We've seen so much since my last post, I don't even know where to begin. All of it has been incredible. I can't possibly recall the order in which we've experienced everything. We've descended into all of the imperial fora (which are off-limits to the public; I wish I could convey how cool it was to walk around in them), we've crawled through the Catacombs of St. Sebastian (the original "catacombs," from which the word itself is derived) and the Necropolis under the Vatican, where we saw St. Peter's supposed grave and bones. We've been in St. Peter's and to the top of it, and through all the Vatican museums; we've walked through the Campus Martius and wandered the sprawling Palace ruins above the palatine; we've been to two massive bath complexes and tons of churches - and on and and and on. All of it has been unbelievable, and I feel like I've learned so much. Roman culture seems almost familiar to me now.
But this trip is about more than academics, and the things we have done outside of our classwork have been just as cool. For one example: originally unbeknownst to us, Saturday happened to be the EuroPride festival, the yearly gay pride celebration for all of Europe, which, serendipitously, was being held in Rome this year. Even more unbelievably, Lady Gaga had accepted an invitation to speak and perform there. So, when we were done with our classwork that morning, we convened at the Circus Maximus, where the concert was to be held, and staked out a great seat as people began to stream in to the ancient racetrack (which has now been reduced to a long grassy strip, sort of like the mall in DC). It was hours until the performance so Jacque and I went over to the Colosseum and watched the parade wend its way around the stadium and down towards the Circus Maximus. There were thousands and thousands of people there, so much so that the floats were almost at a standstill due to the sea of people in the street. When we returned to the rest of the girls at the Circus Maximus, people had started to stream in from the end of the parade, though it would be another two hours before the performance began and the crowd would reach its estimated size of 1,000,000. The show started at 9:15 and Gaga came out at 9:30 to give an impassioned speech on civil rights. She then played her songs "Born This Way" and "Edge of Glory" on the piano. We were really excited and fortunate to have been there for all of that.
As far as the modern city goes...
I love it here. I love every aspect of it. I'm confident finding my way around, on foot or by bus; my mental map of the city has become very clear, so I don't think I could ever really manage to get lost. I've had fun meeting people and talking with shopkeepers and waiters and friendly-looking strangers. The city is incredibly beautiful, whether you're looking at ancient ruins or modern monumnets or churches or even apartment buildings - or a blend of all of them in one place. The weather has been perfect - hot with puffy clouds surfing overhead and an occassional breeze. I would live here in a second - I really do feel at home.
Today we went to the villa of the emperor Hadrian, some miles outside of the city. The estate was sprawling and must have been stunning in its prime. It has experienced 1800 years of looting, so the majority of what's left is brick walls and terraces, but even these humble remains beg one's wonder. Each building, each stairway, each arch or broken column hints at the majesty that once was, setting one's mind to reconstructing the ruined buildings. But even if one were devoid of imagination, just the location of the villa is worth a visit: it is situated on a plateau overlookig the countryside and beneath a tall green mountain to the slope of which several towns cling.
We leave Rome tomorrow, and I'll be very sad to leave it behind. I wish I could stay here forever. There's so much more to explore, so much culture to delve into, so many people to meet, so much fun still to be had. But we will be heading to the Naples area, with at least two very cool sites left to explore (Herculaneum and Pompeii), which will doubtless present their own incredible wonders.
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