Rome is my Classroom

Rome is my classroom. I’m pretty lucky to have class instructors who feel the same way. We have a well-balanced system of learning at the Rome Center. With nearly half our class time in the classroom, the other half is spent learning outside the classroom. I must say, I’m so thankful for that.

At the Rome Center, we have “open” and “closed” weekends. This past weekend was a closed weekend. That means we shouldn’t travel outside of Rome because there is something significant for school going on in Rome. Significant is certainly one way to describe it.

Alongside a few of my classmates, I was finally able to visit the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, and the Roman Forum. Wow! We started the weekend at the Vatican Museums. This was a trip I had been looking forward to because of my Catholic faith. Vatican City is the “capital” of the Catholic faith. I had the opportunity to see paintings and structures that I’ve studied my whole life. It was breathtaking…. And crowded! Our guide shared that on a normal day in the museums, nearly 35,000 people visit. While no pictures were allowed in the Sistine Chapel, it was incredible. I stood in the center of the chapel staring ahead at The Last Judgement and straight up at the Creation of Adam. It’s as amazing as it sounds. I also learned a lot about Michelangelo and his experiences while painting the Sistine Chapel.

On Sunday morning, our classroom moved to the Colosseum. Our group was able to roam the same paths that ancient Romans and gladiators once walked. Where emperors once watched the games, there now stands a cross. It was amazing to imagine what they must have seen while standing where they once sat. Despite the construction inside, the Colosseum was in better condition than I imagined. While walking around the outside of it, I imagined myself as a young Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday”.

Later Sunday afternoon, our group continued our tour over at Palatine Hill. We walked through the Roman Forum, which has ruins of ancient homes and government buildings in the heart of Rome. One of the most fascinating stories we were told was about the priestesses of Vesta. These 6 women were selected to remain chaste for 30 years while they kept a fire burning in the Temple of Vesta. The fire was kept burning “for the good of the state”.

When it comes to crossing the city and making it from Point A to Point B, the metro makes traveling around Rome very convenient. I walked out of the Colosseo metro station and practically walked right into the Colosseum. It’s fun navigating the public transportation… but only when there’s not a time crunch!

On the way back from our trip on Sunday, my roommate and I stopped for one of our favorite treats: gelato! If you ever find yourself in Rome, or in any part of Italy, I highly recommend eating as much gelato as you can. It’s also fun to try new flavors and new places! Frigidarium is one of my favorites; they dip their gelato in hard shell chocolate. The picture below is from Guttilla, and I tried dark chocolate and apricot gelato. Yum!