New pics are up at www.kelseylumpkin.shutterfly.com
Day 3 in Rome began with a trip to Campo de Fiori were there is usually a big produce market every morning. Since all Italians go on vacation for most of August the market was rather smaller than we had anticipated: But there were a few stands, so we loaded up on veggies; dried fruit and nuts for snacks and picnics.
We had a nice (although a bit longer than anticipated) walk to the area of town with all of the old ruins. First on the list was Marciellos Theater: Sort of a mini Coliseum in a much more ruined state and with fewer people around. Wandered through a magnificent Piazza designed by Michelangelo and over to the Roman forum.
Let me take a moment here to try to explain how hot it was in Rome, without being overdramatic… Imagine a sauna. You have been trapped in the sauna by someone who thinks this will be a funny joke. The jokester keeps shoveling wood onto the fire and trying to sell you 3 euro bottles of water until you think your skin might begin to melt off and you want to throw the sauna bench through the wall just to get out. But the jokester has taken the bench … your last hope for refuge is gone. Yea, the oppressive, sweltering heat in Rome in August is sort of like that. (To be fair: EVERYONE and EVERY guide book in the world told us emphatically not to go to Rome in August…I guess we're just gluttons for punishment)
So back to the Trio of Travelers in the Furnacious Forum. (Get it? Furnacious? Like –of a furnace…) At this point in the day we were getting pretty hungry, hot, tired of walking and a bit dehydrated because we had been resisting the 3 euro bottles of water. So the Roman Forum (which was nothing like I expected…basically a big field of ruins) passed us by in a bit of a blur. We found a somewhat shady spot and settled into our random assorted picnic lunch items. It's amazing what a little fuel and rest will do to your energy level…
So we were raring to go again. And it was on to the Coliseum. Wow. This place is truly a jaw dropper. It is especially amazing to me that when the Coliseum fell out of use, the Romans of the time plundered it for it's building materials (some of which were used to build the Vatican)…I guess they didn't realize what a beautiful and unique gem they had. I can't pinpoint why exactly…but I just really liked the Coliseum…it was…refreshing.
So then it was back onto the bus and a couple of churches and some mind-blowing cannoli from a Sicilian Pastry shop and back to the hostel. And early to bed because tomorrow was…The Vatican Day.
We got up early on The Vatican Day to get ahead in line for the Vatican museum. We arrived 45 minutes before the museum even opened…seems plenty early enough, right? Well, it seems that everyone else in Rome (and indeed, perhaps all of Italy or maybe Europe) had also decided that this would be an excellent time and day to visit the Vatican Museum. This was partly because the museum had been closed for the previous two days…so; really we were asking for it.
3 hours (I am not kidding) and many games of 20 Questions later…we were in!
Side note: My favorite game of 20 Questions went exactly like this:
Allison: Is it a person?
Me: Yes.
Allison: Is it the Pope?
Me: Yes.
I have heard the Vatican Museum compared to a garage sale…they just have SO much stuff that it is sort of shoved in everywhere and among it are some really amazing things but you have to be willing to sort through the crowds and the junk to really appreciate them. I think one of my favorite pieces was a gigantic acorn statue that used to be the centerpiece of the fountain that was in front of the original St. Peters Basilica. First of all, it was mammoth and the idea of something so obviously pagan and 'of the earth' among the gregarious catholic-ness of it all was very satisfying to me.
After about one and a half hours in the museum you finally reach the Sistine Chapel. The Sistine Chapel is so much not what I expected that when we walked in I actually said out loud "This isn't it!" But it was. The biggest surprise for me was the shape of the room…I always imagined it to be round…it was a rectangle: Secondly, I thought the iconographic image of God about to touch Adams finger was pretty much the whole ceiling…it was a small portion in the middle of many other things on the ceilings and walls. Hmmm…
After the shock of the museum started to wear off…and we had consumed some seriously large slices of pizza, we were off on a very important mission. I had been given directions from the Sada Sats to the "Best Gelato in Rome." And this was something that had to be found…it was found…and it was…so…good. I almost want to get up right now and take a 12 hour train ride just to go back and have another dish…I mean, this stuff was heavenly.
And on that celestial thought we tore ourselves away from the gelateria and headed back to see St. Peters Basilica, the one time biggest church in the Catholic faith. This was when Megan had her insightful comment that inspired the title of this post. And then, we walked inside. Jaw dropping doesn't quite describe it. I mean truly and utterly amazing. Starting with the vastness of the space and the general hugeness of everything down to the painstakingly beautiful details on a fresco or statue. This place is a marvel. What was especially amazing to me was that despite the hoards of tourists there was still a definite sense of prayer and spiritual power in this place…whew!
We stumbled home in complete overload trying to take in and process everything we had seen. It was an amazing day but the accumulation of three days of serious all day sightseeing were starting to drag on us…so we decided to let ourselves sleep in the next ,morning and just really try to relax. Which is exactly what we did…and it was nice.
OK. That’s it for now. Still to come: going out our last night in Rome, travel day to Zurich, Switzerland and a travel day to France.
Love and Blessings,
KNL
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