Monday May 21st

We began today bright and early by meeting at 8 this morning. Unlike our hotels in London and Barcelona, our hotel in Rome does not include breakfast with our rooms which makes the start of the morning a bit tougher. However, I’ll gladly exchange a free breakfast for a large room with a cheap pastry shop down the street as we have in Rome. After grabbing a few pastries, we were off to trudge through the rain to the Metro station. As I said before, our hotel is slightly off the beaten path so we were forced to walk about a mile through the pouring rain to board the Metro to the Vatican.

A hallway of the Vatican Museum

As we approached the Vatican, we were immediately met by two different but plentiful types of salesmen; umbrella and tour vendors. There were literally 50-plus men hawking umbrellas as we walked through the rain. The funny thing was, there was hardly any distance at all between the opposing men selling the umbrellas. As I was walking I thought to myself, “Do they not understand that if I didn’t buy the first umbrella I saw, that I wouldn’t buy one twenty feet later?” After passing the umbrella salesmen and getting closer to the Vatican, we met our next group of salesmen. Since the Vatican is an extremely popular tourist spot, the lines to enter the Catholic icon for individuals or small groups can stretch as far as the eye can see. However, if you have a large group and make a reservation, you bypass these lines for a much shorter line. Looking to capitalize on any way to make a quick Euro, these salesman make multiple daily reservations for tours and then fill these tours by luring in people on the street wanting to bypass the lines and are willing to pay a hefty fee. Luckily we had already made our own reservations, but countless salesmen belligerently offered their services as tour guides.

One of the many ornate rooms in the Vatican Museum

After making our way through the rain and the salesmen, we finally entered the Vatican and went straight to the Museum. The Vatican Museum is absolutely massive. In fact, if you spent one minute at every single piece in the museum, it would take 13 years to complete your visit. Needless to say, we took the abbreviated but enjoyable tour through the museum to see works from artists such as Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Because the Vatican is so full of visitors, it is actually extremely hard to take good pictures of the many artifacts in the museum which is somewhat frustrating. Between the museum and our next stop was the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel was without a doubt the highlight of the day as we were able to see Michelangelo’s beautiful painting firsthand. Following our trip through the Sistine Chapel we next visited St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest Christian church in the world. One of the most interesting items in the church was Michelangelo’s Pietà, a sculpture showing Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus. While the sculpture is well-known for its beauty, it is also famous for being the only sculpture actually signed by Michelangelo. While it was incredible to see the massive, famous Basilica, the church honestly felt too opulent. It seemed to me that there was a much greater emphasis on the lavish decor and construction rather than useable space for worship.

St. Peter's Basilica

Following our trip to the Vatican, the group actually finished early for the day. With a decent amount of time left in the afternoon, the whole group realized that it was a perfect time to do some much-needed laundry. However, the only laundromat close to our hotel was a full-service shop where we could only drop off our clothes for them to wash. Fearful that the entire group coming at once would overwhelm the small shop, a couple of us grabbed a taxi from the Vatican so we could beat everyone else back to the hotel to be first in line at the laundromat. After successfully winning the laundry race, I grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and headed back to the hotel to relax and call it a day. I’m not sure what’s in store for tomorrow, but I’m sure it will be another eventful day in Rome.

Sunday May 20th

Coliseum

After a long day of travel and sightseeing on Saturday, we woke up a little later than normal this morning before we set out to see more of Rome. We began the day at the Coliseum, one of Rome’s greatest attractions. Used for public events ranging from the battles of gladiators to animal hunts, the massive amphitheater was one of the Roman’s greatest works. While much of the original Coliseum has been lost over time, it was still amazing to see such a historic piece of Roman culture.

Roman Forum

Following the Coliseum our group made the short walk to the Roman Forum. Unfortunately very similar to the Coliseum, much of the Roman Forum has decayed over time. It was still incredibly interesting knowing that I was walking over the ruins of what was once the center of Roman culture. In addition to seeing the ancient buildings and structures, the Roman Forum is also home to the cremated remains of Julius Caesar. As an ode to his great power during his rule and the Roman people’s respect of their former leader, there were actually fresh flowers placed on his grave. 

Pantheon

We concluded our day of touring by visiting the Pantheon. Unlike the previous ancient structures we visited during the day, the Pantheon is remarkably still intact even though it is almost 2000 years old. Our teacher explained to us that the Pantheon is perhaps the most influential structure in terms of architecture and construction in the history of the civilized world. In fact, the Pantheon is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome. From a building perspective, I cannot imagine how difficult this task must have been so long ago. Released for the day, a small group of us ventured to a local restaurant for an early dinner of pasta and other local Italian favorites. Tomorrow we are visiting the Vatican which I am sure will be an impressive trip.

