It was already warm by the time we exited the Metro. We got to the entrance of the Vatican museum where ladies are reminded to cover their shoulders and knees out of respect for the holy place. So if you go, remember to bring something to cover yourself or you don't get to go in.
The Vatican museum and grounds are vast. It is room upon room of artifacts, paintings and sculptures. The art here is truly a lost piece of history. No one does things like this at this scale anymore. We saw relics from Egypt, Europe, parts of Asia. It was a neverending maze of huge sculptures, and marble pieces from when different Roman emperors ruled the land. There is a deep red marble with flecks in it, called porphyry, that was considered the "Royal Marble". The Romans loved it so much they stripped the earth of it to use it in their buildings, furnishings, and even in some cases, as a royal sarcophagus. It is now worth 10x that of gold.
One of the most amazing parts was a hallway of paintings on the ceiling. They were an optical illusion made to look like everything was molded and raised when really everything was painted brilliantly. And every space is decorated, not a gap spared.
We arrived at the Sistine chapel after a traffic jam of people being detoured outside due to renovation of a room or two. It seems they are always fixing something up. The last few times Jason visited, there was always a wall in the Chapel covered due to retouching. This time it was all open.
There are two simple rules here - silence and no pictures. There are two men at the entrance and one toward the exit who remind everyone but no one seems to remember 10 seconds into the room. There's even a recorded announcement in 5 languages that request the same things. The men were constantly shushing people and having to go after people who were taking pictures. The problem is it was so crowded with people they couldn't stop everyone let alone see everyone trying to take a photo.
It's amazing to see how many people don't care. Complete disrespect and they clearly aren't God fearing. =) People are also unbelievably stupid. If they're trying to sneak a picture they should turn off the flash because the concern about pictures is that the flashes will over time fade the paintings. Jason was scolding a few people for sneaking photos and actually blocked a guy from taking a picture and the guy wasn't too pleased. Maybe they should cut down on the people allowed in the room or increase the number of guards.
There are still a number of rooms and hallways covered with elaborate paintings, woodworks, even painted glass as well as ancient Christian art and bibles from around the world following the Chapel. But walking through the Chapel is the true highlight. After the Vatican it was lunch time so we ate just outside the wall and enjoyed the scene while eating at the restaurant.
Then we were off to St. Peter's Basilica. I recently learned it is not technically a Cathedral because it is not the seat of a Bishop. Learn something new every day. This building is massive and there is a huge piazza in front encircled by a half moon of columned walkways, each with a statue on top. There are checkpoints before even entering. They make sure there are no swiss army knives (for fear of vandalism?) and guards will turn you away if you are not appropriately covered. We saw a few girls turned away because they were too exposed.
When I entered the Basilica my heart beat a little faster and I couldn't help but gasp. The place is astounding. The artwork is unbelievable and the light pouring in at 3:30 in the afternoon makes the place seem exceptionally holy.
There is a door, cemented closed, that is opened every 25 years for 1 year. It is jackhammered loose then the Pope takes a small hammer and breaks off the first piece. People who are there that day and fortunate enough to receive a piece of this door will keep it in their house. After the Pope walks through anyone who passes through have their sins washed away and at the end of the year, it is cemented once again with the Pope's seal on the bottom.
The artwork in here is mindboggling. The letters that encircle the tops of the walls were designed to appear small and clear enough to read when they really stand at 10 feet tall. Huge mosaics are masterfully done to appear like paintings unless you view them closely at an angle where the light reveals the tiles. Flowing fabric is carved out of marble like it could really blow in the wind.The statue of St. Peter sits in the center of an open space, light hitting the base of where he is seated. People walk by and touch his feet. So many people have done this over time that the tops of his toes are worn away. It's just flat marble.
On the center walkway floor, there are small gold stars and a name of a church signifying how big that church would be inside the Cathedral. This place dwarfs them all. There are also various important popes buried in the church and there is also the Tomb of Popes below. We walked through the tombs afterward, paid respects to Pope John Paul, who has a small group of people collected behind a rope in front of his tomb praying, and saw St. Peter's burial site which does not allow pictures. But up above at the baldachin and altar, all tourists do their best to snap a picture from there.
Now it was off to the Colosseum. We got our first gelato here served by a Filipino guy of all people. Go figure. After enjoying the treat we got tickets for the Colosseum which turned out to be a deal since you could get into the Forum as well and it was good for two days! We slipped in just in time since they were closing the ticket booth at 6:15. It was 6PM.
We saw how massive the place once was and I'm still baffled as to how the little Romans climbed those huge steps. The intricate catacombs where the animals and gladiators were kept was amazing. There was a short piece of flooring built to show what it would have looked like to the spectators. And they had a large display of artifacts and information on the Emperor Vespasian (69 - 79 AD) who began the construction of the Colosseum. His son Titus completed it after his death. The whole design of the place is brilliant. The arena floor could even be flooded by water from an aqueduct in order to perform a play re-enacting naval battles.
We decided that was enough for one day! Went back to the hotel to get cleaned up and Jason did a little research on where to go for dinner. He decided on Dar Poeta, a favorite among the locals so you know it's good. We took the Metro and a cab from the Colosseum to get across the water. The area Dar Poeta is in isn't where the tourists tend to wander. It's the local people where folks really don't speak much English. After searching a few streets (and discovering a street can continue on a sharp right angle) we found the crowded restaurant with people waiting for a table. The owner said 15 minute wait and she was right.
We were escorted in to a table that was connected with two other ladies at their table and squeezed back to back with the other tables around us. Throughout dinner we had to get up three times just to let other people in and out of the table. And waitresses just passed things across tables because there was no other way.
The food was excellent. We tried two bruschetta - pomodoro basilico and a pesto formaggi, both delicious. Then we ordered the waitress's favorite pizza, Amatriciana. A little salty with the ham but so tasty. We finished with some strawberry and lemon sorbet that had a berry sauce on top. Jason also got a potent limoncello, not a great one since it burned on the way down. Even with the extra appetizer and dessert, dinner was cheaper than by the Spanish Steps.
We went back to the road where the taxi dropped us off but since there was no taxi we walked figuring we would find one along the way. Ended up back across the water before finding one and beating out two British girls who were debating whether to take the cab. At 12:30 AM I wasn't in the mood to wait on them. We did make a new discovery though, there is a 'night' rate for cabs. Rather than starting at €2, they start at €5.10 before you've even moved.
Unfortunately, once we got dropped off at the Colosseum, we realized the Metro gates were locked. I think the cab driver tried to explain that but because he spoke no English and we spoke no Italian we missed that. So we had to flag down yet another cab to get back to the hotel. It was lovely to be back at the hotel and sleep.
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