As the Romans Do

Our day began early, with a quiet stroll past the deserted Coliseum and down into the metro station where we were to ride all the way to Vatican City. Rome is lovely in the morning, cool and empty, with very little traffic.  Peace and quiet ended on the platform, however, as all the people were underground waiting to board the trains.  Ohmygoodness, we — as Anna says — did as the Romans do and shoved our way inside. More and more people joined us at each stop until
we thought no more would fit but they kept coming.  Have you seen that deodorant commercial on a crowded bus with everyone nonchalantly checking their armpits?  We didn’t bother.

Smiling here!  Not crowded yet!

Exiting the metro, we walked a few blocks and exited Italy to enter the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. “For the longest time, I heard Jim talk about the Roman influence on the Vatican and I thought it was too much,” said Tim tonight at our meeting.  “I was holding on to a love for the catholic church that I wasn’t willing to give up.  After today, I can really see how the Roman influence never really left; it just continued on with the early church.  The popes were like Caesars.  Instead of putting the focus on the Lord, they focus on the pomp.  The Roman empire never died.  As for the treasures in the Vatican Museum — they could alleviate the debt of a small country by selling those.”

Speaking of the museum, it is gigantic.  A “museum of museums”, this one exhibits 70,000 artifacts, with another 50,000 in vaults. Ten thousand people visit every day; today there were 10,006 all slogging ever so slowly through hall after hall, gazing at statues, busts, tapestries, paintings, Etruscan vases, mummies, marble crypts, cuneiform cylinders, and other old stuff.
Since Dave is most interested in Egyptian artifacts, we let him set the pace through these halls.  He found a cuneiform cylinder belonging to Nebuchadnezzar, and explained its significance.  “The dream that Daniel interpreted describes the Roman empire with two legs.  These could be the Roman empire and the catholic church.  Pagan religions all reflect each other because
they have their roots in ancient Babylon.  This cylinder  is also important because it was auctioned off in 2009 and  purchased by someone ‘anonymous’ for $600,000.  It must have been the Vatican!”  Sounds like breaking news, folks.  Remember you heard it first right here!

Slogging our way further, we came to the Raphael rooms, where the famous painting “”School of Athens” takes up a whole wall. It’s cool because Raphael, a “competing artist” with Michelangelo, paints Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and himself into the  picture.  Michelangelo, of course, painted the Sistine Chapel, in four years.  Several of those 10,000 visitors gather in
the chapel, all gazing up to the ceiling and not talking very loudly because the guard yells “silencio!” every minute or so and also “no pictures!”  One of our group may or may not have sneakily taken  a few pics but you didn’t hear it from me.

Leaving the Sistine Chapel, we were able to stroll (not slog) our way to the café where we enjoyed our first cappuccinos of the day and a rest in chairs.  Chairs are so great.  So are WCs when they are plentiful and clean.

Next was St Peter’s Basilica.  Today was hot, the lines were long, the square was full of barriers and hundreds of  chairs.  Anna and I kept noting the scantily-clad women in line, expecting them to be turned away at the security checkpoints.  The rules are similar to other church buildings in Italy — shoulders and knees covered.  After these ladies made it through security, we thought that “maybe the Vatican is okay with immodesty these days”  But, no. Guards are just fine allowing you to stand in the hot sun for 40 minutes in your lacey sundress and then turn you away just before the door.

We’ve been in Italy for three days, and are happy to report that “gelato for lunch” is working out just fine.  Today we found ours where the nuns buy theirs (according to Rick Steves, anywho) and yes, it was excellent. Tim’s favorite flavors are crema and fragola, Jane loves nutella, Anna goes for nutella and coconut, Jim gets mango, lemon, fragola and pistachio, Dave really likes pistachio, and I’m also fond of pistachio and nutella.
Tomorrow we’re walking the Appian Way.