Rome

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I flew into Rome from Paris a few days ago. The first afternoon I was a bit tired having gotten up around 4:45 in the morning to get the metro to get the bus to get the plane. It all went pretty smoothly although travelling alone I am constantly asked to switch seats...twice on the bus and once on the plane. I just must look like an accomodating person. But really once I would just like to sit where I want to sit. Kind of irritating. Anyway, the first afternoon I walked around the Roman Forum and then went to the Spanish steps (a bit overrated) and the Piazza del Popolo in the evening. Wednesday I went to the Vatican. In the morning I toured the musuems and saw the Sistine Chapel, which of course was amazing. The museums had a really impressive pillaged Egyptian collection. It was probably some the best preserved Egyptian stuff I've seen in a museum anywhere.

I was headed over to St. Peter's Basilica, but it was closed because the Pope was outside speaking in front of it. So I listened to the Pope for a while with a massive crowd. He greets the pilgrims and gives a little benediction on Wednesdays. I think it is usually inside and an reserved seat thing, but happened to be outside and open to everyone yesterday. I figured it would be several hours before the crowd had cleared out and Basilica was open again so I went on this super long loop walk to the through Plaza di Fiori, Pantheon, Torre Argentina, Trastevere, St. Maria in Trastevere (allergic unfortunately) and then back to St. Peter's along the Tiber River. The wandering streets around the Plaza di Fiori and the Pantheon have a nice ambience without too much traffic. The Trastevere is the 'bohemian' area apparently, also with nice winding streets, but a bit dirtier. There was still an hour long line that I had to wait in when I got back to St. Peter's, but it was worth seeing. About thirty minutes or so into seeing the church, they sort of parted the crowd and about a dozen Swiss guard in full silly outfits, playing trumpets, came in followed by a procession of nuns and priests. Then they carried in this massive Mary statue that was surrounded by lillies and other white flowers for some sort of mass/ceremony. There was a special seating area for people with 'passes' for the ceremony. But I had a pretty good outlook from the side. It was really touching to watch these old ladies passionately waving their white handkerchiefs at the Mary float, tears streaming down their face, like they'd waited their whole life for that moment. They were extremely excited, and clapping wildly for the cardinal when he came by. And I sort of wandered in on the whole thing. I went to the Trevi fountain during the evening...the one in La Dolce Vita where they throw the coins in...

Today I went to the Colloseum and Palantine...wandered around the ruins for several hours. The Palantine was nice, really park like and smelled like sunshine on pine needles. I can see why all the rich people lived there back in the day. Apparently it was the legendary place where Rome was founded. The Colloseum is just near it, nice but actually more impressive from the outside than the inside in my opinion. I had a nice lunch in a quiet plaza with a little fountain and flower covered veranda. In the afternoon I went back to see Trevi fountain in daylight.

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Comments

[Tiziana]

dude
These pictures are my favorite so far... sunshine on pine needles. How expressive! And how wild that you would be present not once, but TWICE for random religious ceremony. One would feel very clean I would think... :)