Rome.

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July 16th 2009

Published: July 16th 2009

We finally made it to Rome; after an early morning Taxi to the Airport (and about €40 lighter in the pocket) to find our 7am flight cancelled and (thankfully) rescheduled to another cheap airline we arrived a few hours later than planned and very tired to Rome. Catching the train from the airport we arrived at Termini, Rome’s central train terminal. The Airport train stops at the very end of the platforms and we walked for what seemed like 1km to get to the main part of the terminal. The place was mayhem, negotiating our way out we went about locating our hostel. Our hostel was nice and close to Termini and to everything we need. Being unable to check in till 2pm we set back off to find some food and a gentle wander before heading back to check in properly.

Even from our first glimpse of Rome you could tell by far it’s the most touristy location we’ve been to. Everywhere you go there are hordes of tourists and queues everywhere. This is another pick-pocket paradise but we are onto it now and after Barcelona we are well prepared.

After we’d checked in and the beds made we wondered and trekked in the evening and turning a corner we were suddenly looking at the Colosseum. This thing is huge and, and words don’t really do it justice. We hung around this area just taking in the sight and sheer magnitude of the Colosseum, the history that is attached to this building in itself is staggering, but I will get onto that later, we headed back for a good night sleep as it’s the Vatican tomorrow.

The Vatican, a small country in itself nestled into the city of Rome. I think from memory it is about 1 square km. The St Peter’s Basilica was built around 1628 by Bernini and Michelangelo had a fair bit of influence as well. We chose St Peter’s Basilica to start and to avoid the Papal address chaos that occurs on Wednesdays and hopefully shorter queues. So we caught the metro out to the Vatican. Whilst walking the gauntlet to the Vatican with tour guides trying their best to convince you that you require their services to “jump the 2 hour queue” for some ridiculous price we and joined the somewhat shorter queue than expected to have security check bags before you advance through to the next stage, the “dress code police” and finally we were free to explore the Vatican.

Once you make it up the beautiful marble steps to the front doors and look back over the square (that has more of a circular form to it) and can see all the chairs set out for the weekly Wednesday Papal address, cutting across the middle of the square are 2 water features either side of a big obelisk in the centre which marks the spot where St Peter was supposedly crucified. The top of the surrounding walls are statues of different saints and popes of times gone by.

We invested €5 for the audio guide and it was worth every cent. It gives you a solid run down of all the significant paintings, drawings and sculptures in the Basilica. Entering the Atrium we were standing just to the side of the first coronation back around 800 AD where the first St Peter’s Church was built. To the right there is a closed door that is only opened every 25 years for jubilee celebrations. You look to the far left and right wall and there are great statues. The ceiling has intricate carvings and is breathtaking.....and we’ve not even made it inside yet!

As we listen to the audio guide we are given so many facts and figures (Jay has a knack of remembering them, I don’t) and then it’s a case of trying to match what you are being told to your surrounding environment so you can look at what is being talked about whilst all the time trying to absorb everything around. This place is huge; it is longer than the MCG oval but not quite as wide. (Check Jay’s blog for the full details on the dimensions, not my forte remembering that stuff)

When we finally made it through the doors the audio guides says there are 2 angels that stand 2m high and how the sheer size of the interior just dwarfs them.... we looked and couldn’t see them. We looked up and around left and right and straight down the middle...we couldn’t see them. It may have been helpful for the audio guide to say that they were holding a bowl of holy water, a little hint on where we could find them would have been good, we found them on either side of the first pillars upon our exit for a bit of a break... about 2 hours later, makes me wonder just how much other stuff we missed as well.

After giving up on trying to locate the angles, admittedly we got stuck looking at all the detail within the Church itself, the intricate marble patterns on the floor with flawless joins, sculpture and paintings everywhere it is easy to be distracted. We were directed by our audio guide to head to the right and look at the ceiling to discover some of Michelangelo contributions of many of the paintings within St Peter’s and this was our first taste of his brilliance as an artist as well as one of the most amazing sculptures that I have seen to date..(trust me, I’ve seen a few on this trip). It is called Pieta and sits to the right upon your entry into the Basilica and behind bullet proof glass.

Michelangelo sculpted Pieta when he was only 24 years old. It is of Virgin Mary nursing the body of Christ after he has been taken off the Cross. The way that Michelangelo has portrayed her holding him and the emotion that he evokes with Mary holding him and looking down onto her son is a combination of a Mothers love, sorrow and in a way the acceptance of God’s will. Michelangelo has skilfully sculpted the fall and folds of the cloth of her clothing of clothing and body, the fall of Christ’s arm and legs as he is held by Mary and there is purity and love in Mary’s face. All of it is breathtaking and I think it will remain what I remember most clearly from the Vatican.

