Day 2 – Break ya neck
October 16 - Holy See, Rome Italy
It was so early. The sun wasn’t even up yet. Still we managed to get ready and pull ourselves out of bed. The streets were alive with hustle and bustle as the people getting ready for the early shift. Our first stop was a cafe for breakfast. It just wasn’t worth the €20 a person for the hotel breakfast. So we went into a crowded cafe, got cornettos and Nutella espressos before going making our way down into the subway system.
Yeah, after Japan, this was easy. Only two lines going two ways…no problem. But it as just as crowded. Just a few stops and off to meet our tour group at the Vatican.
The line was a million years long.
But our tour guide was super chipper about taking us the half- billion steps to the back. She knew that half of the people would get kicked out of the line for being in the wrong line, and when they did the line flew.
The inside was an interesting mix between an airport and museum entrance. After going through security and up a series of steps, our guide led us outside to a garden to talk about the museum and to take a few pictures. Soon, it was our turn and we first went into the galleries.
Nothing could have prepared me
The immense scale, details and intricacies of the paintings was absolutely stunning. The precision of the sculptures was insane. There are just no words to describe the beauty. I’ve seen pictures and stuff of the frescoes before, but never imagined their sheer size. Everything… from the ceilings to the walls were covered in paintings. But not just paintings…detailed paintings. Just found it amazing as someone who photoshops…usually when making crowds, the back people don’t really matter, they’re just filler. But not in these paintings. Everyone person had their own story to tell. I often found myself just staring up at the background people who seemed to have more interesting details than the main characters. The time and effort spent was truly awe-inspiring. I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I think I should simply because they can’t do the place justice.
Then we voyaged down the hall of tapestries (And you know how we love rugs) Even these were insanely detailed. Now that a rug guy showed us what to look for, we can fully appreciate the craftsmanship of these tapestries. Some of them were marked with what material was used to make them, some had the artist name, some had a date… dates older than our country. It was quite amazing to see something that’s so meticulously created last so long, and stay and such good condition.
I wanted to touch it.
Butttt….I didn’t want to be sacked by Vatican guards who I somehow relate to storm-troopers (I think the first pope I remember as a child gave me Darth Sideous vibes and now it’s stuck) So yeah, I behaved myself.
Anyway, my neck still hurts from straining to see everything. Our tour guide was on a time schedule and we didn’t spend as much time as I normally would have in museums, but honestly, we couldn’t. It was just so much. I would honestly need like a week in there just to get an idea of what all was in there. If I were an art historian…man that place would be all over for me.
The Sistine chapel was bigger than I imagined. I knew it was on the ceiling, but I had no idea the ceiling was so…massive. The creation of Adam was just a little section on the full canvas. (yeah, you’re not supposed to take pictures in there and because of my irrational fear of the papal guards…I didn’t.)
We stayed in there for quite some time. I’d forget to look down every now and then and my shoulders and neck would lock up. Totally worth it.
Our next and final stop in the Vatican was Saint Peter’s Bascillica.
Holy. Pope.
You know its the biggest church in the world. You walk in, prepared that its the biggest church in the world. Then you gasp at the sight…because its the BIGGEST. CHURCH. IN. THE. WORLD. Immense doesn’t begin to describe it. The statues of old popes are taller than MY HOUSE. The buzz of a thousand people was eaten by the walls, but the sound of the organ reverberated perfectly.
The first stop in the church was the pieto. Favorite sculpture of all time. Michaelangelo was apparently 24 when he carved this beauty. As a mother, the sculpture near brought me to tears. You could just feel the emotion.
The church is named after St Peter, the first pope. His bones are reportedly in the center of the building, laid in a small box underneath the most ornate pulpit I had ever seen in my life.
Nate’s mom was done. It was far more walking than she thought she was getting. They found her a seat in one of the pews and the rest of us continued the tour.
We were free to separate a lot more after that. Since we had to radio headsets, Elijah and I wandered about while staying close enough to hear her updates. I typically don’t like to do guided tours, but I knew we would never be able to navigate the chaos of the lines and the galleries on our own. Now, we could listen as we want, but also go touch something interesting if so desired. This building had so many things I wished I known about before, so I was sure to take a lot of pictures so I can research later. I know every little details as a great meaning, and I can’t wait to learn more about it.
Our time with the tour guide was just about concluded. Nate and Ryan went back too get their mom while Elijah and me followed our guide to scope out the souvenier shop.
Wasn’t good for us. We’re not Catholic (nor millionaires) so we decided to pass on the purchases. We made our way back to where we decided to meet and they didn’t show. Weird. We sat and talked, stood and talked, wandered by the storm….papal police and talked… no sign of them,
I called. Nothing. we went back as far as we could. Didn’t see them. There are thousands of people, but only one way out and surely we wouldn’t miss two tall bearded dudes with a limping lady traveling at .0025 mph. How did we miss them?
