Vatican Visit

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Geo: 41.8947, 12.4839

Caio,
What an action packed day! We started off using public transportation instead of walking. Campo dei Fiori was our first stop of the morning. It's one of Rome's prettiest piazzas. It is the sight of a wonderful outdoor market, with palaces and houses providing the backdrop for a medley of stalls selling fruit, flowers, fish, spices, oils and vegetables. The square is also full of small cafes and restaurants.

We moved on to Piazza Navona. This magnificent piazza is dominated by three fountains, a ring of buildings, many hung with flowers at this time of year and throngs of visitors, artists and stallholders selling their wares. It's a great place for people watching at all times of night and day.There is the Church of Sant'Agnese in Agone on the spot where she was martyred in ad304 for refusing to marry a pagan and renounce her Christian beliefs. The central fountain was designed by Bernini. It is called the Fountain of the Four Rivers representing the four rivers of Paradise, the Nile, Ganges, Plate and Danube, and the four corners of the world-Africa, Asia, Europe and America.

Next we went to see the Pantheon which is the closest you'll come to a perfect Roman building. It is one of Europe's best preserved ancient buildings despite the passage of nearly 2,000 years. The reason for it's excellent condition is that it became a Christian Church in AD608. The change brought with it a ruling that to remove even a single stone from the site constituted a mortal sin. The ceiling was designed with a large hole in the dome to allow those in the building a direct view of the heavens.

At this point we needed to catch another bus to Vatican City. We had reservations made to visit the Vatican Museum at a certain time in order to avoid the long lines. It took a while for the bus to come and when it did it was packed to the gills. The temperature on that bus was unbearable. Of course everyone except maybe three people got off at the stop for the Vatican.

We arrived there early enough to allow us to tour St. Peter's Basilica first. It was truly something magnificent. It's a wonderful feeling to actually see things that up to now we have only seen in pictures. The paintings, statues, and chapels were beautiful. We were lucky enough to be in a side chapel and participate in the celebration of a Mass! The main altar is reserved for only the Pope to celebrate Mass. It was truly a moving experience! St. Peter's Square looks just like all the pictures we have seen of it. You feel like you have been here before since we have seen it on tv and in pictures.

The Vatican Museum was huge. You can wander through the halls for days viewing all the art but the majority of the people are there to see the Sistine Chapel and the works of Raphael. The visitors are guided through rooms of art, up and down straircases, like in a maze. It's amazing how well organized they are to accommodate all the visitors with ease. Eventually we made our way into the Sistine Chapel. The frescoes on the ceiling were breathtaking! There aren't any pictures allowed in this room so you'll have to come and see the beauty for yourself. After viewing this room you are left to visit the other areas of the museum on your own, which we did for a while longer. When we felt like we couldn't walk much more we decided it was time to leave.

Getting back to our hotel was not that easy. Remember the morning bus ride was so crowded. There was a reason for it. The bus drivers and the subway drivers were staging a strike. We had made up our minds to go back using the subway and now that was out of the question. There were a few buses running but in a city of six million people a few buses can't handle the volume of riders. This is a big city! After waiting a long while for a nonexistent bus we decided to try the tram(streetcar). In it we were packed like sardines and the heat unbelievable. After riding for a half hour we asked someone how long till we reached our stop. They told us another half hour but she offered to show us how to get there walking if we got off at her stop. There was also another family of five who wanted to come with us. We looked like the Pied Piper following after her in a row. She walked very fast. Rich kept up with her and the rest of us trailed behind. It was comical. She was very kind to show us the way. We parted ways after 20 minutes of walking and made the rest of the way back to the hotel on our own. The other family did likewise, since they are just down the street from us.

After a short rest we went out for dinner which proved to be quite good. We had bruschetta with tomato and basil, lasagna, spaghetti, salad, and roast beef, followed by a bowl of cool fresh fruit. After a nice conversation with our waiter he returned with a bubbly, asti for us and wished us a nice stay in Rome. It was a good meal to end a very good day!

Fino a domani,

Rich & Linda

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Comments

[Kathy Nichols]

Really, all I can say is wow! What do you feel when you're actually standing there looking at this amazing beauty?