Home from Rome

Not much to tell about the trip on the way home. Got up on time, shuttle was prompt.  Had a last cappuccino at the airport.  Left on time.

I still love Alitalia.  I was in economy on the way back and didn't feel squished.

Did not love JFK airport.

Do not love Delta Airlines.  They broke my hard side suitcase.  Practically ripped the wheel off...and damage by baggage handlers is not covered by the suitcase's warranty.   I know it was them as the bag was fine when I rolled it through customs and to the re-check area at JFK.

Anyway, I am so sorry about this late posting of all of my blog.  The apartment in Rome was fine, it was actually in a perfect location but it was not my favorite mostly due to the stairs and the very sad and intermittent Internet.  Apparently, it would work on my phone (which was no longer connected to the right Google account for this blog) but not on my netbook.  It wasn't my netbook's fault because it connects fine everywhere else.

Still, it did not really affect the fact that I had a great time.  If I hadn't been struggling with tendonitis in my foot, I probably wouldn't have been so cranky about the stairs (I've stayed in 4th floor walk-ups many times before on my trips to Europe).

I suggest you start on the first day of the blog (although that particular post needs updating) HERE and then click the links at the bottom left side of each page for a "Newer Post."  That way you can navigate it in order.

Again, sorry about the wait and hope you enjoy my trip!

Day 7 - April 25, 2015: I Walk the Heart of Rome

I plan to expand this with further text later.  Cross your fingers that I actually will

Ruins of Palatine Hill from the Circus Maximus

And a bit of the Circus Maximus

Last glance of St. Peter's from the open top bus.

Campo di Fiori with Giordano Bruno watching over.

Just enjoying the flowers....

Piazza Navona, an art market on Saturdays

Fountain of the Four Rivers at the Piazza Navona

Rio del la Plata on the Fountain of the Four Rivers.  "Will you just get OFF OF ME!"

The Pantheon with another obelisk

Pantheon's doors stay closed on my last day in Rome!

Parliament with ANOTHER obelisk.  This is actually the one brought to Rome by Octavius after he defeated Anthony and Cleopatra.  It's set to work as a sundial.

Piazza Colonna.

Trevi Fountain undergoing restoration.  Story of my life.

Front door of Byron's residence in Rome which is across the street from

The Spanish Steps and the Keats-Shelly house (yellow house on the far side of the steps) where John Keats spent the last months of his life.

View from Keats' room.

Room where Keats died.  Everything originally in the room was burned by order of the Vatican as Keats died of tuberculosis (it was assumed this would stop the spread of the disease.  That is Keats' death mask in the case next to the bed on the wall.

And we end, where we began, at the Spanish Steps.  Not much else, packing and an early night. Gotta be outside the front door at 7am.

Day 6 – April 24, 2015: St. Peter’s Basilica and the Coliseum

Today, I decided to take the hop-on, hop-off again because I am too lazy to figure out the regular bus schedule and the metro doesn't get as close to St. Peter’s square.  Besides, I thought, that since the first bus departs from the train station at 9am, that would get me to the Vatican WAY before 10 am, when I had to check in.   I didn't count on Roman traffic.  I got there a bit after 10 and made check in my the skin of my teeth. 

The same tiny athletic woman led us through the metal detectors and to pick up our audio guides (nothing like a morning jog on cobblestones to get the blood moving).  The audio guides had to be returned by 12:30 and we left our ID as collateral.  I did turn down the way toward the climb up to the dome, but decided that I'd had enough of stairs this trip and turned back.

I fought my way through the crowds of tour groups and inside the Basilica.

The first thing I saw inside was what I wanted to see all along, Michelangelo’s Pieta.  It really is that awesome and breathtaking and beautiful.   I have to say that it affected me more than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.  Although the man was no slouch with a paintbrush, he considered himself to be, first and foremost, a sculptor…and he was right.   He was also the architect of a good chunk of this building.

This is the inside of the main dome, which he designed. 

