After an amazing morning and afternoon at the Vatican, we headed over to Piazza Navona, a beautiful square on top of an ancient running track. From there, we set off into the smaller side streets in Rome towards the Pantheon. Overall in this trip, I’ve just been blown away at the beauty of Rome. Everything is just better. Even their streetlights and doors hold so much more beauty than the industrialized ones we have back in the States. When the Pantheon was visible, I was blown away at its sheer size. It’s huge. I cannot even begin to imagine how the Romans built such a monument without modern technology.
When we entered, my eyes were immediately drawn towards the ceiling. On the inside, the dome was decorated with large coffers, which are rectangular indents within the stone. They were once decorated with bronze, but that was taken to be used for the altar at St. Peter’s Basilica. In the middle of this dome was the open oculus, decorated with the classic egg and dart pattern. The golden sunlight streamed through the oculus, illuminating the wonders inside (along with some LED lights, of course).
There were statues, and tombs of famous people, like Rafael. But what really stunned me was the amount of symmetry the Romans achieved. I learned from the class presentations that the interior is a perfect sphere, and the evenly spaced coffers in five rings of twenty-eight seemed difficult to achieve.
After this, we had some free time to explore the Pantheon and Piazza Navona area. It has been a few long days, and we really needed coffee, so we stopped at this little tiny coffee shop. I ordered a cappuccino, and it was SO GOOD. I hadn’t added any sugar, but the coffee was smooth and creamy-not bitter in the slightest! We then headed back to the Piazza Navona, where some people got crepes. I had a bite of a nutella one; it was absolutely delicious. We have had 3 long (but fun) days of walking, so everyone just relaxed around the piazza, watching people meander about and admiring the gorgeous fountains. This was so fun. I did not know a lot of people on this trip super well, but now I feel like we have all really bonded.
Dinner today was amazing. We went to this adorable little place, which was Sarah’s old college hangout.
Everything there looked delicious; you cannot go wrong with Italian food! I got pasta, and it was a gigantic serving that filled the entire plate. I couldn’t even finish half, and I wish I could’ve eaten more, since it was so delicious. Seattle’s Italian food pales in comparison.
Although the pasta was one of the best things I’ve eaten, I needed to save space for the real star of the night: GELATO! We headed to this place called Giolitti, and it was incredible. When you walk in, you see this massive ice cream display, holding tons of flavors. It was a rough choice on deciding which flavors to get, as everything looked so good. I got hazelnut, pistachio, and raspberry, and each gelato was so creamy, decadent, and amazing.
Finally, after 11.1 miles of walking and 25,180 steps, we returned to Casa La Salle, ready to sleep. I can definitely say that this is the best project week I have been on, and I am excited for what comes next!
I read these every day, and I enjoy all the detail the students are including in their description of the adventures. Thank you, Kelli, for great photos. And thank you Sarah for all the special access you have provided. Thank you to Neal, as well, for chaperoning!
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