Two fan-shaped ancient buildings embrace a fairy fountain. The Basilica of Our Lady of Angels and Martyrs beside the square was rebuilt in 1563 by Michelangelo in his later years using the cold water baths of the Baths of Diocletian. Churches in Italy are everywhere. Many people say that they will be aesthetically fatigued, but Yunluo thinks it depends on personal preference.

Churches of different styles will certainly have different surprises, but even churches of similar styles will certainly not have exactly the same design and decoration. So for Yunluo, who loves architecture, he can never see enough. Later, An Chuyu had already begun to stop Yunluo from rushing into a church every time he passed by one.

Yunluo felt really tired of paintings, sculptures, and cultural relics. A small door in the hall led to the Galileo Memorial Courtyard, where the Chinese Academy of Sciences donated a 6-meter-high bronze statue of Galileo designed by Tsung-Dao Lee. It was already past 6 o'clock when they finished their visit here, and Yunluo and An Chuyu thought it was about time to go back to the hotel.

It turned out that it was not getting dark at all in the evening (I later discovered that the evening here was different from the evening when Yunluo and An Chu met. It got dark very late there. Many museums were open until 7 o'clock, and dinner was usually served at 8 o'clock. It was really a paradise for tourists!). There was also a subway station here, so Yunluo had a sudden idea.

How about going to the Spanish Steps directly? (Originally it was planned for yesterday, but I basically decided to give up because of the flight delay) In Yunluo's impression, the Spanish Steps is just a commercial street. Because of the popularity of Roman Holiday, I feel that it is optional to go, but since I have RomaPass in hand, I will make full use of it.

The subway is also very convenient. An Chuyu immediately agreed. The Spanish Square ends at the Santa Trinita dei Monti Church. It does not have many highlights. However, it became a household name after Audrey Hepburn ate ice cream on the Spanish steps in the movie "Roman Holiday".

Via Condotti, across from the steps, is narrow but is home to almost all the flagship stores of the well-known luxury brands. There is a coffee shop called Cafe Greco, which is definitely a place for showing off. It is not only a gathering place for British poets, but also a place where artists from all over the world often show their talents, such as the musicians Chopin and Liszt, and the great writer Goethe.

There is an Egyptian obelisk in the center of the Spanish Steps. The Shipwreck Fountain under the steps was designed by Bernini's father, Pietro Bernini, and I personally feel it is very ordinary. And there is garbage thrown in the pool. This is the Easter holiday, how does Nanjing Road feel! After walking along Via Condotti for a while, Yunluo and An Chuyu were not very interested in shopping.

We planned to find a restaurant to eat, and then we saw a small church, so we couldn't help but go in to take a look. We found that a mass was being held inside, and it was an important mass before Easter, and the seats were full. Yunluo and An Chuyu endured their feet that were almost exhausted. They stood in the back row and admired it for a long time with great interest.

Let me introduce the Mass, which is a religious ceremony of the Catholic Church. The Mass is the transliteration of the Latin word missa, which means "disband, leave", and comes from the last sentence of the Mass: "ite, missaest", which means "the ceremony is over, you can leave". The Holy Mass is the most noble sacrifice of the Catholic Church.

The body and blood of Jesus Christ were consecrated on the altar and became a true sacrifice, a re-enactment of the sacrifice of the cross. It is a religious ceremony of the Catholic Church to commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus. A bishop was speaking on the stage, probably explaining a passage from the Bible. In the middle of the speech, some audience members followed the clergy to a small room next door, and Yun Luo went over to take a look.

Each person lit a small candle, which was probably a blessing ceremony. After a while, they returned to their seats and continued to listen to the bishop's speech. After that, there was a choir singing, usually in different parts, which was really very pleasant, peaceful, deep and holy. It was like the sound of nature. It is said that there will be a Eucharistic liturgy later, to consecrate bread and wine and receive the Eucharist and Holy Blood.

