Coming up the steps from the dim lit subway we are lurched into the city that has a history span of two and half THOUSAND years, Rome. We are here. Many people hustling and bustling with defined direction and the six of us from small town Beatrice flow with the crowd until we can get to a meeting point to get our grips and look at a map.
In our research we knew that we wanted to take an open top bus tour to learn more details about the major sites. They are called hop-on hop-off buses. They offer earphones to plug in by your seat to hear a recorded voice telling the history of the sites as you drive by. You can get off and on at designated points for 24 or 48 hours. After a family discussion the night before we decided a 48-hour pass would be the best investment for us.
We were approached by one of the many people with pamphlets and advertisements in their hands. One guy was persistent about his pamphlet. Dennis waved the guy off several times and kept a quick pace. I could tell it was information about the hoho buses but struggled to hear what he was saying through his thick Indian accent. We needed his information but Dennis was in defense mode, understandably so as he was responible for the five people following him. Nobody wants to be that gullible tourist entrapped in a transaction the first 30 seconds off the subway. To make a long story short this guy had all the info we needed and personally walked us to the office where we purchased our tickets for the green line tours and gave a discount. Okay, God is good. Sometimes help comes from the least expected people and places.
We stood in line for the expected 20 minutes watching the Indians selling cheap hats and beautiful wraps to the people ahead and behind us. Once on the bus we took in the sites and tried to retain everything we were hearing. I have to admit I have some pictures with no information. If you recognize it feel free to shoot me an email at littlerunnergirl@yahoo.com and I will plug the information in.
by 45,000 Jewish slaves. It was originally built to entertain 50,000 spectators. The following information is from Wikipedia: The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.They would drink wine made from grapes, honey and peppers.
We didn't tour it becasue the lines were astronomical.
The tour of Saint Peter's Basilica and The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City were voted favorites by all of us. The tour guide did a supreme job of educating us on Michelangelo. He and the cardinal who commissioned him to paint the ceiling did not get along at all. In fact, Michelangelo didn't even like to paint. He loved to sculpt but not paint. He became so frustrated in the beginning because the tiny detail he had spent weeks on couldn't even be seen from the floor of the chapel. He gave up and was on his way back to Florence when the cardinal had him sentenced to come back. The cardinal locked him in the chapel until he agreed to finish it. Michelangelo was 79 years old when he started it and painted until the very last day of his life, three weeks before he turned 89. When Michelangelo finished the masterpiece the cardinal said he needed to fix some small mistakes before they unveiled it. The cardinal was displeased with all the nakedness and said if Michelangelo didn't fix it then he would have his apprentices do it. After much disagreement Michelangelo did the fixing while the cardinal was away. Michelangelo did cover all the nudity but he also painted the cardinals face on Satan! There were many entertaining stories the tour guide shared with us and this is just one of them.
Vatican City is where the Pope resides. It is it's own country. St. Peter's Basilica is the largest church in the world. There is a statue of St. Peter outside of the church in the square. He is holding two keys, one silver and one gold. The silver represents Christ giving him the key to the Earth and the gold represents the key to heaven. Along the top of the church are the 11 apostles which are saints and along the edges are semi-saints. Sainthood is given only if 3 miracles occur during the person's life or shortly thereafter or if they died a martyr for Christ. If you only had one or two miracles then you were proclaimed a semi-saint.
This was a long hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel, we're guessing it was about 75 to 100 yards. The ceiling appeared to be 3-D but it was completely flat. The method used on most art in those days was called fresco, meaning fresh. The artist would spread the wet composition on the surface he wanted to paint and would have 24 hours to finish the area. It dried the paint right into the surface allowing it to last thousands of years! The walkway was lined with hundreds of beautiful sculptures of men but they had their manhood broken off per the Pope at the time. I wonder if there are boxes of parts lying in a basement somewhere? The reason women sculptures are so robust is because they weren't allowed to pose. So the sculptors used men and added and subtracted the essentials.
