Thursday, 2/20/03
I didn't finish writing last night because I knew I would have a little time on the bus today. One thing we did that I forgot to write about yesterday was go to the prison where Peter and Paul were both kept before they were killed. It was a chamber first, then a hole under it (the cell) that was only about six feet high. It was extremely claustrophobic. It really impressed me because the New Testament is all about the good news of the Gospel. When I see what conditions they had to bear and still they wrote of Jesus Christ and hope, it makes their words all the more real to me.
Right now we are on a bus tour of Rome, looking at post war architecture so I must switch between writing and listening to Peter talk. We are back in the bus now from visiting a memorial for a group of Jewish people who the Germans took into a cave and blew up (during WWII, of course). Kate and I were studying pine cones at the top of the hill and when we came back down the group wasn't there. I couldn't freak out as Kate did, because I knew that if they had left they would realize very soon that we weren't there. But Kate was really scared and tried talking to a man who didn't speak English and he communicated to her that they had left in the direction of the Catacombs. We walked in that direction, and voila! the bus was parked a little further around the bend than we thought. The group was just sitting there waiting for us. So here we are.
Back to yesterday: It was a long walk from the hotel to the Vatican and I have become a rubbernecker, looking at magazine stands for that Il Signore degli Anelli (Lord of the Rings) magazine. It finally payed off. I caught the corner of it passing by and somehow recognized it. I shouted for Kate and luckily there were two left, one for me and one for her. So now I can stop looking for a book in Italian to take home. I love the English language and even if I knew Italian, English literature wouldn't be the same through translation.
When we got the Vatican we went to the museums, which the Sistine Chapel is part of. There is a large courtyard at the beginning with the most fascinating modern sculpture of a giant sphere (the most perfect shape) but with chunks taken out of it, like pieces of the layers of an onion. I didn't get to look at it up close; Marco talked forever before we went into the museum and I thought it would be rude to wander.
The interesting thing about the Vatican museums is that in addition to Christian art they have a huge collection of Roman art and contemporary art. The first part that really impressed me was a relatively small octagonal courtyard (after a hall of Roman busts) with a fountain in the middle that was so mossy and plant grown that it looked like the water was shooting out of the greenery itself. There were roman copies of original Greek statues in each corner (the Greek ones are long gone). The only one I remember by name is Apollo [Apollo Belvedere. In retrospect, the Laocoon group is also there].
Now I am sitting in front of a spherical monument at a Fascist Sports Center by Mussolini (if the people were busy with sports after work, they wouldn't lounge in cafes as much, plotting how to liberate themselves). I think it is wonderful that the Italians respect the history of their Fascist architecture enough not to tear it down. I guess they learned their lesson from the Christians destroying so much Roman stuff. The sphere is at least 12 feet from the ground and a group of people just pushed Maari up to the top. It must feel a lot more stable up there than it looks, because she is jumping around and trying to get someone else to come up with her.
A while later... We just visited an auditorium, actually 3 auditoriums linked together (3 beetle shapes above a common foyer) by Renzo Piano. It was very impressive. I loved staring at the acoustical ceilings; each auditorium has a different kind. We had the weirdest looking tour guide. He looked almost like he had stepped out of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He had long sideburns and his hair was poofy with what looked like the whipped topping finish on a dessert (a swirl coming to a point) on the right side of his forehead. Except his hair was the typical Italian dark brown. He spoke very nice English.
We are sitting in front of the Colosseum being disappointed. We got here ten minutes too late to get in. But we saw a group of Polish soccer fans who sang songs, and a man dressed up as a Roman soldier working in the square joined them.
Now I am back in my hotel and can finally finish this entry. It's shortly after six, and I have no idea what I'm going to do this evening. After the Renzo Piano building the bus dropped us off back at the Piazza del Popolo, where we dispersed. We were going to visit a firm but Peter's friend is sick so we had the rest of the afternoon off. Marie, Kate, and I were on our way to the Colosseum for quite a while, in and out of shops and things. I love the street musicians here. There was one group with an accordion, bass violin, clarinet, an tambourine. I always want to give money to them, but there are so many that I would be broke.
