The Vatican Museum's Spiral Staircase

 The Vatican Museums spiral staircase is one of the most photographed in the world, and certainly one of the most beautiful. Designed by Giuseppe Momo in 1932, the broad steps are somewhere between a ramp and a staircase. The stairs are actually two separate helixes, one leading up and the other leading down, that twist together in a double helix formation. Little did the Vatican Museum know in 1932 that this formation would come to represent life itself, with the discovery of the double helical DNA strand.

January 2012 The Snow in Rome

So that we don't forget!

These photos were posted on http://www.insidersitaly.com

The mayor announced that Rome was in a state of “catastrophe” and that we should all take shovels and start to clear snow.  We do not own a shovel.  Those neighbors who for one reason or other felt the need to use cars today were attempting to clear paths for themselves with mops, brooms, children’s sand shovels and windscreen scrapers.

We did have an appetite, however, picqued by the close-to-freezing weather.  Thus, after a hot chocolate at our beloved Dolci Desideri

.. we were off

Monteverdevecchio Verde street

through a city without a visible snow plow, and where our friend Dario, owner of our favorite restaurant, emerged with a tablecloth-apron round his waist, to announce that he did not remember seeing snow like this since the 1960s.

Dario remembers the snowstorm of 1965

Through the gateway of Villa Sciara

Into a winter wonderland

And into a winter wonderland.

Never have we seen our neighborhood park, Villa Sciara, so full.  It literally resounded with an air of greatest festivity !

Magnolia in the snow

The Laurel Walk

Umbrella Pine

SPQR

Making a snow angel

As the children toboggoned on their bottoms down a steep hill with palm trees as obstacles

We gazed in wonder at the view before us.  It was close-to-impossible to leave it, familiar old Rome with its magical dusting of snow.  Most remarkable of all was the Pantheon rimmed in white.

The Pantheon and Campo Marzio Close Up

And when at last we turned back towards home, we found more festive Romans pouring into the park.

More festive Romans pile into the park as we depart

The snow-woman with the herbal features

Lunchtime

Cin-Cin !

The polenta arrives !

The Autistic Eye - Drawing Rome from Memory

The Autistic Eye - This is amazing!!

Rome, June 2010 Day Five, Sunday

The big plan for today was for me to go to the airport and rent the car that we will use as we tool around Tuscany for the next week or so. As usual, I hopped a ride to the Piazza Mazzini apartment. Beatrice’s printer was capoot and I needed paperwork to rent the car. I sat down in her dad’s office and plugged the USB cable from her dad’s printer into Donnas’ laptop. The printer wasn’t even on and the Windows 7 operating system recognized the printer and went online to locate the necessary driver and installation software. With permission, it loaded everything and offered to print a test sheet as well. Windows 7 is a complete wonder of an operating system. For anyone still using XP or Windows Vista, I strongly recommend an update.


Shortly later I was off on my adventure. I had to buy a couple of bus passes since I had used the last ones getting home the previous evening. As usual, the 628 presented itself and I got on. I rode it to Flaminio (just outside of the gates at Piazza del Popolo) and walked uphill, underground to the subway. All I can figure is that the subway is under the Borgese Gardens which slope uphill from that piazza. From there, a quick run to Termini (the central train station). Up, up, up, more and more and more escalators got me to the ground level where I purchased a ticket to Fiumicino (Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport) and was told that it departed from rail # 28. Well I went out to the rails, I was at # 17, following off to the right I counted all the way up to 25 and then there was a solid building. Very suspicious. As I reached the end a sign pointing down the track indicated that 26-28 were down there. So I started walking, it must have been more than a half mile down but eventually I arrived at the mysteriously missing tracks nicely arranged next to track 25. It was a quiet and leisurely ride out, and I found the rental place without ado. The lady charged me an extra 12 Euro a day for the Tom-Tom GPS unit but I already know that it was worth it. Returning to Rome it worked flawlessly. It knew about every counterintuitive move that was necessary to get me to the center of town. I was tempted to ignore it when it seemed to be wrong but I decided to trust it until I saw the Mouth of Truth. At that point it wanted me to veer right toward Piazza Venetzia and I wanted to continue along Lungo Tevere toward Campo Di Fiori. So, since I ignored it, I was immediately forced to make a left onto a bridge and another left at the end of the bridge and I was heading back toward the airport all over again. Fortunately, Tom-Tom had some ideas for me. First he wanted me to go right down an alley, when I failed to make that right, he led me back across the next bridge and from there I defeated that loop and eventually got all the way to the side of San Andrea della Valle where I did as the Romans do and parked with two wheels on the sidewalk and two on the street with the driver mirror folded in so that no one would break it off.

