Michigan State University: Classical Republicanism in Rome and Florence, Italy, Summer, 2011

Saturday, May 21

All Roads Lead to Rome

Day 1: Friday
They say all roads lead to Rome, but fortunately, so do a lot of flights! After leaving Amsterdam, I arrived in Denmark and quickly realized no one accepted euro, but I didn't want to exchange, so sadly I didn't get any souvenirs. I'm pretty sure I was the only American on my flight to Rome, but I slept most of the way. I remember waking up at one point and looking out my window and realizing I was flying over the Alps! After I landed I made it through the airport just fine, exited through the non-existent customs, and found a taxi. My taxi driver didn't speak a word of English the entire drive except "It's hot" and, when Time After Time started playing on the radio, he shouted "Cindy Lauper!" and started dancing and honking his horn to the beat. The drive was terrifying, and I'm not sure how we didn't hit any pedestrians or motorcycles. Finally I arrived at the hotel, and they let me in the room where I was relieved to find two beds. Mike wasn't there so I took a shower and then waited for him.

View out the hotel window
 When he arrived we decided to walk around the area a little. It's amazing to think that most of the buildings I'm seeing are older than the Constitution and any building in the US. We wandered into an area where we all of the sudden noticed ruins and ancient columns, but we had no idea what we were looking at, a feeling that is becoming all too familiar. And there were kitties everywhere all over the ruins!

Ancient Ruins
 Then we kept wandering and stumbled upon another area that seemed important yet we were unable to recognize. Turns out it was the Vittoriano, a monument honoring the first king of unified Italy, Victor Emmanuel. We climbed up a huge staircase and realized we could see the top of St. Peter's! Then we rounded the corner and there it was: the Colosseum! After taking a couple of pictures and still wondering where we were, we decided to go get something to eat and found an Irish pub. Mike and I shared a delicious pizza, then decided to head back to the hotel and call it a night. So ended my first day in Rome.

First View of the Colosseum

Vittoriano