Here we have the main altar and canopy, which is fantastically enormous.   They were preparing for some sort of ceremony, so you couldn’t get really close or get past the first 2/3 of the basilica, which was a bit of a bummer.  I could not get a good photo of St. Peter’s throne or the stained glass window above it because of the angle of the sun.

However, here is St. Peter himself.  He’s buried underneath the main altar and pilgrims come to kiss this statue’s feet, which is why they're so shiny.  That wasn't happening today as it was past the blocked off area. 

At this point, I found myself accidentally wandering down to the crypt where a good bunch of the Popes are buried.  Some are buried at St. John’s, some are here, and a few (including John XXIII) are enclosed in clear crystal shrines for all to see.  It’s more than a bit creepy, if you ask me and I took no corpse photos.  Anyway, the crypts run underneath the basilica and contain parts of the original building dating back to Constantine.  The crypt of St. Peter is also there and I was entranced by the gold mosaic on his tomb.  There are no photos allowed in the crypts, which kinda makes sense I guess.  It’s a graveyard of sorts, so I was prohibited from my graveyard photo hobby.

The crypt actually dumps you out of the basilica near the gift shop, so I had to fight crowds again to get back in to see the other half.  I only had a half hour left before I had to return the guide.

Here is the enormous baptismal font.

There are a great deal of things to see, including the mosaics that look like paintings

Since it is so damp, the artwork is actually mosaics.  This way, they are more easily preserved than oil paintings or frescos. 

There are also sculptures, in the form of shrines.

I found the details of some of the shrines to be fascinating.

I made my way out toward the audio guide desk to retrieve my driver’s license and was amazed to find the tour group crowds had dispersed. 

I was able to get a shot of the Holy Door on my way out.

After dropping off the guide, I checked out the tiny, narrow gift shop which was staffed by a bunch of cheerful nuns.  I bought a couple of things (including a Christmas tree ornament) and headed to the front of the basilica.

This is looking out to the square from the front.

And this is looking directly up at the pope’s balcony.

Heading out of the square, I decided another shot of one of the fountains would be in order.

I hit a couple more souvenir shops and got a gelato on my way to the bus stop.  This time, I plugged my headset in and listened to the commentary on the bus on the way to the Coliseum stop.

When I got off, tourism was in full swing.  Stalls selling everything from keychains to pope bobbleheads (got to get me one of those!) and those annoying selfie stick guys!  Found my way to the special Roma Pass entrance and paid for an audio guide (apparently, the Roma pass doesn't cover as much as the Vatican version) and I was off…

We started upstairs, which gave us a good view of the whole of the interior.  Wow, this place is huge!

The western side is the one most intact.  Most of the Coliseum actually was scavenged for building materials for the rest of Rome and the Vatican (some of it was used for St. Paul’s).

A lot of the building has been built up and shored up with bricks over the years.  Here, however, you can see some of the original structure.

There are some great views outwards too.  This is a bit of Constantine’s Arch and out toward Palatine Hill.

Looking toward the Forum is a good view of the Temple of Venus and Roma, which I didn’t get a chance to visit yesterday.

Then, I checked out the upstairs bookshop, where I bought nothing! And downstairs.

This is where the better seats were.  There are even a few marble seats still here.  The peons sat up high on wooden bleachers.  There was an enormous canopy covering them.  Even though they were further away from the action they had shade and seats that weren’t stone.  Who had the better deal?

Here’s a rather blurry view of underneath the floor.  There was a wooden floor, covered by sand, over top of this.   Gladiators and caged animals waited here and there were also areas for storage.

Here’s a random cool shot thrown in for funzies.

I returned my audioguide to the downstairs gift shop, where I bought nothing. I exited and decided to walk completely around the structure.  About a quarter of it is behind scaffolding for restoration.

This is the eastern side, which is less famous as it mostly collapsed in an earthquake, then was scavenged for building materials.

On the western side, some of the original gate numbers can still be seen.  Ancient tickets (which were pottery) were stamped with your gate number, level, and seat.

This side is way tall!

This is a more traditional photo of the western side.

