Reminiscences of Rome

Recently, my husband and I had the opportunity to visit the city of Rome for our wedding anniversary. We managed to find a lovely and affordable little hotel within walking distance of just about everything and spent four wonderful days visiting the various museums, churches, Vatican and ancient ruins. I had some pretty high expectations and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. In fact, I fell in love with the place. That is why I am writing this post. You must visit Rome! It will be worth every penny. The Sistine Chapel was beautiful, the Last Judgment was incredibly eerie, the Vatican was very impressive and I especially enjoyed seeing Raphael’s original ‘School of Athens’. (Some of you may recall Frances Schaeffer pointing out the symbolism behind this painting.) We also saw Michelangelo’s Moses and the Pieta, St. Peter’s cathedral, the ancient coliseum, the Pantheon, Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf, Caravaggio’s paintings, and many, many other beautiful works.

My new favorite artist is Bernini. I had never heard of him before our visit. His sculptures were so life-like that we just gazed in awe at the talent of this man. Here is a picture of Proserpine being abducted by Pluto. Look at his hand digging into her thigh. It really looks like flesh.

Here is Daphne turning into a tree to escape Apollo. Notice her fingers becoming branches. Pictures simply cannot capture it.

This is David about to throw a rock from his sling while biting his lip. Amazing!

It is a VERY romantic place. I strolled through the small streets with my lover, stopping at cafes, parks or beautiful fountains in the evenings, thinking to myself, “I thought this only happened in movies…so glad I was wrong.”

If you ever do decide to visit Rome, I suggest you go during the off-season. It is cheaper and less crowded. We went in late October and it was perfect. Favorite places visited were: The Villa Borghese and its surrounding park, the Capitoline Museums, the Vatican, the ancient coliseum and forum, and the Fountain of Trevi. By the way, don’t forget to brush up on your art and Roman history!

Now, I know that some of you must be thinking, “Rome? We could never afford a trip like that…but thanks for the nice post, Linda.” Well, I thought the exact same thing for years but you never know what lies around the corner in life… ‘and that may be an encouraging thought.’

If you want to see a slideshow of our trip to the Eternal City, go here.