Hello from Roma!! Last night Sally and I arrived in the beautiful city of Rome! We got in at around 11:30 Rome time and prepared a little bit before heading to bed. This morning we got up bright and early at 7:30 am to get as much in today as possible. We walked from our hostel to the "Ancient" part of Rome, aka the Colosseum and Roman Forum.
One of the many churches we passed on our way to the Colosseum.
Drinking fountain-- Im not sure what is so spectacular about it but it was on Tripadvisor...
We ended up getting to the Colosseum much earlier than we expected, around 8:30 and nothing opens until 9:30. So, we decided to just start wandering around until the tourist office would open so that we could buy tickets to various museums. As we walked past the Colosseum, we hit the Roman Forum and the Trajan Column. All of which were simply breath taking. As we walked past these, we hit the more modern part of the city and grabbed breakfast a cute little cafe.
Trajan Column
Vittorio Emanuele II Monument-- Commemoration of Italian Unification
When in Italy-- Caffe Latte
Chocolate filled Brioche!
After breakfast we headed back to the tourism office right across from the Colosseum. There we learned that due to the holiday on Monday (Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary) many of the museums would be free tomorrow(Sunday) and most would be open Monday. We took this as a good sign since we would only need to buy a three day metro pass instead of a Rome pass. Our first stop was to the Museum Borghese, home to the painting of the Last Supper by Jacopo Bassano, which we pre ordered tickets to. But of course it would not have been an adventure unless we got lost... twice. We accidentally got on the wrong bus due to some poor directions, then after getting on the correct one, we went the wrong direction... But we made it just in time for our museum time slot and in we went to see our first look at first hand Roman art!
Constantine!
We accidentally found the Piazzale Ostiense when we got lost. This Pyramid is the tomb of Caius Cestius, the Roman praetor and tribute.
The main temporary exhibit at the Borghese
David
The ceilings were amazing!
The Last Supper
After the museum we headed over towards Vatican City. We first stopped to get lunch and had our first traditional greek cuisine, Pizza!! It was sooo good. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to have pizza out side Italy again. yum yum! Due to the holiday we found out that the Vatican would be closed on Monday as well as Sunday so we got on the last tour of the day to make sure we got to see it.
Vatican City State: Country #9
From our tour guide we learned that Vatican City State is very strict on when they let people in and it is very difficult to get citizenship. The only way in and out is through the Vatican Museum (unless you are the Pope of course) and the gate close promptly at 5 so if you are not in before then you can not get in at all. Thankfully we made it in just in time and got to be the last tour! We started by looking out over the gardens and at the large dome of the St. Peter's Basilica which was designed by Michelangelo.
A Vatican City car-- they have their own special license plates starting with VCS
We then walked down to the court yard before entering the museum. Pope Julius was the Pope to order the deconstruction and reconstruction of St. Peters Basilica he also began the collection of the Vatican Museum.
Broken globes within each other-- copies have been made and are located around the world, one is located at Ground Zero in New York City.
Head of Constantine.
Afterwards we were going to go into the museum and then into the sistine chapel, since you cannot take pictures inside, our guide gave us information about the fresco outside in the courtyard.
20 years after painting the ceiling, Michelangelo painted the back wall of the chapel with the Last Judgement. He painted all the figures naked as he believed that we came into the world that way so we would leave the same way. The Pope did not approve of this entirely and after Michelangelo's death, he had one of Michelangelo's students paint clothes on all the figures. In the bottom right corner of the painting, Michelangelo painted one of the financially influential Cardinals who disapproved of his work. He is depicted nude getting bit by a serpine in the butt. He also painted himself in the heven section. Here it is just his skin however. Also did I mention that he was blind and suffered from a broken back/neck at this point?
The black squares left in the painting are from restoration workers who left sections untouched to show what the fresco looked like before cleaning.
The shape behind the figure of God is a brain. This was Michelangelo showing the Pope that he was studying Anatomy under his nose without his knowledge which was forbidden.
The figure at the top is of Pope Julius depicted as Zacharia. He did this so that he could paint what he wanted and not the 12 disciples like the Pope wanted without upsetting the Pope. In the background however are two angels with one's hand in a rude gesture essentially flipping him off. This was Michelangelo showing the Pope how he really felt about him.
The collection of sculptures and paintings inside the Vatican Museum are all originals that various Popes have seen and decided that they wanted.
In Rome statues and busts all took after real people, often aristocrats. This contrasts Greece who carved idealistic people rater than actual faces.
View from the Vatican
The original Laocoon which depicts Laocoon and his sons being strangled by the sea serpine of Poseidon who was trying to stop him from telling the Trojans that the horse was not to be trusted. This was found in Greece and brought to Rome.
An original mosaic floor.
Bronze statue of Hercules-- one of the only bronze Greek Statues to survive as it was once thought to be Constantine.
Sphinx from Egypt
Tomb of St. Helena, Constantine's Mother
Tomb of Saint Constantina, daughter of Constantine.
"3D" tapestry, Jesus' eyes follow you as you walk by it.
3D looking ceiling
hall depicting all the parts of Italy.
Actual 3D ceiling
After the Vatican we went over to St. Peter's Basilica. The church is so grand it is a tad overwhelming. at the center of the church is large altar under which St. Peter is buried. The church also contains the remains of other important figures like Pope John Paul II.
Dome designed by Michelangelo
List of every Pope
Column from the original St. Peter's Basilica.
Baptismal Fount, or holy water
Due to conflict a while back, the Vatican is protected by Swiss Guards. The Swiss guards are still the official protectors of the Pope.
On our way back we stopped to get some yummy Gelato to hold us over until dinner. We then got on the crammed Metro headed back to our hostel.
After we got to the hostel and regrouped it was off to a nice dinner.
I got Spaghetti Vegetable and it was delicious!!
After a very long day, it is off to bed and getting ready for a very long day tomorrow!
