Castel Sant'Angelo

I love living in Rome. On days like today, when I don't have class, I wake up in the morning and think, "Hmm, what should I do today? Maybe I'll go see [insert amazing place here]." It's awesome. Maybe I should go sightseeing, maybe I should take a nap, maybe I should comb the streets for bargains...the possibilities are endless.

Today I chose sightseeing, specifically the Castel Sant'Angelo. The Castel was originally built as the emperor Hadrian's mausoleum, during the early 2nd century AD. For over a hundred years, Roman emperors, from Hadrian to Caracalla, were buried there. (Well, their ashes were buried there. Cremation was the way to go in those days, to prevent disease.) The bottom part of the structure is still the ancient tomb, but the top part was built on later, during the medieval period, when the place was used as a fort by popes who were often besieged. Therefore, the top part is lavishly painted as papal apartments, much like the Raphael rooms in the Vatican Museum. After all, a pope couldn't be expected to stare at blank walls during long sieges! I was forbidden to take pictures inside (they severely chewed out a tourist lady who didn't notice, or didn't pay attention to, the no-pictures sign), but here's a picture I took today of the overall structure:


The name Castel Sant'Angelo comes from the story of Pope Gregory, who supposedly in 590 AD saw a vision of the archangel Michael over the fort, sheathing his sword to signal the end of a plague. Therefore, the name of the place was changed to celebrate the "holy angel" and the statue on top (see below), plus a couple more statues and paintings inside, show the angel sheathing his sword. I like the way old statues show figures wearing armor, and yet their muscles and stuff show through anyway. It's funny.


I took this picture of the angel, and the Rome view below, from the terrace on top of the fort. I got my workout climbing stairs and ramps today, that's for sure.

Afterward I was hungry and tired, and managed to find a place that served (gasp) salad. Veggies are hard to come by around here, so I got excited and took a picture. It was seriously the best salad I've ever eaten. Maybe that's because I was hungry, maybe it's because I was malnourished...but maybe it was just awesome. It had "shrimps" and a dressing that the English translation on the menu simply called "pink dressing," which was awesome. I suspect that it was some kind of creamy tomato basil...but I actually don't really know. Anyway...lunch.

After lunch, I went sightseeing again. See below. For some reason Blogger only lets me upload 4 pictures per post (when it lets me do any at all), so that's why I do separate posts on the same day. Anyway, read on!