ROME Italy - the eternal city of the seven hills - sample photos of art history in its architecture, streets, sculptures and Gelato!   MetroTown.info

the Pantheon, Photo by Tamara Reiter Italian text description by Leanna Wong, visiting Rome during studies in Perugia - CLICK TO EXPAND IMAGE closeup photo by Tamara Reiter
Photo St. Peter's Basillica in Rome outside views

perspective photo showing size of columns and people in foregraound

For a great website on Italy and guides for visitors go to: www.italyguides.it
us/italy_travel.htm
[L. Wong, to Metrotown.info visitors 2006.09]

Sample views / photos of Rome Italy

Provenance of photos to the left, showing the Pantheon · St. Peter's Basilica · Famous Wishing Fountain · Bridges over River taken in August 2006 by University students studying the Italian language at the University of Perugia, International Students summer program.

Italian description:   Il Pantheon, un monumento anziano situato a Roma, è uno degli edifici spirituali più meraviglioso del mondo. All’origine è costruito fra 25 e 27 a.c. come un piccolo tempio dedicato a tutte le divinità romane. Dopo tanti anni, era consacrato come una chiesa cattolica.

English translation of Italian text above: The Pantheon, an ancient monument situated in Rome, is one of the greatest spiritual buildings in the world. It was originally built between 25 and 27 B.C. as a small temple dedicated to all Roman gods. Years later, it was consecrated as a Catholic church.

Italian and English text provided by Leanna Wong, UVIC Italian studies

Contributing travel correspondence & anecdotal stories about Rome Tour Guides & International Student Vistors

In the course of a summers study at the University of Perugia, Italian Studies for International Students our correspondent noted that a day trip to Rome

The trip in Rome was a bit too rushed ... and too lonely. I paid 30 euro expecting that a tour guide would be showing and explaining to us the various sites that we were going to visit in Rome but all he did was accompany us on the bus ride there and back from Perugia, gave us pamphlets with descriptions of each place we were going to visit, a map that had a highlighted route that we could follow and his cell number to call him in case we got lost.

Then, he told us to meet him back at the bus stop at 6:50 p.m.  So, I was a quite surprised and felt like I was ripped off but I was deteremined to make the most of my trip.

The tour started at the Vatican Museum and because it was the last Sunday of the month everyone could get in for free and, for this reason, I ended up waiting in line for at least an hour and a half.  But, the time passed by a bit more quickly as I conversed with this German lady, who was also part of the tour, the whole time in Italian.  I also met a group of Canadians who were from Vancouver!  Anyways, when I got into the museum I finally understood what the term "too touristy" meant.

It was difficult to enjoy the art because it was too crowded and it was hot and stuffy.  For instance, the Sistine Chapel was far less spectacular because the guards were just trying to rush you out of there since there were so many people. They kept on yelling "be quiet", "keep moving", and "no pictures" in Italian and English but not one person listened.  Then, this announcement would come on every 2 minutes repeating the same commands in about 5 different languages.

When I finally got out of the museum, rather disappointed but alive, I made my way to St. Peter's Square with the German lady. It was also at this time that I got separated with the German lady because I was too busy taking pictures.  Anyways, It was already about 2:30 p.m. then and so I really had to rush if I wanted to see the 6 other places on the map before 6:50 p.m. I went into St. Peter's Basilica and there were 2 signs that directed you to either to see the tombs of all the previous popes or to the dome.  I chose to visit the tombs first, hoping that the line-up to see the dome would be shorter when I came back out. Unfortunately, the end of the tour led me straight to the exit of the basilica. So, I had to make the decision whether or not to get back in line again at the entrance or to continue with the rest of the journey. Seeing that it was already around 3:30, I chose to forge on and, as the result, completely missed the interior of the basilica (something my friend Chris made fun of me about when I told him about my day in Rome). But, feeling a little grumpy and hot and sweaty, I had to do one thing first to get my spirits up and that was...eat gelato.   Let me tell you, that stuff is magical!  I instantly felt refreshed after eating it.

So, I continued on with the journey, having no idea of the significance of each site I was snapping photos of with my disposable camera.  The only other place I knew of was the Trevi fountain, which took me about half an hour to find because I got lost but it was definitely worth all the trouble.

In the end, I managed to finish the entire tour and to make it back to the bus stop on time. My feet had never ached so much in my life (they actually were still hurting for about a week after I got back to Victoria)! I actually even found out that there were several people, who were on the same tour as me, didn't even finish the tour or just gave up, so I did feel kind of proud of myself. When I did finally have time to read about the historical background of each of the places I visited in my pamphlet on the bus, I was too exhausted. I returned to Perugia late at night, had dinner (which my fabulous roommates had prepared for me), and finally passed out on my bed.

Then, the next day in the afternoon I went back to Rome again with all my Canadian roommates (Chris, Jessica, and Daniella) to catch the free Brian Adams/Billy Joel concert outside the Coliseum (Yeah, I know...y'all probably think I'm crazy). Before leaving Perugia though, our apartment was broken into a second time and Chris' camera and Daniella's camera and MP3 player got stolen.  It was an unfortunate way to end the trip but the memorable time we made together singing and dancing around the fort we built with all our luggage at the concert erased all hard feelings.

After the concert ended at about 12 a.m., we sat outside a church and talked for 2 hours. Then, we walked to the train station and said our final goodbyes. Daniella and I took the taxi together to the airport and Chris and Jessica waited for the train station to open as they were going to southern Italy to visit their family.

So...that concludes Leanna's amazing summer in Italy. I hope you all enjoyed the photos and the stories. Talk to you all later!

Canadian University Students studying in Italy and contributing  photos and stories to Metrotown.info

People in photo above include, from left to right & top to bottom, Leanna Wong, Tamara Reiter, Jessica Campese and Christopher Campese, students from the University of Victoria, UVIC.CA BC Canada taking a summer immersion studies program in Italian language skills at the University of Perugia www.unipg.it/en English version of University web site (Italian version / Main web site www.unipg.it, in the city of Perugia, Italy (capital of Umbria) The provenance of this group photo: Chris, who had the longer arms, using Tamara digital camera.

n.b. Leanna has been the coordinator of digital information access and copyright permissions gathering for this Italian travel-study views project. She has also been our Italian travel correspondent during the course of the summer.

Metrotown.info welcomes this group of new contributors to its site content development in Sept. 2006 !



Reference Web Info About Florence, Italy

Gelato - Italian Ice creams Magical treatment for the heat on  summer tours of Rome, the colisseum is the background for these international  students studying in the University of Perugia's Italian Summer Language program on day trips to Rome - CLICK FOR EXPANDED PHOTO WITH INSERT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS FROM PERUIA  EATING GELATO
Famous Trev Fountain in Rome - make a wish!
Bridges over Rome River

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