I rang Shirley’s door bell and no one answered. I called her cell phoe and then mom’s with the same results.They weren’t home and they were out of communication. Mom had said that they were going out to lunch. Wondering where they might be, I wandered over to the Campo. Tried to call again and failed. I looked in at a few restaurants as I crossed the Campo and ended up eating at a ‘Tavola Calda’- a place that sells pizza by the slice and other things like Suppli or roast chicken. The contents can vary. I had a slice of white pizza sliced down the center and filled with prosciutto and mozzarella. They were still not home. I remembered that Mom had pointed out a restaurant the previous day that she said was Shirley’s favorite, I went dowen that way and found them inside finishing up their meal. They were mystified how I had found them, I told them that I was psychic. I visited with Mom and Shirley for a while, they finished lunch, had coffee and paid their bill. As they headed home, I headed off to meet Donna as her day of teaching was coming to an end. What fun, driving in Rome again. It is just like a mini demolition derby thing except even though everyone IS out to get you, they don’t actually want to damage their car in the process. There is a sort of poetic flow to driving in Rome when the traffic is moving and since it was Sunday, I had a blast. Arriving at the apartment in piazza Mazzini, I found a parking space immediately (another perk that is available on Sundays) and climbed up to the apartment. I only had minutes to work on the Rome blog before Beatrice roped me into helping her put the house back in order. The workshop was over and her parents were coming back the next day. We had a massive amount of stuff to carry down to the street and pack into the cars but it all fit and we said goodbye to Bea trusting the Tom Tom would get us home. It seemed like it led us around in circles but eventually I started recognizing the landmarks and I was totally amazed when we ended up on Bea's street and found a parking space right in front of her apartment building.

Back to Rome...June 2010 Day One

Well, things are definitely moving ahead in this world! I want to tell you all about it but first…

We flew Delta and had a nightmare time getting an assigned seat on the plane to Rome. Something about an equipment change in New York. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t find anyone in the whole airline that could override their system and get us assigned seats. My almost last try was to call them at exactly 24 hours before departure. It also failed to get me a seat so I went online, checked in electronically and low and behold, the second leg of the trip from Kennedy to Rome had seat assignments. No luck on the cross country leg and I was still locked out. Somehow, miraculously, during the day, the seat assignments appeared. We were separated three rows apart in rotten seats. At check-in, same problem, they knew all about it, equipment change, we were screwed. One possible chance, the gate has around fourteen seats at their discretion to assign, with any luck the can give us new seat assignments.

When we got there we had to wait in line (not a good sign) and when I got to the front of the line, she explained that all the flight was sold out and all seats were taken. I explained my long and convoluted story of all of the attempts I had made to obtain assigned seats starting with when I had booked the flight months earlier. She was very nice and put our names on her list. She said that she was working on upgrading two people that have assigned isle seats across from each other in an emergency exit row to first class and she might be able to get us those. We had become convinced that fate was working to keep us apart on that flight but that kind lady came through and put us in that exit row (lots of leg room). Donna immediately traded one of the aisle seats with a center seat and viola’, we were sitting together. What a relief, traveling with Donna is fun and part of that is the airplane ride. I just wanted the complete package.

So, back to what I was going to tell you about. Delta is rolling in Wi-Fi on their airplanes. This plane had Wi-Fi. As a frequent flyer I had received an email on their rollout. It was supposed to cost around $12 on flights of 4 hours, a bit more for longer flights or something like $32 for a twenty-four hour package (or was that for a whole month of usage?). Good news, once the Gods decided that our luck had needed to change, they went even further than the seats we got. I logged into the ‘gogo inflight network’ and for whatever reason, it was free for us today!

