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Tuesday, August 19, Roma
We have our breakfast downstairs and the waiter comes over to tell us that telephone is for us. Impossible! But no - our friendly taxi driver is here 15 minutes early at the front desk waiting for us. We finish up and climb into our 6-passenger car for our tour of Rome and Tivoli Gardens. We saw every fountain and monument in Rome, in 3 ½ hours! It's impossible to list them in order: our photo collection will do a much better job, but here goes: St. Peter's Square (with a stop in their gift shop for a very special gift for Zoila), Castel Sant'Angelo, which looks like and once was an ancient fortress along the Tiber, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, where we bought 2 little watercolors from a local artist, the Forum, Palantine Hill, Arch of Severus, Piazza del Campidoglio, which is an especially beautiful square flanked by Steps by Michelangelo and the huge bronze statue of Marcus Aureleus, the Baths of Carcalla, the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin where we took turns putting our hands in the "mouth of truth" a la Gregory Peck in "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn, the Pantheon, which is absolutely not to be missed, and is in incredibly near-mint condition for a building that is 2000 years old, and where 2 Italian kings and the artist Raphael are buried. The Piazza Navona is another and possibly the single most magnificent square in Rome. Three fountains spread out in this huge square which overlays the partially visible ruins of the Stadium of Domitian. The Fountain of the Four Rivers by the master, Bernini, rivals the Trevi in beauty. The Spanish Steps are a beautiful sight; the Piazza Barberini with the fountain of Triton and the fountain of the Bees. The Piazza del Popolo with its impressive Egyptian obelisk (the Romans were fond of pillaging the monuments and treasures of other cultures, after all) and twin churches, Villa Borghese, the Appian Way, where we stopped at the little church called the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Palmis, better known as the Church of the Domine Quo Vadis, built on the spot where St. Peter had his vision of Christ. Bonus: a monument to the Polish Nobel Prize winning author of Quo Vadis?, Henryk Sienkiewicz, which makes Jacob proud and very happy. We then leave Rome for Tivoli. It takes about 30 minutes, and we actually drive on the old Appian Way - you can tell from the rough ride over the ancient stones. It remids us all of Factor's Walk in Savannah! We go up and up and up! We park and buy some shirts, and get a quick bite, then walk a short distance to the Villa d'Este. We tour the building which is in fantastic condition. But it's the gardens that make it famous. Jacob can't possibly hike these steps down to the garden, so after viewing them from above, he goes back to the car with Alberto (our driver). The rest climb down and get a flavor of the gardens which frankly blow away Versailles, at least in the summer! Time is getting short, however, because we're keenly aware that Jacob wants to be back by 2:30 - 3:00 to be ready for father Aisa who will be arriving with the Papal audience tickets for tomorrow. So we hike back up and head for the car, passing a teeming colony of Chasidim, mostly older women chaperoned by a couple of men. We leave Tivoli and seem to return to Rome in 10 minutes. We leave Jacob to wait for Fr. Aisa, change clothes, and head back to St. Peter's. Nancy asks a policeman where the entrance is (meaning the line) and he says, in english, "you must be joking", and walks out into the Plaza and gestures to the façade of St. Peter's. We all laugh and go around the side to the main entrance. They are turning people away left and right for not being properly dressed. We knew better and all had long pants and covered shoulders. We purchase our tickets for the cupola of the Basilica. We pay the extra euro for the elevator which saves us 171 steps, though we still have a climb of over 320 steps. Now we're in reasonably good shape and good health, and I'm telling you that this was the toughest, most arduous cllimb any of us had ever attempted. There's a stretch of spiral stairs that go up 3 flights or so that seems just barely wide enough to accommodate an adult, and it is such a tight spiral that we get very dizzy. Then there's the sloping wall that at times requires you to lean sideways as you climb.No handrails for the most part. But once we arrived at the top, what a reward! An awe-inspiring panoramic view of Rome and Vatican City, the papal gardens and apartments and all its buildings. 375 feet above ground. We caught our breath (no easy task) after about half an hour and we skipped down the stairs like they were nothing! When we exited the bottom we entered St. Peter's Basilica. This is, by far, the most 'over the top' church in the world. The sheer volume of marble is staggering. Everything is gilt. There are larger than life sculptures in every nook and cranny of this place. The only stained glass window is above the altar and throne of St. Peter, and it's yellow and amber, looking like a sunrise. The massive interior is Baroque beyond imagination. We stand next to the entrance of the sacristy but they aren't letting anyone in, for some reason. We soon discover why: dressed in green and gold vestments come a group of priests. The organ begins to play, and it's 5:00 minyan (I mean mass!) They pass and we enter the sacristy. There are many interesting artifacts including a jewelled papal crown that looks far too heavy to actually wear. We see the world famous masterpiece by Michelangelo, the Pieta. The sculpture is the most life-like we have ever seen. It is nearly imcomprehensible that marble could be carved in folds so thin that it looked translucent. We leave the sacristy and continue gaping around the Basilica. We ask a guard for the entrance to the Tomb of St. Peter, and he points out the nearly hidden stairway next to a statue we'd been admiring. We see the small, ornate tomb and tour the crypt containing the tombs of many popes and kings. Our visit is complete with a stop in the gift shop and a moment on the spot where the columns around St. Peter's Square line up perfectly, an architectural marvel. We return to the hotel famished, and again have a snack (not so quick this time) at Il Peperone across the street. We rest in the hotel, talk to Jacob about his visit with Fr. Aisa who gave him 2 special tickets for the public papal audience tomorrow. We have dinner at Aurora 10 du Pino il Sommelier. Pino is the owner and the place is a riot. Many local Italians are eating here. The food was excellent, especially the raspberry baba cake. 10 minute walk from our hotel, and another gem. We are all exhausted, and have a full day tomorrow, beginning with our trip to Castel Gandolfo. |
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