Jim Inglis Travel Bursary to Rome
Written by Adnan Yaqub
In April, I was delighted to find out that I had been successful in receiving the Jim Inglis Travel Bursary, where I decided to head to Rome with three friends to explore its rich culture and history. Having studied Latin for the past eight years, I have developed a great interest in Roman civilization and the city itself and decided it would be a great end to my study of Latin at Brentwood. In July, just after receiving our IB results, we headed to “The Eternal City”.
As we stepped off the plane, we were blasted with a welcoming 35°C weather. After checking into our hotel, we decided to explore the local area around our hotel. Our hotel, situated in Piazza della Repubblica, was conveniently either in walking or metro distance to all the main attractions. We headed to Piazza del Quirinale and saw the impressive Quirinale palace, which serves as the official residence of the president of Rome. Then, although unintentionally, we stumbled into a large crowd and found ourselves at the famous Trevi fountain. Despite being very busy, it was a fantastic surprise to find the fountain, as we made our way through street vendors and tourists to take pictures and enjoy the view. At this point, the temperature was nearing 40°C and so we enjoyed a much needed mango sorbet at Piazza del Quirinale, overlooking St Peter’s Basilica.
After enjoying an interesting dinner of ‘Spaghetti cacio e pepe’ (spaghetti with Pecorino cheese and pepper – an overwhelming amount of pepper!), we walked down Via Nazionale which was busy with shops, restaurants and pubs and finished the night at the Fontana delle Naiadi, meaning the Fountain of the Naiads, which depict four water nymphs from Greek mythology. The fountain also serves as a roundabout itself and so it was an exciting challenge to make it to the middle!
The next morning, we set out for perhaps the most notable landmark in Rome; the Colosseum. Having navigated the metro and made friends with a few rats (!), we arrived at the Colosseum and navigated our way through the numerous queues to the entrance. I was particularly interested in the architecture of the Amphitheater, which contained 80 entrance arches; 76 for the spectators and 4 reserved for the emperor, political and religious authorities and performers. The shows took place on the arena and tiered seating surrounding the whole arena held between 40,000 and 70,000 spectators. Our Colosseum ticket also gave us access to the Roman forums and the Palatine Hill, which we explored afterwards.
With the midday Sun casting down upon us, we braved a fairly long walk to the river Tiber. We started at Ponte Fabricio – the oldest bridge in Rome which also gave access to Isola Tiberina, the Tiber’s only island located in Rome. A walk along the Tiber also revealed Cloaca Maxima, an ancient Roman sewer, and the Pons Sublicius. This bridge was in particular interest to myself as, having studied Livy’s ‘ab urbe condita’ in the IB Latin course, we read about Horatius Cocles; a Roman officer and hero who defended Rome against the Etruscans on the Pons Sublicius, performing a multitude of brave actions which culminated in jumping into the Tiber and swimming back to safety. I tried to imagine the scene 2,600 years ago – and pondered over the extent of Cocles’ bravery (and the reliability of Livy’s account!)
After cooling down in the hotel, we headed to the metro again to climb up the Aventine Hill to the Orange Garden, which provided excellent views of the whole city. We also visited the Aventine keyhole, which provided a distant yet impressive view of St Peter’s Basilica, enveloped by a canopy of nature.
For dinner, we decided it was necessary to try the pizza in Rome, which we enjoyed whilst watching the first half of the Euros semi final between France and Spain at the restaurant. We then set out for the Trevi fountain again, hoping that towards midnight it would be less busy…we were wrong. Nevertheless, it was a great atmosphere and filled with a sudden parade of Spanish supporters, who just found out Spain had made it to the Euro finals!
We then headed to the Spanish steps, which connects Piazza di Spagna to Trinità dei Monti church. The church was constructed during the reign of Louis XII to celebrate the French invasion of Naples. Standing at the top of the Spanish steps, we could see Fontana della Barcaccia, meaning Fountain of the Leaky Boat, built as a monument to the flooding of the river Tiber in the Christmas of 1598.
Our final day started with an early trip to Vatican City where we were able to avoid a long queue as we entered St Peter’s Basilica. The basilica was constructed under the order of Emperor Constantine I to commemorate the martyrdom of Saint Peter, one of the Twelve Apostles in Christianity. We marvelled at the amazing architecture and artwork inside the church and even had the opportunity to briefly observe a Mass service.
A final trip on the metro concluded our quick yet jam-packed visit to Rome and we headed back to the airport. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time in Rome and feel grateful and privileged to have had the opportunity to visit with the Jim Inglis Travel Bursary: I hope my experience has encouraged others to take the opportunity to apply for the bursary and explore a place of academic or cultural interest.