A small piece of bread and a sip of red wine represent the body and blood of Jesus Christ. After eating, one will be with Jesus and be redeemed. This is an allusion to the Last Supper before the crucifixion of Jesus. Halfway through the show, Yun Luo and An Chuyu left early. Without a cultural background, one can only watch the excitement and feel the solemnity and solemnity of the devout believers.

After leaving the house, Yunluo and An Chuyu decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. So they called an Audi taxi. It is said that there are handsome Italian men everywhere. This time, I felt their elegance the most. There is nothing special about their looks, especially the prematurely formed Mediterranean (see Prince William for details. It is probably due to the excessive secretion of male hormones).

The driver skillfully turned the steering wheel with one hand and casually touched the phone to set the navigation with the other hand, which made people's heart move. To be honest, this is the most impressive example of an Italian handsome guy in this trip:) We arrived at the hotel soon and the bill was about 7 euros, which is of course much higher than the price in China. It was raining heavily at this time.

Yunluo and An Chuyu planned to find a restaurant near the hotel to have a meal, but they found that the dinner time of people here is basically defined as after 8 o'clock. Many restaurants are still queuing, and they finally found a seat after walking around. While eating, they experienced the slow life of the people here, and the speed of serving food was really unbearable.

When Yunluo and An Chuyu urged the waiter to serve, he was surprised. In their opinion, isn't a well-prepared dinner worth the long wait? Looking at the table next to them, they could spend hours drinking beer and eating simple meals. They were also completely impressed. After dinner, they hurried back to the room to rest. You know, replenishing energy is the most important thing when traveling!

The second day, the theme revolved around ancient Rome. It was a special feeling to visit the birthplace of Christianity on Easter. The continuous running around made me exhausted, so I slept a little longer in the morning. When I got up, I found that it was raining outside the window. After breakfast, I went straight to the subway station. This time I didn't make a mistake. I took the B line to the Colosseum Station.

This time I really felt the benefits of a small city. I work in Sihai City, and 6 kilometers is definitely close. It feels like a waste of life to travel 1-2 hours in the city. When I got out of the subway station, I saw the magnificent Colosseum. It was raining heavily, and there was an endless line of people holding umbrellas.

Yunluo and An Chuyu rushed forward, and were just thinking that they had made the right plan and could enter directly with Romapass, when they happened to meet a security guard in front of them who waved and greeted them. A new line was set up temporarily. In this way, Yunluo and An Chuyu were directly in the front line and quickly entered the ticket office.

I looked at the empty Romapass passage next to me and thought that Romapass had really become a transportation card. I received the free ticket, rented an audio guide, and started to visit. The Colosseum was a place in the ancient Roman Empire where slave owners, nobles, and free people watched beast fights or slave fights.

It was built between 72 and 82 AD and covers an area of ​​about 20,000 square meters. It is said that a 100-day celebration was held when it was completed, and 9,000 livestock were slaughtered. In fact, there is no need to say more about the gladiator Yunluo and An Chuyu, as many books and movies have reflected on them. But when you really face the cruel gladiatorial scene, it seems that you can see the bloody fights on the stage thousands of years ago.

I could hear the cheers from the audience, but I still felt an irrepressible sadness and grief in my heart. A sentence rang in my mind: Life and death are determined by fate, and wealth and honor are determined by God. Most of the gladiators were slaves, and many of them fought for freedom, because some gladiators could be released after winning a certain number of matches.

Yunluo thought this might be their only spiritual sustenance and hope. After 2,000 years, the Colosseum was in ruins. The walls were largely demolished and used as raw materials for other buildings. However, it was a miracle that the main structure could be preserved to this day. The rain was almost pouring down at this time. Yunluo and An Chuyu walked forward with umbrellas.

Yunluo left a message on his WeChat Moments: The fighting, wailing, blood and cheers in the Colosseum are still going on today. Civilization is just a cover. Let the pouring holy rain of Easter wash away the sins of mankind. A few thousand years of history is just a blink of an eye in the process of human evolution. Therefore, Yunluo firmly believes that the evil nature of mankind will never change.

