Arrivederci Roma

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The mark of any good conference is the feeling at the end of the Gala Dinner that no one is quite ready to leave. We certainly had that feeling this evening! But I get ahead of myself...

This morning dawned way too early again after last night's evening dine around. It might not have been so bad, if I wasn't running both the morning session, and one of the breakouts! But it ended up being very successful and enjoyable, and soon it was on to Bar Ciampini for lunch. The food was again delicious (not surprisingly), and this time, I managed to get a couple more photos of the tiny turtles! After last night's brutal thunderstorm, the heat and humidity had broken, so it was a beautiful, cool, sunny fall day in Roma - the perfect setting for an afternoon at the Vatican!

It was fascinating to consider that we would be spending the afternoon in a totally different country, as Vatican City is its own territory. We were going to see the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. We began our tour in the courtyard outside of the museum, which was a place that I could picture religious students of old sitting to discuss philosophy and their studies - with a lovely breeze blowing, I wouldn't have been opposed to doing the same thing! But we headed inside the museum, and I must confess that I pay less attention to the tourguide than I do the surroudings, so I don't remember too many details of the tour! I do know that we saw the Gallery of Maps, which are wall-sized topographical maps of Italy, painted by friar Ignazio Danti of Perugia in the 1500's. We also saw several Roman sculptures, which were both beautiful and powerful. Of course, the highlight is the Sistine Chapel, or Capella Sistina.

Having started as an art history major in college, I was expecting to be moved by the paintings, particularly those of Michaelangelo, and I wasn't disappointed. Entering the chapel with a mass of humanity, we collectively craned our necks to see the ceiling and focused as well on the Judgement, on the wall closest to us. Our guide pointed out a small dark square at the top of the chapel, which was there to show the difference between the restored parts of the wall, and the unrestored. It was interesting to see how dark the unrestored section was, especially since the colors in the rest of the room were so beautiful and vibrant. There was almost too much to look at, between each of the scenes along the ceiling, the massive painting of the final Judgement, the wall panels filled with works by Perugino, Botticelli, and Ghirlandaio, and even the panels painted to look as if they were hanging tapestries. Guards reminded everyone not to take photos, or to talk, but there was a low buzz throughout the room as everyone shared in the experience of seeing the chapel.

Although it was beautiful, the number of people made it feel a little claustrophobic, so I was grateful to get outside and walk over to St. Peter's Basilica, overlooking St. Peter's Square. It's always interesting to see something in person when you have seen it so many times on television, and this was no different. I was surprised at how large the square really is - it was truly impressive. I was especially looking forward to seeing the inside of the Basilica though, and our tourguide gave us about twenty minutes to walk around and soak it all in.

When we first walked in, to the right is the Pieta - it is so beautiful, even with a wall of protective glass shielding it. I remember learning about Laszlo Toth, who attacked the Pieta with a chisel in 1972, causing it to be necessary to protect it, and it's unfortunate that we can't see it up close. The Basilica was darker than I expected, and enormous, lending itself to the air of religious fervor that seems to permeate it. It made the Pieta seem that much more dramatic, mostly shaded, but highlighted by soft spotlights, and seeming to glow from within the marble. We walked along the right side of the Basilica, pausing to kneel and pray at one of the statues for hopeless causes. Moving towards the center of the Church, we could see that two cardinals were saying Mass in Latin, behind the entrance to St. Peter's tomb. It was humbling to think that the first Pope of the Catholic Church rested beneath the floor of this Basilica.

With only a few minutes left, we were able to see the elevated altar in the center of the Basilica from which the Pope says Mass, and pray at another small chapel on the left side of the Church. Then, we had to meet up with the group and head back to the hotel. Our time at Vatican City was certainly lovely and powerful!

Then, suddenly, it was time again for another Gala Dinner, and the end of the conference. I knew that the delegates and companions would have a wonderful time at the Castel Sant'Angelo and it would certainly be an unforgettable evening. I could not help but feel a little sad as we gathered, since I had been having such a wonderful time in Rome, and knew that my time there was coming to a close. As we arrived at the Castle, it was truly an impressive site - a lamplit bridge led the way to the warmly lit Castle, and everyone hushed as our elegant group made their way to the entrance. We started with a tour of the Castle, which wended its way up through the stone building to its apex, the Terraza de l'Angelo, where we had cocktails and a panoramic view of Rome at night. During the tour, we learned about the Castle's history as Hadrian's tomb, where Hadrian's ashes had been placed a year after his death in 138. The building was converted to a military fortress in 401, and unfortunately, Wikipedia says that the urns and ashes of Hadrian and succeeding emporers were scattered by Visigoth looters in Alaric's sack of Rome in 410. The Castle gets its name from the legend that said that the Archangel Michael appeared at the top of the Castle in 590, to end the plague and become the patron saint of Rome. His statue still resides in the Cortile dell'Angelo, where we ended the evening.

Everyone enjoyed the cool evening air as they sipped their cocktails overlooking St. Peter's Basilica, but we were soon ready to have dinner. We headed to the Giretto Coperto, a narrow hallway the third level of the Castle, lit only by candles. It was a dramatic location for a lovely dinner to close out the conference. Since we had many more delegates than companions at this conference, I was the only woman at my table, which suited me fine. I had a lovely meal with my dining companions, and enjoyed discussing everything from travel and my fear of heights to politics and old relationships. Dinner was again delicious, beginning with a seafood salad, that I avoided, followed by a creamy risotto with champagne and smoked provola cheese. Then we had red potatoes ravioli in crab and wild fennel sauce, and medallions of beef tenderloin in a porcini mushroom sauce. The highlight of dinner was certainly dessert - little cream puffs with chocolate sauce, which were so delicious, I would have to say they were the best thing I ate the entire trip.

Once we had filled everyone up, we gathered at the bottom of a stone staircase to present our wonderful hosts with a welcome gift, and to sing happy birthday to one of our youngest attendees - the son of one of our delegates who celebrated his 12th birthday - and one of our favorite attendees, a delegate from Liechtenstein celebrating his 60th birthday. We sent a few people home on the first bus, and the rest of us moved to the Cortile dell'Angelo for after dinner drinks and dancing. Quite a few of the group danced the night away, working off all of the food we'd eaten during the conference, and generally enjoying each other. It was heartwarming to see how much fun both new and old friends were having together. Much too quickly, it was time to gather everyone for the buses and head back to the hotel. I didn't want the night to end, but I was exhausted from the work of the last few days, and remembered oversleeping my wakeup when leaving Prague, so I didn't want to tempt fate. I joined several of the group for a short while at the hotel bar, before heading up to my room for a few hours of sleep, not knowing what the next day would bring as I tried to take one of Alitalia's last flights. Fortunately, luck was on my side, and I was able to fly home, but as I watched Rome fade under the clouds, I felt a pang of sadness. I think Rome is officially my new favorite city, and I will have to make sure to return to Italy again!

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