Saturday May 19th

Saturday was an incredibly hectic day of traveling from Barcelona to Rome. Since our flight to Rome was scheduled for 7 AM, I woke up at 4 after a few hours of sleep for a quick shower before taking a cab to the airport with two fellow group members. Since our hotel was located on La Rambla, a bustling street with many nightclubs, I actually saw people waiting in line to enter the clubs as I entered the cab at 4:45 in the morning. It amazes me that the Spanish culture is able to stay up and party so late into the morning. It was hilarious to see people out partying while the public works employees were picking up trash and washing down the sidewalks.

After a short ride to the airport, where it seemed a person could board the plane with a gun holstered to their hip the security was so lax, I grabbed a quick breakfast from McDonalds before boarding the plane. Luckily the flight only lasted about an hour and a half because I had to practically become a contortionist to fit my legs in the little space between seats. After arriving in Rome we jumped from one bus to the other to finally arrive at our hotel. While our hotel is not in the heart of Rome as our hotel in Barcelona was, it is by far the nicest hotel we have stayed in thus far. The room is massive with a large closet area, two seats, a desk, as well as a huge bathroom. Although we normally don’t spend much time in the hotel, it’s nice to have a large, relaxing space to come home to at night.

The only picture I managed to take of the Gates of Rome

Once we all settled in and unpacked our bags, a few of us walked down the street to a local restaurant to grab a late lunch. Even though our hotel is not in a touristy area, they luckily had English menus for use to use to order. After resting for a couple of hours we traveled via the Roman subway to the Gates of Rome. We learned about the history behind the gates in one of the books we were required to read before our trip so it was interesting to see these ancient structures in person. This concluded our day as a group and we were released for the evening.

Interesting buildings we saw walking to the Gates

Wanting to have some fun after a day of travel, almost the entire group walked a ways to a bar that was showing what was apparently the Super Bowl of European soccer. While I am far from a soccer fan, it was fun to experience the atmosphere of a game that was crucially important to Europeans. Once the game was decided by penalty kicks we all hailed cabs to travel back to the hotel and get some sleep. After a day of planes, trains, and automobiles, it was great to come back to such a luxurious room.

Friday May 18th

For our last full day in Barcelona, our group actually traveled by train about an hour away from Barcelona to the beach town of Tarragona. While many tourists visit the town to go to the beach, due to the overcast and slightly chilly weather, we visited Tarragona to see some of the many ancient Roman ruins in the small town. 

Roman Amphitheater

One such site was an amphitheater located a few hundred yards away from the ocean. Although the amphitheater is thousands of years old, it was amazing to see that so much of the Roman’s handiwork has withstood the test of time and still stands today. Following our tour of the amphitheater, we proceeded to walk to a short ways to a local museum. The museum housed many artifacts from the Roman times, but it was hard to learn more about the pieces and know their background because all the information was in Spanish. Because we could only look but not learn, we made our rounds through the museum fairly quickly. After the brief visit to the museum we again visited a site containing Roman ruins. This site looked as if it functioned as a fortress during the Roman times, being situated atop a hill with a large tower with panoramic views of the valley and ocean below. It was actually ironic to view this set of ruins because a large set of apartments were literally adjacent to the site, making for a contrasting view of old and new. Finished with our visit to the city, the group dispersed for lunch before departing for the next train ride back to Barcelona. Myself and a few others decided to try a small pizza restaurant. While the pizza was excellent, it was also interesting to speak with the owner who lived in Miami for a time. While Tarragona was limited in sites to visit, it was very interesting to see all the Roman construction still standing after such a long time.

Tarragona Beach

Once we returned to Barcelona, we were free to do as we pleased for the rest of the evening. One of my friends and I decided to walk down to the harbor and check out the sailboats and market one last time before departing the following morning. After relaxing at the harbor for a little while, our all the students in our group met up for a final group dinner in Barcelona. Remembering how much I enjoyed the Paella a few nights before, I again ordered the rice and seafood dish for my final meal in Barcelona. After a great dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest up because we were due to wake up at 4 o’clock Saturday morning to depart for the airport. 

