When in Rome
We have been steadily working our way through the "must see" tourist sites in Rome. We hate to be so typical, but with only three full days available we need to focus on the most important spots to visit. Yesterday's weather was cooler, which was great for walking briskly through the city (I tend to walk quite fast, leaving Leroy a half-block behind or causing him to grab my shoulder to force me to slow my pace.) We were surprised by rain at mid-day. The sellers of guide books and photo calendars and miniature reproductions of the Colosseum immediately had colorful umbrellas available in large quanitities. Many were very insistant we buy one, but we enjoyed the cool rain and it stopped soon anyway.
Our agenda for the day changed early on. Instead of going to St. Peter's as planned, we realized we needed to use our two-day tickets for the Colosseum on the first day or they would be void. On the way, we stepped through the doors of the hulking church across the street from our apartment and were glad to find a mass in progress (there are no signs listing service times there or on any other church we've seen in Rome.) The aroma of incense and the sound of priests chanting in unison welcomed us in. The vast cruciform, marble sanctuary was surprisingly full for an old, decaying structure on a back street in a city with a Catholic Church on every corner. The worshipers seemed to be locals, mostly men (to our surprise), and of course everything was either in Italian or Latin (we're not familiar enough with either to tell the difference!) We stood in the back and took it all in for awhile and then quietly slipped out the door.
We made our way down a long, wide street devoid of traffic but filled with tourists from around the world on their way to the Colosseum. Leroy pointed to a man who was curiously holding two parakeets on his fingers. Immediately, the man approached and placed one parakeet on my hand and one on my head. Leroy snapped a photo and the man immediately demanded a ridiculous amount of money. I offered the coins I had in my pocket and he seemed happy with those. Further down the road, music ensembles playing guitars and sea flutes and drums and tourists danced together in the street. Everywhere there were men in cloth and plastic gladiator suits offering to pose for photos with the Colosseum as a backdrop.
Since we had purchased tickets in advance and since it was now early afternoon (past the rush of tour groups), we were able to bypass the long line and enter the Colosseum quickly. It is amazing how much the Colosseum resembles a modern football stadium. It really is the same, basic design that is used for sporting arenas today. The seats and most of the floors are missing, of course, but it is still a very amazing and beautiful structure. We walked the circumference of the upper level and examined all the displays about the Colosseum's history. One thing that was emphasized, which I have read before, is that the reports of Christians being torn apart by lions are based in fact but were embellished by the early church in honor of the few who were martyred in that particular way. Leroy loves teaching his unit on ancient Rome to sixth graders each year, and I took a photo of him hugging the Colosseum that he can show to his students.
We took some time to walk through the Roman Forum adjacent to the Colosseum. It was the main business quarter of Ancient Rome and contains columns and fragments of some very impressive structures From there we followed our now-tattered map of the city to the off-the-beaten-track St. Pietro in Vincoli Church. We saw the magnificent statue of Moses by Michaelangelo that dominates the church and draws many admirers of sculpture. It was a nice place to reflect on our visit to the mountain of Moses in Egypt two months ago. The church, like most churches in Rome, is lined with marble caskets and memorials to deceased church leaders. One macabre memorial has a large sculpted head of a bishop who looks eerily like Vincent Price, surrounded by full-sized dancing skeletons. Very interesting and creepy!
Some cobblestone streets took us further into the core of old Rome and led us to the Trevi Fountain. Leroy says that when he visited Rome twenty years or so ago, the city and popular tourist sites were relatively uncrowded. There are definitely more visitors here this week than he remembers seeing. The Trevi Fountain, in particular, was surrounded by a massive throng of sightseers. We had to wait our turn to get close to the edge of the fountain to admire it and take photos. It was certainly worth it, and Michaelangelo's Trevi Fountain is generally considered the most beautiful of the many sculpted fountains that exist throughout Rome.
Finally, we visited the Spanish Steps and the fountain by Pietro Bernini named Fontana della Barcaccia which means "fountain of the ugly boat." Again, it was hard to get close to the fountain due to the crowds. The steps, also, were covered by tourists enjoying the day and the view. Everyone seemed to be having a good time (many were enjoying cones loaded with gelato) and no one seemed in a hurry to leave. Leroy insisted on climbing to the top of the Spanish Steps and counting each one. There are one hundred and thirty-six steps. We were pretty beat by the time we returned to our apartment, quite a distance by foot from our last stop, and we napped until our fashionably late dinner of pizza and Caprizi salad across the river. Today we we certainly get to St. Peters, as well as the Piazza Navona.