As you walk your way through this immense building you go past crypts with past popes and statues of dedicated followers and popes along the way. It is sensory overload, trying to take everything being said on the audio guide, looking around at all that is being described and the richness not just in wealth but in belief as well. After a while we gave up trying to listen to the audio guide and just walked and observed.

There is a big statue of St Peter and people file past to kiss his toe, whilst looking at St Peter to the left there is a massive wood and bronze canopy that sits over St Peters tomb and have read that it stands 70 foot high. It is a Bernini design and is full of detail. Behind this is a stunning stain glass window of a dove surrounded by a golden oval. We spent about 4 hours in St Peter’s Basilica in total and still didn’t cover everything. A little of was the sensory overload I mentioned earlier and that being the case we decided to come back another day to do the Vatican Museum.

Fountana di Trevi was built around 1760’s on request by a Pope to celebrate the Rome aqueduct being re-opened or something like that, and meant to represent the Ocean. There is Neptune in the centre holding a shell, to either side there are a couple of sturdy looking tritons holding horses, the fountains are like rock pools that are overflowing with the rush of a wave. Up against the wall behind Triton there are 2 statues of goddess and if you look carefully you see plants and flowers carved as well. It is a fascinating blend of sculpting and detail that is located in a small square courtyard and everyone is so focused on getting photos that they forget all security of their belongings...yes a pick-pockets dream. We took the obligatory photos and then sussed out some gelato. The serves are massive and the gelato really creamy and addictive. We stood around people watching for a while and were lucky enough to be there when they turned the water on, a few more photos and we were off wondering again.

We made our way past Templo Adriano and we must have been on the wrong side of it as it wasn’t that impressive so we continued walking and made it to the Pantheon. Originally a temple that dates back to 27BC and was dedicated to planetary gods, it was later used as a Catholic church and the top of the dome it is open to allow for the sunlight to enter. The Kings of Italy are buried here and it is very conservative for a Catholic church and as it is so “basic” and the roof was open to the elements, I liked it.

Following the map we headed back to the hostel for some well deserved rest. It is at this stage that we discover how inaccurate the map we have been given really is. We were expecting to emerge from an intersection not far from our hostel to find to our right another monument, Monument Vittoio Emanuele II, Italy’s first King and it was built to celebrate the 50th anniversary of unification. It took us a fair bit to actually work out what we were looking at due to the dodgy map, but a very impressive monument with him sitting on a horse with him dressed in full military uniform with amazing detail. About half way up the steps of the monument there are guards protecting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After walking around this massive monument was time get go home and we headed back via the colosseum.

Day 2 we had set aside for the Colosseum and now I get to do a brief run down on some Roman history. The first man of mention is Nero, an extremely self effacing ruler who is responsible for the crucifixion of St Peter and wasn’t loved by the people under his rule. Like all Roman rulers Nero was into invading other areas in the desperate grab for land and his Comander in Cheif was a guy called Vespasian. Well Nero beat his enemies to it and killed himself and then there was a short period of rule by another guy and finally our Vespasian took control.

Vespasian was a man of the people and he realised that the people were left so unhappy after Nero’s rule he gave a gift to unite them and bring harmony back to his lands, the Colosseum, all funded by the riches plundered from Nero’s invasion of Jerusalem and built on the turf that Nero had dedicated a lot of buildings to the “elite” and a massive statue of himself erected. Vespasian chose the location of the statue to be where he would put the Colosseum in 72AD and finished by his son Titus in 80AD. Vespasian’s recognition that the people needed a common area to celebrate their sportsmanship, theatre and of course watching gladiators fight a varying array of animals was on the money and in his relatively short reign as Ruler was much loved by his people as he gave so much to them.

Anyway, Vespasian had 2 sons, Titus and Domitian. Titus took over as after Vespasian died and saw to the completion of the Colosseum, it was completed the year after Vespasian’s death. Titus was like his father and was a man of the people and achieved a lot in his short rule. Domitian took over and was a little self centred and started to build things to his favour, a little like Nero I suppose. Anyway, I digress, the Colosseum was a great success and what we see now is a bit of a hatch patch of reconstruction after several fires and earthquakes have taken their toll over the construction in the many years of its existence.

As you tour your way around the interior you can close your eyes and imagine the gladiators fighting, people crowded in the stalls. Apparently the Colosseum could hold about 50,000 people and had introduced numbered entry points and chairs to make it easier for entering and exiting the stadium. There is only one original part of the colosseum and the rest is all restorative works. We went through the display of the history of Rome around this era of rule and how the colosseum came about etc and there are statues from the time period to look at as well. Most of ancient Rome is still buried beneath modern Rome and there are excavations going on everywhere.

