the time to enjoy a european trip is about three weeks after unpacking - george Ade

Make that 52 weeks. Exactly one year from today I returned to Boston after an exhilarating, eye-opening, fantastic adventure in Europe. I got to visit four countries, twelve cities, an abundance of landmarks, and made my way through the wonders and history that define western/central Europe. I'm pretty sure I covered everything I saw so by reading this blog from the beginning, I hope you get a sense of all that I experienced.

Paris was better than I expected or hoped for. Though on my sister's travel radar for years, Paris never really interested me that much. I don't really know why, and if it hadn't been for the flight availability, I would never have thought about visiting. My eyes were set on Southern France, Prague, Croatia or Greece, all of which I unfortunately couldn't fit in. I certainly don't regret the choice now. Paris had sooooo much to see and so much to choose from. Yes, it was a little on the expensive side, but it offered an abundance of historical museums, churches and landmarks to visit giving me plenty to do in my short time there. Highlights for me were the Notre Dame, Eiffel Tower, and Louvre. Yes, cliche and probably typical answers. But there's a reason they're so popular. They're outstanding.

Tours was nice, and I liked being in a smaller city, but if I were to go back, I'd give myself a few days and I'd rent a car. The chateaus are very spread out and each is unique enough that I'd want to see the different designs so I'd need to go at my own pace and not that of a tour. Pompeii was a definite highlight and a must-see if you're in the Rome area. You can definitely make it a half-day trip, but I'd allow myself the entire day to travel from Rome, see and explore the entire place, and return back. Maybe I'd give it two days and spend the 2nd climbing Mt. Vesuvius.

Rome had plenty to do to fill up two days and I think I certainly covered most of it. I didn't feel rushed which was nice but If I had one more day, I would have gone to the Borghese Museum and maybe spent a little more time in the Vatican and St. Peter's as well as giving myself more time to explore Palantine Hill. But other than that I have no regrets about things I wish I'd seen. And even a year later, I still think the Capuchin Monk Crypt was one of the coolest things ever in Rome...and in Europe.

I didn't quite realize until I was there that I'd planned much of my Italian experience in Tuscany, but because I was to rely on trains and public transportation, I purposely chose large cities rather than smaller ones. So Rome, Florence and Venice immediately shot to the top of the list. Siena ended up being a "transition" city, and though the first part of my day there was awful, the view at the top of the Duomo complex more than made up for it. Rolling hills...the wind in my hair...I'm such a cliche. Florence gave me "David" so no matter how shitty the rest could have been (it wasn't, but IF it'd been) "David" more than made up for it. I don't know if I've ever seen a more perfect piece of art. Venice was such a change from Tuscany and it really felt like a completely different culture. While the other cities felt foreign because they had this essence of being "old" and "classic," Venice was it's own little world...a water planet according to Anne and I. And I loved every minute of it. Venice was beautiful, yes...but overall it was just really, really cool.

Munich was a great change of pace from both France and Italy. There was such a different cultural feeling to it that I didn't feel when transitioning from France to Italy. Yes, Italy was different from France, but Munich really gave me this "look you're in a new place" kinda feel. The Bavarian architecture with its onion domes and more streamline designs was quite different from that of Venice, Tuscany or Paris. I don't know the correct terminology for architecture, but visually you could see, and even feel, the difference. My visit to Dachau, though very sad, was a great learning experience. There are many concentration camps open throughout Europe but by finding one in my "path" of travel, I lucked out. I definitely think you should try and visit at least one throughout your lifetime since they are such an iconic piece of history and a great visual as to why an atrocity like the Holocaust should never happen again.

I don't want to assign beauty, as each and every city was gorgeous in its own way, but Innsbruck would take the crown in a fight. The snow-capped mountains surrounding this small, Alpine city makes for a picture perfect vacation spot. Not to mention the kindness of the Hotel Weiss Kruez's staff. Everything about my single day there was perfect. If the weather had been worse, my opinion would probably be different, but the sun was out and shining gloriously!

Salzburg...oh Salzburg. You had the crappy weather, yet you still got me to fall in love. What a classic, endearing place. It's with me every day, and not just cause my panoramic poster hangs above my closet so I get to look at it all the time. I got to live out a childhood dream of living The Sound of  Music and every time I watch it now, I think of being there and that excitement I felt. Salzburg is somewhere I would return to in a heartbeat. The lakes region and the surrounding mountains would be a terrific place to spend a week exploring.

