sean's musings

Today we set out to walk the ancient Appian Way. The Appian way was the ancient main road that led into Rome and was likely used by Paul to enter Rome. The part that we walked was outside the original Roman city walls, and one of the big claims to fame is the Christian Catacombs that exist along the road. Since the Romans would not allow anyone to be buried inside the city limits, the early Christians dug out catacombs just outside the city. We toured the Catacombs of St Sebastian, which are underneath the church of St Sebastian. It was quite fascinating taking the tour underground to see all of the places where bodies used to be. Legend has it that Peter and Paul were buried here at one point for protection. Apparently in the areas that are roped off, remains still exist. There were Christian symbols and carvings inside the catacombs that the guide pointed out and were quite interesting. There are 7 miles of tunnels, but we only got to tour about 45 minutes worth. It was much more impressive than the Cappuchin Crypt which we’d visited earlier in the week. I was quite disappointed by the Cappuchin Crypt.

Also in the Church of St Sebastian are the “footsteps” of Jesus. Apparently in the Catholic Apocrypha Jesus visited Peter along the Appian Way and his footprints we imprinted in this slab of marble. Personally don’t believe it, but fascinating all the same. They have it locked up behind bars along with a piece of the arrow that pierced St Sebastian.

The Appian Way was a nice country walk, which felt nice after the hectic-ness of downtown Rome.

Afterwords we relaxed a bit at home and then got some Pizza and Gelato at Trevi Fountain and enjoyed the atmosphere. Minus the seagull who attacked a smaller bird, rendering it pretty much dead. Some tourist had to pick up the bird and dispose of it. Other than that a wonderful evening

Today was spent touring the National Museum of Rome where the largest collection of Roman artifacts are held. There were a lot of cool sculptures that were a couple thousand years old. One of the coolest is a roman copy of the greek “discuss thrower”. I’ve seen the image before, but it was pretty rad being up close to one of the originals. We spent a bit of time in the coin collection looking at how the coins changed throughout the years.

Afterwords we spent most of the day criss-crossing around hitting up various churches. The nice thing about most of the churches is they are free, and cool inside when it’s scorching outside. It’s amazing too to see the exterior of most, which look pretty rundown, only to be surprised by the ornate-ness of it all once you enter the doors. A couple places of note that we went to:

San Giovanni’s church where supposedly the heads of Peter and Paul are contained. Across the street from San Giovannis is the “Holy Steps”. Legend has it these steps are the ones Jesus ascended when he met Pontus Pilate and has some of his blood-stains on it. Many people ascend these stairs on their knees, saying a prayer at each step, believing that each step will save them 9 years in purgatory. I personally don’t believe these were truly the steps, but it was interesting to see nontheless.
St Peter In Chains Church- This church holds the supposed chains that bound Peter when he was in Rome. It also had a famous Michaelangelo statue of Moses.
St Pauls Outside the Walls Basilica – This church was built upon Pauls grave, and you can see his tomb under the altar along with a piece of a chain that bound him as well. Interesting as now we’ve seen the resting places of Mark, Paul, and Peter on this trip.

This evening we had a great dinner at Piazza Navona along with some entertainment of an old man lip synching to Italian Opera. It was quite the sight.

This morning we got an early start. I’d timed and planned things out at the Vatican perfectly because we got reservations for the Vatican Museum. The church opened up at 7am, the Dome at 8, and our reservations were at 9:30.

We grabbed a direct bus to the Vatican and arrived at St Peters square about 6:20am. They still had the square closed off, which was cool to see before the throngs of tourists which would invariably visit later in the day. Snapped a couple pictures as the sun was shining directly on St Peters Basilica. Entered the church right at 7am. As the church bells were going off, the guards were opening up the gates. Good timing! Walking in took my breath away. Not so much by how pretty it was (which it is), but by the sheer size of the inside. Sadly parts of it were blocked off, like the center aisle which has markings where other churches would end, if placed inside the Basilica. We also couldn’t get very close to the main altar, which is apparently directly over Peters remains. The grand scale of the statues, pillars and ceiling was overwhelming. After looking around, and listening to another Rick Steves guide, we stopped and looked at Michaelangelo’s famous Pieta sculpture. It’s behind bulletproof glass and features Mary holding Jesus‘ body after it was taken down off the cross. It’s quite a piece of work.

After this, we headed outside to stand in line to climb the Dome (cupola). We were first in line and got the first elevator up all alone. After booking it up the steps, which actually slope and lean at an angle in ward, we emerged out on the dome. For about 5-10 minutes we were the only people up there, at the highest point in Rome, looking over the city. No building is allowed to be built taller, so we were the highest you could be, all alone. Quite a view looking back down onto St Peters Square, especially since it was mostly empty.

