A papal kind of day

I was going to write this post last night but I was preoccupied with the terrible news of the bombings that occurred in Boston during the its annual marathon. I returned to the hostel around 10:30 in the evening, flipped open my laptop, and read a message from Alex in Berlin wondering if everyone I knew was okay and that he had read about some disaster that had only occurred an hour or so before I hopped on the computer. I stayed up pretty late, for the next few hours, frantically writing emails and checking Facebook posts to make sure everyone I knew was alright. Luckily my family lives a little ways away from where the bombing occurred but I have a few friends who live in the Back Bay by Boylston Street where the bombs went off. Luckily they were all okay too. But I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to write. I just went to sleep instead. But it was a terrific day otherwise so I’ll try to sum it up now. Hats off to all those at home though. I hope everyone recovers soon.

So I have decided that I have simply been sleeping too much lately and missing out on some really excellent mornings. Morning, to be perfectly honest, is my favorite time of day but waking up is my least favorite thing to do. And as far as sight seeing goes, you miss a lot of daylight when you sleep in so much. I find that usually I feel about the same whether I get 6 or 8 or 10 hours of sleep so I might as well force myself out of bed with the sun and enjoy myself a little more. With that said, I woke up at 7 yesterday morning, showered, edited my previous blog post from the day before, and prepared a bit for my big day at the Vatican. Since I had wandered around the city a little the night before, I knew the streets a little bit better and felt confident that I could walk through the city to the Vatican City in Rome’s northwestern corner. My route took me through the heart of Rome and across the Tiber. I stopped off at a cafe for a morning cappuccino and pastry for breakfast and then walked through the bright sunlight down Corso Vittorio Emannuelle II, and then within the walls of the Vatican itself. When you cross the bridge and look over the river to the Vatican in the distance, you can see St. Peter’s Basilica rising above the other buildings up on a hill. Everything around is this ancient sand color and all the buildings around this part of the river look like they’ve been here since Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. Bells could be heard in the distance and birds, sea gulls I think, flew high above. The sky was bright blue and there was a slight humidity to the air. So I guess the weather was just about perfect.

My breakfast of espresso and a chocolate pastry

The bridge over the Tiber that took me to the Vatican

The Vatican from above looks a lot like an old key hole. There is a long corridor that leads from the bridge by the river up to St. Peter’s Plaza, a large circular plaza ringed by huge columns and statues of the saints. In the middle of the cobblestoned plaza is a huge obelisk brought here from Egypt by Caligula, a long time ago... And at the other end of the plaza opposite the long corridor of a street are the dramatic steps leading up to St. Peter’s Basilica, the famous Vatican Cathedral. Tourists can’t go further but on the other side of St. Peter’s are the Vatican offices where the Pope works, the new Pope Francis from Argentina whom the city is buzzing about, and some more official residences, schools, and other papal buildings. And the plaza was packed with people. My plan was to first go into and see the Basilica and then climb the dome to get sweeping views of Rome and beyond, and then wind my way over to the Vatican museums where the Sistine Chapel and other notable works of art are located. But this was easier said than done. I’ve never seen so many people in one place wanting to do the same thing. I waited in a line that ringed the plaza, just to enter St. Peter’s.

I hopped in line to see the Basilica at 11:20 and was inside at 12:30, nice!

St. Peter's Plaza

Caligula dragged this obelisk all the way from Egypt

But it was worth it. After about an hour of inching my way along the columns of the plaza (which I was happy to do actually because it was beautiful and sunny), I made it through security and into the cathedral. Entrance was free but I had to pay five euros for an audio guide. Not a bad deal. The cathedral is humongous, the largest Catholic cathedral in the world beating out Notre Dame in Paris, St. Patrick’s in New York, and Westminster Abbey in London by several meters. The cathedral is full of magnificent works of art including a statue of Mary holding the lifeless body of Christ, sculpted by Michelangelo when he was just 24. Paintings and frescoes cover the walls and ceiling. The dome is one of the largest in the world too and sits right above the papal altar, reserved only for the Pope when he holds mass. Below the altar are the remains of St. Peter himself in a catacomb altar below in the crypt.

Inside St. Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo sculpted this for the church when he was just 24 years old

The basilica floors are covered in marble

A look up at the dome

After I spent an hour or so in the cathedral, I again waited in another absurdly long line to climb the hundreds of steps up a twisting staircase in an old tower that leads to the top of the dome. All of the waiting and climbing was worth it here too. The views over Rome were stunning. Rome, as I could now see, is situated in a valley surrounded by lush, green mountains looking inland. The mountains are a bit blurred due to the slight haze left by the afternoon sun. The city slopes down a fertile plain towards the sea on the western side. Like Milan, red roof tiles and sand colored buildings sit on top of each other to make up the heart of the sprawling city. Very, very beautiful.

