Italia….I
Came, I Saw, I Conquered Saw, Swam and
Enjoyed
As
someone who has studied Latin in high school, Roman history has always
fascinated me. Italy has always been on my bucket list of must-dos, and this
August, I finally had a chance to do a trip. What a country. What architecture.
What stunning views! What beauty!
I
spent just one day in Rome, but boy did I get a lot done, The first stop was my
favorite: the Colosseum. Built in AD 72, the “Flavian Amphitheater” was built
by the profits of the Great Jewish Revolt, primarily on the backs of Jewish
slaves. We can say that technically, Jews built this top Roman tourist
attraction, which was used for gladiator and animal fights, and could hold up
to 80,000 spectators! The Colosseum was badly damaged in 217, and since then
has been rebuilt to show an important part of ancient Roman history. I got to
walk inside the Coloseeum and see the “stage” where all of the fights took
place, as well as the tunnels leading to gladiator’s locker rooms and animal
enclosures. What a cool view! I’ve never seen anything like it before…it was so
cool literally looking at thousands of years of history!
After
the Colosseum, I saw Rome’s “other” attractions, which are all located in the “Cento
Storico” area of Rome and is a must-see for anyone in the city. First up was the
Roman Forum. The site, known by ancient Romans as the “Forum Magnum” (meaning
Big Forum), was basically ancient Rome’s city center, the heart of Rome….a
market place, where elections were held, a place for parades. It served as a
court room (criminal trials were held here), a stadium (speeches and even
gladiatorial fights were showcased), a bazaar (street shops), and basiacally as
the meeting place for all Romans to discuss life. Forty meters above the Forum,
we strolled by Palatine Hill, where, according to mythology, lies the cave
where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome were raised by the wolf Lupa.
Next up was the Pantheon, which was originally built as a temple to God of War
Mars, but is now a church. After walking down to look at the beautiful and
majestic Supreme Court of Rome, we finished the night meditating to the serene
sight of the Trevi Fountains, a fountain built in the Baroque style, and one of
the most famous fountains in the world.
For
the next 2 days, we rented a car and drove from Rome through the Amalfi Coast,
seeing the towns of Positano, Sorrento, and Amalfi. Describing these places is
impossible on paper, or even photos, as this beauty is best illustrated by
going there yourself. But the Amalfi coastline is absolutely my favorite place
in the world. As you drive down the narrow, winding streets, you see the
Meditteranean Sea from miles high. You see boats and yachts enjoying the water,
as the bright-red sunlight gently gleams along the waves, making it look like a
sea filled with gold. Hugging the coast, on the cliffs, there are all kinds of
colorful houses, right in the mountains. As you drive all the way down to the
Amalfi Coast, get out and look around you. On one side, is the mighty Mediterranean;
on the other, up on the cliffs, colorful houses all around the coast, right in
the hills. It’s such a unique and awesome sight. You have not seen anything until
you’ve driven along the Amalfi coastline!
One
word of advice when visiting the Amalfi Coast: have a skilled, experienced
driver, and make sure you have a good GPS, which you follow, without going the
wrong way! Driving along Amafi is a freaking nightmare. First, you have
winding, curving roads, where one wrong move will send you barreling down the
cliffs to your death. Secondly, the roads are narrow, and don’t even have the
line dividing the 2 directions. So slow down, enjoy the view, but make sure
that you don’t hit cars travelling in the opposite direction, head-on. And hope
you are not stuck behind a bus. When 2 buses travel in opposite direction in
the Amalfi Coat, one must pull over, almost to the edge of the cliff, and the
other must slowly, skillfully pass ahead. This causes traffic jams in both
directions. Also, some of the roads are super narrow; your car will barely fit.
By the way, good luck finding public parking. You are basically going up or
down a mountain, so parking spaces are super limited. When we got lunch, we
spent over an hour just looking for parking! Finally, do not miss your turn,
because if you do, you will need to go the long way around, to get back where
you were, because there are usually only one way to go to specific places. So,
perhaps, at this point, you might be thinking, “why drive, I’ll just take the
bus”? Good luck with that. As we were told by local Italians, the buses are
notoriously unreliable. We witnessed this firsthand, as a bus just went by a
bus stop, never bothering to pick up the poor people waiting there! So in sum,
drive along the Amalfi Coast, but bring the best driver ever, who won’t speed,
won’t drink, and won’t crash and be that idiot who ruins everyone’s business/vacation
by causing a traffic jam for the entire day, with thousands of angry Italians
and tourists cursing you out.