Well, the entertainment of the internet on a flight is priceless. Much better that a movie (yes I also watched a movie). We are using Donnas’ awesome Acer laptop with Windows 7, over eight hours of battery life, HDMI monitor, Wireless ‘N’, a hi-def web cam and 500 GB hard all in less than four pounds of weight. We both checked and responded to email and then I attached an external 500GB hard drive that is the size of a pack of cards and had access to all my Documents, Pictures and Videos. We proceeded to produce the invitation for our Summer Party, edited it and refined it then sent it out to our ‘Party Groups’ from each of our profiles. OK, not so special tech wise except that we were in a plane over the Central States when we did it. The second flight was nowhere near as good, I didn’t sleep much and we didn’t get exit seats. To top off the disappointments, no Wi-Fi either.

Beatrice met us at the airport and drove us into Rome to the new apartment that she and Renzo had just moved into the previous week. The apartment was very nice and it is on the ground floor with a real yard on three sides. It was good to see Renzo again and I met their daughter Micolla for the first time.

After bathing and taking a nap, Donna had left for her first day of teaching. I got up and decided to go out for a stroll. I wanted to be familiar with the neighborhood; find the closest Metro station (Cornelia on the Red Line) and make sure I could find my way back to the apartment. Leaving the apartment I felt like I was really in the middle of nowhere. This area of Rome isn’t even on my map and it is really directly behind the Vatican and close to the Via Aurelia antica which was one of the main roads (started around 241 B.C.) out of ancient Rome that led up the coast to Pisa. Up the street through a few turns I came upon a huge piazza that doubles as a transit center. No isolation here. I can get to anywhere from here. I wandered around the neighborhood for a few hours checking out the stores and the women. Basically the sites. I had a Suppli at a corner fast food place and scored some Euros from an ATM so that I would have more of the local currency. Eventually, I found a market, bought some basic groceries and some wine. This place has me confused. At first I couldn’t find a bottle of red wine more expensive than 1.95 Euros. Eventually I did find a bottle of Chianti Classico for 5.00 Euro but that was absolutely the most expensive bottle in the market. Wow!

Day Seven, the Capoteline

The Forum as viewed from the top of the Wedding Cake

There are some things that just must be experienced when you visit Rome. Last year we went to the Vatican Museum and were given a wonderful tour by a little lady who we dubbed ‘Yoda’s sister’ so we really had covered that well. This year, the most important museum on my agenda was the complex on the Capitoline hill. With this goal in mind we set out and caught the bus just on the other side of Piazza Zama that took us to the base of the Capitoline hill. Last year we had not climbed all of those steps up the left side to the church which sits in the temple to Jupiter Maximus but we were fresh and so I led Donna up what must number in the thousands of steps. Bummer, when we got all of the way up, the place was locked up solid and there was apparently no connection to Michelangelo’s square in the center of the Capitoline.

We did discover an open gate to the left that led around to the back side of the Monument to Vittorio Emmanuelle (we called it the wedding cake when we were kids). Since the last time that I had lived in Rome they have added a very cool feature to this monument. I had read about it in our guide book. They put an elevator on the back side of it and this elevator takes people to the roof of the darn thing, right up there with the two chariot winged victory statues. For 10€ each we went up there and I have to say, from there you get the most incredible perspective of Rome that there ever was. This is the true, new ‘E’ ticket ride in Rome! If you come, and you only have a day, I strongly recommend going to the top of the monument to Vittorio Emmanuelle which is also Rome’s tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Apart from the two statues which sit higher than the central roof, you basically get an unobstructed 360 degree view of all of Rome and you are standing above every other building for many miles around. I’m pretty sure we were higher up than the top of the Janicolo which used to be the prime viewing place in the City.

There are some high power binocular/ telescopes up there as well. With these you can count the nose hairs on a face miles away. These were very powerful. I took photos all the way around. At home I have a program that puts together photos into a panorama; we’ll see how that comes out. Eventually, we went back down and it turns out that if you continue around the back toward the Corso Imperiale, you can get over to the Capitoline from there. We loved the two museums on the Capitoline, they were truly inspiring. I guess that for the most part, I am into statues, and that is what these museums were dominantly about. Unfortunately, the Medusa head by Bernini was on loan to Capua, co we missed that but I went mostly to see the Dying Gaul because of the book Desmond did by the same name. A tunnel connects one museum to the other and crosses under the piazza so one ticket does both museums.

