Holy Rome

Sunday October 12, 2008

Yes, we know we have been going to a lot of churches but there are just so many here. Seems like there is at least one on every block. But this was the visit to see the Pope at the BIG one here, St. Peter’s. Through some advance online research, Mel found out that the pope would be saying an outdoor mass today at 9:30 to canonize or recognize as saints four people, so we had to join in.

And it was interesting, indeed. The four new saints were from Italy, Ecuador, India, and Switzerland. We sat in a mixed section of people, some from India and some from Italy. Whenever one of the new saints was mentioned a cheer would go up from people of that country, who would wave flags and banners, kind of like your typical international soccer match. We were amazed at the number of people from the different countries, especially the large contingent from Ecuador. We voted the Swiss to be the best behaved and the Italians (Neapolitans, of course!) the most spirited. It was pretty uplifting to be among so many people who had come so far as pilgrims for to witness a ceremony in honor of one of their own. (Personal note from Mel to any of our readers who think they might be headed for sainthood themselves: You might want to have some kind of codicil in your will stipulating who [or what worthy cause] should receive the royalties from the sale of t-shirts, tote bags, baseball caps, scarves, flags, and banners emblazoned with your name and likeness. I am afraid that the heirs of the new Saint Gaetano missed out on a good thing here. As one of my beloved high school teachers, Mother Genevieve Marie, used to admonish her charges, “A word to the wise ought to be sufficient”.)

With the size of the square there, and it was full, we were about in the center so we got to watch the Mass on TV and listen to the readings in any of the languages of the participants, including English and Greek. Once again, our Latin and Gregorian Chant came back to us from the far recesses of our memories. At the end, the pope got into the popemobile and drove through the crowd. We were within about 20 feet for the pictures we have.

After Mass, the enormous crowd was headed either to the subway or into the Basilica, so we, of course, went elsewhere. A little lunch and a stroll before getting on the subway for the trip down to the other end of the city and an attempt to find Via Appia Antica. This was the old road that the Romans built to link Rome with the rest of the world. It ran all the way down the boot to a port on the east coast and is renowned as the place Romans go on Sunday for a little walk. It is also supposed to have some of the monuments that were put up along the road and maybe an aqueduct or two. We have looked for it before with limited success (ask our boys about the Death March) and we did about as well this time finding a path with a few monuments and little explanation. Anyway it was a fairly pleasant stroll but we did get to wait for a bus for about 40 minutes to return us to the 21st century.

Back home for some wine and dinner. We will have to go back to Vatican City on Tuesday to visit St. Peter’s but tomorrow’s destination will be Ostia Antica, the original port city for Rome.

Ciao!
Tom and Mel

Tourist Rome

Saturday October 11, 2008

This was the day to catch up with all those things we had hadn’t yet done on this trip that everyone comes here to see. We even started it by using public transit, the nearby tram that goes only about half a mile into the old city. From there we made our way, stopping at a few beautiful churches, including Il Gesu, the Jesuits’ home in Rome, to the Pantheon. As our downloaded audioguides described, this is the oldest continuously used building in Rome. It is about 2000 years old and has a dome, which is beautiful on the inside, as well as an engineering marvel; it is the model for all the domes we now see on churches and government buildings. This type of architecture was lost for over 1000 years until they studied the principles embodied in this building in the middle ages.

From this gem we headed to the center of tourism in Rome, the Trevi Fountain which, even in October, is mobbed with people. It is beautiful but hard to enjoy. The next (brief) stop was the Piazza di Spagna and the Spanish Steps and from there we walked up to Piazza del Popolo and the Pincian Hill in Borghese Gardens to enjoy the city views and the relatively quiet surroundings.

After our usual lunch in the shade, we walked over to the Tiber and followed it down to the Castel Sant’Angelo, near the Vatican. Much of the walk was along a quiet stretch of the quay and, when we began to encounter large throngs again, we descended to the river level and walked on quietly, taking in the wonderful views of the dome of St. Peter’s.

We then followed the Via Gulia, which was once the longest and straightest street in Rome, and is now celebrating its 500th birthday. It is lined with churches, palazzos and lots of history. After a few more piazzas and glimpses into alluring courtyards, we headed home for happy hour on the roof, accompanied by church bells, a few helicopters, and the last of our drying laundry!

Tonight, we returned to the centro storico for a concert of sacred music by a German choir in the very baroque Church of St. Ignatius, another Jesuit bastion.

Ciao!
Mel and Tom

Ancient Rome

Friday, October 10

Today it was Ancient Rome, which is quite close to our digs, just across the river. Regardless of how many times we see this area. We are always impressed by the fact that these ruins still exist.

Anyway, we began the day with a walk over to Circus Maximus, walking through the field where they staged chariot races for up to 300,000 people. We used an audioguide on our MP3 players to help us understand the significance of what now looks like a sunken field.

Then, on to the Colosseum, which we entered with our Roma Passes, bypassing the long ticket line. The place is hard to describe, but we had a downloaded Rick Steves commentary to guide us. The Colosseum is a ruin with some walls obviously rebuilt but the fact that it is still standing is amazing. Yankee stadium has been there~100 years and will be gone as soon as they close it, but the Colosseum has been standing there for 2000 years and was used for over 500. (Note from MER: A couple of weeks ago, I saw a column in the NYTimes reflecting on 45 years of memories at Shea Stadium; we must be joking!)

From there we entered the Palatine Hill-Roman Forum complex, which is all on a combined entry ticket with the Colosseum. We climbed the hill to look at the ruins on the Palatine. These were the palaces and houses of the emperors and their families and are mostly ruins with little explanation (unless you get the audio guide). We also ran into our first pickpocket attempt of this trip, which was unsuccessful.

Then down the hill to the Forum, along the Via Sacra from the Arch of Titus to the Arch of Septimius Severus. Audioguides again helped us understand what this place once was; we needed no help to appreciate the monumental construction skills of the Ancient Romans.

It was a hot afternoon and, after cooling off in the Campidoglio, the gorgeous Michelangelo-designed piazza at the top of the Capitoline Hill, we headed off to see the ruins of the Imperial Forums, which lie alongside the sidewalks that Romans pass every day. This aspect of the city, the coexistence of the ancient and the routine of daily life, is always so striking to us.

We pressed on to the see Michelangelo’s Moses at the Church of St. Peter in Chains, which also houses the chains that held the imprisoned Peter, and the mosaics and reputed relic of the crib of the Infant Jesus at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

We walked a few blocks to Termini, the city’s main train station, and luckily, just before collapsing, we found a bus that took back to Trastevere and “home”.