When in Rome do as the tourists do

Wow. Rome. What can I say about Rome that hasn’t already been said for a thousand years? Something that I had never heard before: it was more beautiful at night than in the day. Most of the ruins or ancient buildings are still well lit and the night restores much of the mystery of such an arcane scene. Plus- no lines, no tourists, and less heat.
From the day we arrive until the day we left, Rome was freaking hot. We tried to see as much as we could during the day but the heat drained the energy from us faster than we could refill it with pizza and gelato. Ronak and I found ourselves napping everyday for 2-3 hours despite being in the world’s center of ancient history and art. Don’t worry, though, we saw sights.
Probably the coolest thing about Rome is being able to see the ruins through alleyways and from rooftops. It’s more like you are the explorer and spotted something incredible for the first time. Standing in front of THE colosseum surrounded by ropes, lines of tourists and people trying to sell fake watches is like seeing the world’s most majestic and fierce lion caged. It just didn’t seem right. I’d rather see it standing over modern buildings and peeking through alleyways, proving that human modernization can never hide it. This is how I felt about pretty much all the ruins. The Pantheon was pretty cool and at night the plaza in front of it was filled with Romans and tourists dining and relaxing to the sounds of the city’s best street performers. We chose to spend several of our nights lounging in this plaza for people watching and gelato which the Pantheon as our backdrop. Pretty sweet.
Other sights: the Baths of Caracalla were pretty boring, but impressive nonetheless. The Sistine Chapel…wow, how can I describe this? If you’ve seen it you can know, that’s really the only way. Michelangelo, Raphael, Bernini and Botticelli (first: I looked the last two up, second: there are other artists too) probably showed us a level of art that we don’t even deserve to see and this is fitting considering the scenes depicted. The Vatican City in general was pretty awesome. St. Peter’s Basilica and Square were incredible. The Basilica, specifically, seemed as if human hands could not have made it alone, especially considering when it was made (~500 years ago). Standing in the Basilica with the thought that all of this was the result of One Man 2000 years ago was a bit overwhelming, to say the least.
I think Rome is a place everyone should see. I don’t even like history but for four days I was a fanatic. Sadly, after long enough, ancient ruins just seem like old buildings and we have to move on from our mountain top experience in the center of the ancient world. Also, after four days of hiking in a soul-drilling heat and having your cerebrum force-fed facts and dates, it’s nice to take a break. Zurich.