At this moment I really don't feel like writing about myself. I want escapism, but there isn't anything on TV, I have no novels, and Valerie and Carmen are gone so I can't see if they want to go to an English Cinema. So I thought, now would be a great time to whiz out a little cheesy fiction. But no one has any notebook paper! I can't write fiction in here, because the space is too precious, and it involves a lot of scribbling and crossing out.
So, I am going to start journal games. But first I must finish yesterday. After the courtyard at the Vatican museums we came to a long, barrel vaulted hall full of sculpture. I don't remember anything. In order to study any of them I would have had to study all. But I loved the mood of the room, off-white sculptures with a bluish ceiling. After that was a room with huge maps on the walls. Then we went through the frescoes, one of which was Raphael's "School of Athens". We passed a lot of contemporary art. One was a painting of St. Peter's, but Bernini's piazza was so lopsided. I wonder if they did it on purpose. Finally, we came to the Sistine Chapel. A lot of people were disappointed: one, because it was so small; two, because it was jam packed with people; and three, because no one was giving it the reverence due to any chapel. There was too much painting for me to be in awe. I like details. That is why I have a poster of the fingers of God and Adam.
After the chapel everything was pretty much down hill. Another twenty minute maze of halls, and we were off to St. Peter's!
This building is the single thing that made my heart beat faster about coming to Italy, and it lived up to my expectations. First of all, it is twice as big as Florence Cathedral. The size is nothing in itself, but the quality of the space seemed to expand with the size. The first thing I looked at as I entered was Michelangelo's "Pieta" on the right. I had already loved it from the postcards, but they are nothing to the real thing. There was a glass wall between us and the statue and I could feel Mary's utter loneliness as she cradled her son. Cady says she looks resigned, but I also see in her serenity of countenance a river of emotion on the verge of bursting out. It's like those feelings that are so painful that you can't cry, you only sit with a blank look on your face. That statue was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen.
There was so much to see in St. Peter's. There were three dead saints that looked like they had been bronzed. I didn't linger at those. The sculptures were all wonderful, though I wasn't particularly interested in the Popes. There were visible sun rays coming through several windows. Carmen and Valerie stood where the sun from one window touched the ground, and I took a picture of them. They radiated; it was like the light would carry them right through the window. I think it was partially those sun rays that gave the church such a heavenly feel. Then there was Peter's statue.
It was a bronze statue and I gathered that it is good luck to touch his feet, so his feet were so worn down I couldn't believe it. And his tomb was there, of course, marked with a huge structure of Bernini's behind it [the Baldacchino]. When we left the crypt below (I was with Kate by this time) we came outside to the ticket box to climb the dome. We payed €4 to climb the dome (it was €5 to take the elevator, what wusses). My legs were about to burst by the time we made it to the top. It was fun on the inside of the drum, but there was a fence around so it was hard to take good pictures. Then we discovered more steps up to the lantern. That was the best. I got good shots of the whole city. I am so glad I didn't climb Florence Duomo because then I wouldn't have wanted to do it all over again at St. Peter's. The spiral staircases were scary and frustrating, but it was so worth it.
We had to rush to the Piazza del Popolo to meet Peter and were 25 minutes late. He took us to a Bernini Chapel next to it [Santa Maria del Popolo--Bernini only designed the facade], up the hill, past the French Architectural Academy, then down the Spanish Steps. By then it was dark; Peter talks a lot. Kate and I then made our way back to the Pantheon and had McDonalds on the steps of the fountain in the middle of the piazza. Aren't we sad? It's not that we crave American food, it's because I don't want to pay a lot, and don't want to waste time. Today was even worse. We were shoveling pizza down our throats while trying to get to the Colosseum in time.
I love Rome. I wish I could spend more time here to actually learn my way around the city. The traffic is great; you just have to step out and go. The motorcycles and cars at stop lights look they are line up for a race. And I love the feeling that the more I see here, there is still more to see. What there is to see is more astounding than anything in Florence.
Now for the journal games: Kate made a list of all the good love lines in songs she could think of. I am in a romantic mood so I'll do the same.
[you're not seeing this, boohoo!]
Maybe I'm not in such a romantic mood now. If I think of any more songs I'll write them, but now I'm going to dinner.
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