The Pantheon & The Vatican

Rome:  We have been in Italy for over two weeks now. Kudos to any reader who is still with me. The endless parade of ruins and food must be a bit difficult to stomach (pun intended). Our day started on the roof-top terrace of our hotel, where they serve a buffet breakfast. We enjoyed wonderful cappuccinos and pastries and a new treat - hazelnut yoghurt. It was more like dessert and Kathy and I wonder - since Washington Country produces 90% of America's hazelnuts (grown on filbert trees, by the way) - why don't we have hazelnut yoghurt at home? This morning, our pretty cappuccinos were served under a rainy sky. It drizzled for a bit all morning and then stopped - but we had clouds all day. Warm and muggy.

After breakfast, we all walked to the ruins of Trajan's Forum & Market. These ruins are now being excavated, but we could still easily see the lay-out. Trajan designed the market so the butchers, etc., would be in the basement so it would be cooler; the offices, etc., were on the upper floors.

Trajan's Forum










Show-down at Trajan's Market

On the next block, we found the Victor Emmanuel Monument (seriously, there is a monument on every corner!), built to honor Victor Emmanuel, the first King of a united Italy. The monument is in the middle of a huge traffic circle and serves as the nicest bus stop ever.

Victor Emmanuel Monument

A few obelisks later, we found ourselves at the Pantheon, a temple built to honor all Gods. The Pantheon is the best preserved ancient building in Rome. Now, it is a church and a burial place for noble Romans. The interior dome was once covered in bronze, but it was removed when Raphael needed the metal to make the altar over the tomb of Saint Peter. The hole at the top of the dome lets in light and the floor is slightly tapered, so the rain runs off.

The Pantheon in Rome


The Pantheon in Rome


Interior of the Pantheon


Pantheon ceiling


Wet floor


The foyer

Mary had made arrangements for a tour of the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica through Angel Tours Rome. Our lone Catholic, Mary was in charge of our pilgrimage to The Holy City. We stopped for a quick lunch before walking to the Vatican and the arranged meeting-point.

The Vatican from the Tiber River


The bridge to Vatican City across the Tiber River


Several people also thought today would be a good day to visit

Our guide was waiting for us, but so was another guy: The Pope! Pope Benedict XVI,  thought to be in "the countryside" enjoying the weather (or evading bad press and recently insulted Islamic extremists), His Holiness sneaked back into Rome last night so he could see Mary! He was on the steps of the Basilica, waving and greeting his flock. It was unexpected, so we were very happy to have seen The Pope (or as they say in Italy - Papa) on our visit to the Vatican!

The Papa - photo by DT

Our guide patiently waited until Mary had seen the Pope and the Pope had seen Mary, and then we gathered for our tour. Our tour guide passed us over to his trusty side-kick, Yvette, a six-foot-tall Dutch school teacher with a degree in art history. I take back every nasty thing I have ever said about people with degrees in art history, because Yvette knew her stuff, her Popes, and knew art like I know how to roast a chicken. She led us around the entrance to the Vatican Museum. We went through metal detectors and entered the treasure chest that is the Holy Roman Catholic Church. There are only a few places where it is allowed to take photographs, but I can assure we saw 3000 year statues, Raphael tapestries, Greek gods, and fertility goddesses of all sorts. There simply is not enough bandwidth to post every photo I took today - and don't forget, I am posting every photo using my cell phone while in Rome, people! Yvette explained the meaning behind Michelangelo frescos on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Seems he wasn't so happy with spending four years of his life painting the ceiling for a Pope he felt was using power and money in the wrong ways, so made a few statements on the ceiling that were not P.C. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is so beautiful, and so colorful, it simply takes your breath away. It is impossible to absorb in a thirty-minute visit - and since the restoration was underwritten by a private company, the entire ceiling is under copyright and it is forbidden to take a photograph! The Vatican actually employees official "shhhhh-ers" to remind you to not speak and it is forbidden (strictly enforced) to enter the chapel if you are wearing shorts, a mini-skirt, or if your shoulders are bare.

Yvette leads our group


Interior of St. Peter's Basilica


Interior of St. Peter's Basilica


The dome (dt)


The right toe is completely worn away (dt)

After we toured the Sistine Chapel (thinking the Pope could come here at night and lay on the floor and stare up at the ceiling if he chose) we entered Saint Peter's Basilica. Peter traveled to Rome (from Jerusalem) to spread the word about Jesus and he was killed here (hung upside-down on a cross) and his bones are buried seven floors beneath the crest of the dome, under a bronze Raphael altar. The church is the largest in the world and was built to hide its actual size using all sorts of architectural tricks - thus hiding the outrageous size - and costs - from the masses. The story goes that if you touch the right toe on the bronze statue of Saint Peter, you can bypass purgatory and go straight to heaven. Mary is in.

The Swiss Guard (dt)


This is what it looks like after the Pope goes home

We were just exhausted after our Big Day, so started our hike back to our hotel. We only stopped to add to our Tacky Bottle Opener Collection. In what may go down as the tackiest opener to-date, we purchased a "it is gold plated" bottle opener with a photo of Pope John Paul on a round disk. It is a sad world where even the Pope has sold his image for a bottle opener, eh? Was 12 Euros too much to pay? Yes. Is it a priceless addition to our collection? Yes. Everybody wins.

We stopped in the Piazza Navona - Rome's front porch - for a rest and a cocktail on the way back to the hotel. After we started walking again, we were trudging along to reach our hotel, passing by the Trevi Fountain yet again (it wasn't just quite dark) and arrived back in time for a nice dinner at the little cafe next to our hotel.

My dinner: roast chicken and tomato salad

Pedometer: 16,266 steps (only 4,000 inside the Vatican) - 6.91 miles. Gelato of the Day: Does pinot grigio count? No gelato today, just wine. Lots of wine.