Historical Immersion!

Rome is a culture with such a strong history--one that I definitely want, and need, to learn about to truly understand the Italian culture. I was talking to a woman yesterday who recently had the opportunity to travel to Italy and she was going off about how you can just feel the history in some of the ancient buildings. I've always felt similarly with things like that. I was reading/looking at some ancient manuscripts for a humanities class a year or two ago and felt such a connection with the past--someone, or maybe several people, spent their time making those manuscripts hundreds or thousands of years ago, and they were preserved so that I could experience them. I feel like I will have similar feelings about the ancient architecture and artwork in Rome. Yes, I want to be immersed in their current culture, but in order to understand the present circumstances, I feel that it is so important to learn about the past. I want to not only see the art and architecture around the city, I want to experience it, hopefully with friends that I've made in Italy that have a better understanding of it and can help me understand it's importance to them. I guess it's not directly related to my project, but it's related to my overall experience which is the most important part, isn't it?


So, although I won't be at museums all day, they are an aspect of Rome that I want to experience--so, to get the most bang for my buck, I've looked into some potential passes that I can purchase


Roma Pass

• 3 day pass

• free transportation 

• free admission for 2 museums or sites, exhibitions and events

• can be used at more than 40 monuments

• costs 25 euros

Vatican and Rome Card

• admission & no waiting in line for the Vatican Museums and Colosseum

• includes transportation, open bus Roma Cristiana, itinerary audio tours and maps, traveler medical assistance and dicounts

• discounts for admissions to most other monuments and museums in Rome

Appia Antica Card

• good for 7 days from first use

• free admission to the Baths of Caracalla, the Villa of the Quintili, and the Tomb of Cecilia Metella

Biglietto 4 Musei - 4 museum combination tickets

• free admissions to each of 4 national museums of Rome;  Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Massimo, Diocletian Baths, and Balbi Crypt

http://goitaly.about.com/od/romeitaly/qt/rome_pass.htm

So, these all seem great, but I definitely feel like they're more geared towards short, tourist trips... I just bought an international student ID card, maybe I'll look more into what that offers...I am going to be there for 3 months, I don't want to try to crunch all of my historical exploration into 3 days, or even 7, I'm hoping that I can find an option that spreads it out a little more. I guess all I can do is keep my eyes and ears open!