Finally, there was Vienna. A gorgeous city that doesn't need much more discussion from me. Overall, I really, really loved my adventure in Europe. I'm the kind of person that wants to see and do everything, all dependent on cost of course, so it was ridiculously hard trying to figure out my itinerary because I wanted to go everywhere in Europe. I barely scratched the surface of my "to do" list. I think I need at least a year and a completely disposable income next time. But with what I did see and experience, I would never give that up. I saw history and iconic landmarks...places where I could have easily spent the entire day staring at their amazingness. There's not much more I can think of to say, but I will leave you with the quote below. My blogging isn't over, but my European recollections have come to an end.

the rewards of the journey far outweigh 

the risk of leaving the harbor - unknown

throw off the bowlines. sail away from the safe harbor. catch the trade winds in your sails. explore. dream. discover. - mark twain

I'm going to write a more detailed "reflections" kind of post, but before doing so, I thought it would be good to write down my "conclusion" entry from my travel notebook. Word for word, these were my thoughts as I was sitting in the airport waiting to board my plane back to Boston. Some of it might make no sense because I was just writing my stream of consciousness, but it gives a good picture of all that happened in my three weeks abroad.

Paris

• great city for history, architecture, art
• not wild about prices for things and people on street trying to talk to you
• Notre Dame was my fave 
• hostel okay; staff wasn't the friendliest; bad breakfast
• Metro was good; got me places 

Tours

• Chateaus - gorgeous
• Tours' cathedral - cold, but really neat
• tour made me sleepy but I don't think I missed much of the English narration
• hotel - good; wish there'd been breakfast; far walk; shower took awhile to heat; best towel ever!

Pompeii

• really interesting place
• wish I knew booklet had descriptions of each place
• huge, but I saw most of it
• more detailed art/decor stuff made it fantastic rather than the architecture

Rome

• crazy city drivers
• very interesting things; both Ancient and Catholic
• Renaissance Art - fantastic
• sculptures throughout city - cool
• each church pretty distinctive
• monk bones!

Siena

• STUPID BUS SYSTEM
• Duomo etc. actually very nice and interesting; Tuscan overlook one of my fave places
• Piazza del Campo - very nice
• gelato!

Florence

• everything had an admission fee that wasn't cheap
• LOVED DAVID!!!
• black and white marble design of Tuscan churches
• all had fancy facades but plain sides
• illegal bag selling

Venice

• it's own planet and culture
• lots of churches
• getting lost is easy
• boat pass - wonderful
• flooding! so neat!

Munich

• overall - underwhelming compared to previous cities
• Olympic Tower - overpriced
• Marienplatz - neat/awesome
• Dachau - depressing
• had lots of little things with nothing overwhelmingly awesome
• Nymphenburg - HUGE

Innsbruck

• My FAVORITE place!
• gorgeous weather, gorgeous mountains
• cheap, cutest, central hotel. LOVED
• crystals were trippy/weird
• Nordpark my fave; trampling around 2 ft. of snow on the Alps with parachuters and rock cliffs

Salzburg

• such an awesome, old, old, city
• SoM!! - all the filming places
• wish mountain wasn't closed
• saw the Untersberg! Gorgeous! Alps diff!
• panorama painting and my poster

Vienna

• a lot like Munich
• not a lot to do for 3 days without spending a lot of money
• everything had admission
• enjoyed art museum a lot - wish I could have seen all, but I saw all paintings
• Karlskirche - best church
• a lot hindered by crowds and Vienna's lack of herding abilities and awful space layout
• royalty history- very interesting

And though this has nothing to do with my thoughts on my trip, I have to add the last comment I made in the journal, from the airplane, because I don't remember it at all and I find it hilarious. It's also a great conclusion as its not a conclusion at all..."someone keeps farting; it smells."

experience, travel - these are as education in themselves – euripides

Though I had finished my adventures through Ancient Rome and had returned to the present and modern buildings, it hit me that even the "modern" architecture of Rome was still really old and beautiful and so completely different than the style of American cities. I loved it. I loved that aspect of Europe when I was in London in 2002 and I continue to love it today.

