Roman Holiday
Trip Start
Apr 30, 1999
1
16
22
Trip End
May 30, 1999
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Friday, May 21, 1999
We finish our rough tour through ancient Rome by heading for the Mouth of Truth. It's somewhat hiddwon from the small street off a gated walkway. It's a little strange sticking your hand in there, especially with the rainy weather making the stone a bit cold. We continue north toward the Campadoglio and up the long stairs. While the trapazoidal shaped and brilliantly designed piazza is cool, this is just the first stop to get the best view of the Forum, just around the corner. We head back down to street level, past Vittoriano and Piazza Venezia, up Via del Corso. I talk Amy into going slightly out of our way (back to the hotel) by way of Trevi Fountain. We fight the usual crowds and endure the rain a bit longer, before we find a nice, small restaurant near our hotel. We freaked out our waiter (who spoke a fair amount of English) as we downed our liter waters in only a few minutes. Mental note: carry water at all times when walking countless miles around ancient cities. Dinner was excellent, both my speghetti and the price. At the hotel we soak our feet and work on laundry before a long, much needed sleep.
Another early morning and Italian breakfast. Just because most hotels in Europe offer free breakfast, doesn't mean it's all that good. We rush off to the train station for a cab to the Vatican. Most likely ripped off again, but it's fast and 'safe.' I was concerned about this before we got here, after what we experienced in other cities and sure enough the entire St. Peter's Cathedral facade is under construction. At least the scaffolding is limited to teh catherdral and the full Piazza is still wide open to explore. We wound our way to the entrance and finally reach the beautiful, but crowded, interiors thru the huge doors. Michelangelo's Pieta is safe behind bulletproof glass right after we enter the main body of the church. We are free to wander around as much as we like, past the Baldaccino and we touch the foot of St. Peter's bronze statue - which has been worn down beyond it's original carving from all the visitors. The altar was all light up, as some clergy members usher past us. It's hard to believe that this incredible building, so artistic and historical, is still used for regular church services. We work our way to the line to ascend the cupola to a short elevator ride. The route up to the top includes 320 stairs which wrap all around the curved cupola - between the outer and inner shells of the curved roof. There are tight spiral stairs, angled walkways and switchback stairs bent inward. We finally make it to the top, to breathtaking views of the city and a light spring rain. We walk all around the top before venturing the 320 stairs back down to the souvenir shop on the roof.
We finally leave the church and Piazza, heading out the east gate to find a random line. After a little questioning, we find this is the last line for entrance into the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. We eventually learn that this line wraps around the block before the entrance to the museum and all thru the rooms inside before we even reach the tiny Chapel. By this point, we are a little numb to all the items on display in the museum and are just shuffling through. We finally reach the Chapel... it's dimly lit (don't even think of taking a picture) and crowded with tourists just walking around, staing upwards. Even in minimal lighting, the colors are bright and the muscular figures seem to jump out at you. I can only imagine how much darker the images were before all the advanced restorations. I just want to stay and try to take everything in, but we are ushered out before long. We stop for pizza across the street when we make our way across Ponte Sant Angelo towards Piazza Novana and the Pantheon. We enjoy a short break in the Piazza before heading to the Spanish Steps (for another break). We window shop a little on our way back to the hotel for a little more rest and recovery.
Our last hotel for a few days now and we finally get to sleep in! We shower and pack, leave our bags at the train station before braving the crowded Metro. We find ourselves back at St. Peter's in plenty of time for the Pope's noon blessing. Thousands crowd the Piazza, nearest the side where the back of the Vatican springs up behind Piazza's colonade, staring at the empty window with the deep red sash before the Pope makes his entrance. I'm not catholic and not generally very religious, but that was an incredible experience. I can hardly recount everything we saw.... but our feet could tell some sorry tales after almost 10 miles walking each day. We walked the rough paths of Ancient Rome,, thru packed modern streets and shops and to the heights of the arts and religion of an entire country. I still can't believe I was standing in Piazza San Pietro, in a gathering crowd easily in the thousands, listening to a man speaking words I couldn't understand. I was uplifted and blessed to experience so many incredible places and moments. The clouds finally lifted, just in time for our next destination...
