|
Wednesday August 20, Rome - Castel Gandolfo
We are scheduled to leave at 8:00, but Nancy and Harvey didn't get their wake-up call. Nevertheless, they get ready to leave in 15 minutes. But Jacob feels we have some time, so we have a bite of breakfast, and then take off with Alberto, our trusty taxi driver, to Castel Gandolfo and the Papal Audience. Good thing we didn't try and drive it ourselves: we would've gotten lost for sure! We arrive around 9:15. The security guards seem amused (oh, that Italian sense of humor) by Jacob's insistence that the 2 tickets in his hand are something special. They say, "everyone has these tickets". But they take Jacob and Marcus up to the entrance where the papal guards (in their adorable striped jumpsuits) admit the two of them into the courtyard. Nancy, Harvey and Elliot join the throng of people hoping to enter this courtyard SRO. Finally, they start letting people in. We get close to the front of the line. Elliot goes through, then a nun and then, they stop us! No one else! But Alberto (who had parked and joined us by this time) speaks to the guard in Italian and the guard says OK, the mama! So he grabs Nancy by the arm and pulls her through, and she joins Elliot and they enter the courtyard. It is an area slightly larger than a basketball court. There's a large television screen in one corner, just like there was outside in the outer square. There are groups of young people singing songs in Polish, Italian and Spanish. Nancy quietly sings Hatikvah, while Elliot frets. Nancy assures him that no one in the crowd has a clue what she's singing, not to worry. Marcus, it turns out, was singing the Monk's Hallelujah in his head! But Nancy and Elliot are so far from the front that they can't see Jacob or Marcus who are seated, or even see the Pope, except for on TV. Before the Pope comes out, priests read Psalm 147 in various languages. It gave us chills. It reads as follows: Hallelujah; for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant, and praise is comely. The Lord does build up Jerusalem, He gathers together the dispersed of Israel; Who heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds. He counts the number of the stars; He gives them all their names. Great is our L-rd, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord upholds the humble; He brings the wicked down to the ground. Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving, sing praises upon the harp unto our God; Who covers the heaven with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes the mountains to spring with grass. He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delights not in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that wait for His mercy. Glorify the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. For He hath made strong the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee. He makes thy borders peace; He gives thee in plenty the fat of wheat. He sends out His commandment upon earth; His word runs very swiftly. He gives snow like wool; He scatters the hoar-frost like ashes. He casts forth His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold? He sends forth His word, and melts them; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow. He declares His word unto Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation; and as for His ordinances, they have not known them. Hallelujah. When the Pope finally spoke, it was very difficult to understand him. He is clearly not well, and has great trouble speaking. But he did pray for peace in Israel, and it brought tears to our eyes, especially considering yesterday's atrocity in Jerusalem. He said, "the tragic news that arrives in these hours from Baghdad and Jerusalem cannot but generate profound sadness and unanimous reprehension in our hearts. While we entrust to divine mercy those who lost their lives and beg comfort for those who weep, let us pray to God so that wisdom prevails in hearts and that public officials know how to break this woeful spiral of hatred and violence." After he spoke in English, Nancy and Elliot left the interior courtyard and found Harvey next to the fountain in the center of the square. We watched the rest of the proceedings on the larger screen, and have something to drink. We start to see the Pope greeting brides and grooms who come for a blessing, and Harvey readies the camera. Sure enough, the moment arrives. We watch, almost in shock, as Marcus and Jacob appear on this giant screen, lean over and touch the Pope's hands, and speak to him. The Pope holds up his hand and blesses them. It seemed to be happening in super slow motion. Harvey gets great pictures right off the screen, though now, on the computer, they lose their clarity. After several minutes, Jacob and Marcus emerge and we rejoin them. They are both overwhelmed by the moment. Jacob was moved to tears. We