeing that city.

We overslept our 4:30 AM alarm to go the airport. It was a frantic getting up and packing. We must have upset our 60 year old or so Czech roomate, whom we had also found sleeping when we had entered the room that night. Since we had missed the bus to the airport, and the next one forcing us to miss our flight, I was able to communicate with a taxi driver, who then gave us a very cheap and generous fare to the airport. We sped along the Roman roads at quick speeds. This time the Coliseum sped passed us at the ground level, still looking like that majestic structure I had seen hours earlier face to face.

We arrived at the airport, did the usual, and left that great city of Rome, headed back to our temporary home in Germany. We paralled the Italian coastline, before coming over land again. The Swiss Alps were much more visable this time around given the amount of daylight, and it was an even pleasanter sight than the flight before. Soon those glorious mountains disappeared and became flat plains, and then to rollings hills. At that point I knew the land of my second chosen language lay beneath us once again, and we landed twenty minutes later, back into the cold air of Germany.

The Alps from above

We used our German (happily, now that we were in "familiar" territory) to buy food and inquire when the next bus to Mannheim would leave. I slept the two hour ride home, for I was quite exhausted, yet unbelievably satisfied. And as we walked off the airport express bus, and onto the public transportation bus, the trip became history. But this history I shall never forget, for what I had found, even though it was thousands of years later during my visit, was that Latin, the language that took me to Rome and back, the language that gives Rome the sites there are to visit today, the language that my Grandmother continues to teach at age 90, is not at all "dead".............

It is very much alive.

-for more pictures, visit my profile on facebook-