Finishing there we lazed under some Stone Pines and took in the view of the Forum. Looking down, on the side of the wedding cake we noticed that it was there that the ‘Tribute to Luciano Pavarotti’ was being exhibited, plus there was an Exhibit of Picasso’s work in the same building. We walked down, the Pavarotti exhibit was very interesting and incredibly moving and powerful. They had set up projectors that used a whole huge wall as a screen. On both sides were cycling black and white photos of Luciano, 16 at a time. In the center was floor to ceiling video of his more famous performances including one done in Sarajevo with a symphony orchestra, U2 and Bono. The side walls had grids of dozens of plasma monitors with video of other events with the great man. They said that they had 6 million meters of taped video of Pavarotti. That seems like a lot to me. The stereo system was excellent and the music was unfathomably powerful. Naturally they had other paraphernalia as well. A whole wall of all of the records and CDs of his music, many of the costumes that he had used in the operas he had performed in, etc., ect. I really enjoyed this exhibit; I only wish that I had actually seen him perform in real life. Next we went upstairs to see Picasso, he wasn’t there but there was a sizable amount of his work. I’m ashamed to say, I don’t really like most of what he did. The pencil drawings and the sculptures talked to me more than the paintings but I guess that my true love is rooted in antiquity.

Exiting the exhibitions we wandered around to the front and climbed the stairs in the front of Vittorio Emmanuelle enough to see the tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They had a special cop on the steps whose job it was to blow his whistle and prevent anyone from sitting on any one of all of those steps. He explained that this is a military monument and you must not sit down out of respect for the dead soldiers. Five in the evening, tired and in need of a recharge, we headed off to the Ghetto. Most of it is closed to traffic so it is much more pleasant than it used to be. It hasn’t come into its own yet as a tourist destination but I can see that very soon it will be full of restaurants with tourist eating on the streets. We sat down at a bar to have a beer. After a while we noticed that a group of well dressed elderly women were starting to accumulate on the bench across the street from us. Four of them were sitting side by side on one bench. Then three men come over to our side and sit down at the outdoor table next to ours and start talking but don’t purchase anything. As time goes by, more women arrive; they bring their own folding chairs and set up around the bench with the original four women. For a while it becomes multi generational as a young girl comes to hang out with her grandmother. Meanwhile at the table next to us, there were more and more men joining this group. We must have sat down at the tables that they habitually occupy, they didn’t ask us to move or to leave but we started feeling surrounded. Now there were over ten men. Some were sitting next to and behind Donna and some next to and behind me. We thought that it was getting to pretty comical. All of the men grouped next to us and not one of them has purchased a thing from this bar. All the while, those ladies were over there on the other side, serious and watching the men on our side. Finishing our beer, we decided that it was time to move on. We abandoned our spot and the men spread out into our chairs.

Day Five (Monday)

French Church

F.Y.I. This is Italy, on Mondays; everything of historical importance is closed.

Piazza Navona is going to the Pigeons

We returned the car to the airport, by now I am getting over getting lost all of the time. We actually navigated to the airport with little to do. I only made two wrong turns along the way but immediately realized that I had tried to apply logic to the situation and was able to rectify my naiveté and apply counter logic to get me back on the correct course. Dropping off the car was painless and we proceeded to the train station at the airport to catch the train to Termi which is the main station in Rome. We arrived at the station, followed the throngs out the front and began our great walking loop of what I consider the must see at least once while in Rome spots.

Campo Dei Fiori

First to Piazza della Republica to see the fountain (Rome for me is and always has been all about its fountains). On the piazza is the church converted from part of the baths of Diocletian called Santa Maria degli Angeli e’ gli Martiri (Santa Maria of the Angles and the Martyrs) which was worked on by Michelangelo and many others. It was pretty spectacular and definitely worth a look. From there we went on to Piazza Barberini (for the fountain) but the flow was reduced from where it should be. On to the Spanish Steps. We approached from above and bummer the church was closed but what a view of the City. Down the steps and past the boat fountain, across to Via Condoti which occasioned an obligatory visit into one of its exclusive stores by Donna who eventually emerged with a package in her hand and a smile on her face. Down a side street called Via Mario Dei Fiori kept us off the larger congested roads and soon we emerged onto the piazza that houses the Fontana di Trevi (another fountain). The fountain was being repaired, no water flowed and a crane was parked to the side. Naturally, no one was working on the fountain. From there down the alleys of Via delle Murate toward the Pantheon. I didn’t go look at the fountain in front of the Panteon, the building is so overwhelming that all else is lost. We did however go to the Tasso D’Oro for a coffee while in the neighborhood. Next, on to Piazza Navona. Mom, the church of the French something was closed, I will try to get back there sometime. Wasn’t there a statue of the Madonna with the dying Christ (like the pieta) on that same street behind Piazza Navona somewhere? I seem to remember old ladies touching the feet when I was a kid. Anyone know where that was?