Even though I was really close to my apartment, it was still pretty early, so I decided to ride the bus again for awhile.  I took it all the way around to Termini and decided to hit a street market I had seen from the bus.  Got a shirt and an Italian leather purse and hoofed it home.

Tomorrow is another day…

Day 5 – April 23, 2015: The Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and the Roman Forum.

Sounds like a busy day, right…yeah you’d be correct. I got up fairly early and walked over to the hop on hop off bus stop by the Coliseum.  

It was a lovely walk and the Coliseum was not yet the buzzing mob scene it usually becomes later in the day.  Food and tacky souvenir vendors were setting up their stuff and the annoying, ubiquitous selfie stick sellers (yes, that’s the new thing they’re pushing in tourist traps) hadn’t yet shown up.

It was way early for the bus, so I amused myself by wandering around Constantine’s Arch and poking my nose up the Via Sacra until the gate stopped me (Forum not yet open for business either).   The bus rolled in around 9:20 and I opted to sit on top even if it was a bit chilly. 

It was a lovely morning as we rolled past the Archbasillica of St. John Lateran (with its Catholic-ified ancient Egyptian obelisk), the Jewish quarter, and the Tiber.   Across the river we went

And we were rolling up on St. Peter’s Square!

The bus stop was about a 15 minute walk and I found the office for my tour ok, but had a surprise.  Apparently, you have to reserve the tour of the Basilica a day in advance and I had planned for my whole day to be in the Vatican…so change of plans.  I was to go to the Vatican Museum, but show up tomorrow to enter St. Peter’s at 10:30am.  Okey doke, I’m flexible.   So, we had a huge group that has to follow a tiny young Italian lady with a yellow flag on a very brisk 15 minute walk to the entrance to the museum.  She was tiny, but quick.  Everyone had to really rush to keep up with her!

We got there, got in, and I got my audio guide.  I had two goals…the Sistine Chapel and the Egyptian Collection.  Apparently, the Vatican owns a very nice collection of Ancient Egyptian art.  Ostensibly, this is because the museum focuses on religious art and all Ancient Egyptian art is religious…which is true.  Actually, there is a lot of Ancient Egyptian art in Rome because Ancient Rome conquered Egypt (remember the story of Cleopatra…who was Greek, but let’s not let this story get out of hand) and it seems the Emperors of Rome liked to collect Egyptian Art.  So, they did a bit of sacking and stealing…hence all of the obelisks all over Rome.  Much the same for the art collected here.

It seems that the majority of the Vatican Museum is a long maze with the cheese at the end being the Sistine Chapel.  Luckily for me, the first bit of the maze was Ancient Egyptian art.  I’ll try not to overwhelm you.

Of course, you get a mummy!  They actually had two.

Here’s a lovely example of a funerary mask.  Not as glorious as King Tut’s, but very nice.

This is the face bit of a very nice wooden coffin they had in the collection.  Kind of plain, no gold or paint, but lovely.

And here are my favorites, Shabti figures.  They’re meant to accompany the dead into the underworld and perform any menial tasks the person they’re accompanying are expected to do. 

Some lovely statues of goddesses in black stone.

There were also several examples of how Roman and Egyptian cultures and religion started to merge.  This is Anubis, the Egyptian god of Death and Medicine.  He’s wearing Roman robes and carrying Mercury’s Caduceus.

I mentioned there was more maze right?  There were several sculpture galleries.

Just for comparison, here is Mercury with his Caduceus

A lovely depiction of the goddess Diana

And a creepy bust of the Greek goddess Athena, the eyes weird me out.

Everyone’s favorite Emperor Claudius (at least your favorite played by Derek Jacobi in a TV series)

Let’s throw in a couple of Muses for the heck of it.  There were a lot of statues…

And for funzies, you’d look up and see stuff like this.

Next up were the Raphael Apartments.  These were the old Papal apartments designed by Raphael.

There were some lovely tapestries too.  I was lucky to get this photo as there were crowds all around every one of them.  There is a famous one where Jesus watches you no matter where you are in the room, but I couldn't get through the horde.

This is a fresco in the rooms designed by Raphael, but completed after he died.  It was likely done by one of his students or assistants.

