A long tunnel runs underneath the Gran Sasso massif in central Italy. It provides a fast connection between the two sides of the country. Unfortunately, it was closed—with no clear warning—the very morning we were headed back to Rome Fiumicino Airport. We left Teramo on the Adriatic side very early in the morning hoping to get to Rome in time for our flight. The tunnel’s unexpected closure made us reroute around Gran Sasso, but by the time we reached Rome, our flight to San Francisco had already departed. How frustrating! The good thing is that we were able to change our tickets for a small penalty. We ended up staying in Rome for a couple of extra days. It was a nice treat!

We booked a lovely Airbnb in a neighborhood away from the tourist path. The owners, Laura ad Giorgio, were very kind and recommended some local restaurants. We tried Joseph and Sora Pia. Joseph is a steakhouse. We’re not meat lovers, but it was amusing to watch people devour gigantic steaks with enthusiasm. Perhaps we humans really are carnivorous at heart! Sora Pia was a simple, down-to-earth trattoria. We tried fresh fish and the traditional Jewish Roman dish, artichokes alla giudia. The artichokes are deep-fried face down until the leaves open like a flower and turn crisp. The outer layers become chips—crunchy and addictive.

St Peter’s Dome

On the day we arrived, we had time to explore St. Peter’s Basilica in the late afternoon. Entering inside is both uplifting and humbling, as the dome is grandiose. It stretches toward the sky like a second sky beneath the real one. The interior is plush, even excessive, and the altar in the center feels immense. We missed the famous Michelangelo’s Pietà, probably one of the famous pieces of art in the Basilica! But still, a real surprise was in the cards for us as we climbed up to the cupola.

Tickets to visit the cupola cost ten euros if you take the stairs. Which we did. The staircase winds upward inside a tower next to the dome. After ten minutes of climbing, we reached a terrance. We could see the rooftops of Rome and the exterior of the cupola. Then we entered the dome itself and looked down inside the basilica. From that vantage point, people—and even the massive altar—looked tiny. We were so high up!

We walked along a narrow balcony with a protective fence that circles the interior of the dome. From there, one can read up close the famous Latin inscription: “Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam; et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum.” (“You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”) We could also see the mosaics up close and marvel at the level of detail. The tiny pieces were masterfully arranged in different colors and shapes to create images which, from the floor of the basilica, look like paintings.

Walking around the circular balcony gave us the uncanny sensation of floating inside the dome. And since we were walking in a circular trajectory, we soon lost track of where we started as though start and end were the same. But that wasn’t the end. Almost by chance, we found a narrow passage that led us further up.

We climbed step after step after step. Some were so tight we had to lean as we climbed. They never seemed to end, and we had no idea where we were going! Near the top, we even used a rope to pull ourselves along the steep staircase. Then, at last, we emerged into the open air again. We did not know one could climb all the way to the top of the dome. The sun was setting. We could see Rome glittering in every direction: the Vatican Gardens, Castel Sant’Angelo, the Roman Forum. It was incredible. Unexpected.

We descended down to the ground again and visited the post office of the Vatican. Many tourists were eagerly writing postcards. We did too, and before sending them off, we took a picture by the cute Vatican’s yellow mailboxes. Do they really work? We wondered.

Walking to the Colosseum

The next day we booked a visit to the Colosseum. But, being in Rome, we first run into many other distractions on the way there. We walked through Piazza Navona and then made our way to the Pantheon. It is an odd experience to come upon it. Much of Rome is an open-air museum of old buildings, but the Pantheon feels entirely different. As if it had been catapulted into the present from another world. The building has been there for nearly two thousand years, still perfectly preserved and functional. It’s like standing before a human who has lived for centuries, still present, still alive. How can such endurance be possible?

The Parthenon and St Peter’s dome are similar yet different. The Romans built the Parthenon’s dome out of concrete which becomes lighter as it rises, and the walls supporting the dome are very thick: over six meters. This engineering approach kept the forces contained within the structure itself, which is why the Pantheon has never shown signs of collapsing. St. Peter’s dome, by contrast, is taller and made of heavier stones and bricks. Even during construction, cracks appeared at the base, and over the centuries architects had to add iron chains and other reinforcements to keep it stable. The Pantheon instead still stands mostly as the Romans left it.

We then walked past Piazza Venezia and through parts of the Roman Forum, where the ruins unfold in an open-air museum: broken columns, fragments of temples, outlines of public buildings. We noticed the Trajan Column (“Colonna Traiana”). It is hard to miss as it rises above other remains of ancient constructions. The column stands tall and is wrapped in a continuous spiral frieze that narrates Emperor Trajan’s military campaigns. The reliefs are very detailed: finely carved figures, showing battles, fortifications, landscapes, and the engineering feats of the Roman army. This narrative is a graphic novel—or the first movie in history! A surprising fact is that the interior contains a spiral staircase that leads to the top, from which visitors can look out over the forum, but it seems that the staircase is hardly ever open to tourists.

After these distractions, we finally got to the Colosseum. The visit was less astonishing than climbing St. Peter’s dome, but still evocative. As we walked in, it was impossible not to notice the sheer scale and solidity of the structure. The walls rise and form arcs of stones and bricks. After so many centuries, they are still standing with a defiant strength. The corridors are wide, and the arches frame slices of sky in every direction.

From the Colosseum, one can see the Arch of Constantine, just a few steps away. It is a massive triumphal arch to commemorate Emperor Constantine’s victory. The arch is decorated with reliefs—some taken from earlier monuments—which make it a patchwork of styles from different periods.

We know we only scratched the surface of the eternal city. We would like to come back again, perhaps with a guide who could tell us more about the history. We were definitely unprepared and overwhelmed, but we did enjoy our causal exploring. Thank you, unexpected highway closure!