Rome day five - Sept 26, 2010

Having only one full day left, we arose early and returned to some of the more popular spots in Rome to get some better photos at the Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps.

Then we took a bus to the Palatine Hill, the area next to the forum where the wealthier Romans lived in extensive homes. This isn't as popular as the Colosseum and Forum, but we really liked it's labyrinth of rooms, stairs, gardens and tunnels.The views over the Forum from the Palatine Hill were extraordinary.The large building across the way is only one side of a massive 312AD building, the Basilica of Constantine, which housed courts, and was the largest building in the world at the time. In the lower right is the temple of the vestal virgins. Eight year old girls were selected to tend the flame in the temple and perform other temple ceremonies for 30 years, after which time they could marry. In return they lived in luxury, and had good seats at the Colosseum.

After lunch, we walked to some more our favorite spots one last time.

The next morning, we took a last walk through to the Turtle Fountain and Tiber Island, then rode the tram, then train to the airport (moving pretty quickly through the train station, and ready for a rumble). Since we actually did toss coins into the Trevi fountains (over our backs, the proper way, not like all the other tourists we saw), we look forward to returning to Rome in a few years, hopefully to the same apartment view we love so much.This is a pretty nice Italy Guides website on Rome, with virtual panoramic views. That website has free audio guides, as does Rick Steves, including London.

So that concludes our Great Britain and Rome trip. The is the first big vacation we've had with no children along, and in part, was to reward Debbie for taking such good care of my mother while she lived out her last six months in our home. I will be eternally grateful, as will my family, to her for her loving service, not only to mom, but to us. While we've loved our vacations with the kids more than anything, it's nice to know that we still get along so well when it's just us.

Rome day four - Sept 25

We started off this day with an MP3 tour of the Trastevere neighborhood on the other side of the Tiber River.

One of the stops was a small church run by nuns called Saint Cecilia, which grew out of a home-based Christian meeting place in about 300AD. People were preparing the church with flowers for a wedding while the nuns were conducting some sort of service up front. The singing was beautiful. We found another church, also preparing for a wedding, and a small Saturday market.

One of the best parts of Rome is simply walking through the endless narrow lanes, listening to people speaking Italian, and people watching at Piazzas. Looking out our windows, I noticed that all of the buildings and roofs were flawed in one way or another. Plaster is cracked, paint is faded, roof tiles don't follow any kind of straight lines, many roofs didn't seem very flat at all, and one wall might have five different types of construction. But it is so beautiful, so Italian, the perfection of imperfection.

After lunch back at our apartment, we went to a nearby museum with a Da Vinci inventions exhibit, and a small exhibit on Mother Teresa, depicting her life, and staffed by two of the sisters of Calcutta. We were really impressed with her life work among the poor of Calcutta. In the evening Debbie rested while I made the Capitol, Colosseum, Circus Maximus circle on foot for some night photos.

Rome day three - Sept 24, 2010

We got up early and caught a bus to St Peters Bacillica, when very few people were there. I think it opened about 7AM.
The architecture and art inside is impressive, to say the least, for a building completed in 1626. We listened to an MP3 tour, and learned a lot. But, like everything in Rome, learning a lot still means you've barely scratched the surface.
There were all sorts of side-chapel places where people were holding small services of some purpose with priests, but I don't generally take photos of that sort of personal proceedings. They have several Popes under other altars, with glass on the front so you can see into their coffin, but I didn't think I should photograph those either.
They say Peter is buried under the central alter. One alcove has a monument which is said to be directly over the spot in a Roman circus where Peter was crucified (upside down).
Some of the Swiss Guard. They let the dude in jeans through, but were still checking out the nun.
Then we went over to the Castel SantAngelo, built in 139AD, which has served many functions throughout history, like a mausoleum for Roman emperors, a prison, and a fortress. There's a huge wall with a tunnel in it between the Vatican and the castle which could be used by the Pope if Rome came under attack. It was the residence of Pope Clement VII during the 1527 sack of Rome.
One of the best parts of any Italian city is to watch how everyday life unfolds.
In the evening, we took a small electric bus over to the Spanish Steps (too crowded, will return for photos), walked by Gregory Peck's Roman Holiday address on Via Margutta 51, up to Piazza del Popolo, then took the tube to an evening opening of the Vatican Museum we had purchased tickets for online ahead of time.

The Vatican Museum was impressive to the extreme. I'm sure that in only a few hours we saw only a fraction of it.It looked like they, like the British Museum, had "found" or "borrowed" a lot of Egyptian and Greek artifacts. We liked the ceiling in the map corridor. There was a large section devoted to the art of Rafael which recounted a lot of history and stories. We also went inside the Sistine chapel, with our MP3 tour, but no photos allowed there. LINK to online photos It really is amazing that Michaelangelo was able to paint that ceiling with so much detail and depth. It's a patina, which we found out means that it had to be painted on fresh wet mortar, so if he was dissatisfied with it, the whole days section came off to be redone.