The first night in Rome I was completely jet lagged, which was interesting because with my 4 hour a night sleep schedule I didn't know that was possible. I didn't sleep very good on the plane ride over, sleeping upright is definitely a practiced art that can be perfected. I have it down like a pro now with all the bus, van, and train rides I've done. Anyway, regardless of my exhaustion my curiosity and adventure senses were tingling far beyond the point of ignoring them, I had to go out into the massive, bustling city of Rome and explore. So, after a shower I changed into a clean t-shirt and put a skirt on, pulled on my walking boots, then grabbed my best friend Cody and some of the group and we hit the streets. I didn't take many pictures but these are what I took the first night of just walking around. As I said in the blog before, the sensation of being awe-struck definitely was at it's highest the first night. My thirst for a big adventure was quenched when the realization of where I was hit me.
I wasn't sure what these were at first but I later learned that these columns are a part of emperor Hadrian's temple. The picture doesn't capture the size but they are HUGE. You can kind of get an idea by the people in the picture. The guy walking with the black shirt is Cody. I posted this picture first because it was the first structure on our little adventure that night that we stumbled upon and took my breath away.
Street view and Cody again.
I took this picture for my Dad and Uncle. These were a couple accordion players on the street.
Cool door.
The grandest structure we found that night was fountain di Trevi. Magnificent, si? The area was packed with people. The fact that Italian's live in Rome with all the ancient history, monuments, fountains...just these incredible creations, it blows me away they get to wake up and walk out onto the streets and see those things everyday.
The next morning ....
I didn't sleep well the first night. I slept only 1-2 hours roughly. My roommate was having difficulty also and got up and cleaned the room I think, least that's what it sounded like. I got out of bed at 4 am, unable to lay there anymore in hopes of falling asleep. Cody woke up around 5 and we decided to walk out into the plaza not far from the hotel to watch sunrise and experience what early morning Rome was like. Surprisingly, Rome is completely quite at 6am. At least the part we were in is. I was happy it was quite. It made for a lovely sunrise in the plaza that was usually bustling with people during the day. The plaza has the bernini fountain right in the center. The marble during the sunrise has a glow that brings out all the physical, masculine attributes the figures on the fountain posses.
We went back to the hotel for breakfast at 7am, then Cody and I went back out into the piazza Navona to see the artist's who set up their work every day. The artist's are professionals. They create work right in the square....well some of them do. A lot of them sit there and smoke but it was definitely cool so see them all out there. Having so many in that beautiful location excited me alone. The bernini fountain in the background of this picture. I didn't get a picture with the full thing unfortunately.
The standards of art in Italy are so high compared to the standards in the states. The amount of respect for art in Italy makes me feel right at home...but also a little intimidated. I felt motivation to improve my work and dedicate more time to it after our walk.
Well, that concludes my post for the day :) <3 Thanks for reading. Ciao!
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