This one was done by Raphael.  You can tell, right?

I know Botticelli was involved in part of the fresco painting in these Renaissance era rooms…I think this is his because those cherubs just look so…Botticelli.

There were several galleries of contemporary religious art mixed in here too.   I found a couple of favorites

This is a rare religious subject by a favorite of mine Vincent Van Gogh.  Although he was very religious himself, he rarely tackled religious subjects.  This was painted for his sister.

There were a couple of interesting Salvador Dali paintings, but this one reminds me a bit of my all time favorite painting of his that I visited last year in Scotland.

There is a lot of restoration work going on right now in both Rome and the Vatican.  Parts of the Map room were hidden behind scaffolding.  I didn’t mind.

Finally…The Sistine Chapel!  No photos, which was kind of a bummer…but I can see how lots of people standing around taking pictures would be distracting.  Actually, I know because a bunch of them were taking pictures anyway.  Once the guards stopped them, then made several loud announcements for silence (a strange oxymoron) I was able to look around and contemplate Michelangelo’s masterpiece.   His is not the only artwork represented, as several Renaissance masters are represented, including Botticelli, but they’re overwhelmed by the ceiling and the Last Judgment.  

It’s somehow surprising to see how small the room is and how high the ceiling.  Imagining Michelangelo dangling on a scaffold that high up is rather daunting.  However, it’s just freaking amazing!  There is a big patch missing of part of Noah’s story, but God’s creation of Man is there in all its glory.  The colors…oh the COLORS.   The Last Judgment was a little busy and dark for me, but the ceiling took my breath away.  I did get a seat along the side of the chapel and sat awhile listening to my audio guide to be sure to completely understand all facets of what I was seeing. 

I finally gave my seat to someone and had to leave. There were a few more galleries of stuff.  I was still floating on a Michelangelo cloud and didn’t see much of it.

I visited the gift shop (yeah, surprise, I know) and the café (for a cappuccino and a pretty good lemon custardy cake thingy).  On my way out, I noticed some gardens, so I went out to sit for a moment.

And found out that there are papal lemons. I seriously see lemons all over Italy.

In order to escape the museum, you have to finish the maze, which is this crazy ramp/staircase down to street level.

I left the Vatican behind until my appointment the next day, and hopped back on my bus. 

This archeological site appears as though out of nowhere in the middle of a busy business district of Rome.  Our bus drove right by it.  I later found out it is the Curia of Pompey…which is of interest to those of us interested in either or both Ancient Roman History and the plays of Shakespeare.  The words “Et tu Brute?” were uttered, supposedly, by Julius Cesar when he was stabbed to death on this site.  Wow! Right?

When I arrived back at the Coliseum stop, I briefly considered doing my tour there, but it was kinda late.  I then had the bright idea to do the Forum half (both tickets included in my Roma pass, but they’re a package deal and have to be done on consecutive days).  The Forum is NOT smaller.  I was rushed, but I did what I could.

This is the side of the Temple of Venus and Roma that I did not get to see, but it loomed above the Via Sacra as I headed toward the entrance. I did get to see a bunch of other temples though.

The biggest structure in the area I explored was this, the Temple of Antonius and Faustina.

This is the temple of Romulus, which was more recently used as a church (that happens a lot to ancient temples and buildings here in Rome). I suppose you noticed the cross at the top of the Temple of Antonius and Faustina too?

You can still go inside the great bronze doors and poke around the exhibit of statues and check out the frescoes on the wall. 

The temple of Vesta, where the Vestal Virgins lived and tended the flame

There are some gardens behind the temple that were part of the temple complex

The temple of Saturn must have been enormous, this is what is left of it.

There were just a bunch of very interesting things going on at the Forum.

They started chasing us out before I could get anywhere near Palatine hill.  Oh well, next trip to Rome, I guess.

I walked back toward my apartment and decided to stop to have a sit down dinner at the corner before I get to my apartment.  It was nice, the food was nothing super special, but the view and atmosphere of dining on a Roman Street was awesome!

Tomorrow St. Peter’s and the Coliseum.