refresh ourselves with a cold drink, reflect on the experience, and then return to the taxi for the trip back to Rome. Jacob was given a card with information about professional photographs, and Alberto calls on our cell phone and gets the information for us: we can go there after 3 pm in Vatican City. We return to the hotel, and Jacob stays behind, having already had enough for one day. We change clothes and head for the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museum. There is no line at all, and we head more or less straight for the Sistine Chapel. The other rooms aren't too shabby, and in some cases, rival Versailles and the Louvre. But the Sistine Chapel is one of a kind. We crane our necks and stare. The colors are amazingly vibrant thanks to the restoration. I can't imagine why some would criticize the restoration. It is more beautiful than it appears in photographs. Harvey manages to take photos despite the well-enforced prohibition. We spend a lot more time on the right side (the life of Moses and Exodus from Egypt) than the left side (the life of Jesus). The ceiling, of course, is Old Testament. The centerpiece, creation, is breathtaking. You need to be on a stretcher 30 feet high to be able to truly appreciate it in great detail. Since this is clearly impossible, do what we did: buy the $25 Vatican City Museum Book which covers it all in exquisite detail. We leave the Vatican Museum area and hail a cab over to the proper entrance near the photography office. Our timing is perfect, and the proofs are there. We find Marcus and Jacob among the hundreds of pictures. There are seven professional photos taken from the perfect angle, and we order the prints of the two best. They should arrive in our mailbox in 2 or 3 weeks. We then taxi over to the Colosseum. Again, only a 5-minute line. The Colosseum is so grand in scope, it's hard to take it in at a glance. We went up first, and got the overall perspective, and then later took the giant stairs (they must be 10 inches tall) down and took in the view from below. We then climbed up toward the Arch of Titus, and became extras in a low budget German film being shot right there! Alas, Marcus got in trouble with the director for standing too stiffly and watching the filming instead of continuing to "act normally". They re-took the scene, and we all tried to act more like tourists doing what tourists usually do: consult their guidebook as they walk and point to things around them. We looked at the detail of Titus' arch, which depicts in bas-relief scenes of the looting of the Temple in Jerusalem. Titus is the emperor who destroyed the 2nd Temple. We then climbed the Palantine Hill and walked among the ruins of the Imperial Forum, the Farnese Gardens, the House of Livia, Domus Augustine, the Hippodrome and Flavian Palace. We stop twice at fountains to drink the very potable water, and pour it over our heads. It is incredibly hot in Rome! Nancy is very, very glad that she has cut her hair so short. We're beat and we try to hail a cab outside the exit, but we have to walk for 15 minutes before we finally reach a spot where we catch a taxi. Marcus nearly got hit by a car in the process! Turns out that half the cabbies in Rome are on vacation. Our driver is a hunk, and Nancy thought of bringing him home in her suitcase! But the 4 of us arrive back at the hotel safe and sound. Harvey needs another shirt, so he heads back to Via del Corso on the recommendation of our gorgeous cab driver. The rest of us rest up (and Nancy spent 90 minutes writing the last 2 days events), for dinner at La Terrazza in the Eden Hotel, reputed in Frommer's to be the finest cuisine in Rome. Zagat's gives it a 25 for food and calls it "one of the most beautiful places in Rome". We shall see! Well, dinner at La Terrazza did not disappoint. The service was outstanding; the best along with the Ritz in Madrid and La Dama in Barcelona. Better overall than La Tour d'Argent in Paris. Nancy so enjoyed a taste of artichoke soufflé that the captain got the recipe (written out by hand) from the chef! The view from the dining room atop the 6th floor of this 5 star hotel was panoramic, and Rome is spectacular at night. Only the sea bass was not fabulous, and that's because their sea bass here is not what we've become accustomed to in the States: it's not Chilean. Nancy has found a delightful wine - Palleteria, a white sauterne type from the southernmost part of Italy. Unfortunately, the diet cokes were 10 euros each! YIKES! They were more expensive than Nancy's wine! The zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta cheese, served with tiny little tomatoes and black olives was out of this world. We skip dessert and walk down the Via Veneto, and get Gelato. Back to the hotel to crash - we leave at 8 am for Florence! |
|
||||||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | ||||||