It just has different manifestations in different historical periods. In ancient times when productivity was relatively backward, this evil was more obvious, but today when science and technology are advanced, this evil is hidden behind "civilization". In fact, the eternal supremacy of interests is an unchangeable fact. The material level determines the spiritual civilization. The reason why Americans look "good" is that they are not evil.

That is because they stand on the shoulders of giants, and their lives are relatively carefree, so they don't need to use their "evil" side to make a living. Yun Luo thought that this is also the essence of the so-called "original sin" and "redemption" in Christianity. Repentance is a lifelong thing. The grids under these performance venues are the cages of gladiators and beasts.

The Colosseum is actually very quick to visit, but there are detailed explanations at several points. Going to the back, you can see the famous Arch of Constantine, which was built for Constantine the Great to return from a victory. The Arc de Triomphe in Paris was also built by Napoleon in imitation of it. The emperor always likes this, praising his merits and leaving a good reputation in history.

Power is a tempting thing. After leaving the Colosseum, Yunluo and An Chuyu began to walk towards the ancient Roman ruins. It was still raining heavily, and the road was full of water. Yunluo and An Chuyu's shoes were soaked, but fortunately they had jackets to keep warm, so they didn't shiver. The ancient Roman ruins were the city center of the ancient Roman era, including some of the oldest and most important palaces and buildings in Rome.

After thousands of years of wind and frost, now only ruins and desolation remain. This scene is very familiar to Yunluo and An Chuyu, who were born in the ancient city. The former glory of the Han and Tang dynasties has now been reduced to ashes. It is a truth that all good things must come to an end. There are many historical sites in this site.

Without explanation, Yunluo and An Chuyu could hardly recognize it, so they just walked through it and felt the former glory. The famous Trajan's Column stands in the Trajan's Forum of the Imperial Forum. Compared with the columnar structure of a pillar supporting the sky, Yunluo still prefers the gorgeous and complicated arches~ Here are a few words.

Ancient Rome is a very interesting historical phenomenon. It transitioned from the seemingly democratic Roman Republic to the autocratic Roman Empire. It is generally believed in history that this is an evolution. There is an episode of the BBC documentary about this. Then Yunluo and An Chuyu came to Venice Square, where a military parade is held every National Day.

Its status is somewhat similar to that of Tiananmen Square. The Monument to Victor Emmanuel II and the Vittoriano Memorial Hall of Italian Unification located in the middle correspond to the Monument to the People's Heroes and the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall respectively. The memorial hall was completed in 1911 to commemorate the unification of Italy and Vittoriano II who contributed to its unification.

The front of the memorial hall is an arc-shaped facade formed by 16 columns. There are two huge bronze statues on the memorial hall, the right one represents "thought" and the left one means "action". On the second flight of steps leading to the memorial platform is a flying lion statue created by Michelangelo. There are two groups of fountains under the steps - the right one symbolizes the Tyrrhenian Sea.

The left side symbolizes the Adriatic Sea. The horse-riding statue in the middle of the steps is Victor Emmanuel II. Yunluo and An Chuyu climbed the steps to the side of the memorial hall to look at the scenery of Rome. The pigeons on the fence were as fascinated as Yunluo and An Chuyu:) At this time, the rain stopped, but Yunluo and An Chuyu's feet were still in wet shoes.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

So the two of them decided to go back to the hotel first to deal with it. To avoid catching a cold. They found a bus stop on the map that could take them back to the hotel, so Romapass came in handy again. On the way, they found a fast food restaurant and had a quick lunch (after a long wait for dinner the day before, Yunluo and An Chuyu decided to keep their lunch simple to save time.)

