My favorite photo inside St. Peter's Basilica. I think it looks like God is watching over this holy place.
This was my favorite part of Michelanglo's famous ceiling fresco...it depicts God creating man in His image.Hello all! I am writing to you as one tired chick! It is again, almost midnight and we left the hotel at 8am this morning. Our day began with a stop at the Caffe Vaticano where we had coffee and waited for our tour of the Vatican Museums to begin. We met our friends Kim, Stennis, Penny, Michael, Pam and Bo there. Our guide for the tour this morning was Angelo. He was part Italian and part Australian with a lovely accent. He was very passionate about the subject of art in this museum and was gifted in telling it like an old story handed down through the generations. Angelo told us we would only be seeing the highlights, as taking time to see and absorb every piece in this place was estimated to take about 12 years! I learned more about Michelangelo than I ever thought possible. He very carefully explained the frescoes painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. Each one of the main paintings represents a story from the book of Genesis. I learned what “fresco” actually means…it is a complicated procedure of putting plaster onto the surface, etching the outline of the painting into the wet plaster and adding paint to the plaster all before the plaster can dry, which is about 22 hours. Michelangelo did not want to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel as he did not see himself as a painter, but rather as a sculptor. Basically he was coerced into it by the sitting pope forgot his name-YIKES!). We saw many statues, frescoes, tapestries, and mosaics. We saw the Raphael rooms, and several gardens. Angelo told us the two main rules in the Sistine Chapel were no photos and no talking. ( Interestingly, prohibiting photos has nothing at all to do with damaging the paintings. The Sistine Chapel was restored in the 1980’s and it was financed by a Japanese company who asked for exclusive photo rights to the paintings. So it is all about a copyright issue!!) I worried that I might cry when I entered the Sistine Chapel, but I did not need to worry…in fact, I didn’t even realize we had entered the Chapel until I took a good look at the ceiling! There was loud talking and MANY photographers taking those copyright-protected pictures! I felt sort of like it was disrespectful, but honestly, this room did not look like a chapel at all…it was just an empty room the same as all the others we had passed through. At the end of the museums, we walked through St. Peter’s Basilica on our own. This is the largest church in the world! Absolutely stunning!
We left Vatican City with just enough time to make it to the area of the Coliseum and find a place to have lunch. Then it was on to our 3:00 PM tour of the Coliseum and Ancient Rome. Our guide for the afternoon was Valeria. She was Italian, but spoke good English. I must say the Coliseum was a bit upsetting to me. Valeria described in great detail the events or games that took place there….extremely barbaric behavior and many animals and gladiators were killed here all for the pleasure of Romans to watch! It was equal to what watching the Dawgs play football on a Saturday afternoon! These people were entertained by watching people malled, beaten or attacked by live animals or other human beings! However, I could not help but appreciate the sheer age of such a structure! To think people more than 2000 years ago came here just like me! WOW! Next on our tour was Palatine Hill. This is the place where Romulus founded the city of Rome and many of the structures are stlll partially standing. Very humbling! This was a very hot afternoon and there are many free flowing fountains throughout Rome and the water is very good to drink. It is also very cold water, so it was wonderful to splash a little cold water onto ourselves throughout the afternoon.
Next we were off to the Pantheon. We had visited this square the evening before, but the Pantheon was closed, so we wanted to go back. The inside of the Pantheon is a marvel of ancient Roman structural composition. I can scarcely wrap my brain around how difficult it must have been to build a beautiful temple in the day in which it was built! I mean this was way before even Jesus! It now serves at a church and was to be revered as such, but was not…same as Sistine Chapel. Here in the piazza, we rested a while, had some delicious “gelato”…which is the Italian version of ice cream…but different than American ice cream. And oh so good!!!
On a whim, we decided to take a carriage ride that took us to many of the main sites, most of which we had seen the day before, but definitely worth another look-see….and we highly recommend this type of travel and touring….it was absolutely a wonderful way to usher in the evening! Our driver ended us in Piazza Navona. This is an oblong square with many places to eat and shop. There were also many street artists. I bought a painting from a very poor-looking lady. She was separate from the main throng of artists and she was actually working on a painting. I almost felt sorry for her! And her work was good…plus cheaper! Many of the artists there seemed shady…like maybe they did not paint at all, but instead took people’s money for “paintings” that were mass-produced in a factory in China. We ate dinner along the street in a wonderful restaurant called Tre Scalini. Once again, another fabulous meal!
Once back in our hotel, we made a quick trip up to the rooftop bar. We knew the view was gorgeous and wanted to snap a few last shots of this beautiful place. Although we were here only two days (and more was needed), I feel like I have truly experienced something special! I want to etch the scenes into my brain and never forget our time in Rome!
But alas, we are off in the morning to bigger and better things! We catch a train at 9:00 AM to Venice where we will board the “Splendour of the Seas” and a new adventure begins. Arrivederci Roma! Cindy :o)
We left Vatican City with just enough time to make it to the area of the Coliseum and find a place to have lunch. Then it was on to our 3:00 PM tour of the Coliseum and Ancient Rome. Our guide for the afternoon was Valeria. She was Italian, but spoke good English. I must say the Coliseum was a bit upsetting to me. Valeria described in great detail the events or games that took place there….extremely barbaric behavior and many animals and gladiators were killed here all for the pleasure of Romans to watch! It was equal to what watching the Dawgs play football on a Saturday afternoon! These people were entertained by watching people malled, beaten or attacked by live animals or other human beings! However, I could not help but appreciate the sheer age of such a structure! To think people more than 2000 years ago came here just like me! WOW! Next on our tour was Palatine Hill. This is the place where Romulus founded the city of Rome and many of the structures are stlll partially standing. Very humbling! This was a very hot afternoon and there are many free flowing fountains throughout Rome and the water is very good to drink. It is also very cold water, so it was wonderful to splash a little cold water onto ourselves throughout the afternoon.
Next we were off to the Pantheon. We had visited this square the evening before, but the Pantheon was closed, so we wanted to go back. The inside of the Pantheon is a marvel of ancient Roman structural composition. I can scarcely wrap my brain around how difficult it must have been to build a beautiful temple in the day in which it was built! I mean this was way before even Jesus! It now serves at a church and was to be revered as such, but was not…same as Sistine Chapel. Here in the piazza, we rested a while, had some delicious “gelato”…which is the Italian version of ice cream…but different than American ice cream. And oh so good!!!
On a whim, we decided to take a carriage ride that took us to many of the main sites, most of which we had seen the day before, but definitely worth another look-see….and we highly recommend this type of travel and touring….it was absolutely a wonderful way to usher in the evening! Our driver ended us in Piazza Navona. This is an oblong square with many places to eat and shop. There were also many street artists. I bought a painting from a very poor-looking lady. She was separate from the main throng of artists and she was actually working on a painting. I almost felt sorry for her! And her work was good…plus cheaper! Many of the artists there seemed shady…like maybe they did not paint at all, but instead took people’s money for “paintings” that were mass-produced in a factory in China. We ate dinner along the street in a wonderful restaurant called Tre Scalini. Once again, another fabulous meal!
Once back in our hotel, we made a quick trip up to the rooftop bar. We knew the view was gorgeous and wanted to snap a few last shots of this beautiful place. Although we were here only two days (and more was needed), I feel like I have truly experienced something special! I want to etch the scenes into my brain and never forget our time in Rome!
But alas, we are off in the morning to bigger and better things! We catch a train at 9:00 AM to Venice where we will board the “Splendour of the Seas” and a new adventure begins. Arrivederci Roma! Cindy :o)
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