October 12-19, ROMA = AMOR (ROME = LOVE)

BLOG ENTRY: October 12-19, ROMA = AMOR (ROME = LOVE)

This might be the last Blog Entry for a few weeks. Tomorrow we join our tour of Italy followed by a cruise from Venice to Florida arriving in Fort Lauderdale on November 10. I understand that there is either no internet service or it is expensive.

Rome is by far the most agreeable and the most interesting tourist visit of our world tour. We arrived 5:30pm Monday, October 12, at Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Fiumicino. We knew there is a train that would take us into the city but we were not sure how to arrange it or the location of the Termini station where it would drop us off. Evening was coming and after 10.5 hours of flying and changing planes plus another 1.5 hours getting to the airport and checking in New Delhi, we decided to find a cab or shuttle. We saw an ‘official’ shuttle desk in the airport. They wanted 60 Euro $92 to take us to our hotel. Right next door was another service at 36 Euro , $55. We took it arriving at 8pm, some 12.5 hours after leaving our hotel in New Delhi. We later found out that the train would have cost us 22 Euro. We later bought a week pass on the transportation metro/bus system for 16 Euro $26 each.

Our previous experiences had left us very cautious about our hotel. We booked with the North American chain, the Best Western Hotel President, over their web site, and paid $272/night to be sure we had a good place. The entrance was OK but not as modern looking as we expected, given the web site claim that it had been modernized and the price of 174 Euro, $272/night. The elevator also was a little rickety, small, and slow. Arriving at the 5th floor, the door to our room was electronically operated but had no safety locks. The room had something like a woven burlap floor, with single beds, although the mattresses were good. The bathroom was modern with a good tub as we requested, but narrow for our liking, and a bidet. AND I could not get internet access. There was a fridge but no kettle and coffee/tea supplies. I marched down to the front desk to say that the room was not as advertised. The lone attendant told me how to hook up to the internet and sent me to the bar for coffee/tea supplies. When the bar tender was available he took me into the dining room and came out with all the supplies we would need leaving me to carry them up to our room. That night we were suspicious of every itch and checked our beds many times. Over the next day we began to relax and enjoyed the hot water bath/shower which worked well, water drinkable from the tap, our excellent beds, high speed internet and good breakfast included in the price, and plasma TV but with only one English channel, CNN.

THE ROMAN COLOSSEUM, PLATINE HILL, and FORUM

We slept in on Tuesday and walked about 2km to the Colosseum. The streets were clean and well maintained. Construction sites were well secured and safe. Traffic lights and pedestrian walk lights were obeyed. We didn’t hear any horns honking. We felt like we were in a civilized place, not that other places were not civilized, but this place was very agreeable. Arriving at the Colosseum we found it as expected; large and partially destroyed after its 2000 year history. Lots of people were there but unlike the Eiffel Tower, the lines were short and we were inside in about 20 minutes, with tickets costing 24 Euro each for visiting the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Forum.

According to Rick Steeves, our audio guide downloaded off the internet at the suggestion of our friend Carol Tanner, Rome was a major civilization with a 1000 year history. Beginning in 500 BC, it reached its peak during the building of the Colosseum, 72-80 AD, and for the next 200 years. Then Rome declined for another 300 years. For the first 500 years Rome was a republic, ruled by an elected senate. However, Julius Caesar, was so successful as a warrior and so popular that he was able to the override the senate to become the final authority, the emperor, and Rome became an Empire.

While it is only a physical structure the history of the Colosseum makes being there a momentous experience. The Coloseum held 50,000 fans, and was mostly covered – the Roughrider stadium holds about 30,000, but discussions are taking place to build anew or to cover it. I wonder if that means that we are at the peak of our civilization, and that the end is only a few centuries away. Caesar walked the same steps we took! We saw the seats in which he and other emperors sat, the area where the nobility sat, and the high bleachers where the common people sat. The centre oval, about the size of 2 football fields, is a maze of walls which were once under the floor of the stadium. During Roman times these walls were covered with a wooden floor, on which 9 inches of sand was placed.

The Colosseum had several functions. It showed the power of Rome and the Emporer. It provided entertainment for the nobility and the poor who also felt power as they were given the choice of whether a fighter in the ring should live or die. Great spectacles were created. The Colosseum was inaugurated with a 100 day festival, during which 2000 men and 9000 animals where killed. They didn’t have Febreeze but they did have perfumes to cover the stench of all the blood and guts. Gladiators would fight each other, the loser’s life, if he was still alive, left to the wishes of the crowd. A slave would be the star of a show in which a great mythical hero was slain – the slave. Just as we had heard prior to arriving, another favourite event was to put hungry lion/lions in the ring. Then a slave, a captured warrior, or a Christian would be raised naked from below into the ring and left to the lions.

Rome became Christian in the year 312 when Constantine defeated his rival in a battle to and became the sole ruler of Rome. A huge arch, the Arch of Constantine, was mounted outside the Colosseum, honour him. Soon after the use of the stadium for human slaughter was stopped and many decades later the use of it for animals was stopped too.

