Happy Birthday Dusty! What a lucky guy getting to celebrate in Rome! I told Dusty he could choose whatever we did today (before we left on the trip), so what follows is what he decided......
Today was a HUGE sight-filled day. We woke after a good sleep and left about 8:00am. We walked to Termini Station. There at the TI we bought our Roma Passes, at 30 Euros each. The pass comes with a 3 day public transportation card and free entry to two museum + bypassing lines. Now we could get onto the metro. It was JAMMED with people. There are only two lines in Rome and they get crowded. We got onto the car and rode up to Cipro station, which was near Vatican City. From here, we walked up a bunch of stairs and then followed along the Vatican Wall to......
Yes, the Vatican Museum. I had booked reservations online in advance and we showed up a little before our scheduled time. There was no one in the reservation line and the guys let us sail through even though we were a little early. After security, we exchanged our voucher for actual tickets and then entered the Museum. The regular line stretched as far as we could see around the other side of the Wall.
After coming to the beginning of the exhibits, we got teased with a glimpse of St. Peter's Dome.
We chose to see the Egyptian area first. Here is a portion of it, extending into the Roman area. We loved the Egyptian stuff. The best places to see artifacts are: the British Museum, the Louvre, the Berlin Egyptian Museum, and the Vatican Musuem. We hit three this trip!
Next, we ventured into the Greek/Roman sections. Here is the famous Laocoon, warning Troy to beware of Greek gifts. The Gods got angry and sent snakes to crush him and his sons. I absolutely despise snakes, so this makes it up there as one of my most feared ways to die. See the snake biting his hip? shudder
Just the Vatican building by itself is amazing. Almost every ceiling was just as gorgeous as the items it housed.
An old fountain. Probably awesome in it's prime. Still awesome today.
Greenery mixed in with the ancient sculpture. Giant cable nets cover this courtyard, so don't even think about being all Mission Impossible and stealing something.
I found this girl particularly beautiful. I love the flow of her robes. Don't they look comfortable?
A copy of the Discus Thrower.
Another stunning ceiling.
More beauty found up high. Except these were painted by Raphael. Not too shabby, eh?
Even my wide-angle lens couldn't quite get this whole painting in. This is the iconic Raphael fresco on the wall-- School of Athens. It is something to see. Plato making his point actually bears the face of Leonardo Da Vinci.
We also got to see the incredible, wondrous, exciting Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. (Picture Adam stretching his hand out to touch God's) Since it was intensely restored, no one is allowed to take photos of it, which is a bit of a let down, but we were used to it by this point. This ceiling is contended to be the "greatest-ever work of art by a single human being". It is surreal to be sitting underneath it and taking it all in. We sat for about twenty minutes (along with the other 500 people there) and marveled. It really is a magnificent work of art.
Still not done with the Museum, we saw the section of Modern Art, the fig-leaved statues, and the painting area with Caravaggios, Raphaels, etc. We were really impressed with this museum. Unfortunately all our brains could take was about four hours, and we decided to leave.
We walked to a little cafeteria and ate a good but pricy lunch. What can you expect a block from St. Peter's Square? After eating, we walked (following a bride getting her photos taken) into the Square. This was a Wednesday, so part of the Square was taken up by chairs used by people who got to see the Pope that morning.
It's free to get in, so everyone has to wait in the same line. We waited in line about 30 minutes to enter St. Peter's Basilica. There was only one security section open (go figure), but no complaints. It was cloudy and cool enough to be comfortable.
The square was a pretty impressive-- statues looking down at you with imposing faces and giant pillars in two semi-circles leading the eye up to the Basilica.
The view as entering the Basilica. To say it is massive is like calling the sun bright. The alter stands over 200 feet away. It can hold 60,000 standing people.
These statues are incredibly huge up close.
The canopy is seven stories, and made of bronze.
You can't leave the Basilica without stopping by Michelangelo's Pieta. He was 24 when he sculpted this.
After wandering close to 45 minutes with the swarms of people, Dusty chose for us to climb to the top of the Dome. We purchased our tickets opting to take the elevator a third of the way up (still over 300 remaining steps). It gets very narrow and slightly curves inwards--it's easy to feel off balance.
A view of St. Peter's Square-- it's kind of funny they didn't call it "oval".
A more exciting view of Rome. The big white building on the right is the Victor Emmanuel Monument. How many churches can you count? See the shallow, wide dome of the Pantheon in the middle?
After exiting the Basilica completely, we admired the Guard's fancy getup, and then mailed some postcards from the Vatican Post Office.
From here we walked down the main large street from the square to Castel Sant'Angelo. We were tired of being inside buildings so we didn't go in. We followed the flow of the crowd across the Ponte Sant'Angelo, the bridge leading to downtown.
A lovely view from the bridge. The Romans don't really love their river. It's pretty obvious.
From here we enjoyed a lazy walk down side streets to Piazza Navona, one of the biggest shopping areas for visitors. We succumbed to purchasing three watercolors of Rome here. This place was stimulating and relaxing at the same time. Full of music, flowers, artists, and fountains. We also snagged some more gelato.... in cups this time. :) So good!
I just couldn't resist a picture of these amazing flowers. Don't they compliment the building so well?
Our next amazing stop? The Pantheon! I have wanted to see this ever since I wrote an extensive paper on its architecture for my Art History class. Built in 126 AD, it escaped being destroyed due to it's honor of the Gods/being a mausoleum. It's very ancient and in very good condition.
The open cupola lets in the rain (there was still some puddles from last night's storm), and is an astounding architectural feat. The dome is as high as it is wide.
We stopped and sat for a bit and then looked into all the niches.
There was a nearby grocery store that we used to buy drinks and sandwiches supplies. It is illegal to "picnic" in Rome in main tourist areas, so we ate as we walked. We passed by unexpected Roman ruins excavated in the streets. I really loved the old feeling of this "eternal city".
Suddenly, quite literally, we were looking up at Trevi Fountain. You can hear it before you see it, and it's very worthy of fighting the crowds for. Built to show off Rome's aquaducts system, it's Baroque architecture built in 1762.
We walked down the stairs to sit next to the fountain. In this rare instance that I took advantage of, I got a picture of the fountain without anyone sitting near it.
Only few streets away are the Spanish Steps. They are named for the Spanish Embassy which has been located here for 300 years. It's quite the hangout place if you can't tell.
This fountain, the Sinking Boat Fountain, is at the bottom of the steps. This is where we chose to sit-- while considering grabbing some clothes at Chanel and Gucci.
We sat until the world became dim and then we picked ourselves up and took the metro back to the Termini station and walked home. We relaxed for a bit and then went to the lobby to facetime our family. For some reason, the wifi signals are very weak in the hotel rooms. It was so great to chat with the boys. We missed them so so much. I think they were ready to go home and we were ready to squeeze and kiss them.
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