Arch connects the Pallazzo Farnese across Via Giulia to another Palazzo

In Piazza Navona they are still working on the main fountain a year and a half later if you can believe that. The place was happening as usual. Artists selling their paintings and the cafes and restaurants full of people. We stopped and rested and paid 14€ for two coffees ($21.00) but it was worth it. From there we went past San Andrea della Valle into Largo del Pallaro to see the old house. Donna values the historical importance of this site as well since it is built on top of the theatre of Pompeii (yes, that same Pompeii guy that I mentioned before) where Julius Caesar was assassinated. We went through the metal gates and stopped at that restaurant (whose name escapes me) and asked to be allowed into their basement. There we stood in part of the ruins of the theatre. It was heavy with history and very powerful for both of us. Into the Campo dei Fiori, the market was being disassembled. And on to the Villa Farnese, we sat and rested on one of the fountains. I dragged Donna down the alley to Via Gulia so that I could look at that wall fountain of the face again. We got to see into the back garden of palazzo Farnese from the Via Gulia side and then we went down Via Gulia toward the Ghetto, the Theatro Marcellus and the bus stop to get us back home for the evening. Almost every one of these places had been visited last time we came but I feel the need to reconnect each time I return. By the way, we are already planning when to come next year. Perhaps in June on the way to Greece?

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

Well, that was an overwhelming experience not soon to be forgotten. We wandered down a block on that monster street Via della Conciliazione (built by Mussolini before WWII in his attempt to resurrect the Roman Empire) but that isn’t what I wanted to experience so we made a left and walked over to the base of the wall/ramp that joins the Vatican to the Castel San Angelo. Now we were back in old Rome again, it was a quiet street with restaurants that had tables spread all over the street. Donna needed to be recharged (food). After yesterday’s fiasco of a pizza sandwich at the metro station a better meal was in order. Donna wanted a sit down and, after all, it was Valentine’s Day. I passed up the first one because it was too close to the Vatican, then the next few were empty. I explained that since it was a crapshoot, I was looking for a restaurant with someone who might be a local. Well, the next one had a group of six priests all gathered around a table and another table with obvious Italians eating there. Seemed like a good choice and it wasn’t bad. We actually had a great lunch even if I only give the food a B+. The atmosphere was perfect and so was the company. After a while a British family sat down at the next table and for them it was a choice between spaghetti alla Carbonara, and spaghetti alla Bolongese. Well one child and one adult chose each. The youngest boy had an absolutely delightful accent, right out of a Harry Potter movie and he made me smile every time he talked.

