Weekend In Rome

7-1-07

Day two included the Vatican and St. Peter’s. This was Sistine Chapel and Pietà day and I was so excited because we have talked about these works since the first day of class. They are beautiful in books, but I could only image their impact in person. We found the Vatican line at 8:30 in the morning and started placing bets as to how long the line would take. My guess was 2 hours and 15 minutes. I was way off. We stood for 3 hours and 9 minutes. I was a tad bit irritable and kept saying that it had better be worth it. The Vatican beyond impressed me. My favorite room leading to the Sistine Chapel was the map room. It is this extremely long room filled with maps of Italy. The ceiling was painted beautifully and the windows opened up to scenic views of Vatican City. Other rooms included picture galleries, state rooms, and collections of ancient art. Finally, we wind our way into the Sistine Chapel and immediately it takes my breath away. It is not just a series of paintings painted by some artist. It is more than a masterpiece, more than artistic skill, more than Biblical knowledge. The Sistine Chapel is overwhelmingly out of this world, literally. It seems not humanly possible to create something so extraordinary. It is almost like some divine being was present to help Michelangelo. There is no other way to describe it. We spent about a half an hour tilting backwards and staring at scenes from the flood, the creation of Adam and Eve, the creation of heaven, and the creation of the world. The prophets and sibyls were amazing too. I have never been so emotional looking at artwork and I was unsuccessful with keeping the goose bumps down, but I managed to keep away the tears.
We finally pulled ourselves away from the ceiling and walked to St. Peter’s Basilica. At first, I was not enamored with the actual church so much as the Pietà. She is beautiful. She sits on more of an angle than pictures show and she is much smaller than I imaged. Christ is unbelievably lifelike sitting on her lap. His ribs, muscles, and veins look defined by skin rather than carved marble. Mary looks very young and serene for having just lost a child. Her proportions are somewhat off, also. She is much larger on the bottom than the top, but Michelangelo had to compensate for Christ’s size somehow. She made me get emotional too and I had the hardest time leaving. When I finally did leave the Pietà, I walked around St. Peter’s and marveled at the detail of the place. Italian artists were extremely patient. I dipped my hand in the holy water and did a little Father, Son, and Holy Ghost prayer, even though I am not Catholic, because I felt it was fitting. Dad would have really loved St. Peter’s. We walked outside onto the square and located the Pope’s window where he pokes his head out every now and then. We also stood directly in the center of the square and watched the columns magically line up. Very cool. We left Rome around 4:30 and when we arrived back in Florence, I really felt like I was home. Rome was an amazing place to visit and I was happy to experience such great history, but I am glad I chose not to study there. I love Florence and am starting to get extremely attached.

Tonight, our Italian roommate Nika is cooking an Italian dinner for us. We are having two courses. The first being some kind of pasta and the second being scallops. She is leaving next weekend to go home for the rest of the summer, so she wanted to do something nice for us. She said she is a “cucina brava.” I am pumped! We also found out today we are getting yet another roommate. They are never ending! Jessie and I were hoping for an American roommate so we could actually communicate with her, so we waited by the door this morning wondering when she would come. We heard our outside doorbell ring so we unlocked the door and ran to the stairs to spy on her. Turns out it was someone that lived on the first floor. They must have forgotten their key and pressed a random button. Roommate #2 finally showed up and we don’t think she is American. She was with our landlord and another lady that were speaking Italian, so we can’t tell right now. She has not been back to the apartment since the first encounter. We are crossing our fingers.

7-1-07

Rome definitely was not built in a day. The place is huge! Thankfully, our school planned two full days and four different site-seeing itineraries to make sure we saw just about everything. We left Florence via charter bus bright and early Friday morning and checked into our 4 star Roman hotel in the early afternoon. Hotels abroad are very different from American hotels. For example, elevators are nonexistent so we were forced to haul luggage up 6 flights of marble stairs, which are extremely slippery and not made for sandals. Yes, I was the one to slip. They also keep your room key at the front desk, your passport, and give you a basket of eggs for breakfast. I thought Easter was in April? Anyway, my weekend tour guide was my Michelangelo professor. My nerdy, eccentric, unorganized professor. He was extremely flustered guiding 30 students through one of the biggest cities in the world, but he somehow managed to enlighten us on Roman history. Our first stop was the Spanish Steps, one of the most famous sites in Rome. We did not actually have time to climb the steps, but I took pictures and played in the fountain below them. From one fountain to another, we made our way to Trevi Fountain, designed and built under Pope Clement XII. It is customary at the fountain to toss a coin over your shoulder to guarantee a return visit some day. My toss was not the most graceful, so I hope it still counts. We took a lunch break near the fountain and returned only to realize that Rolf, my professor, had left my group behind. Did I mention that Rome is massive? Good thing I was a responsible student and wrote down his cell phone number. Rolf walked back to retrieve our irritated group and continued the tour to the Pantheon.

The Pantheon is a temple dedicated to the gods, hence the name, and has one of the world’s largest domes. Unfortunately, we were unable to go inside because it was closed, but apparently the dome’s eye admits a pretty spectacular beam of light. The inside is made of marble and houses the tombs of Raphael, the painter, and members of the Italian royal family. Hopefully, the coin I tossed into the Trevi Fountain will bring me back to see the inside. We moved on towards Piazza Navona and stopped along the way to play in more fountains and drink water off the side of a building. We also decided to intimidate a fountain by spitting water like the statues. We attracted quite an audience. Piazza Navona is unique because it was once a stadium and the shape still exists today.
Off to Capitol Hill, an ancient religious center turned town hall. It is quite an impressive architectural area. Michelangelo helped construct the steps leading up to the three palaces, the museums, and the fountain. From personal experience, I would like to say that Michelangelo’s stair design was less than desirable. They were the worst steps I have ever climbed, but at least they are aesthetically pleasing. Capitol Hill leads directly to the Roman Forum, which signifies the fall of the Roman Empire. The ruins include major halls, arches, basilicas, and temples. It’s an overwhelming site and one that best visually explains Roman history. The strangest part of the Forum was a set of transparent-looking columns placed among ancient columns. I was confused because they looked so new and discovered that Valentino ordered them for one of his upcoming fashion shows. They worship the man over here. I mean, they let him have a fashion show in the Forum! Who does that? After the Forum, we had to visit Moses. He is absolutely breathtaking compared to pictures we have studied in class. I could not take my eyes off him. This particular Michelangelo is one that most closely resembles both the Pope and the sculptor. It is a powerful, strong piece and overtakes the rest of the works on the tomb. Seeing Moses personally is the main reason I signed up for the Michelangelo class.

The last stop of the day was the Colosseum. Wow! Words really cannot even begin to describe this place. We could almost see the gladiators, the lions, and the stands full of people. If only we were around in 72 A.D., I would have loved to watch a battle. The most interesting part of the Colosseum is the floor. It’s a maze of pathways and doorways and it is difficult to decipher what was actually held there. I spent a good amount of time trying to piece parts together. By the end of day one, I was exhausted and my feet were screaming at me. The school arranged a pizza party for Florence and Rome students that night and it was fun bonding with other Americans.