Looking back on my time in Barcelona, I greatly enjoyed my visit to Spain’s second largest city. The food was as good as promised, but the weather was actually slightly cooler than anticipated. We toured some amazing sites such as La Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, in addition to many other beautiful places. In contrast to our previous stop, London, the city felt less developed and poorer to be completely honest. However, Barcelona makes up for these weaknesses with its vibrant culture and iconic sights. I again felt very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit a foreign area and enjoyed my brief stay.

Thursday May 17th

We began our Thursday morning as most on our trip so far; bright and early. Unlike our hotel in London, our hotel in Barcelona has a minimal breakfast of cereal and croissants. After the meager meal, we proceeded to hop on the Metro and walk a ways to the Park Güell. The Park Güell is one of Barcelona’s most famous parks located at the edge of the urban city. Our group hiked up to the top of the park to enjoy the gorgeous views from the scenic vista. We were able to see the entire city from the top of the park, a beautiful sight as the morning sun rose.

View from Park Guell

Following our trip to Park Güell, the group travelled to Barcelona’s Picasso Museum. While I have always heard much about Picasso and his works, rarely have I been able to actually see his paintings in person. I enjoyed seeing the many pieces of art, but to be honest I’m not sure that I was able to fully appreciate his style of painting. The pieces of art seemed somewhat strange to me, as I tried to comprehend the strange themes of the many paintings. However, I’m glad that I was able to learn more about Picasso even if I didn’t quite understand his meanings behind many of his paintings. 

After touring the museum, the group was actually given free time until later in the evening. I spent the afternoon catching up on news and taking a nap. After eating a quick dinner of a Greek gyro, I again met up with the group to visit the Magic Fountain of Montjuic at sunset. The fountain of Montjuic is a beautiful fountain where its movements are set to the tunes of many different famous songs. One of the songs we heard while watching the fountain was from Titanic, reminding me of Liz and her insistence of watching Titanic whenever we stumble across the movie on television. While I realize my description of the area leaves much to be desired, one must see the fountain to truly understand its beauty.

Montjuic Fountains

Following our visit to the magic fountain, our group was released for the evening. A few of us went to an Irish pub close to the hotel to enjoy a few beers before heading to bed. Yet again, Thursday was a busy day with many wonderful sights seen.

Wednesday May 16th

We began today a little later than normal, our group meeting at 9:45 this morning outside the hotel. Our hotel is actually located on La Rambla, the main drag through Barcelona, so we are within walking distance of many local destinations. Once all the group members were accounted for we walked a little ways down La Rambla to a local bicycle rental store. We met our tour guide at the store and proceeded to grab our bikes and began pedaling around town. The bicycle tour was much appreciated by most all our group as we have walked almost constantly throughout our trip. The tour took us all over Barcelona, from the immigrant neighborhoods to the beach boardwalk. While I enjoyed seeing the sites via bike, it made it a bit hard to take pictures of all the sites and fully understand exactly what we were seeing.

La Sagrada Familia

After the bike ride, the group dispersed to grab a quick lunch and tour around town for a bit. A couple of the group members and I decided to grab sandwiches and walk around the local market. The market literally had every type of food imaginable; from live lobster to fresh bread to assorted candy. After touring the market we again met at the hotel to finish up our tours for the rest of the day.

Following our morning bike ride, the rest of the day was devoted to touring some of Antoni Gaudi’s greatest works. Gaudi, a Spanish master-builder who designed, engineered, and built his works, is well known across the world for his interesting buildings. Our first visit to his creations was to the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a magnificent church located in Barcelona that is actually still under construction. While the building of the church commenced in 1882, four tower cranes loomed over the massive church as we visited it today. This is my third visit to renowned churches so far this trip, but the Sagrada Familia is by far my favorite and the most awe-inspiring. Although pictures show some of the incredible details of the church, they do not do the church justice in regards to its beauty.

La Sagrada Familia's Ceiling

Following our visit to the church, we walked to another of Gaudi’s greatest works, La Pedrera. Originally designed as apartments, the building now functions as a museum of Gaudi’s great works and allows visitors to learn more about the great master-builder. As a student of construction, it was awe-inspiring to see how meticulous Gaudi was in his creation of buildings.

View from La Pedrera

After finishing our tour of La Pedrera, our group was released for the evening. One of my friends and I decided to find a restaurant where we could find a nice, local meal. We decided on a restaurant with a rotisserie full of chickens in the front window. I ended up ordering a roasted rabbit with potatoes which was delicious, albeit different than anything I have ever eaten before. Tomorrow we have another early day full of activities, so for now it’s time to head to bed.