Right at the beginning of February half term, 2nd year Classics, English and History of Art students travelled to Rome to experience the sights and culture that the city had to offer. A jam packed itinerary meant that we were constantly on the move, walking all over the city to see the different monuments it had to offer. After landing on the first day, we dropped all our bags at our hotel and headed straight for the Colosseum and Palatine Hill, where the first Roman Emperor Augustus lived throughout his reign. We also visited the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps on the first evening — the Trevi Fountain looked amazing lit up at night!

We spent the majority of our second day at Ostia Antica, a well preserved city next to the ancient port of Rome on the mouth of the Tiber River. Here we explored many of the high rise buildings that have been preserved (essentially the Roman equivalent of modern day flats) and the theatre where we heard Rebecca Estrella deliver a Shakespearian monologue! We then left ancient Ostia and got back onto the subway travel down to the modern town of Ostia for pizza on the beach! 

After filling up on pizza and ice cream, we headed back to Rome to see the Pantheon — a temple that was dedicated to all of the gods during the era of the Roman Empire. On the way we passed the Forum of Caesar which looked amazing in the setting sun. After dinner at a local restaurant we had some free time to go out and explore the city by night.  A few of us had heard about a gelato shop that sold 150 different flavours, so we decided to try it out. After trying (and failing) to find the place that sold bus tickets, we gave up and jumped in an Uber to get to the shop! All of the gelato looked amazing and choosing flavours was such a difficult decision. The man behind the counter told us to come back the next day and we didn’t let him down — the next day we bought the entire group!

On our final day, we packed up all our things up before heading off to the Ara Pacis, something that Classics students had really been looking forward too as it is one of our prescribed sources. As a classics student myself, I can certainly say that seeing monuments that we study throughout the course was certainly interesting and helpful, not to mention exciting. After a quick McDonalds lunch, we split up again with Classics students intending to visit the Mausoleum of Augustus, only to find out it was closed! By this time, we had run out of time and all had to head back to the hotel to grab our bags before heading to the airport to say goodbye to sunny Italy.

The trip was an amazing experience and greatly enjoyed by everyone, not just Classics students. Nearly a month on and we’re all still saying how much we miss it!

With thanks to Louis Leeves (Head of Classics), Georgina Clyde (Head or English), Marc Gibson (Teacher of English) and Nicky Thomson for organising the trip.

Ella Pierre - Y2 Student