Submitted by Alison Spiller on the 2022 winter session program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Philosophy…
We started off the second week of the program by visiting the mouth of truth which was featured in the movie Roman Holiday that starred Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck. Each of the students took turns putting their hand in the mouth and supposedly if you are a liar the mouth closes and cuts off your hand. We then visited the ancient Roman Forum where they did everything – they ate, gathered and there were courts as well. The grounds of the catacombs we visited were absolutely beautiful, there were rolling hills and open fields and lots of flowers and trees. We spent time there after going through the catacombs.
The next day, we visited Castle San Angelo which used to be a fortress that protected the city of Rome and it is now a popular tourist destination. We climbed to the top and had a spectacular view of the city and after that, we visited the Pantheon and went inside of it. The dome of the Pantheon was the first architectural dome in the world and all the others that came after it used its design to make their own. On our own, a few of us climbed all the way to the top of Saint Peter’s Basilica which was over 500 steps, but it was well worth it as we could see the entire city of Rome 360° around. We saw Michelangelo and Galileo’s house as well. Galileo’s finger is preserved in his very own museum in Florence. On Monday, we visited Campo Di Fiori, an outdoor market where flowers, fruit, olive oil, and many other things were sold.