I pass through the Circo Massimo and head north towards Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. I walk along the Tiber river and pass by the Sinagoga with it's giant menorah displayed on the front lawn. From here I cut through to the Fontana della Tartarughe (Tortise Fountain). Between my map and the google map image I had in my head, I originally thought this walk would take awhile as there were so many streets. Little did I know was that I had stepped into the Roman Ghetto and it was more a series of connected alleys than the city streets I thought they were. Twas' very interesting and a new segment of the Roman culture to explore within this vast city. I found the Tortise fountain easily and it was interesting, but nothing spectacular. I guess the good thing to come out of wanting to find it was that I got to see the Ghetto.

I soon hit a main road again and while only a few blocks south of my destination I discovered yet another wonderful facet of the city of Rome. While there are ruins that are isolated tourist attractions such as the Roman Forum and Colosseum, there are also ruins excavated and sitting amongst the modern buildings for the enjoyment of the passerby. All of a sudden I was looking at a small area of what appeared to be a ancient temples (just a guess based on layout) and I immediately thought I'd missed something from the guidebooks. Nope, it's just the inherent coolness that is Rome.

Piazza Navona was a great walk-through. Another obelisk stands in the center shooting towards the sky and there are a couple of interesting fountains as well. The Palazzo Pamphilj sits to the west side and towers over the piazza in all its grandeur. It's so wonderful and I can imagine this to be a very popular place in the high tourist seasons, or even just a warm summer afternoon.


Only a few minutes from Piazza Navona is the Pantheon, a former temple for the Ancient Gods of Rome built in the early 2nd century. It has the perfect dimensions of 141 ft high x 141 ft wide and is one of the best preserved monuments in Rome; it's large, original bronze doors are still intact. It is HUGE and surrounded by tightly built smaller buildings so it sticks out like a sore thumb. Not that it is ugly or anything, but its very unique. Another obelisk sits in the center of the piazza out front.

The inside of the Pantheon very simple. It's a large circular space with various chapels and tombs along the sides with an altar directly across from the entrance. Raphael is buried here along with former kings of Italy. The dome is HUGE, entirely symmetrical, made of carved stone and the largest built up until the 20th century. It is gorgeous! The 30-ft opening in the center acts as a natural skylight and illuminates the large space well. Despite all the other tourists, I was able to place my camera in the middle of the floor and take a picture the famous dome.


After the Pantheon, it was a few minutes more til Sant'Ingnazio, a Jesuit church well known for it's nave ceiling. Instead of an actual dome, the ceiling was painted so that at the perfect angle looks like a grand cupola that isn't there. Combined with the stunning ceiling along the main part of the church, Sant'Ignazio is certainly unique. A wonderful place to stop by while traipsing about the streets of Rome.



After Sant'Ignazio I walk towards the Trevi Fountain detouring slightly, stopping in the middle of a crazy intersection to admire the Vittorio Emmanuele II monument. It is massive and the sun illuminates it beautifully while the cloudless sky is a perfect backdrop.

When I arrive at the Trevi Fountain, it is packed. The area itself, like most I'd seen in the last couple hours, was small and enclosed by tons of streets and alleys. The fountain is really big and feels like the Pantheon a little. I'd use the sore thumb metaphor again, but the fountain blends into the surrounding architecture much more than the Pantheon did. I sit and observe all the people throwing their coins into the water and snapping pictures while doing so. I toss a Euro penny in and luckily there is no need to make wishes as I'm not good at that sort of thing.



Its getting to be around 230 or so and my stomach starts to growl. There are plenty of shops around the fountain but the gelato one on the corner pulls me in. I'm a sweet tooth by nature and ice cream is one of my favorites so it only took one bite into the creamy deliciousness for me to fall in love. Mmmmmm.

