Wednesday February 14th (Valentine’s Day): Part I

It was time to go after the big guns now, today we chose to see St. Peter’s Cathedral. This time we were not planning on using the trusty 628 bus, instead we needed to walk some blocks and catch the ‘A’ metro line. This one line goes just about everywhere that is anywhere in Rome. It hits up Cinecitta (the center of Italy’s movie industry; the Appia Antica park; Piazza Rei di Roma; San Giovani; Termini (the central train station); Piazza della Republica; Piazza Barberini; Piazza di Spagna; Piazza Flaminio/Popolo; and then runs up Viale Giulio Cesare and stops at Via Ottaviano for Vatican access and then on to other places unknown. On our return we would have a few choices for the closest stop to our apartment but a lady stopped on the street when she saw us take out our map and insisted that we didn’t want to go to the Ponte Lungo stop and steered us to San Giovanni or Rei di Roma instead. She was friendly and probably also wanted to practice her English. So, on our way out we made it the few stops to Termini and a huge crowd joined us on the metro and the doors closed. A minute passed and the doors opened, then they closed again after more people got on. A minute later they opened and more got on and they closed again. The doors opened, more got on, they closed again, opened more got on and now we are starting to talk sardine can type situation. Then an announcement. The train is broken and we all need to get off. Well everyone piled out and the station was totally jammed. I was holding on to Donna because I was on the wrong side of that yellow line that you need to stay behind with no hope of moving over onto the correct side. We both had visions of those movies where someone gets thrown onto the track just as the train rolls in. Well, the good news is that a train rolled in and we lived. We got on the train and made it to Ottaviano with no further ado. Exiting the station we oriented ourselves and began the pilgrimage toward to the center of the Catholic world. It seemed that everyone was going our way and they really were. All races and all the tourists (there were actually some Italians too) congregating on the piazza di San Pietro.

Well there were Saldi (sales) everywhere here too and the prices seemed very reasonable so I stopped Donna as we gazed at a window with a cute outfit and dragged her in to the shop. We selected outfits, she tried them on and we found a cute dress and a top and that put her in an even better mood. I got my wish and we entered the piazza from the side and through the colonnade (the only way). This way the impact of the enormity of the space has its best effect. What do you know, another fountain and another obelisk, what a score! Plenty of other things to photograph as well, I remembered that there were these marked spots in the piazza but couldn’t remember what they were for so I kept glancing around until I spotted what I was looking for. From a specific spot on each side of the fountain/obelisk you can stand in one marked spot and all of the columns line up perfectly. I have photos to prove it if you don’t believe me. We speculated where the pope lives and marveled on the whole thing.

Time to get in. Seemed like everyone who was headed in was off to the right of the piazza, they had a mouse maze going there to gather the crowds and constrict them into a human traffic jamb well away from the doors. Turns out that the reason for this is that there was a security checkpoint with metal detectors and stuff. The Vatican is more serious about this stuff than the Coliseum was. We had to pass our jackets and all packages through the x-ray machine. Cameras were placed on a shelf that bypassed all inspections so if you are reading this and looking for a way to defeat their security, just pack everything in a camera. I set off the beeper when I walked through the scanner. Looking down I saw that I was wearing a belt with an enormous hunk of metal, also I had keys in my pocket along with a bunch of change. As I began to reach for my belt the security officer waved my hand off and came at me with his hand held detector. He ran it down one side and then down the other. It beeped over almost every part of my body but it didn’t seem to concern him in the least. I guess that an AK-47 beeps louder and they aren’t worried about anything smaller than that. We retrieved our jackets and cameras and we were off. Up the steps, through the portico and past the doors into the bowels of the beast. The place was packed! Apparently somebody had told the pope that we were coming and he decided to give us a proper welcome. Unfortunately we had dillydallied at the clothing shop and then in the piazza. By the time we got there, there wasn’t a seat left in the house, and this place seats tens of thousands. We just ignored all of this stuff and made our way to the right and to the glass enclosed cloister that houses the ‘Pieta’. Wow, that is some piece of marble; it just sort of puts everything in perspective when you see what Michelangelo was able to squeeze out of an ordinary piece of marble. Being close to the Pieta’ definitely qualifies as one of those truly spiritual moments in one’s life and we were both awed and humbled by the majesty of the sculpture. We took pictures and stayed as long as we dared without pissing off the multitudes that were pressing in from behind us to spend their moment with greatness. Eventually, we moved on up the right side of the cathedral as the pope continued to talk and they played some great organ music too.

Another new thing in the church. All of the churches are now wired for sound. Saint Peters has a great sound system with batteries of compact speakers covered with camouflage to make them fade into the background of hundred foot high marble columns and pillars. Anyway, the talking ended and the organ music got really powerful, it is always overwhelming to me to hear good organ music and that is definitely my favorite reason to go to a church. Half way up the right side we found the tomb of some dead pope who was being guarded by these two incredible lions. The one on the left of the crypt was especially mesmerizing, as his eyes appeared to be looking right at you. The one on the right looked like the lion was still finishing dinner. Donna knows about Dad’s nickname for me so she insisted on multiple poses with the lions for Dad. I must admit that I look pretty puny standing between these two lions. About then the service was over and all of the guys on the central stage disappeared and everyone started making for the door, we wrapped around the right arm of the cross and approached the gilded altar at the head of the cathedral. Stopping to get photos of all of that gold and brilliance and the stained glass window in the center we noticed that there were a few old guys in trench coats shooing everyone away from the area in front of the altar. I supposed that we were just not allowed to be that close to God, so every time one would turn around I moved in for another photo. They were gentle but firm they wanted this area clear. So we moved on across the front pews to the left side of the cross. It seemed like every where we went there were these guys in trench coats moving everyone out of the church so we decided to move on again. There was another very cool dead pope with this flowing canopy of marble fabric that was being held up by a skeleton. Donna liked this especially and got off some shots of that too. Not much else to tell but the place was really emptying out and we were very close to the last to be in the Cathedral. This was very cool, to almost have the place by ourselves. The coat Nazis had shooed everyone away from the Pieta’ and we took advantage to cross the exit and go over to spend a last minute or two just the two of us and that wonderful statue. They were gentle but firm and got us out of there and closed down the church. Outside I discovered that there are horse stairs leading up to the center of the portico of the church. I had searched all over the internet for examples of the horse steps that are so common in castles. You know, four-foot long ramps with four-inch high risers with rounded edges that allow a horse to gallop up to wherever he needs to get. Well, these were set up so that the messengers could gallop right up to the front door of the cathedral when the Fed Ex guy needed to get an urgent package to the pope. Donna took a bunch of photos of them for me with her camera since I intend to build some of them one day though I doubt they will be made of marble. Oh yes, we have a photo of us standing together with the piazza and the cathedral behind us. Seems to me that I have a pretty dumb smile on my face but Donna likes the photo, oh well.

All through this trip I was on two separate quests. The first was to find the ultimate Nocciola Gelato (hazelnut) . On this quest I ate at least two gelatos a day the whole trip. Good thing I walked so much because there are some real calories in those. The second quest was to find the ultimate slice of pizza at one of those places that sells pizza by weight. Donna soon got sick of the pizza places and insisted on ordering something else like meat and vegetables at the ones that offered more selections but I never tired of eating pizza. This was mostly lunch fare but when Donna was elsewhere, I would eat at these places twice a day. In the end, I decided that the best pizza (by the slice) was to be had right near Beatrice's apartment where I caught the bus to go into Rome. This was also very convenient because I could get food while I waited for the bus.