March 27, 2013-ROME
The drive was actually not that bad, and driving through
Italy is never boring. We made it into the city and found parking near our
hotel. After they let us check in early (our rooms were suddenly cleaned and
available after the offered to hold our bags so we could walk around and we
presented them with six pieces of luggage), we popped open maps and starting
making our way toward old Rome.
You know how Wrigley Field is kind of just plopped in the
middle of the city? Take that, multiply it by 10, and you will have the
Coliseum.
You are just walking down a street, you look up, and there
it is. There is no way to describe how IMMENSE this place really is. Even after
time and earthquakes and marauding builders who stripped the marble and some of
the stone away (which, we learned, is why so few buildings in Rome are intact:
medieval builders stole many of the stones to make other buildings), it is
still one impressive structure. The line to get in was rather long, so we
decided to just walk around, and that was enough.
Next, it was up the street to the entrance to the Forum and
Palatine Hill. Again, (to nerd quote) “much of once was, is now lost”, but for
something that was a cow field until (relatively) recently, it is still pretty
impressive. They have tried to clear away and excavate and put stones back in
place so that you have some idea of what it looked like back in the heyday of
the Republic and Imperial (?) period.
The Temple of Saturn alone is enough to
inspire envy...
...and it is rather cool to see where Julius Caesar was cremated
(though not stabbed; despite what Shakespeare would have us believe it did not
happen on the floor of the Senate) and then worshipped in a TEMPLE built by his
nephew and heir (seriously, the scale of the thing puts Daley Plaza to shame).
Some of the areas are closed as they are shoring them up and
doing further excavations (so much of the new city was built on top of the new
city so it can get a bit tricky). The
Palatine Hill is the same way, as they are slowly peeling away layers to reveal
the houses of the rich and royal Romans that decided they wanted to live above
the mob. The drawings that can still be seen on the walls of the House of
Augustus are beautiful.
The view from the top of the Palatine was breathtaking, and
in the distance was the Basilica of St. Peter. I waved to the new Pope.
Coming down from the Palatine Hill we walked back around the
ruins and up past the Monument to Victor Emmanuelle. The thing looks like a giant
wedding cake and might just be the size of the Daley Center. It is there to
honor that one man, but considering it is honoring the man who united the
entire country (and also holds their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier), I guess it
might be worth it.
The next stop was a little more…interesting to find as the
map from the hotel had buildings drawn on it, but everything was “facing front”
as opposed to being oriented as they actually were. That meant we got slightly turned around, and
the fact that the street we needed to be on was under construction didn’t help.
Eventually, we found the Plaza de Gesu and the lead church
of the Society of Jesus: The Jesuits! (GO LOYOLA!)
I will admit, though I am not a Catholic, ever since the new
Pope was announced and I found out he was a Jesuit (a first), I started
researching about the order more. This was the group that gave me the education
that I am VERY proud of, and I was excited to see their “base” in Rome.
The church is VERY impressive. If we weren’t going to St.
Peter’s, this was a lovely stand-in. It was incredible to see the original
Madonna della Strada.
The ceiling of the building is perhaps one of the best
parts: instead of a painting outlined by the gold-gilt work of scrolls and
cherubs, the painting flows out past that onto the ceiling as if the picture
was exploding from its confines and borders. They have a huge mirror set up so
you can actually look at the ceiling without craning your neck.
I went to check out what was next door while some of the
others found a bathroom, and discovered that it was the apartments for the
local Jesuit priests, but it also included the rooms where St. Ignatius spent
the last few years of his life. I wish I hadn’t been so rushed, but I did get
to see his rooms and some of his books and paper work, including the Papal Bull
that authorized the order.
On to the Pantheon, one of the few (if not the ONLY) ancient
structures that still stands. The dome looms above you and makes for an
impressive structure that shows you what people could do back then.
At the Plazza Nuovo, we saw the Fountain of the Four Rivers
and all the stands of STUFF. I stuffed my face with pasta with lobster and then
snagged three gorgeous scarves for practically nothing. As we were exiting the
plaza, we spotted a toy store with a huge, many-headed, moving dragon in the
window that drew all of us inside (yes, we are all nerds).
It was there
that I found two more masks (I had
already snagged a copper one at the Coliseum): a green and silver feathered
one, and a black filigree with crystals that became my Birthday Gift from
Steve. YAY!
We moved toward the river and past the Mausoleum of Augustus,
long since looted of the golden urns that once held the ashes of many an
Emperor, but still huge and imposing in the night. The Plazza de Popolo was
quiet for a Roman plaza, but had a huge obelisk from the 13th
Century BC in the center.
Winding our way up, up, and up, we reached the Medici Palace
(closed), but the Spanish Steps are always open, and provide one heck of a
view.
Going down is exciting in more ways than one, and not something I would
like to try in the rain.
We found a gelato shop that did more pieces of art than just
scoops of gelato.
So, there is NOTHING like the Trevi Fountain. Caesar’s
Palace can try, but the actual thing is amazing, and it is particularly lovely
at night when it is lit up.
At this point, we had seen what we needed to see and our
feet were about to rebel against us, so we trudged back to the hotel and
collapsed into our very nice beds, to dream of volcanoes and ancient disasters…
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