It’s about 6pm local now and we’re back at the hotel for a bit of rest. It’s very, very hot today. The morning prediction was 95 degrees and it’s also very humid – air you can cut up and swallow. Just so you know, at some point, you can actually get the pavement here hot enough to melt the dye out of Timberland boots. Yikes! Supposed to be much cooler tomorrow.
This morning we got up a tad later than we had meant to but we made it down to the restaurant for a nice continental breakfast. Lots of pastries and fruit juices as well as some lovely Italian sausage, prosciutto, breads, cereals and of course, cheese, including a couple Darren had never heard of! Yum! Also as a sop to the Americans, eggs and bacon. Really nice.
Then we set out. First we headed down the hill to the Piazza Navona – stopping through several smaller piazzas along the way. Piazza Navona holds – among other things – the Fontana dei Fiumi (the fountain of the four rivers) done by Bernini and the Chiesa di Sant’Agnese in Agone built by his rival architect Borromini. Around the corner we discovered a statue covered in paper of varying sizes – this statue of Pasquino is a “talking statue” where Rome’s citizens have posted news, gossip and political statements for centuries.
We then passed on to the Pantheon, which, though founded as a temple to all the Greco/Roman gods, is now nominally a Catholic church. I say nominally because there is definitely a feeling in the place that no matter how much they try to make this a Christian place, no matter how much bronze and other building materials that have been stolen from it, this is still a profoundly pagan place. You feel it walking up the square toward the edifice – the sense of coming into a sacred space dedicated to more ancient and local deities than the one now worshiped there. It is one of the most ancient and well preserved buildings in Rome and an amazing feat of architecture since there are no columns supporting the domed roof.
BTW: did I mention it’s damn hot here? Nice thing is there are many public drinking fountains with fresh water from the thousands of wells around Rome. It’s clean and tasty and we were constantly refilling out water bottles as we went. Also, almost every few blocks there’s another piazza with something amazingly old and/or magnificent featured there. As you may know, the Romans got everywhere and they liked to bring back “souvenirs.” You know, small things like Egyptian obelisks to give their mothers and what not… On the negative side, Rome is a very dirty city. The air pollution is pretty bad despite recent efforts to control emissions and citizens and tourists alike think nothing of throwing their trash all around. Oh, and did I mention the graffiti? It’s everywhere… Still it is amazing to see the thousands of years of continuous civilization that The Eternal City contains. To walk through a space that has everything from Roman aqueducts (some of them still in operation!) to Renaissance churches to Baroque houses is quite an experience.
Also, j-walking is definitely a sport as well as a necessity here. You’re not getting anywhere in this city unless you’re brave enough to just walk out there – even when there are cars coming. They don’t give much quarter but they mostly stop at actually running your down. Still, this is not a pastime for the faint at heart. ‘Bout died half a dozen times before lunch today. Yeesh!
Back on our tour: crossed the Tiber – which is one of the ugliest rivers I’ve ever seen – and over to Vatican City. I’m not sure I have the words to describe this place. A lot of things go through your head here, but to be honest, for being the center of all Catholicism it does not feel like a sacred place. It is feels like what it is – the heart of the Catholic Church’s power and prestige. We were bowled over by the vast wealth and extraordinary talent that went into building this place. And of course I can understand why millions of people – Catholic or not – flock here.
At first when we saw the crowds, we were going to skip Vatican City and come back later. They do security screening before you can go into the Basilica or the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel and the lines were around the block for the Museum/Chapel and around the Square for St. Peter’s. But we ran into a guide doing tours and after hesitating a bit we joined up. Although she assured us the wait for the Vatican museum was really only 20 minutes it actually took us the better part of an hour to get through the line to the metal detectors, get our tickets, then collect the special headsets for tour groups before finally venturing into the museum. Damn crowded, too, though the guide told us it’s actually a light day. Yesterday was the last Sunday of the month and apparently the museum admission is free on that day so all of Rome shows up. Glad we missed that.