The Pope's window was open which is a signal to all the people that he is in Vatican City. We were also able to look down on the courtyard and see the preparations for an event. There was an ordination happening at the church while we were there so perhaps the two were connected.
This is the front of Saint Peter's. You can see the apostles across the top. The statues of saints that were martyrs always held the weapon that they died by.
In our research we knew that we wanted to take an open top bus tour to learn more details about the major sites. They are called hop-on hop-off buses. They offer earphones to plug in by your seat to hear a recorded voice telling the history of the sites as you drive by. You can get off and on at designated points for 24 or 48 hours. After a family discussion the night before we decided a 48-hour pass would be the best investment for us.
We were approached by one of the many people with pamphlets and advertisements in their hands. One guy was persistent about his pamphlet. Dennis waved the guy off several times and kept a quick pace. I could tell it was information about the hoho buses but struggled to hear what he was saying through his thick Indian accent. We needed his information but Dennis was in defense mode, understandably so as he was responible for the five people following him. Nobody wants to be that gullible tourist entrapped in a transaction the first 30 seconds off the subway. To make a long story short this guy had all the info we needed and personally walked us to the office where we purchased our tickets for the green line tours and gave a discount. Okay, God is good. Sometimes help comes from the least expected people and places.
The first recognizable site we went by was the Colosseum. Its true name is Ampitheatre Flavium. Its construction started in 72 A.D.
by 45,000 Jewish slaves. It was originally built to entertain 50,000 spectators. The following information is from Wikipedia: The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population. Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days.They would drink wine made from grapes, honey and peppers.
We didn't tour it becasue the lines were astronomical.
The tour of Saint Peter's Basilica and The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City were voted favorites by all of us. The tour guide did a supreme job of educating us on Michelangelo. He and the cardinal who commissioned him to paint the ceiling did not get along at all. In fact, Michelangelo didn't even like to paint. He loved to sculpt but not paint. He became so frustrated in the beginning because the tiny detail he had spent weeks on couldn't even be seen from the floor of the chapel. He gave up and was on his way back to Florence when the cardinal had him sentenced to come back. The cardinal locked him in the chapel until he agreed to finish it. Michelangelo was 79 years old when he started it and painted until the very last day of his life, three weeks before he turned 89. When Michelangelo finished the masterpiece the cardinal said he needed to fix some small mistakes before they unveiled it. The cardinal was displeased with all the nakedness and said if Michelangelo didn't fix it then he would have his apprentices do it. After much disagreement Michelangelo did the fixing while the cardinal was away. Michelangelo did cover all the nudity but he also painted the cardinals face on Satan! There were many entertaining stories the tour guide shared with us and this is just one of them. |
| Statue of Peter |
 |
| In front of St. Peters Basilica |
This was a long hallway leading to the Sistine Chapel, we're guessing it was about 75 to 100 yards. The ceiling appeared to be 3-D but it was completely flat. The method used on most art in those days was called fresco, meaning fresh. The artist would spread the wet composition on the surface he wanted to paint and would have 24 hours to finish the area. It dried the paint right into the surface allowing it to last thousands of years! The walkway was lined with hundreds of beautiful sculptures of men but they had their manhood broken off per the Pope at the time. I wonder if there are boxes of parts lying in a basement somewhere? The reason women sculptures are so robust is because they weren't allowed to pose. So the sculptors used men and added and subtracted the essentials. |
| Inside St. Peter's Basilica |
The Pope's window was open which is a signal to all the people that he is in Vatican City. We were also able to look down on the courtyard and see the preparations for an event. There was an ordination happening at the church while we were there so perhaps the two were connected. This is the burial vault of Constantine's mother. It is made of red marble.
This is the front of Saint Peter's. You can see the apostles across the top. The statues of saints that were martyrs always held the weapon that they died by. |
| Raleigh in front of St. Peter's Basilica doors |
Oh my gosh! The picture of Raleigh in front of the doors is priceless! He looks so teeny! LOVING all your adventures, Bly. Thanks for taking the time to write them.
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