OMNES VIAE ROMAM DUCUNT
Page 32 No 15, Year 15, May 2018
OMNES VIAE ROMAM DUCUNT
A short phone call was enough to make an agreement. Let ' s go to Rome! The three days before departure we spent making plans. What each of us would take, what we should wear, which are the best walking shoes, what we would eat... All three of us have been to Rome before. It is interesting that when you once visit this city, you wish even more to come again. It is so wonderful. It is not said in vain that all paths lead to Rome. And our way led us. As our journey was a pilgrimage as well, we returned home with full heart and soul. We hope we will be able to share a bit of the spirit with you.
After our arrival the first sights to see were The catacombs of St. Callixtus and locations where Christians used to meet during the time of the persecution of the Church. Before entering the catacombs we put on some more clothes because it is always 18⁰ Celsius there no matter what outside temperature is. The catacombs are considered to be the cradle of Christianity and Early Church. Painting, sculpture and epigraphy offer us the most valuable material to learn about the customs and life of early Christians.
It was hot, very hot. What else could we expect in August? We found solace / rescue in drinking water which is to be found everywhere in Rome. Fountains are definitely Rome ' s speciality. There are more than two thousand of them. The most famous is the Fountain of Trevi. Although we are not superstitious, we threw a coin in the fountain, to come back again. It is said that people throw around 3000 € in the fountain on daily basis and Caritas employees use the money to buy food and to help the poor. There are also fountains at Piazza Navona, one of the most beautiful squares in Rome. We could not make up our minds. But out of four basilicas, we agreed that the most magnificent one was Saint Paul ' s outside the walls. We visited it the first day. There we also met armed forces which you can see at every corner. The reason for that is unfortunately a great number of terrorist attacks in Europe. At the entrance to every famous landmark you go through a very rigorous control. Regardless of this we felt safe. We heard that everything was expensive. In the end we were pleasantly surprised with the prices that are almost the same as in other European cities.
When you walk through Rome, it is like travelling through time. It is like walking through history, art or religion textbooks... But it is not all about the stone. It is Italians who give life to all those buildings and sites. We spent our free time sitting at the squares absorbing the life itself. We tried their specialities, we bought nice souvenirs and made a lot of photographs. Selfie stick was very useful. Rome is equally beautiful during the day and in the night time. It is crowded with tourists from all over the world. It is the meeting point of different cultures, times and religions...
A special experience was the Audience with the Holy Father Francis at St. Peter ' s Square. After all, you cannot come to Rome and not see the Pope. We visited the pope crypts and prayed at Pope John Paul II tomb. We also visited Croatian papal institute of Saint Jerome and we met Croats who study there. We visited The Capitoline Hill, the smallest hill of Rome, Forum Romanum, Palladium Hill, Monument of Victor Emmanuel II, Pontifical Gregorian University, Spanish Steps. We also visited Moses by Michelangelo, Colosseum, Castel St. Angelo, Pantheon, four Basilicas...
The program was pretty dense. We mentioned just a part of what we have experienced. It is all more grand and colossal in nature than on photographs. We hope that you will also visit Rome one day and fall in love with the eternal city. And we are looking forward to our next adventure.
Text and photographs by Gordana Aralica, Željka Maršanić and Lorina Aido / Translation by EE journalists