When planning my day, I purposely took a route that would land me at Palazzo del Quirinale at 3:20 for the guard change. I'd read about it as a sight to see as every day at the same time, the change of the guard occurs. When I get there around 3 not many people have gathered but as there are barricades up, you know they're expecting some crowd. Quirinale has another obelisk, which are slowly becoming a trademark of Rome to me, and I admire and wait for the march to begin. Like watching a parade, I hear the drums of the marching band in the distance. Like clockwork, right at 3:20, the marching band and around 50 guards dressed in black with red capes march up and enter the piazza. They stop and the brown uniforms with green capes march from inside the palace to join them. The ceremony continues and the leaders of each group come out and march with their swords. They then switch sides and their groups follow suit. Finally, an anthem of sorts, most likely the Italian National Anthem, is played and the crowd sings along. It's quite the show. Finally, the black and red guards march inside the palace while the band and the brown and green uniforms turn and march back out of the piazza. Only a 20 minute ceremony but the fact that this occurs every day is really outstanding.

Palazzo del Quirinale sits atop a hill and with one more stop on my list, I head back down towards the Vittorio Monument and the Colosseum. I pass by another section of ruins though this one is much larger and part of an actual tourist spot I think. There is no sign so I can't be sure. My favorite piece from this section and one I still am in awe of was a column, or monument of sorts, with detailed carvings telling a story (I have no idea what story) as it spirals up. It was beautiful and so so so so so detailed that it was really neat to look at.


As the sun begins to set, I finally arrive at San Clemente a church famous for the layers of archaeological history beneath. San Clemente is a 12th century church built on top of a 4th century church which was originally built on a 2nd century pagan temple. Though the admission price was on the more expensive side, I got a free tour of sorts because there was an English school group getting a tour so I just listened to the tour guide and learned about San Clemente's history. It was a little jarring at first because one of their leader people came up to me while I was reading one of the info panels and told me all about something I had no idea what he was talking about. But when we made it to the lowest and oldest level I enjoyed learning about the lifestyle of the people and the natural water source that still flows through. Very cool.

Instead of taking the Metro back to the hostel, I opted for the walk across the city. After learning that what may look like a long distance on the map actually isn't, I didn't mind the 15-20 minute walk back. I got to see a residential neighborhood which was neat and it was cool seeing how the city changes at night. Back at the hostel, I repacked my bag for the next day and prepared for the rest of the week in Italy.

friends, romans, countrymen. lend me your ears.

Day 2 in Rome began quite nicely. Though pulled from my sleep by my lovely alarm clock, I felt rested and ready to roll. Breakfast began at 8 so I made sure to be there and got a lovely bowl of cereal and took a couple of packaged croissants. Then it was off to the Roman Forum thanks to a short ride on the Roman Metro. The sun was still finishing its ascent over the horizon so it was chilly with no jacket. It takes a few moments to get my bearings and I take my time observing the layout and detail in each of the artifacts strewn about the area. Was this really how they found each stone, or has there been some change in where the smaller pieces have been placed and laid out? The silence is incredible; besides a small school group I see in the distance, I think I'm the only one here. For being one of the top attractions in Rome, this is a unique experience indeed.

The first few stone pieces I pass are bottoms of columns which make it hard to visualize exactly what the buildings looked like in Ancient Rome, but glancing towards the Saturn Temple and the Arch of Septimus Severus smothers all doubts I may have about the enjoyment factor of the Roman Forum. It's going to be awesome. Even if I have no knowledge of the history behind it. The beauty lies in the architectural feat of these temples and arches. The ornate carvings, not only on the Arch of Septimus Severus, but on small pieces of chipped away rock are beautiful and being so close that you can touch is pretty awesome. You're immediately immersed in the size, vastness and beauty of the place. The gorgeous blue skies with wisps of pure white clouds make for an outstanding backdrop. There are so many picture opportunities and its hard to not snap one of everything.








By the time I've made my way to the Arch of Titus at the other end of the Forum, the chilly air has warmed and more and more people are filing through the gates. Though the Colosseum looks gorgeous from here and is beckoning me to discover its history, I must first make my way through Palantine Hill.

Upon following a path that may lead me towards the main attraction of Palantine Hill I come across a beautiful overlook of the Colosseum. It's so gorgeous and I stupidly walk away without a picture. However, I almost immediately regret that decision and turn back to snap a portrait of the famed arena. (It turns out this was a good decision since there's no way to get a full view picture of the Colosseum when you're actually there.)

After this overlook I then find myself at another, this time looking down upon the entire Roman Forum. It's wonderful and I love that I can see how the entire place was designed and laid out. With the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument standing tall in the background, the ancient ruins make for a gorgeous view.

