THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
TRIPS Roman Holiday
WE WERE ALL DELIGHTED AT THE PROSPECT OF ESCAPING THE WRATH OF STORM DENNIS FOR THE CULTURE, CUISINE AND SUNSHINE OF ROME
J ust a few weeks before the Covid-19 crisis shut the world down, a group of us departed from Gatwick under the supervision of Mr Fox, Mr Thomas and Mrs Apaloo. We were all delighted at the prospect of escaping the wrath of Storm Dennis for the culture, cuisine and sunshine of Rome. After a smooth flight, we took a coach ride to the mighty Hotel Noto in the city centre, our base for the next few days. The following morning, we arose, a little bleary-eyed, at 6.30, in order to be among the first into the magnificent Colosseum, a half-hour walk from the hotel. We were let off the leash for an hour to explore the 2,000-year-old architectural goliath and take plenty of pictures. Next was the beautiful Forum, which was littered with ancient statues with enviable Apollo’s belts, as Mr Fox pointed out. One thing which struck me about Rome was the fluidity with which the ancient buildings and cobbled roads seamlessly blend with the modern infrastructure. After a pizza lunch, we went into the first of the plethora of churches that we would visit over the next few days. I was impressed with St Ignatius’, in which the visitor encounters beautiful artwork at every turn. That evening we travelled to the Trevi Fountain, which was still extremely busy despite the late hour. The fountain was awe-inspiring, with statues of Roman mythological figures guiding the flowing water as swarms of people throw coins of varying value into its depths. On our penultimate day, we ventured into Vatican City. There, we started with the Castel Sant’Angelo, the site of the Emperor Hadrian’s tomb, which became a military fortress for later popes. From the top of the tall tower you have a spectacular view of the Tiber river and St Peter’s Basilica. The rest of the day involved a whirlwind of information and a lot of walking as we had a very detailed guided tour of Vatican City. We saw the magnificent St Peter’s Basilica, which contains the greatest quantity of gold that I have ever seen in one place. Its interior is truly enormous, with each
letter of the Latin writing on the dome being six feet tall! The tour culminated with a short time in the Sistine Chapel, where we viewed Michelangelo’s masterpiece. Sadly, we weren’t allowed to take pictures and it was quite cramped inside the chapel, but the artwork on every side of every wall was jaw-dropping. Having learnt about some of the paintings on the tour made us all appreciate it even more. Our final day was a bittersweet one, as we all wished that we could have a few more days in this wonderful city, but happily we still had a lot more to see before our evening flight. After our final early start, we walked to the imposing Spanish Steps, constructed in the 1720s. We then ventured into the heart of the city to see the 2,000-year- old Roman Pantheon, which is still in immaculately preserved condition and perfectly integrated within the bustling city. It is a prime example of the ancient and the modern entwined with one another in the eternal city. In recent times, it has been converted from a pagan place of worship into a Catholic church where anyone can come to pray and perform other non-liturgical forms of worship. Our final activity was a guided excursion through some early Christian catacombs, where we saw a variety of different tombs from the simple to the quite elaborate. These underground cemeteries, 20 metres below the ground, strike you as quite eerie when you first encounter them, but we quickly became accustomed to them as we travelled further down through the tunnels. Unfortunately, our next journey was to the airport where we had an entertaining five-hour wait before boarding our plane back to wet England. This was a fantastic educational trip, which the teachers made interesting and engaging throughout, even though we saw what seemed like a hundred churches. Looking back on it now from the viewpoint of the Covid-19 lockdown, I can safely say that the Rome trip has been the highlight of my year.
OLIVER SUTHERSANEN-TUTT (YEAR 11) SHARES FOND MEMORIES OF A FEBRUARY HALF-TERM TRIP TO THE ITALIAN CAPITAL
148
149
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker