Rome: Fountains, Temples, and Cemeteries

I will freely admit that I'd never heard of the Spanish Steps before in my life. Literally a set of white marble steps built about 1725, they connect the Piazza de Spagna to that cathedral up there, the Trinità dei Monti. Swarming with tourists even in the off season, it was a bit overwhelming for me, but still worth seeing, especially on such a beautiful sunny day.

Haha, I think I'm holding a rose or two in just about every picture I got here-- the men selling them are very pushy, and they can peg a tourist a mile away. Before you know it, you're holding whatever they're selling, and they have their hands out for money!

The view from the top of the steps was lovely!

After meandering around the area for a few minutes, we stumbled next onto the Trevi Fountain-- toss in a coin and you're ensured a return trip to Rome! Tracy tossed one in, so I figure I'll just come back with her. Apparently something like €3,000 in coins are tossed each day-- the ones that thieves can't sneak out go to Rome's needy.

Next up was the Pantheon! This was one of my favorites. Built about 126AD as a temple to all of the Roman Gods, what makes this place so fascinating isn't so much its age, as how each wave of Roman culture and history has readapted it as its own. 

Even once Christianity came into vogue and pagan-crushing was all the rage, even then, this structure was just too cool for them to destroy; instead, they just tried to claim it as their own. Over 1,880 years old, the Pantheon still has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

While we were in Rome, there was one unique site that I had to see: The Protestant Cemetery where both Shelley and Keats are buried. Shelley drowned in the waters surrounding Italy, and Keats (perhaps even more tragically) died of TB in Rome after having said his final heartbreaking goodbyes to his true love back at home in England.

As we were scrambled desperately to find this Cemetery before it closed, we stumbled onto several other major sites along the way.

Replica of the "Capitoline Wolf": the She-wolf nurses Romulus and Remus, the twins who went on to found opposing cities. Ha! Guess which twin won? (Hint: We are not visiting the city of "Reme.")

Victor Emanuel Monument on Capitoline Hill: built for the first king of united Italy, built late 19th century

Pyramid of Cestius: built about 15BC as a tomb for the Roman magistrate, Cestius.
(Read: holy cow, that thing is literally over 2,000 years old!!!)

Finally though, we found it! Literally just in time too--three minutes later and I doubt they would have let us in. I was only sad we couldn't have gotten there sooner! I could have spent hours there. You'll probably laugh at the English major in me acting up, but I could swear it was a warm kind of silence, or at least a rich one, the kind of silence after something profound has been discussed as opposed to the cold silence usually associated with the finality of death. It was all green and white marble too, with cats stalking around the graves (they were almost definitely the poets reincarnated). All in all, the perfect resting place for the remains of men who loved thinking and writing.

Shelley's grave. Since the sea didn't spit his body back up on shore in very good condition, this grave actually only contains his cremated ashes  (oh, his ashes minus his heart, of course, which was snatched from the funeral pyre by a friend and later buried alongside his son).

A quote from Shakespeare's The Tempest on Shelley's stone

And finally, the grave of Keats, the man whose work and life I hope to humbly study for many years to come.
"Here lies one whose name was writ in water."

That evening, walking back from the cemetery, we stopped by a park where there is a famous view of the city. Everything was very amber, structures, ancient and new, lit up for tourists and city natives alike. On the walk back to find dinner, we passed several bits of graffiti etched into a wall, and the city made me feel just sentimental enough to grab a picture of each one: 

"Serena, I love you."

"Best Wishes" to Francé
(the country or a man? who knows)

"ROME
You will remain eternally inside me."

Rome was a unique experience. Just as much if not more though, I appreciate how suddenly, after this trip, my other visits to different countries are starting to seem all the more colorful. When I look back on traveling, although there were many things I initially couldn't stand about Rome, even thought I would later hate, I have to say ultimately that this was the trip that finally led all my other experiences to "click."

Rome forces your fingers to its texture, and demands reaction. I hope I'll be able to visit Italy again, mainly in an area where the tourism influence isn't quite so strong.