- Aug 27
- 7 min read

Italia

We started our Italian trip in Rome. We had a redeye flight from Dubai and landed in Rome bright and early. We hit the ground running, and it was a complete culture shock. Dubai fees brand new- skyscrapers, modern architecture, and sleek design- and Rome is literally ancient city. It felt like we stepped back in time, which was pretty incredible. We started out with a trip to the Coliseum. We did a guided tour, which was so interesting as it gave us so much more of the history (given that my only knowledge was from the movie Gladiator, I had a lot to learn).

It is absolutely incredible that this was constructed in about 10 years, from 70-80AD. The coliseum could seat about 50,000-80,000 people, including a 'VIP' section for senators and the emperor. It had a complete underground that was connected to the nearby gladiator school through a tunnel. It also held cages for animals that could be winched up to the arena floor, allowing a trap door to open into the cage, letting the animal out onto the arena. Some animals were used as a method of killing people, while others were hunted by professionals for sport. Lions, tigers, wolves, bears, leopards, wild boar, elephants, hyena, buffalo, hippopotamus, crocodile, and giraffe were all seen at some point. The coliseum could be flooded to simulate naval battles and then drained. It is a spectacular piece of engineering. That aside, thousands upon thousands of people died here, as well as likely millions of animals. Thankfully, the last record of gladiator battles occurred in 435 AD, while animal hunts likely continued for another hundred years.

After the coliseum, we continued on to the Palatine Hill, the location of the emperor's palace. Although much of it is in ruin, it is still very impressive. The Roman Forum, the location for public meetings and courts, is also in this location. Several massive earthquakes throughout the last 2000 years have contributed to the demise of these ancient buildings. However, it was truly incredible to look at these structures and imagine all of the history that has happened. This is a view from Palatine Hill overlooking the Roman Forum. You can see the coliseum on the far right.

The next day, we went to the Vatican early in the morning and had another guided tour. Our guide, Valentina, was an art history major and an absolute gem. Since neither William nor I are artists in any sense of the word, we gained so much from someone who is passionate about art. The Vatican is its own country, with a gas station, store, and residences. However, most tours focus on the Vatican Museum (filled with art from the last two millennia), the Sistine Chapel, and St Peters Basilica.

Some of the sculptures are literally thousands of years old. As a surgeon, I was so amazed by the details of the anatomy. You can even see the outline of the cephalic vein in the shoulder and the saphenous vein in the medial leg. The different muscle groups stand out in the extremities exquisitely. As I was looking at this sculpture, I turned to William and said, "You could do a perfect medial approach to the thigh on him."

William is used to this from me by now, so he just sighs and nods :)

Another notable piece in the Vatican includes Nero's bathtub. Yes, this was thought to be his bathtub. Valentina told us that water could be pumped up from the aqueduct into the tub and then drained via the tub as well. And they talk about German engineering...

I wish I could show some pictures of the Sistine Chapel, but any photos or videos in the chapel are forbidden. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Next, we visited St Peter's Basilica. The original church was destroyed, but the current building was started in 1506 and completed in 1615. However, this door is part of the original church.

St Peter's Basilica holds the tomb of Peter, one of Jesus' original disciples. Both Peter and Paul were executed in Rome. Peter was crucified upside-down, and Paul was beheaded. As a Christian, it held special meaning for me to see this tomb. There is some question of whether it is actually Peter who was buried here- carbon dating showed the remains to be from the 1st century, but no one can prove it was really him- but whether the bones were his or not doesn't matter much to me. His tomb is a reminder that Peter was real, and he died a gruesome death for what he believed in.

St Peter's Basilica itself was absolutely spectacular, with hundreds of statues, including the Madonna (this is actually a copy, the real one is on display behind bulletproof glass that is being redone).

The ceilings are gold, with ornate carvings and sculptures.

While it was beautiful, it was also opulent, a word that I wouldn't use to describe the Christianity of the Bible. It is said that Martin Luther, known as the father of the Protestant Reformation, was deeply impacted by his visit to Rome in the early 1500's, where he found a lack of spirituality in what was supposed to be the heart of Western Christendom. Soon after, Martin Luther was angered by a sermon of a Dominican (sect of Roman Catholicism) priest, who taught that forgiveness of sins could be purchased by indulgences. Essentially, you could 'buy' your way out of any sin. In response to this, Martin Luther wrote his famous 'Ninety-Five Theses', or propositions for debate, in 1517, which were nailed to the door of Castle Church in Germany (where Luther lived), considered the beginning of the Reformation. These theses, with the help of the printing press, spread like wildfire. Luther did not intend to create a split with the church, and his propositions were more searching and topics for discussion rather than creating new doctrine. However, he was excommunicated.

His 85th thesis states "Why does not the pope, whose wealth today is greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build the basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?"

He has a point. The Roman church was incredibly wealthy and powerful in those times, and typically at the expense of the people they were supposed to serve. However, I'm not trying to insult Catholicism in general. If you look at any organization in history, power and money inevitably cause corruption. It is a good reminder that churches are made of people, and people are broken. Humility and grace are what sustains us and keeps us grounded. I need this lesson repeated every single day.

If Peter could see his namesake Basilica today, I wonder what he would think. In his own letter to the Roman provinces of Asia Minor (which we know as 1 Peter), he says, " So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock... Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'" (1 Peter 5:1-5)

It's a little disconcerting, yet somehow comforting, to know these words were written about 2000 years ago, and people haven't changed that much. Peter warned other leaders about pride, greed, and control. Peter knew then that people are broken, and with all the technological and scientific progress we've made over the years, people and the systems they create remain broken. Which is why we need Jesus.

The last few paragraphs may not have been your cup of tea, but I've thought a lot about religion and what my beliefs are during our trip to Rome, and I wanted to share. So much Christian history has happened in this city- there's even a book in the Bible called Romans. There's been a lot of shameful history for the church in Rome too. If you want to chat more about the topic, I'd be happy to. But I will stop my soliloquy here.

Moving on- the food! We ate so much pasta and I loved every second of it!

After two days in Rome, we activated our Eurorail pass and headed to Florence. What a beautiful city. The Medici family sponsored many artists, allowing the Renaissance to flourish. There is an abundance of incredible architecture, sculpture, paintings, everything.

We decided to take a pasta cooking class, which was so much fun. We made tortellini, ravioli, and pappardelle. Our instructor made the sauces, and then we enjoyed the meal with local chianti wine. Amazing.

We went to the Uffizi gallery, which holds some of the most famous works by Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Rafaello, and all the rest of the famous artists I am vaguely familiar with.

There was also a modern section, including this:

I don't know why I loved it, but it just resonates with me.

Later, we went to the Accademia, where we saw Michaelangelo's David. It is absolutely massive and so much more impressive in person than in pictures. But here is a picture too.

We climbed the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio, built in the 1300's as a defensive structure, later becoming the residence of the Medici's, followed by the town hall of Florence. The views were incredible!

From Florence we headed west to the town of La Spezia, on the Mediterranean Sea. This was our home base for exploring Cinque Terre, a famous area of Italy named for the five towns on the rugged coastline-Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The towns are about 1-3km apart from each other, and you can hike or take the train between them.

Some of the hiking trails were closed because of landslides, so we started our trek at Corniglia and walked about 5km total to reach Monterosso, where we rented a beach chair and umbrella and swam in the Med. It was delightful.