Photostory: First Exploration!

This is going to be more of a photo story of our first trip into the center of Rome to explore. By this time my roommate Mariana had also arrived so the three of us met up with our friend Tylar and hit the streets!

 Via della Penitenza is the name of the street in Trastevere where our apartment complex is located. As you can see the street name is engraved right into the stone. This is the way pretty much all streets are identified in the city. I think it’s a pretty cool idea because the street corners aren’t littered with big metal signs.
 One of the first things I noticed about Rome were the cars. I’d estimate that about 75% of the cars I’ve seen have been smart cars varying from small to really small. Everyone else either drives a fancy sports car or a Vespa. This car is always parked at the end of our street and makes me smile every time I see it.
 This is the road I commonly walk down to get to campus, it’s also the way to get the central Rome.
 This is the entrance to the Guarini Campus. It’s the more Roman-like of the two campuses. I prefer it above the Tiber Campus because it’s characterized by lots of winding stairs, almost every hallway and doorway is an arch, it has lots of outdoor places to sit, big beautiful plants everywhere and when you get to the top theres a pretty decent view of Trastevere.
 More mopeds…
 I’m not sure if this has some meaningful name, but we like to refer to it as “the arch.” I’ve been told that it’s one of the oldest in all of Rome. We have to pass under it to get pretty much anywhere. It’s also just really pretty and makes me remember that the arch is a keystone (literally meaning central summit of an arch that locks the whole together) feature of Roman architecture and life.

 

 

 La Boccacia! Our favorite pizza place!
 The famous Tiber River that runs through Rome.
 This is a typical sight around most turns, not complaining…

 

For all my jewish friends out there, we stumbled upon a synagogue! Trastevere is actually right next to the Jewish ghetto of Rome. Since it’s no longer a place of hostility, you can stroll through and witness the still-strong Jewish presence.

 

 This was a huge menorah outside of the synagogue.

 

 More kitties at the cat sanctuary!
 This is a better picture of the actual ruins that the cat sanctuary is located on.

 

The one thing about Rome is that it’s basically a huge interactive museum. You can walk from historic place to historic place but unlike the buildings in Washington DC or Philly, there are no signs saying what anything is! We can only guess or google what everything is. That being said, I’m not exactly sure what these are the ruins of but they’re located right off the sidewalk and are surrounded by modern (if you can even say that here) buildings. It’s pretty weird walking along seeing more modern-looking buildings and then all the sudden seeing ancient ruins.

 

 

 

 

 This building is called Alter of the Fatherland, made by the Italian Parliament in 1878. It is a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, who was the first king of unified Italy. He is depicted on a horse in front of the building. The two woman on either side of him are depictions of the goddess Victoria.

 

 

These are the ruins of the Roman Forum. It is made up of several ancient government buildings. It was the site of triumphant processions and elections; it was the place where public speeches and criminal trials were held, and was the nucleus of commercial affairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Seeing the Colosseum at night definitely made it more magical for me. Being lit up made it stand out more against the backdrop of the city. The other photos are of the arch of Constantine. It was made by the Roman Senate to commemorate Constatine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312 AD.

Roomies!

Dinner by the Colosseum!

Tylar!

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