Whew! I know this blog posting has taken me a while, but you know, Rome wasn't built in a day either! Ha, ha -- had to do it! So here's the scoop. I hope you are sitting down and have some time, because this is a long posting. We had almost 3 whole days in Rome and on our second day, our good friend, Robin, joined us since she was in Italy on TDY (military field trip -- for my non-mil friends.) Robin will not appear in any of my photos here, though be sure that we did indeed have her with us, and take her picture (I'm not just making this up!) She just prefers to keep her mug offline. She was a great travel companion nonetheless! With just a backpack each, we boarded the train and enjoyed our 5 hour excursion, going from 32 degrees at home to 53 degrees in Rome! I wish that I could share with you all of the amazing history I learned from touring this ancient city, but there is no way to do that! I will try to give you just a bit. At least, enjoy seeing "some" of the MANY MANY wonders we saw!
The Spanish Steps...
Piazza Navona...
Michaelangelo's Moses sculpture, in the Basilica of St.Peter in Chains...
The Pantheon, inside and out. Built in 27 BC. It is the best preserved Roman monument and is the biggest concrete dome in the world. It contains the tomb of the great painter, Raphael.
The famous Trevi fountain...
Legend holds that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the Trevi fountain, you will return to Rome someday ... pretty good odds that will be true for my kids!
The Colosseum was a huge thrill! Finished in 80 AD, it had 80 entrances and could hold 60,000 people!
Unfortunately for us, we didn't get to walk through the Forum area with all the old ruins. They were closing the gate for the day just as we walked up. Here's a view of some of it from the third level of the Colosseum.
The Basilica of St. John in Laterano (inside and out.) Built in 318 by Emperor Constantine (the guy who legalized Christianity.) You can see in the picture that there are lots of people getting seated in the church. We happened to come upon the mass for the appointment of a Cardinal. Somehow I lost our invitation, so we were not allowed to stay. ;o) There was a sweet little nun who politely told us in Italian to vamoose! It is this church that is considered the Pope's "home" church, strangely enough, even though it is outside the old city walls. Every new Pope has to come sit in the "throne" at the altar, in order to be truly the Pope.
Here's a family shot (taken by Robin) in front of some HUGE bronze doors. The doors were once from the ancient Curia in the Roman Forum, and placed on this church in the 1600's.
And here's what I mean by HUGE!!! They are the biggest doors we've ever seen!
Across the street is the Scala Sancta (sacred steps). Emperor Constantine's mother had these stairs removed from Pontius Pilate's palace (say that 5 times fast!) in Jerusalem and brought to Rome in the 4th century. So, these are the stairs Jesus walked on the day he was sentenced to be crucified. Pilgrims ascend the stairs on their knees while reciting a special prayer on each step.
If you could see only the Vatican Museum when visiting Rome, that would be enough to talk about for a lifetime! It is a HUGE, amazing collection of artifacts and art from around the world, covering 3700 years of history. It used to be papal residences. We walked through quickly (2-3 hours) until Sara could take no more! Andrew was in heaven, enjoying the history, mummies, artifacts, and Sumerian writing. He was a perfect age for this trip. My Vatican museum tour for you culminates in the Sistine Chapel.
Raphael's famous "School of Athens" painting...
The Greek Laocoon statue. This statue was lost for over 500 years and was found in Michaelangelo's time (1500's.) It greatly influenced his sculpting style.
A view of Rome from a window in the Vatican Museum...
Here's my clandestine shot of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It took Michaelangelo 4 years of neck-breaking work to complete his depiction of the Creation. It was a smaller space than I thought it would be, and very difficult to spend time looking at, but very impressive.
St. Peter's Square...
The Pope's rooms ... looks like he was at home! He didn't invite us in...
Inside the magnificent Basilica of St. Peter. My pictures don't do it justice at all. It is immense. That large, dark canopy-looking thing you see up by the altar is 7 stories tall!
And inside St. Peter's -- a REAL thrill ... Michaelangelo's PIETA!!! He was 23 when he carved this. Hmmm, I'm sure I could have done something that amazing when I was 23! NOT!
Inside the dome...
The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (inside and out.) It has some of Rome's best surviving mosaics.
We went to so many churches, by the end Sara was saying "I'm not going into ANY more churches!" But, we kept on, until we ran out of time... all were a-ma-zing! It was strange seeing such ancient wonders intermingled with the traffic and hubub of a large, bustling city. See here how the busy street bumps right up to the colosseum.
This mini tour of Rome doesn't come close to actually covering it, but it's all I can do for you. I took tons of pictures! We had a really good time, and were physically and mentally exhausted when we got back home, but so in awe of what we just experienced together as a family. Now we can understand why they call it "The Eternal City."