After snapping some pics and looking around, we made our way back down towards the museum. You have to actually walk back around outside the Vatican walls, which is about 15 min from the square to the museum. As we got closer, I was so glad we’d booked tickets in advance. The line was quite long to buy tickets. I hear sometimes the wait is 2 hours to get tickets, and we pretty much walked right in. This is a great tip that saved us so much time in Florence at the Uffizi and Accademia, and now again here. It’s worth the couple extra Euro to book a time if you can and skip the long lines in the heat. After checking our bags, we headed up the escalator for one of the things I was most looking forward to: the double helix exit stairs. I wanted to get some photos in the morning before floods of people were going down it. I got my wish and snapped a bunch of photos before we entered the museum. This great tip I got from Ron in Rome

The museum itself is vast (4 miles worth of art) with the highlight of course being the Sistine Chapel. The art was overwhelming. Lots of sculptures from Ancient Rome, some from Greece, pieces of the book of the dead, art by everyone you can imagine (Chagall, Salvador Dali, Van Gogh, and of course the Renaissance artists). I will say that the Sistine Chapel was fantastic in its own way, it was not the overwhelming beauty and “wow” that I’d expected. I think I’ve been more “wowed” by a few of the other churches here, and especially the Chris the Savior Church in Moscow, Russia. When we were in Russia, a lady on our trip, Carmen had said at the time “I’ve been to the Sistine Chapel, and this right here is more impressive.” Now having been at both I can agree. However, that doesn’t downplay the importance of the room, and the artwork that Michaelangelo put into it. Personally it didn’t live up to the hype I’d expected, but perhaps we’re a bit jaded by some of the other things we’ve seen. I did manage to snap a few “stealth” pictures even though pictures are prohibited inside the chapel. I managed to get the famous image of God touching the finger of Adam.

After the Vatican, we headed back to the B&B for a nap and siesta. Our days have been working in a rest, naturally it seems. Since a lot of places close from 12-2 or so, it’s only natural. Plus the heat gets to you after a while.

We went back out later in the evening, with intentions of seeing some of the sites at night. Had some dinner, headed down to the Colosseum about 8:30, and sat in the park waiting for the sun to set. Got some cool pictures of it all lit up, and then headed for Trevi Fountain. Grabbed some gelato and enjoyed the atmosphere of the evening with loads of people looking onto the fountain all lit up.

A couple more tips learned along the way.
It pays to get to major sites early. Tourists are generally lazy, sleep in, and end up in droves by late morning, early afternoon. But getting up at 5, and arriving in places by 7 gives you peace and quite to take it all in. The Vatican was a prime example. We did the same thing at St Pauls in London and had the “Whispering Gallery” all to ourselves. It pays to get up early.
We dislike tour groups. I know for certain people tour groups are a great way to visit places and have a guided tour, but its also limiting. We’ve seen so many groups being herded around like cattle, that I’d much prefer exploring on my own, with a guide book, or Rick Steves audio guide. Getting lost and wandering is half the fun.
Reserve ahead if you can. We’ve probably saved at least a half a day that could have been spent standing in lines by taking advantage of pre-booking entrance to places. I realize that sometimes it isn’t practical, but definitely worth the money to plan and book a time. I can’t imagine standing for hours in some of the lines we’ve seen waiting to enter.
Rick Steves is a leader of Men. His book has been a killer tool, spot on, and full of tips to save us from lines, and other hassles. Thanks again Mom for buying us the books!

Today was spent visiting Romes ancient sites, including the Colosseum and the Roman Forum.

Had a great breakfast at our B&B and chatted with the owner (we think). He gave us some great tips on taking the bus. Turns out there are buses that go from our B&B directly to some of the major sites. This ended up helping immensely. I’d figured we’d have to be taking the Metro everywhere and walking, but the bus system here is incredible and extensive. After breakfast we took his advice and hopped the #60 bus which goes from our place at Porta Pia, directly to the Colosseum. As we approached it , we passed the massive monument to Vittoro Emanuele. And I mean massive! We hopped off the bus a few stops early just to walk and take it all in. Walking down the Via dei Fori Imperiali towards the Colosseum, you have the Colosseum itself looming in front, with the Roman Forum ruins and capital hill to your right, and some imperial ruins on your left. I know Amanda was loving all the ruins. We reached the Colosseum and breezed through the security lines. We had our Roma pass which allowed for skipping over the really long line to buy tickets. I’m so glad we did this, because it saved a lot of time standing in lines. Began our tour of the Colosseum listening to the free Rick Steves audio guide we got from iTunes. These things have been really handy. 1) It saves from having to hire a guide 2) a lot of things are pointed out and explained that you’d never have known about 3) on the ipod touch there are even pictures of what you should be looking at.

The Colosseum was pretty darn impressive and cool to see in person. It’s massive and you feel so small inside it. From the ground level, you can visualize what it would be like to have 50,000+ people screaming for your death.

Next we wandered by the Arch of Constantine on the way to the Forum. We climbed Palentine hill and worked our way through all the ruins. Its something to be looking at crumbling brick that’s been around for a couple thousand years and you learned about in history. This was even more exciting to Amanda as she pointed out some of the stories and legends along the way. It’s like having my own history guide Two of the coolest parts of the Forum were the memorial to Julius Caesar (where his body was buried), and the Senate building. You see renditions of it in movies (Gladiator, etc), but to stand in the same spots and view the actual buildings is fantastic.

After this,we walked down to the Pantheon. Again, I’d seen so many pictures, but to be standing under the open roof, with the light shining in was a great experience. It is the oldest surviving building still in use. Since it’s been in constant use in one form or another since it was built, the inside is still in great condition. I was disappointed they were doing restoration work on the outside, with scaffolding and tarps on half of the front pillars, so I didn’t get any pictures of the outside.

Walked to the nearby (and quite famous) Piazza Navona. This Piazza has 3 fountains in it, the centerpiece being a Bernini. I didn’t think it was as spectacular as Trevi, but I think it’s more famous because of the artist.

Spent of the rest of the day resting and eating dinner Went to bed a bit early because of the early start we plan to get tomorrow.