Rome from atop the dome, hazy mountains in the distance

But I think the highlight of the day was my trip afterward to the Vatican museum. The collection of artwork the Vatican had acquired through the ages is incredible. Old Roman statues line the halls and paintings by Raphael and Da Vinci and others fill gallery rooms. There is a thorough collection of ancient artifacts brought back from Egypt during the Roman days and an excellent courtyard in the middle of all the beautiful buildings where you can relax, smell the flowers from the gardens, and sit in the sun. But of course, the end of the museum takes you to the Sistine Chapel, the project that took much of Michelangelo’s life. The artist worked directly for the Pope to complete the project. He painted the ceiling as well as the famous Last Judgement seen along one of the walls. This, like the Last Supper, is another piece of art you have to see in person to really appreciate. One of my favorite images since college was the portion of the painting where Adam is stretching his hand out to God who is doing the same, their hands moments from touching. It’s an inspiring image. I took a seat in the chapel and just stared at the ceiling. The Vatican employees took turns every few seconds to say things like, “Shhhhhh!” and, “No photo!”. Eventually I left the chapel and left the museum. I walked back to St. Peter’s plaza and saw some of the Swiss guards guarding one of the gates that led to the papal offices. For centuries, the Swiss government has supplied the Vatican with some of its most elite soldiers, dressed in traditional Vatican garb, to guard the Vatican and the Pope. They look like they are dressed in costume for tourists but the guidebook assured me they are all well trained soldiers and are not to be disturbed.

Each statue in the Vatican Museum was inscribed with these wacky Latin phrases

Looks painful, statues in the Vatican collection

A gallery showcasing some works by Rafael

A picture of a picture replicating the actual Sistine Chapel ceiling, photos were not allowed inside

The Swiss papal guards

I was pretty tired from all the walking and sightseeing. And I was starving. I got a quick pizza “sandwich” thing at a cafe (I feel like I only eat pizza and pasta here) which filled me up pretty well and then I started back towards the city center. I walked aimlessly towards the train station, but still a good ways away, near Piazza Venizia and just took in the pretty alleyways and small side roads. Pretty much every corner of every side street has a stunning church. And every corner also has some excellent statue or ancient Roman gate or spectacular fountain or something. I happened upon the Tivoli Fountain, probably the most famous fountain in the world, in some back alley plaza. The Tivoli Fountain is pretty well hidden between buildings, but it is huge. It depicts Neptune trying to tame two sea dragon horse creature things, one tame, one unhinged, supposedly representative of the tame and at times turbulent qualities of the sea. Water spews from everywhere to the pool below and facing the fountain are a slew of steps packed with people lounging and bathing in the sunlight. The fountain is built into the side of a building so that only one end of the fountain is visible. I sat awhile on a curb off to the side and above the fountain awhile. Then I continued on. I walked the length of one of the major shopping streets in the city, Via del Corso, and then turned into some side streets. From Via del Corso and down one of these side streets I could see people gathering on some steps, a lot of people. I went to go see what they were sitting around and stumbled on the famous Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna, huge sloping steps leading up a steep hill, swallowed by its surrounding buildings, like all things in Rome, and up to a huge park at the top of the hill. At the bottom of the steps was a small plaza with a small fountain. The steps, like Tivoli, were packed with people just relaxing, drinking, chilling. This is one of my favorite things about Rome. Everywhere there is a plaza where people congregate and relax. Everyone is outside enjoying life.

A side view of the famous Tivoli Fountain

The Spanish Steps leading down to Piazza di Spagna

Sunset over the Spanish Steps

I walked back towards the Tivoli fountain because I had seen some good places to eat around that area. I stepped in at a small trattoria (small, cheaper Italian restaurant) and ordered some bread and olive oil, gnocchi with parmesan cheese, and a half liter of house wine. I had actually never tried gnocchi before. I guess Rome is a good place to try it. It was excellent. Then I walked back to the hostel and the rest is history.

My meal of gnocchi and house wine

The little pizzeria that I ate dinner at

I decided to extend my stay in Rome for a day before I head to Nice. Rome is turning out to be quite a place. Today (I’m writing this the evening after the day after the events took place from this post - confused?) I went to see ancient Rome, basically. I’ll expand on this in the next post. And I have one more day to explore. I’ll hit some of the major spots that I missed and generally take the day easy, drink too many espressos, eat more gelato, and relax.

In the next post, we step back in time. See you there!