After lunch we set off again for the Castel San Angelo and I explained again about the ramp (or rampart) and connection between the Vatican and the castle. The Pope would take off down that rampart and whole up in the castle every time he was under siege. For a while, they changed Popes by killing the previous one and anyone who conquered Rome got to choose the new Pope. We entered the castle, looked up and decided that we really didn’t need to do all of that climbing to see some windy rooms and some armor and other stuff, so we turned around and started of across the bridge. There is no traffic allowed in front of the castle and like many other bridges, there is no motor traffic allowed on the Ponte San Angelo. This is where we discovered what the truly black immigrants do for a living in Rome. They sell Gucci and other extremely expensive purses on bridges with two exits that no police vehicle can drive onto. You can find them on any of the bridges that are closed to vehicles but in few other places. There were other vendors and perhaps an Indian with flowers but I’m not sure now. I turned around to get a photo across the bridge and then we wandered into the small streets of Rome paralleling the river but not quite in view of it. We were hunting out architectural features. Always on the lookout for another fountain, but other things as well. We found ourselves on Via Giulia and I reminded Donna that all first daughters in the Caesar family were named Giulia (not sure that the street was named for one of them). We photographed entries to stores that had pieces of antiquity built into the face of the building. It seems there are tons of examples of those. Took shots of buildings with interesting mixtures of colors and textures. We came across a store that had a whole bunch of plaster feet in the window. There were large men feet down to delicate women’s feet in sandals. We got off a number of shots to send to Leonardo (yes Leonardo, she knows you like feet). There were overwhelming facades of churches on streets that are hardly more than 20’ wide, they must have really been hard up for real estate back then to put such monster churches on such small streets where no one will ever be able to get far enough back to get a feel for the majesty of the entrance to the church. Arched openings that join one street through a building to another street on the other side. And oh yes, for Chris Coseo my client, we photographed a bunch of flying buttresses. He had been giving me a hard time on the flying buttresses that were put in the project so I wanted to show him how common they are. There is a gorgeous arching bridge that connects the Palazzo Farnese across the Via Giulia to another palazzo that adjoins the river with roots and vines hanging down. I noticed that it has the Fleur-de-lis (how do you spell that Mahlon?) symbols on the bridge. I guess that the palazzo Farnese has been the French embassy for a very long time. Just beyond that I came across the fountain I had been searching for. The marble face mounted on a stonewall with the water shedding out of the mouth into a shell and then down into a bath tub. This is located at Via Giulia and the other corner of the palazzo and has always been one of my favorite small fountains. See how many times I mention the Via Giulia, this is a wonderful street to wander down. Lots of interesting stores mixed in with other things. At another time I found a store that sold obscure DVDs.

We crossed the river into Trastevere on Ponte Garibaldi so that I could bring Donna back across the island and show her what is left of Ponte Vechio (very little). Seems to me there was another span that is gone now. It is down to one last piece. Through the Teatro Marcello this time instead of around it. It is undergoing serious reconstruction and there is a team of archeologists in white hazmat suits working on digging stuff up. They have added a whole new wing to the teatro and extended it at least 30’ further than it was before. It is done in a greenish Tufa stone and includes the fine details that the original must have featured. Looking at the photos I see that the apartments on top have been extended over the new wing as well, Guess they are recapturing part of the cost of reconstruction by renting it out. As I mentioned, they are resurrecting ancient Rome. From there we went on to see the round temple of Vesta. With all of the prints that I have and with the one I reproduced at Clyde’s it was time to feel the real thing once again. I couldn’t get very close; like almost everything else in Rome that is two or three thousand years old, there is a fence around it now. Sort of sad. It’s great that they are protecting as much as they can but I can remember the days when I could climb on it and that was very cool too. Note: Turns out that I was wrong, and have been wrong all of my life. Who would have thought? I just zoomed in to what I always knew to be the Temple of Vesta. It is not! It is the Temple of Hercules Victor. How embarrassing is that? Great fountain in that piazza, two mermen supporting a large shell or something and the church in the background, it was fantastic.

Now across the street to the Bocca della Verita. What a crowd, obviously poor timing on our part. The line went all the way across the front of the church and it moved very slowly. There was a side benefit to the wait. Our curiosity was peeked by the hand written sign that said the church had relics of the body of Saint Valentine. Seemed appropriate in view of the date. The line moved slowly but we were entertained by the guy outside that was selling some ancient Roman flute-like instrument that looked a lot like an ancient oil lamp. He could play a tune on it but nobody else could and they were selling like hotcakes to a group of students. As we neared the front of the line an Italian family reached the Bocca. The husband stuck his hand in and screamed bloody murder or something because at that second I was watching his wife and she almost had a heart attack. He really scared the shit out of her, very entertaining. So we arrived at the front of the line. I got a picture of the Bocca by itself so that I have a good photo for when I make one for my own yard and we now have photos of each of us with our hands in the mouth, very touristy but fun.

We then proceeded into the church which is much like so many other ones in Rome except that they had this side altar and above it was a glass and gold box with a scull and some bones in it. All that is left of Saint Valentine. Extremely morbid, but a real crowd pleaser I’m sure and it gets the crowds into the church. As we walked across the street and looked back we saw that they were closing the church and locking out the crowds. We had made it just in time to see the Bocca. I could not have left Rome without seeing that. Well, from there back to the bus stop just down the hill from the teatro Marcello and back home to Beatrice and Renzo.

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.