THE PALATINE HILL AND THE FORUM

After the Colosseum we continued to visit the Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Rome was a massive city and much of it still exists even though in ruins. We did not realize the size of the area. The hill was the home of the emperor and nobles, who could walk down into the Roman Forum, the civil centre of Rome. There the republican Senate met and the halls of justice existed. There is no point for us to try to describe all the areas and building. More details are available on the Roman Forum at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Forum and on the Palatine Hill at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatine_Hill and http://www.roman-empire.net/tours/rome/forum-romanum.html which includes a model of how the forum looked in 300 AD. Finally the following site is impressive in the way it provides sketches of the way buildings looked by in Roman times and explains them http://maquettes-historiques.net/P5.html

Suffice it to say that the area is massive and clearly was the centre of a powerful well developed society.

By the time we had walked through much of the Palatine Hill and the Forum our legs were getting very sore and we returned to the hotel, easily finding a bus that took us there. We had a nap and later found a small Chinese food restaurant with take out food, two dishes for 8.50 Euro $14.

VATICAN MUSEUM AND THE SISTINE CHAPEL

Wednesday the 14th we took the metro, the entrance of which was right in front of our Hotel, to the Ottavario stop about 500 meters from the Vatican. As we left the Metro station and continued on to the Vatican, there were several people offering guided tours and handing out restaurant deal promotion sheets. We ignored them all. As we were walking toward the Vatican we chose to head toward St. Peter’s Basilica, the home of the Pope. One of the people offering guide service told us it was closed because the Pope was celebrating mass. So we walked around a large building to the entrance of the Vatican Museum which includes the Sistine Chapel painted by Michelangelo. We paid 14 Euro $23 each, to gain access.

The museum is massive, the second largest in Europe after The Louvre in Paris. There are halls for massive tapestries (carpets hung on the walls with images like paintings), Egyptian, Greek and Roman antiquities, a special room for the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, the Sistine Chapel, ancient maps, and many other areas which were really lost on us. One would need to study the Museum for some time before visiting in order to appreciate and notice the history and meanings behind all the items on display.

In the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo we listened to one of Rick Steeves audio guides which we had downloaded to Rose’s IPod. The Sistine Chapel was painted in 4 years between 1508 and 1512 by Michelangelo and his staff. That’s around the time that Columbus discovered America. The painting is by fresco which means that his staff would apply the plaster and he would do the painting on it before it dried. He stood up the whole time and looked up while he was painting, a process which caused great pain and suffering. The total area painted is 12,000 sq feet, 1,100 sq meters. That’s about the same size as doing detailed paintings on every square inch of a Canadian football field up to the 20 yard line.

In my view Michelangelo’s paintings in the Sistine Chapel, in both technical and artistic expertise and in thematic composition probably were a major contributor to promote general belief in the biblical stories from creation to Christ. The chapel ceiling is composed of 9 large frescos from the creation story in the book of Genesis: 1) Separation of light from darkness, 2) creation of the sun, moon, and earth, 3) the separation of land and water, 4) the famous scene of the creation of Adam, 5) the creation of Eve, 6) the temptation and expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, 7) the sacrifice of Noah, 8) the great flood, and 9) the drunkenness of Noah. Around the edges of the ceiling he painted many prophets, and the ancestral family of Jesus. Fifteen years later, at age 70, Michelangelo painted the last judgement on one the wall behind the main alter. The years between the paintings tell part of the story. The ceiling is full of creation and life. The wall is full of judgement and the failings of man. At one point an angel is holding hostly figure by its clothes, deciding whether to let it go down to hell. The figure is said to be Michelangelo himself wondering about his lifetime behaviour. The theme recognizes that humans have a special relationship with God but that we always fall short of our potential, a common theme of Christianity.

ST. PETER’S BASCILICA and PIAZZA (Square/courtyard)

Thursday the 15th was our day for St. Peter’s Basilica. The Basilica and the Vatican Museum are all part of one complex. As we walked into the square or courtyard in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, we found ourselves almost surrounded by the large oval cloisters, called colonnades, around the ‘square’, like two open hands welcoming the people. They were built between 1656 and 1657, around the time that my French ancestors came to Canada from France. On top of the cloisters are 140 large statues of Saints. At one end connecting colonnades, massive St. Peters Basilica stands. On each side in front of the Basilica are large statues of the Apostles Peter and Paul who were executed in Rome. Peter is said to be buried under the Basilica. In the middle of the Piazza is an Egyptian Obelisk from 1300 BC. It was brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula, and placed in the square in 1586.

We continued to the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica and entered. Impressive is just not adequate for the largest church in all Christendom. It holds 60,000 standing people and covers 6 acres of land. Our large RC Holy Spirit church in Saskatoon holds 800 people sitting. The basic design was by Michelangelo, who also sculpted the famous Pieta, the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, which is in one corner of the Bascilica.