Palantine Hill isn't as exciting and interesting to look at as the Forum was. Palantine Hill was the former residential palace of the Emperors of Rome and there are a lot less ruins left compared to how large the original structure was. The land is still there so imagining how large it was isn't difficult, but trying to picture the grandeur of it all is much harder. Though I appreciate what is there I don't feel as obligated to spend as much time seeing every little thing.

The Arch of Constantine standing next to the Colosseum is just as spectacular as those of Septimus Severus and Titus. The detail in the carving is outstanding and only adds to its beauty. Its size is also a wonder and I can't help but think about how it was made back in ancient times. And I wonder if our society today is smart enough that we could figure how to build something as beautiful if the crutches of modern technology were taken away.

I move onto the Colosseum and get to skip the entire line. *HINT* The Forum, Palantine Hill and Colosseum are all 1 ticket so see the Forum/Palantine first so that when you get to the Colosseum you don't need to stand in any ticket lines. *END HINT* The Colosseum is something else. Almost 2000 years old, it is the largest ampitheater built in the Roman Empire and was used for gladiator contests and other public spectacles. There is a lower level that you can see as there is no floor left in the center which had ramps and stuff built in so that they could release animals into the arena. One of the pieces I really enjoyed seeing, though far away was the small section they have uncovered that shows distinct rows of seats. Its scary how much they look as if a small renovation would make them fit for a modern day sports arena. In addition, seeing the multiple levels of seats is astounding and though ancient, seem so modern. One thing I find really interesting is that they have to rotate which stairwells are used by tourists to get to the second level because so many people visit that if only one were used, they would be so worn out they wouldn't be safe anymore.

The 2nd level is even better than the first because you can look into the center area easier and see the maze that was the lower level. I spend quite a bit of time reading up on the history of the place in the museum they have and almost all of it has an English translation which is really helpful! It then transitions into a special exhibit which changes periodically and I can't remember what this one was about. I know they talk about various Emperors but I got sleepy reading so I left to go back and admire the arena once again. Its really really gorgeous and the panorama below gives a good perspective as to how it looks from one end. And it doesn't look like there are TONS of tourists, which there were. The Colosseum was definitely one of the more crowded attractions I went to.

By this time, it was approaching midday and I knew there was still much to be seen and all of it had to be done on foot so off I went, wishing as I'd done with so many other places that I could stay a few minutes more.

Santa Marias...the rest of Rome Day 1

Following one of the most awesome places ever I then quickly visited the last couple of churches on my list for the day. The Santa Maria della Vittoria was first and only a few blocks from the Santa Maria de Concezione. Not very spectacular from the exterior, it is the interior of this church that makes it worthwhile. The ceiling is a gorgeous painting and the altar looks like an explosion of light. Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Teresa is on display here and I didn't find it very impressive, though I'm not sure what made it so famous. Kinda like the Pieta in St. Peter's...if I didn't know it was famous I wouldn't have cared to look at it. And also like the Pieta, the Ecstasy is set off from where people can walk that any detail that makes the sculptures magnificent was lost on me.


By this point the sun was pretty much set and as I stepped into the Piazza della Repubblica, the lights on the building combined with the last glimmer of sunlight made for an amazing image.

On the piazza is the Santa Maria degli Angeli, a church which the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" aptly applies. The facade of the Angeli is aged brick that looks worn from years and years of standing tall over the piazza. The Angeli, based soley on it's exterior, makes me think it belongs near the Colosseum and the ruins of Ancient Rome. I am however, very wrong.

The interior of the Santa Maria degli Angeli is quite magnificent and it is HUGE!!! Not as large as St. Peter's or Notre Dame but much larger than the other "regular" churches I'd visited. The dome was goregeously symmetrical and it was one of the first where I placed my camera in the center of the floor to try and get a perfect picture. I think it turned out pretty well.

Santa Maria degli Angeli was a very round church. The center under the dome was circular and there were only a few rows of chairs set out for parishoners. There were small chapels to either side, both circular as well. And the altar wasn't a real circle but had rounded walls. What astounded me the most was how new modern it looked even though the facade was so aged in appearance. The marble was similar to that of St. Peter's and the vaulter ceiling heights were enormous. In the picture below you can see a person standing behind a table in the lower left so you can see how large this church was.

