Day 2

Madeline Perrino
Aug 8, 2017 · 3 min read

Hello Everyone. Today was our second day in Rome, and boy did we do a lot. The time change has been challenging me. After drifting in and out of sleep, I finally woke up at 9;45 to Lauren, Grandma, and Nanny ushering me out of the hotel. We had a day of tours planned, although our Colette Tour, which is what our trip was booked through, only started tonight with dinner. I had a croissant and Nutella and a yogurt on the Uber ride to our first tour. At 10, we arrived at the San Callisto Catacombs located just outside the city line. This was a very interesting tour. It is considered a Holy place, built by the early Christians from 1st Century AD-3rd Century AD. The Christian community in that area buried their dead there, as well as wealthy benefactors and their families. Later, the catacombs were used for masses because the Christians were still being persecuted. I forgot the exact numbers, but around 9 martyrs (saints) and 5 Popes were buried there, many of whom were slain in those very tunnels. After the 9th Century, barbarians ransacked the tombs, throwing the bones on the tunnel floors. It wasn’t until the 18th century that excavations were performed by archaeologists and the Church began to place the scattered bones on the 3rd floor, where many are still today. Although only the 2nd floor is open to the public, it was nice to get out of the 100 degree weather for a bit. Nanny and Grandma are not a fan of the weather, but I wish they would spend a day in my Central Air-Free house and realize its the same thing. No complaints here, just a regular day at the office! After this awesome tour, we went and got lunch on the rooftop restaurant of our hotel (pics will probably be on the IG) with an AWESOME view. Nanny and I got fresh cold cuts and cheese (Italian classics) that put Boars Head to shame. After this and 20 minutes in our Hotel rooms, we were off to the next tour. For this, we took a bus with Green Line Tours and climbed around 400KM to a city at the top of a hill called Tivoli, which housed the Villa D’Este and its incredible fountains. Last year, my family and I went to the Biltmore, which was made by a wealthy American in Virginia and is something like the largest masion or something. this Villa put the Biltmore to shame and it was made like a century before it. No history lesson for you here, just know the walls were filled with beautiful art and the fountain mist felt really good walking up the many terrace stairs. Trust me, no worries about missing out on workouts- with this heat and these climbs I’m all set. I thought the art in this Villa was the best thing I’d seen yet on the trip, and I finally realized why Rome was a destination. To me, the actual city itself is underwhelming. The streets are filled with trash and the buildings have graffiti all over them. I’ve come to find that the Romans express their unhappiness with their government through this. I’ve seen some Communism signs, swastikas, many jabs at their president, and hints of Fascism lining many Roman streets. Anyways, after Tivoli we took a short bus ride to Adrian’s Villa, the ruins of a once grand place created by the Roman emperor and architect Adrian. Our tour guide led us around the structures (she could actually speak 4 languages and actively switched in between different ones to aide those of different nationalities. She’s also studying to become a lawyer, so props to her) and we took pictures. Its hard to believe that such intricate building were made that long ago. Adrian even built Greek and Egyptian style buildings, not just Roman. The pictures don’t do it justice. After this tour, we finally joined our Colette group for some below par food. Dad- you make better lasagna than many Italians. After years of refining my skills as a master taste tester through your food, I can safely say- you’d give the Italians a run for their money. Obviously, we got gelato afterwards, which wasn’t as good as the night before but it was gelato so I can’t complain. We went to our hotel after that. If you read this whole thing congrats, and get ready for the Vatican and Colosseum tomorrow.