We have been steadily working our way through the "must see" tourist sites in Rome. We hate to be so typical, but with only three full days available we need to focus on the most important spots to visit. Yesterday's weather was cooler, which was great for walking briskly through the city (I tend to walk quite fast, leaving Leroy a half-block behind or causing him to grab my shoulder to force me to slow my pace.) We were surprised by rain at mid-day. The sellers of guide books and photo calendars and miniature reproductions of the Colosseum immediately had colorful umbrellas available in large quanitities. Many were very insistant we buy one, but we enjoyed the cool rain and it stopped soon anyway.
Our agenda for the day changed early on. Instead of going to St. Peter's as planned, we realized we needed to use our two-day tickets for the Colosseum on the first day or they would be void. On the way, we stepped through the doors of the hulking church across the street from our apartment and were glad to find a mass in progress (there are no signs listing service times there or on any other church we've seen in Rome.) The aroma of incense and the sound of priests chanting in unison welcomed us in. The vast cruciform, marble sanctuary was surprisingly full for an old, decaying structure on a back street in a city with a Catholic Church on every corner. The worshipers seemed to be locals, mostly men (to our surprise), and of course everything was either in Italian or Latin (we're not familiar enough with either to tell the difference!) We stood in the back and took it all in for awhile and then quietly slipped out the door.
We made our way down a long, wide street devoid of traffic but filled with tourists from around the world on their way to the Colosseum. Leroy pointed to a man who was curiously holding two parakeets on his fingers. Immediately, the man approached and placed one parakeet on my hand and one on my head. Leroy snapped a photo and the man immediately demanded a ridiculous amount of money. I offered the coins I had in my pocket and he seemed happy with those. Further down the road, music ensembles playing guitars and sea flutes and drums and tourists danced together in the street. Everywhere there were men in cloth and plastic gladiator suits offering to pose for photos with the Colosseum as a backdrop.
Since we had purchased tickets in advance and since it was now early afternoon (past the rush of tour groups), we were able to bypass the long line and enter the Colosseum quickly. It is amazing how much the Colosseum resembles a modern football stadium. It really is the same, basic design that is used for sporting arenas today. The seats and most of the floors are missing, of course, but it is still a very amazing and beautiful structure. We walked the circumference of the upper level and examined all the displays about the Colosseum's history. One thing that was emphasized, which I have read before, is that the reports of Christians being torn apart by lions are based in fact but were embellished by the early church in honor of the few who were martyred in that particular way. Leroy loves teaching his unit on ancient Rome to sixth graders each year, and I took a photo of him hugging the Colosseum that he can show to his students.
We took some time to walk through the Roman Forum adjacent to the Colosseum. It was the main business quarter of Ancient Rome and contains columns and fragments of some very impressive structures From there we followed our now-tattered map of the city to the off-the-beaten-track St. Pietro in Vincoli Church. We saw the magnificent statue of Moses by Michaelangelo that dominates the church and draws many admirers of sculpture. It was a nice place to reflect on our visit to the mountain of Moses in Egypt two months ago. The church, like most churches in Rome, is lined with marble caskets and memorials to deceased church leaders. One macabre memorial has a large sculpted head of a bishop who looks eerily like Vincent Price, surrounded by full-sized dancing skeletons. Very interesting and creepy!
Some cobblestone streets took us further into the core of old Rome and led us to the Trevi Fountain. Leroy says that when he visited Rome twenty years or so ago, the city and popular tourist sites were relatively uncrowded. There are definitely more visitors here this week than he remembers seeing. The Trevi Fountain, in particular, was surrounded by a massive throng of sightseers. We had to wait our turn to get close to the edge of the fountain to admire it and take photos. It was certainly worth it, and Michaelangelo's Trevi Fountain is generally considered the most beautiful of the many sculpted fountains that exist throughout Rome.
Finally, we visited the Spanish Steps and the fountain by Pietro Bernini named Fontana della Barcaccia which means "fountain of the ugly boat." Again, it was hard to get close to the fountain due to the crowds. The steps, also, were covered by tourists enjoying the day and the view. Everyone seemed to be having a good time (many were enjoying cones loaded with gelato) and no one seemed in a hurry to leave. Leroy insisted on climbing to the top of the Spanish Steps and counting each one. There are one hundred and thirty-six steps. We were pretty beat by the time we returned to our apartment, quite a distance by foot from our last stop, and we napped until our fashionably late dinner of pizza and Caprizi salad across the river. Today we we certainly get to St. Peters, as well as the Piazza Navona.