Today’s morning tour brought us to the Vatican Museum. We had a very good tour guide who used something that comes in very handy in Rome---the microphone that transmits to individual radios held by each tourist. It was a little crackly but an excellent way of communicating in a place like the Vatican, where there are just too many tour groups for people to be shouting over each other.
As far as most people are concerned, the Vatican Museum tour might as well be called “The Sistine Chapel and a Bunch of Other Stuff.” But much of what is in the “other stuff” is quite fascinating and does a good job of illustrating the artistic and political relationship between the Catholic Church and Rome.
One thing you notice a lot going through Rome is that along with the date in Roman numerals, most buildings of a certain age have a pope’s name, preceded by “PM” or “Pont. Max.” This goes back to the Latin for “high priest” and originated in Pagan times, but the title was carried over for the reigning pope, most notably in the 16th through 19th century. Even buildings like the Colosseum carry the names of Popes who undertook restoration projects (which, to me, kind of goes against the idea of restoration). At the Vatican, you see over and over again the great art that was commissioned during the Renaissance by powerful popes as well as the impressive collections they amassed from previous periods.
The Vatican’s Official Shooshers have a daunting task: to keep people quiet. Though you’re reminded numerous times that there is no talking or photography of any kind allowed in the Sistine Chapel, it turns out to be a rather loud room with a number of flashes going off. However I must point that it is rather easy to forget the no talking rule as I found out when we first entered the Sistine Chapel. I was so awed that I kept looking up and then at Daniel and couldn’t help but say I can’t believe we are actually here! So a handful of men in suits walk around saying, “Shhh!” and giving scornful looks to people who take pictures. And really, it’s not like you’re going to take a better picture of the chapel than one that could be found on a post card. Your time is best spent just taking it all in.
Michaelangelo’s nine scenes from Genesis on the ceiling and final judgment on a short wall are absolutely magnificent, but the two long walls, painted by well-known artists from the same time period, are great as well. One side shows six scenes from the life of Moses, while the other shows six scenes from the life of Jesus. They are not chronological---I think they are meant to parallel each other, or at least that’s what the Latin verbiage around them seems to suggest. That’s right, he even knows a little Latin which is definitely another plus in Italy. That’s three languages that he works his way around if you are paying attention. Like me.
A quick aside, one of my favorite things to see plastered all over the place was four little letters, SPQR. I learned in Latin class that this stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus, which stresses the link between the Roman people and the government in the old Roman Republic. SPQR was on a purple shield that was in the back of the classroom, and it was burned into my brain. It is really cool to see it all over Rome.
Lunch was good but not great. Brandi had a buffet that included mostly vegetables, and I had fried veggies and a cheese pizza. I would like to point out that my half bottle of wine and Daniel’s Coke were each 3 euros which is good enough excuse as any for me to have a drink at lunch. We took an afternoon break in the hotel room, and Brandi got in touch with her parents, closing the last chapter on the uncertainty under which we started the trip. They are without power, but they’re all right, which is pretty much the story with all of our families. Brandi also took a nap, her second in as many days, but she wants to make it clear that this was not due to jet lag. Nope, no jet lag, I was just enjoying the opportunity to sleep during the day, thank you very much for the clarification!
For dinner we decided to try Il Posto Accanto, a restaurant a decent distance away that was recommended by Lonely Planet. Despite some pretty hard rain, we decided to walk it, and I ended up getting us lost in a not so great part of town. We did have one umbrella that we tried to share but it was interesting (read: near impossible) with the tiny height difference between us. But it definitely felt like an adventure which is worth getting a little wet for any day. Rome can be tough to navigate because a) the roads tend to be short, at odd angles, and prone to changing names every couple blocks, b) street names are not always displayed where you would want them to be, and c) landmarks are not entirely helpful. They provide a good visual cue, but they often have ten or so streets radiating out from them, and you sometimes have to travel a couple blocks to discover you’re gone down the wrong one.
The restaurant is basically a little house with seating for about 20, and the waiter told us the menu verbally but did give us a hard copy when we requested one. We surveyed the unconventional menu and started with a pumpkin ravioli, thinking that we might leave and have a more traditional “second dinner” at a nearby place. But we were impressed with the homemade quality and decided to stay, finishing with pumpkin-covered pork and a side of eggplant. Now reading this it sounds funny that we ate more pumpkin in one meal than I usually eat in Thanksgiving, but it was delicious! We then walked to the Colosseum, which is incredibly beautiful (romantic) at night, and back to our hotel via the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps. We left the Spanish Steps just in time---a crazy man broke a bottle in some sort of dispute and started yelling random craziness.
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