After 20 more minutes, they finally appeared. Apparently, after we parked grandma, a small mass started! (It was one of the Cardinals, not the Pope, I asked) so she had to sit and once the service concluded they came out to meet us.
We had earned our lunch
So we wandered out of the Holy See back to Rome and found a restaraunt on a busy street.
So, when I say ON, I don’t mean on like I do in America. I mean ON the street. Like the sidewalk next to the street has tables and chairs and a plastic cover with some twinkling lights outside of the business. People walking by and everything.
Yup. That was today’s vibe. So we sat down and ordered. My next Italian dish I found on a TV show was cacio e pepe…basic pasta with cheese and pepper. Perfectly perfect. So we sat out in the warm sun, watching people walk by and cars blaze past and dined al fresco.
Next stop was a Castel we could see from the restaraunt. I just wanted to take photogenic bridge pictures of it, but we decided, eh? Why not? We’re in Rome, let’s go inside. Along the bridge were the hustlers…you know the ones who put a bracelet on your wrist that you can’t get off and then they expect you to pay? Yeah, I warned everyone about these guys. Well, out in the wild, they had a slightly different tactic. Talk you up, ask where you’re from…you know. The whole nine yards, THEN put a bracelet on you. Nate and Ryan being friendly (and unwilling to listen to us) got into a conversation with them. So, really wanting to just go touch rocks, we left them and continued on our way.
Sure enough, one dared to put one on Elijah’s wrist. I guess I mama-bear growled or something, because just as fast as dude-man put it on Elijah, he took it off. “Put your hands in your pockets” I ordered as we walked. I turned, thinking the others would have caught up by now, but nope. They were in DEEP. Not sure how much the scammer took them for, but it wasn’t until we came back and broke up the fun that they bounced. Oh well. They all have new expensive plastic beaded bracelets to wear now.
Onto more important things!
The Castel was built by the Emperor Hadrian
Yes, chat. THE Emperor Hadrian. And he was apparently buried there too. Oh man. After touching the building, I demanded to go in.
Let me start over. Remember how I like old architecture? Yah, so two of my favorite sites were made by the Emperor Hadrian.
EX.Cited.
Until I saw it was 20 Euros a person. Nope. Love the dude, love his work, but not that much. So I touched the building and off we went to go see his other one. As we walked, the others got totally distracted and jumped into a shop. Nate found his Roman helmet and Carole and Ryan browsed the racks.
Something you don’t know about them…they like to shop. Elijah and I got so bored waiting for them to finish, that we actually contuned down the road, looking at other souvenir shops and at a deli for meat and cheese (look, I have a list)
It was right on the main stretch, so I opted to wait to purchase anything, certain I’d find it cheaper elsewhere. Once we headed back, the others were done, so it was time to go to
The Pantheon
Originally created as a temple to “all gods” (Pantheon) it was converted to a church after our dude Constantine declared Christianity the official religion of Rome, and it’s still an active church today.
As we approached, I noticed something weird.
There were A LOT of people there. Everywhere. I quickly pulled up their website. In the states, thier website wouldn’t work correctly and kept kicking me out, so I never bought tickets. I also checked every weekend, and tickets could be purchased every time same day.
NOT the case for today.
But it was okay. Truly. I really just wanted to touch it. I know the building inside and out, and I was fine staying out, Besides, we had already done a lot of walking already and Nate’s mom was just hanging on for dear life.
So, I touched the building and headed to the deli next door to get my cheese (Yeah, I wanted the Pantheon stamp) and then we found a spot for some gelato.
Nate’s mom was really done, so we found a different hotel and had the doorman call her a taxi. Nate and her were spatting previously, so he decided to stay with her to make up for it and Ryan came with me and Elijah to take the subway.
Bad idea. The first train was late and it was rush hour. The doors opened and there was NO WAY we would be able to push our way inside. Wanna walk it?
Yeah, we’re gonna walk it. And the best part of walking? SIDE QUESTS! We wandered into stores at our fancy, stopped to look at things that looked interesting (we found an Egyptian oblisk! Guess what? touched it)
Found a tiny shop with an old dude where I got WAYY too much pasta (can’t eat the stuff in the states) Found a place for dinner!
We got back and met Nate in the hall. So we dropped off our wares and headed back out.
This sidewalk restaurant was far nicer than the last. We chatted about the day and plans for tomorrow while eating the most delicious Italian cuisine (calamari, amazing. Actual carbanara, fantastico!) before again wandering back, in and out of souvenir shops, just looking for the sake of looking.
Once back, we hung out in our room for a bit before Ryan took his leave to get ready for another full, history touching day tomorrow!
We had one more market to hit up.
~Dannie
Going places. Making things. Tasting stuff.
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