There are many fast food restaurants here. You can choose from a variety of pizza flavors at the counter, most of which are square in shape. There are also some breads, ice creams, etc., all of which are mouth-watering! In fact, if you are in a hurry and don’t have too high requirements for the environment, this kind of fast food restaurant on the roadside is a great choice.

The taste will never disappoint. After eating, I went out and saw a Great Wall. Should I be proud? Haha. However, Yunluo and An Chuyu found out that in this country where luxury cars are produced in abundance (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, etc.), it is rare to see luxury cars on the streets. I heard that the Italian economy is in a severe recession now.

They have started selling domain names ending with "it". This time I came out and felt deeply. It's so poor! Yunluo doesn't think it's better than the motherland. Although 80% of the citizens believe in Catholicism, Yunluo always feels that the crisis of survival can make people abandon their faith. In addition, after learning about the history of medieval Europe, he feels that faith is extremely empty and the corruption and darkness of the church.

People are living in poverty. In the final analysis, human beings still bear the word "original sin". It is impossible to wash it away by one's own efforts. Ahem, the topic has gone off track again. Let's continue to talk about finding a bus station after dinner. Yun Luo found a handcuff and shackle church on the map. Although it is not well-known, there is a treasure inside - Michelangelo's "Moses".

When I got to the door, I found that it was also closed because of Easter. Oh, what a bummer. I rushed to the station and went back to the hotel to soak my feet. It is said that in Italian hotels, there is a relatively low pool next to the washbasin. At first, Yunluo thought it was a urinal. Later, I felt that it was not right, so I just regarded it as a foot bath.

Tired, cold, swollen feet soaked in hot water. The feeling is really incomparable~~ After soaking my feet, I changed my socks and shoes (luckily I brought two pairs of shoes!), and set off again, first to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore next to the hotel, which is one of the four superb papal basilicas in Rome (the Basilica of St. John in the Lateran).

St. Peter's Basilica, St. Paul's Basilica outside the Walls and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore) are only two steps away from the hotel. As a result, they were closed! It was Easter again. There was no choice but to admire them from outside. It is said that the interior is quite luxurious and magnificent. I will definitely make up for it next time! Afterwards, at Yunluo's suggestion, Yunluo and An Chuyu took a car to the most famous art gallery in Rome - the Borghese Gallery.

It is actually quite troublesome to take the subway to this place, as you have to walk a long way from the Spanish Steps Station. As a result, I used the map to search + Romapass, and it was only a few bus stops away, directly to the door, which was very convenient. The Borghese Gallery was originally the villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, who was a sponsor of Bernini.

He was also a famous collector. This Baroque-style villa built in 1613 was directly converted into an art gallery. The exhibits are centered on his collections, with sculptures on the first floor and paintings on the second floor. The Borghese Park next to the art gallery is the villa garden built at the same time. The tragic result is that I thought Romapass could finally come in handy.

When I arrived at the site, I was told that there was no admission fee for Easter, but reservations were required! Yunluo had checked this art museum online before, and it was indeed necessary to call to make reservations, but because it was not too popular, you could usually enter directly on site. And because Yunluo and An Chuyu's schedule was not certain, Yunluo did not make a reservation.

In fact, the most important thing is that the free admission on Easter leads to too many people, so even with Romapass in hand, it is useless. So Yunluo and An Chuyu had to walk around the garden, and then took the bus back to the train station. Back to the train station, Yunluo and An Chuyu studied where Romapass can be used.

(Because many attractions have romapass entrances, no need to queue), I found a Roman National Museum that seemed good. When I got to the door, it was crowded. I went in and asked, and I found out that romapass also had to queue. I was speechless and went back to the hotel to rest. That was good, to recharge my energy.

In short, this trip to Rome was ruined by Easter. Besides the free attractions in Rome, I didn’t feel the Easter atmosphere. I heard that there were some lively parades in Florence and Venice, but I didn’t catch them. It was a pity, but it’s okay. Next time I travel, I will have experience and study the other party’s holidays! (To be continued..)