It was completely dark by the time I'd exited the Angeli and I completed my short walk back to the hostel. My first day touring Rome was complete and it was definitely a success. I saw everything I'd planned and still made it back to the hostel for the free pasta dinner. Woot. The one observation I continued to notice throughout the day was how noisy Rome was compared to Paris. Rome was like an American city with loud drivers and lots of horn honking. The large amount of mopeds and motorcycles added to the volume as well. Though I'd only spent 2 days in Paris, the change in volume from city to city was interestingly noticeable.

all journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware - martin buber

When I was young, I developed a love for monkeys. I loved the monkey bars on swingsets and one of my favorite stuffed animals (and for those who know me, it is rare I have a connection with a stuffed animal) was a small Capuchin monkey who's arms and legs had velcro which kept them together so you could wrap him around your limbs. I really liked Capuchin monkeys. Of all the monkeys, they were my favorite.

Upon doing research for my European adventure, Fodors had on their list a Roman church by the name of Santa Maria della Concezione. Rome is a big city and it's a Catholic city. There are a LOT of churches that Fodors has on their website as places worth visiting but Santa Maria della Concezione was different. It's description had the words "bones of some 4,000 dead Capuchin monks." There...I was sold. Especially since I didn't read it correctly and thought it said "dead Capuchin monkeys." Don't ask my why I didn't question it... My love for the capuchin monkey and the fact that I could see all these bones of them fascinated me and this church shot to the top of my "must-see" list.

The "Capuchin monkey crypt" (as I call it now) is a beautiful, visual wonder and is one of my top 5 favorite places from this trip. I don't know if it's in my top 5 ever, but it sits high above a lot of things famously associated with Rome and with Europe. It is the definition of "off the beaten path"...even though it is in Fodors. The church sits high off the street so there are stairs leading to the doors and the crypts entrance is off to the right on the first landing. Because I got there after the church had closed I never made it inside but that didn't matter to me. The crypt was still open and I didn't give a damn about what was inside the actual sanctuary.

The crypt has a "no photographs allowed" policy so I will do my best with a written description of how the crypt is designed. You enter into a very small room which serves as the gift shop and ticket office. The cost is 1Euro and it is sooooo worth it. To the right is the crypt, a narrow hallway extends maybe 150 feet before it dead ends at a concrete wall. And on the left of the hall are 6 individual nooks...like chapels in a church...maybe 20 feet wide and 15-20 feet deep. Upon stepping up to view the first nook, it took me a few minutes to register what I was looking at. I knew I was going to be viewing bones, but thinking you'd be seeing monkey bones and seeing human ones instead was slightly jarring. In addition, absorbing the absolutely amazing artwork of the bones took a few moments. Like seeing the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame or the Sistine Chapel, this little crypt was so fascinating and jaw-droppingly fabulous that it took my eyes some time to visually adjust to the wonder of it all.

Each nook of the crypt depicts a different image and everything is made out of the bones of Capuchin monks. Some heavily use the femurs and ribs while others use all the shoulder and arm bones. And there's one mostly incorporating only skulls and vertebrae. There are a number of full skeletons as well either positioned on their backs like in a tomb or standing with the monk robe on. In the last nook, there is a full skeleton attached to the ceiling. Speaking of ceilings...in this crypt no two ceilings are alike, and it was the ceilings that kept me staring in absolute awe of this place.

In all the churchs, museums and palaces I was fortunate to visit the ceilings were all ornately carved and designed specifically to work with the overall design of the room. In the "monkey crypt" the ceilings were made the same way. However, instead of carved, the crypt artists used the bones to create the designs. And what amazed me was the designs they created looked extremely similar to those in other Roman churches...just that these were made of bone. So fascinating. I couldn't stop staring and staring and staring. Each piece was artistic and creative. Like the Sistine Chapel, I couldn't comprehend the imagination needed to create something this impressive so staring and drooling over its awesomeness was the only thing I could do.

Though I couldn't take any pictures, I did purchase 2 postcards in order to have a memory of one of the coolest things I've ever seen. My lovely printer doesn't like to scan so I opted for the easy way and took pictures of the postcard to share with you all.


