When in Rome...Day 2

“Rome – the city of visible history, where the past of a whole hemisphere seems moving in funeral procession with strange ancestral images and trophies gathered from afar.”

 – George Eliot

Day 2 - October 1

Nothing like kicking off a new month by being in Rome!  Today will prove to be a busy day of walking to see so many awe-inspiring places.   Our first destination is in the area of the Colosseum where we saw this gem again in daylight. Nearby, we had a discussion on the steps leading to The Church of St. Peter in Chains/San Pietro in Vincoli. Students were given the assignment of research on various landmarks and here three gave their talks.

From the outside, this church isn't so impressive, but once inside...breath-taking.

Off to the side, though, is (in my opinion) the best part of the experience:

Michelangelo's statue of Moses.

 

Moses is a part of the tomb for Pope Julius II. When walking off to the side of this monumental piece for a different viewing angle, it seemed like Moses was looking right at me!

From here we walked to St. Clement - a three-level structure with ancient history. The first level is from the first century, the second is from 329 AD (the original Basilica) and the third is Basilica of St Clement dates to the twelfth century.

No pictures were allowed to be taken here, but I snuck managed to take one from the doorway.

 By this time, it was getting quite cloudy.  We walked back to the Colosseum area to grab a bite to eat before heading to the Vatican. The pasta we found was delizioso as we dried off from a torrential downpour. Thank goodness for the IKEA rain ponchos we packed away in our backpack!

 Then, on to the to train to another country, the worl'ds smallest country with just 109 acres.

Can you guess what it is? The Vatican City State.

It has its own mint, post office, radio station, legal system and flag with a population of about 1,000 residents.

We needed a tour guide to get inside and ours came with a pink "scrubbie" on a stick so we could identify her from the other million (or so it felt like) tour guides leading their groups along.

Do you see our guide?  Look closely to the right up ahead.

Oh, my goodness. The crowds! How about I just show you pictures along the way to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's ?

A view of Rome from one of the windows we walked by.

View of the dome of Papal Basilica of St. Peter.

The famous Belvedere Torso by Apollonios

The Gallery of Maps

 From the map gallery to the four Raphael Rooms, the public part of the papal apartments.

 

Which brings us to the Sistine Chapel.

No pictures were allowed to be taken here, but I will show you the picture I took of the interiors on a poster outside. Wow. Wow. Wow!

 Visitors were told before entry to be quiet once inside the Chapel.  That was next to impossible. Mostly we heard the guards shouting out,  "Silenzio!"  "Silenzio!"

Our last stop is St. Peter's Basilica.

Close to the entrance a crowd gathers around around Michelangelo's Pieta.

 It was so moving to see the way the crowds parted to let those in wheelchairs have immediate access to the sculpture.

 The Pieta is now encased behind  bulletproof glass after a "mentally disturbed" man in 1972 attacked this piece with a hammer and removed Mary's arm at the elbow, knocked off a chunk of her nose and chipped one of her eyelids.

After a walk through the huge St. Peter's we were led to the exit.

Our tour of the Vatican has now concluded some two hours later. In parting, we went out to the balcony area to look out over the area that the Pope delivers his messages to the people. Chairs were being set up for such a time.

Of course, we asked to have our picture taken here, too. 

(Quickly before more people join us!)

What a day!