The lobby and front parts of the museum are actually quite modern, which is disconcerting when you’ve just been waiting in line around the Renaissance-era walls of the City. Then you head upstairs into the older parts. Also, you’d think you’d be inside a lot but we spent a lot of time outside in various courtyards around the museum. The museum itself is mind boggling. It’s filled with ancient pagan artwork from around the world which the Romans stole and then the popes co-opted. There’s a bath tub from one of the Roman Emperors (forget which) which was made of an Egyptian marble that is no longer available – apparently the Vatican now possesses 1/3 of the totality of this marble in the form of this tub and a couple of popes’ monuments in St. Peter’s. There are also hundreds of statues, tapestries and paintings from the finest artists of Europe through the centuries. There are several tombs within the museum, including those of the sister and mother of Constantine. The ceilings and floors are just incredible – mosaics from one end to the other. And then of course there is THE Chapel itself. I was a little shocked at how small it is actually. I was expecting something far grander. But I guess Michaelangelo is pretty glad it wasn’t any bigger as he went blind in one eye from painting the thing and then never actually got paid for the work. 😉
You are not supposed to take pictures in there. The Vatican spent millions in the 1990s cleaning and restoring it and now they really want to preserve it. Usually the Swiss guards are all over the place but for some reason today no one seemed to be minding the store. We were good girls and boys but there were plenty of Italian and – surprisingly – Asian tourists who apparently don’t understand any of the 15 or so languages that the “No Pictures” signs were posted in. Or the big sign with a camera and a red X through it.
But, damn, that man could paint. As you may be aware his paintings in the Chapel were something of a scandal at the time because he painted many nudes – and apparently God’s bum! One of his critics got himself painted into the Last Judgment for his pains and is depicted being dragged down to Hell. When this Cardinal complained to the Pope, he purportedly replied that he could intercede in Purgatory but not in Hell.
Then on to St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Peters is absolutely overwhelming. Some of the highlights are the tomb of Pope John XXIII who’s waxen body is said to be incorruptible – they’re fixin’ to canonize him soon. There is a also the statue of St. Peter – it is believed that if you touch the foot of this statue all your sins are cleansed. The feet of the statue are almost completely worn away from the millions of people who have touched them over the centuries. The other amazing fact is that nothing is painted in the Cathedral – all the wall decorations you see are mosaic. And the most incredible mosaic work you have every seen – it all looks like paintings to me but it really is all very tiny tiles put together so closely you almost miss the seams. The Cathedral is also the largest in the world, a fact the builders took great pains to underscore via a large floor feature at the point where the entrance to St. Paul’s Cathedral (the 2nd largest church in the world) would be in relation to the Basilica.
The weight of centuries of tradition is very much present in this church, but I truly felt more of sanctity in the York Minster than I did here. I think it is both the tourist-y nature of the place along with the less-than-subtle attempt by centuries of popes to make this place a showcase of the Church’s wealth and influence in the world.
There is one exception – they set aside one chapel for prayer only – no cameras or gawkers allowed. I went in originally to light a candle for my mother but as there were none I knelt to say a prayer for her instead. And got a such a strong, overwhelming feeling of her presence and timeless love that I had tears streaming down my face as I knelt there. That blew me away for a while. I was very glad of it though. It’s sometimes very hard without her. Don’t get me wrong, I miss Dad, too, but there is something about loosing your mother, even in your 30s, that just shakes a person to the core. So any time I touch her like that… well, there’s just nothing I can say which will convey it. (An interesting juxtaposition to the experience of being present when Bran came into this world, by the way.)
After that we headed down into the catacombs to see the tombs of some of the popes buried in the Vatican. Pope John Paul II is down there – his tombs is guarded and no pictures are allowed. There is also the tomb of the last of the Catholic Stuarts – including James III – who spent the rest of their lives in exile in Rome after James II was booted. There is also a tomb for a 16th century Swedish Queen who converted to Catholicism and was then exiled as well. One of the few women buried in the Vatican grounds.
After that we started toward “home.” Being hot, tired, foot sore and a bit peckish we stopped in a restaurant next to the Spanish Steps called Leonardo. Very nice fresh pasta with porcini mushrooms for Darren and a porcini mushroom risotto for me. Also lots of water.
Now we are back at the hotel to rest for a while. The Europeans are so civilized – you can eat until very late (they were seating people at midnight at the pizzeria last night) so eventually we will toddle out for dinner.
Let’s grab a couple of pics – ’cause face it, that’s why you bothered to read all my wanderings up there:
The Pantheon
Janice in front of Neptune’s Fountain in Piazza Navona

View of St. Peter’s
The slightly macabre Hall of Busts in the Vatican Museum. You see a lot of the bodies that go to the heads in later parts of the tour.
Bath fit for an emperor
Tomb of Pope Alexander something or other. The Skeletal figure is Death about to reveal its face. Cool!

This papal effigy was removed from the original church before it was knocked down to build the current Basilica. Am I the only one who thinks this guy looks Asian? Seriously, remove the hat and key and this could be a Budda. What’s up with that?
Swiss Guards. Note the swords – they also bear firearms.
Perhaps one of the coolest tombs in the catacombs – Pius XI. Much fancier than John Paul’s which is very plain.
More tomorrow probably when we are off to the more Coliseum and Roman Forums etc.
Blessings,
Janice