Once finished at the colosseum Jay and I walked around the exterior for a little while and took in all the ruins that lead to the colosseum and then out to the most disappointing chariot track you’ll ever be unfortunate enough to see and then for a walk around the river to visit some of the piazza’s.
We finally made it to Piazza Navona, another chariot racetrack. This one built by Domitian and the original ruins are underground but the area has kept its shape and has been the centre of Roman life throughout the times. At one end of the Piazza there is the Four River Fountain by Bernini. It consists of the 4 river gods (that represent the 4 continents at the time in 1650) and supports one of the many Egyptian obelisks that are scattered throughout Rome. The surrounding courtyard hosts an array of overpriced restaurants and hawkers trying to sell you copy prints/bags etc.

Anyway, that was enough sightseeing for one day and it was back to the hostel for sleep. We didn’t get up to much at night in Rome, we were too tired after the sightseeing and walking each day and the hostel set up wasn’t the best to encourage a lot of socialising. Besides, we’ve got Vatican Museum tomorrow.

The Vatican Museum, worth every cent and you can take photos throughout the whole museum, except the Sistine Chapel. We wondered through an array of collections from ancient Egypt, complete with several mummy’s and carvings and jewels through to a corridor packed to the hilt with more statues that vary in age but are all ancient and from all regions of Roman rule. There are beautiful courtyards with manicured lawns (a great place to stop and eat lunch too) again surrounded by many old statues. Back inside again and you’ve got paintings and sculptures from the many masters in their fields of the eras they dominated. All build up and lead you to the Sistine Chapel. My camera was running out of charge quick so trying to pick and choose what gets photographed for future memories was becoming a priority. Then we entered a corridor that was beautiful. When you dragged your eyes from the tapestries hanging on the walls then you looked at the ceiling and everyone stops. Are these the paintings that Michelangelo did?? Well yes they are, just not the ones he is most famous for. So walking looking up and taking the odd photo we made the walk of about 50m of solid paintings and trying to take in and absorb the colour and detail.

We finally made it into a Raphael room and wow. This was a great lead up to the Chapel. A whole rooms painted wall to ceiling and including the ceiling and just amazing, one covered the theme of “The School of Athens” and another room “Disputation of sacrament”. We continued on through about 3 rooms in total, full of Raphael’s works and then came into a modern art section which was sort of out of place amongst all the old masterpieces but turns out, well planned as it gave your eyes a chance to “refresh” before you make it to the Sistine Chapel.

Right, the Sistine Chapel. The place the cardinals go to when there is a death of a pope to discuss and nominate and name the replacement and send smoke signals up when done by the burning of the ballot papers. The place where you are not supposed to take photos or talk (yeah good luck on those two, tourists will find a way to do anything if they really try), why? Michelangelo created his most memorable paintings here.

Amazing, breathtaking, stunning are all words that can be used to describe the Sistine Chapel. As you enter the Chapel you come to a halt as your eyes feast on the colour and paintings that surround you. This is where Michelangelo’s masterpieces are hidden. The roof has Michelangelo’s “The Creation” ainted and are more than impressive than any book or picture (not that you are allow to take photos) can portray. It took him around 4 years to complete the painting of the roof and other greats, Botticelli, ghirlando, Pinturiccha ad Signorelli painted the walls.

He was commissioned 24 years later to paint a further mural in his late 60’s and for this he did a portrayal of “The Last Judgement”, which is the behind the main alter and on the wall that you enter from. Being the good typical Aussie tourist I managed to get some reasonably good photos of the ceiling and the picture of man reaching out to touch god. In total we spent about 30 minutes just sitting and looking at all the paintings and detailed work in the Sistine Chapel before finally exiting The Vatican and more sights.

We headed out to the Spanish Steps as everyone was recommending we do them. I am not quite sure what all the fuss was about as it was just a serious of steps split into sections that lead to a building - another church and a boat water fountain at the base.

After the underwhelming Spanish Steps and with gelato in hand we headed out for Palazzo delle Esposinioni. Ah-huh, yep; we arrived at the said intersection looked around for it, couldn’t finding sat on some steps to finish our gelato and examined the map and then worked out that we were actually sitting on the steps of the Palazzo...and you guessed it, not much to see here either. Moving right along we walked up the main road towards our hostel and into Piazza della Repubblica. With yet another fountain in the middle and a main roundabout intersection it is surrounded by a semi circle of older buildings.

The final two days were spent wondering around and taking in the feel of Rome. We revisited some of the sight and on our final night did a trip out for some night shots as we hadn’t really done much in the evenings whilst in Rome.

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