On
my 4th day in Italy, I rented a private yacht, with 3 friends, for
just $90 Euros, including free lunch and beers! The yacht took us from Positano
to the island of Capri, and along the way, we swam up to the caves and explored
them, got a close-up view of the cliffs, and swam in the Mediterranean, while
sunbathing right on the yacht! When we finally arrived in Capri, we took a bus
up the hill downtown. The city itself was kind of a disappointment, but people
should go to Capri for the swimming and the beautiful views more, anyways. For
one day in Capri, I felt like a rich person….tanning on a yacht, drinking
beers, swimming wherever I want, and seeing whatever I am interested in. The
rich life is addicting…..and the private yacht was one of the best, happiest,
most relaxing days of my life! More motivation to work hard, and become successful!
While
my friends and I were happily enjoying Capri, without a care in the world,
Italians and tourists just hundreds of miles away had probably the worst day in
their lives. A devastating earthquake basically destroyed the entire town pf
Amatrice, northeast of Rome, and a couple od the surrounding towns. Over 200
lives lost. Entire houses, neighborhoods, and communities destroyed. Rescuers
from all over the world working 24/7 to dig out the rubble and finding
survivors. It’s so heartbreaking, and a helpless feeling, knowing you can’t do anything
to help, other than give money. The tragedy taught me the value of living each
day to the fullest, and enjoying life every chance you get, because no one
knows what will happen tomorrow.
Speaking
of natural disasters and destroyed towns, on my 5th day in Italy, we
went to Pompeii. Pompeii was an ancient Roman city, today between Amalfi and
Naples, that first suffered a devastating earthquake in AD 62, and then was
completely destroyed by the volcano cause by Mount Vesuvias in AD 79. The
volcano killed over 2,000 civilians, although some of those who ran away in the
opposite direction, IMMEDIETELY after they saw the volcano erupt, had a shot of
surviving those who stayed behind, or dithered to gather belongings were
certainly burned by the ash). Today, Pompeii has been preserved to showcase the
history of the town. Walking through thr town, you can see the city’s streets,
houses (both of the rich and poor, a
Colossum arena (which held up to 20,000 spectators, but had fights banned after
the citizens of 2 towns had a violent fight, inside the arena, to 20,000
spectators), preserved bodies, profane and sexual wall graffiti, and
ash-covered statues. Actually, Popmpeii was more disappointing than I expected,
but perhaps it was just that there was a lot of walking on a 90+ degree F day.
After
Pompeii, we drove to Naples. Naples can best be described as the American
equivalent of Detroit. It looks like a run-down city. The roads have potholes.
The houses are rusting. The entire city looks depressed. Naples is also one of
the hubs of the Italian mafia (Sicily is the other hub), with the powerful and
influential Camorra family running affairs out of that city. Looking at the
city, it looks like they have stopped making their payments to government
officials, probably after the recent police crackdowns on them (when my parents
visited in 2009, they literally saw mob-related arrests!)
My
6th and last day in Italy was spent at the Vatican, which is the holiest
site to Catholics, and the only country in the world (just over 800 citizens)
not to require passports or visas. We checked out the museums, which are filled
with ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artifacts. We marveled at the ceiling
of the Cisitine Chapel (where I don’t have photos because they are banned), which
was drawn by Michaelangelo and illustrates “The Creation”, “The Fall of Man”,
and the “Promise of Salvation”. Next up was St. Peter’s Basillica. The popes
give speeches from the balconies here. The pope has services here on Sundays,
and blesses the crowds on Wednesday mornings, except for the summers, when he
does this from his personal residence, about 20 miles away. According to
Catholic doctrine, the apostle St. Peter is buried here at the Basilica. We
visited the Vatican on a Friday, so saw the preparations for Sunday’s services.
It was a sweet experience to marvel at the beauty of the Vatican overall, and
to learn about the history and main tenants of Catholicism. With my visit to
the Vatican, I have now seen Judaism’s Wailing Wall, Catholicism’s Vatican,
various Hindi temples, and the mosque at Taj Mahal. The only religion whose most
important sites I shall likely never have the opportunity to experience is
Islam’s, as Mecca and Median bar non-Muslims form visiting, and visiting the Al
Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem will likely cause an international incident and heat
up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (screw politics, why can’t we just all live
together in peace?)
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