7 April, 2008: Rome Day 3
As the title suggests, the majority of our day was spent inside or around churches this day. We started at the Vatican, where we joined the throngs in admiring the amazing size and décor of the basilica. To be honest, we didn’t know that much about it before, and don’t really know that much more about it now, other than that it is beautiful, and overwhelming. To be sure, we had our guidebooks with us, and read about some of the statues and history, but as we aren’t terribly familiar with our popes or Italian history, it didn’t do us too much good, although we still spent a good hour or so wandering about.
After the Vatican, we went to the Vatican museums, which contain several interesting pieces, but are most well known for the Sistine Chapel frescoes. The Sistine Chapel is commonly attributed to Michelangelo, and he did paint the ceiling, and one of the ends of the room, but the rest of the room is also painted, and contains works by several other painters as well, the most famous one other than Michelangelo being Botticelli. There are only so many superlatives that you can heap upon a place – the museums are great, and the Sistine Chapel is incredible. Even after walking through what seemed like miles of painted ceilings, frescoes, and walls, the Sistine Chapel still managed to stand out.
By that time, the camera was running low on power, so it was time to head back to the apartment to charge the battery, and check on our (hopefully) drying clothes. Unfortunately, our clothes were stubbornly refusing to do anything other than sit there, and might as well have just come out of the washing machine, for all we could tell. We went to the Piazza Navona and got gelati from Tre Scalini and sat for a bit. Then, as I really wanted to see a few more things before we left the next day, I managed to convince Mich and the kids to follow me for one more trek.
One of the things I most wanted to see was the Pantheon. The Pantheon was originally built around 25 BC, but then rebuilt by the Emperor Hadrian in 125 AD. Parts of the original temple remain. The dome is a perfect circle, with a hole at the top to let in the sunlight. After the Pantheon, I persuaded Mich and the kids to follow me to Santa Maria sopra Minerva, which, according to the handy guidebook, is one of the few examples of Gothic architecture in Rome. We poked around a bit before heading to Gesu, the Jesuit church not too far from the Pantheon. As far as I know, this is the only place where the frescoes actually come outside of their frames onto the rest of the space (it’s hard to describe, you’ll have to look at the pictures).
Having made it through three churches in quick succession, I decided to lead my flagging troops back home, although in a round about sort of route, so that I could show Michelle something else. We hadn’t made it but about a block or so before she asked me what I was doing. I didn’t tell her quite yet, until we made it to the Via della Gatta. The name apparently means “Road of the Cat”, and is named for a small marble cat up on the corner of one of the buildings. I pointed it out to Michelle, who is definitely a cat person, that being the whole reason that I brought everyone this way, and she decided to take a picture – mainly so she could laugh later at the fact that I took her a couple of blocks out of the way to see a marble cat. However, a policeman stepped out and told us that no pictures of the cat were allowed. I asked Michelle if she wanted to take a picture of the street sign, and she said that the street would just have to remain in her memories if she couldn’t take a picture of the cat. I still don’t get the “no pictures of the cat” thing.
That being enough for one day, we headed back to Piazza Navona for dinner, and ended up eating at the Tre Scalini. It was a good end to the day – we all had pasta, and were serenaded by various buskers out in the piazza. After the meal, we were too full to have any more gelato, so we headed back to our apartment and our still damp clothes.
No comments:
Post a Comment