Later we went to the top of the ‘Cupola’, the dome of St. Peter’s. By the time were near the top my camera battery went dead and my extra battery was in my back pack which we had checked. A nice young man from Norway took our photo at the top and agreed to send it to us. The view of all Rome from the top is breathtaking. Although getting there is a long walk up 320 increasing narrow steps as you near the top of the Dome. I’ll bet the Pope doesn’t go up there these days.

After visiting the Piazza we followed the wide thoroughfare and had lunch in a small restaurant before crossing the Ponte Sant' Angelo (Bridge), which is beside the Castel Sant' Angelo. Continuing up the streets, which were lined with hundreds of small shops in old buildings filled with tourist products, quality products and antiques, we passed through the Piazza Navona, a large market square filled also filled with small market stands, artists, and fountains. One one side was another large church. It is remarkable that this city has so many large churches all with marble columns frescos, statues and history that makes Saskatoon seem like a baby.

We finally arrived at our destination, the Roman Pantheon. This is said to be the best preserved piece of Roman architecture, originally built around 35 BC to honour the Roman Gods, and rebuilt in the second century AD. Large and ulilitarian, it is an engineering masterpiece. Later, like most Roman buildings that were not destroyed, it became a Christian Church.

After the Pantheon stopped at a McDonald's to use the bathroom, and then, with the help of a tourist information office we found earlier, we hopped on Bus 218 which took us back to our hotel.


BASILICA OF ST. JOHN LATERIN AND THE CHURCH OF STS. SERGIO AND BACCHUS

Friday the 16th we walked just 2 blocks from our hotel to the Basilica of St. John Laterin, the oldest of Rome’s 4 basilicas. It is also huge, not as large as St. Peter’s but still huge. Around side of the main aisle were massive statues of the 12 apostles. We took a photo of St. Thomas as an example, and as my namesake. Five Ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church were held in this Basilica. Ornate is truly a description of the ceiling much of it in gold. Massive ancient paintings, frescos, adorn the walls, one of the holy family. The centre alter is a large square construction and near the top in gold behind a gated wall are sculptures of God and Jesus (I thought they were one with the holy spirit, but who is to question 2000 years of Christian doctrine).

Across the street is yet another large church. The entrance includes a large stairway raising up to an enclosed alter which is said to have included relics of St. John, which have now been moved to St. Peter’s Basilica. The stairs are covered in Oak which is said to have been brought by St. Helen from Jerusalem. They were the stairs that Jesus climbed to be condemned by Pontius Pilot.

Our friends Jim Komar and John Irwin wrote us to mention that two gay Saints Sergio and Bacchus had a church built in their name in Rome. Later we went back to the Colosseum area to look for the church, Santi Sergius and Bacchus. We found it within 200 meters of the Colosseum, a small church, but we were not able to enter it. Wikipedia has an excellent article on the church SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Sergio_e_Bacco . And another article on the saints is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergius_and_Bacchus

THE CATACOMBES

Saturday the 17th we went to see the Christian Catacombes at Saint Callisto. They were outside the Rome’s old city borders because only Roman citizens could be buried in the city. We were corrected immediately in our belief that the catacombs were used by the Christians to escape their Roman persecutors. They were in fact just burial chambers carved out of lava rock, and from local quarries for cement ingredients. Bodies were laid into small body sized carved into the walls, covered with lime to speed up the rotting, and then the chambers were sealed with brick and mortar. Apparently everyone wanted to die like Jesus, in a tomb (although Jesus didn’t have lime poured over him, so we find again another stretch of the Christian imagination). Like Canadian cemeteries, each one had a name inscribed, although as we saw them they were all open and empty. In some places a grotto was created and lined in slate or marble and even a few statutes were added, but most had been destroyed. Even a few Popes were initially buried here. The chambers were apparently raided for hundreds of years by various groups and conquerors likely looking for gold and jewels. Then they were ignored for a 1000 years before an archaeologist began investigating them. There are apparently 60 catacombs around Rome. The catacombs included Christians, Jews, the poor, slaves, and criminals, all who were not allowed citizens of Rome.

OUR LAST DAYS IN ROME
Sunday we went to the 10am church service at St. John Laterine, did our laundry, rested, worked on our blog, and found a local restaurant for supper. We shared a small lasagne with a salad, garlic toast, and a half bottle of Pinot Grigio wine – 23 Euro, $38 (not tip because we found a live bug in the salad – the staff just shrugged) – coffee and desert in our room.
On checking our reservation for Monday at our next hotel, Hotel Melia Aurelia Antica, we were not registered. Experience allowed us to calmly find the number of our tour company in USA, YMT Vacations. We learned that the hotel was now the Holiday Inn West, also on Via Aurelia, and in which we were registered, but we could not check in until 2pm. We have been away so long that the final package of information for our tour likely arrived in Saskatoon after we left, September 1.

Monday morning, October 19 we packed, left our luggage at the hotel and went to visit a local palace. More later, whenever we get more internet service.