For any of those who read this and watch "Bones"...wouldn't this be the best place for a body to be found? Almost like the "Mummy in the Maze" when they had the corpse in the "House of 1000 Corpses" but better because all these are real skeletons. It would blend in so well. If only the writers were allowed to take ideas from non-staff members...

Northwest Rome: Castel Sant'Angelo, Piazza del Popolo, the Spanish Steps

After leaving the Vatican, my next stop was the Castel Sant'Angelo. Fodors cites this is as being known as the place in Angels and Demons where Langdon finds the hidden passage leading to St. Peter's. The Castel was much more expensive than Fodors had told me, therefore more than I anticipated, so I hoped it was worth it. Upon entering and purchasing my ticket, I got lost. I began to follow signs towards the exit, not the entrance because that's the direction groups were supposed to enter from so I was greatly mistaken. But I fixed my error and went in the correct way.

I have absolutely no idea what the Castel Sant'Angelo was used for. I think it might have been a prison...I'll just wikipedia it. And I'm completely wrong. The Castel Sant'Angelo was built as a mauseleom for the former Roman emperor Hadrian and his family. It was later used as a fortress and now as a museum.


The building is pretty much just a big stone cylinder. The entrance leads you right onto the ramp running along the interior of the cylinder until you get to the first level. There are a few exhibits here and they consist of a variety of artwork from hundreds of years ago. I don't know what centrury. As a whole, the Castel Sant' Angelo had no English signage and no introduction to the place. Therefore, I had no idea where I was, and what I was seeing.

Though I enjoyed the exhibits and whatever history I absorbed from them, the exterior levels were the most interesting part of the building. There were multiple levels to explore, along the perimeter of the Castel. At the top level, though not as high as St. Peter's cupola, the views were awesome! The view of St. Peter's was gorgeous and I finally saw the building as a whole. It was so big that the "big picture" of it was lost on me when standing in the piazza. The top level also had signs pointing to the various landmarks in the city so it was really easy to see where the Colosseum and Pantheon were.

Once I'd spend a good deal of time looking out upon the beauty of Rome, I headed down towards the exit. There were some cool things like cannons and small displays of war things that were pretty cool. Overall, Castel Sant'Angelo was very interesting, especially for the views of the city it offered, but other than that I think it was one of the more overpriced attractions I visited. But it was still a good experience nonetheless. From the Castel I walked past, and successfully avoided, all the vendors hanging out front before crossing the Tiber river and walking north along it towards the Piazza del Popolo.

The Piazza del Popolo is pretty big and really spacious so it wasn't crowded at all which was very nice. The main attraction was the obelisk in the middle of the piazza, and looking up at it with the clear blue sky in the background was gorgeous!

The other attraction of note was the piece of architecture on the eastern side of piazza. I have no idea what it was but it was very beautiful. It had some sort of look-out element to it as I could see people atop it, but it was getting late and I honestly didn't want to bother finding the access point and then hike up the hill or stairs leading to it. But it was gorgeous to look at especially with the beginnings of the setting sun illuminating this mysterious landmark.

Walking from the piazza, I made my way down a narrow shopping street in the direction of the Spanish Steps. For an extremely famous site, I was greatly unimpressed. As a local hangout for the Romans, I see the appeal in the steps; although, since it is a big tourist site, if I were a Roman I would find somewhere else since it was pretty crowded when I got there. And it wasn't even the height of tourist season or the prime time of day. Anyway, at the base of the steps there is a small fountain (Fontana della Barcaccia) that looked like an overlarge bathtub. Nothing really that spectacular about it.

Looking up the steps though was really nice though and probably is what attracts so many people. The Trinita dei Monti is built at the top of the steps with another goregous obelisk. I can't say for certain that the Trinita has a Spanish influence but the architecture was very different from the other buildings I'd seen so far in Rome.


The interior of the church was nice...nothing fancy or terribly different or outstanding compared to the others I'd seen by that point. The view from outside the church at the base of the obelisk was another wonderful view of the city and I could see a silouhette of St. Peter's in the distance. The day was coming to an end and as I still had at least one more stop to make I set off towards the Santa Maria della Concezione...or what I call the Capuchin Monkey crypt.