We got into the Rome train station at about 8:45 Friday night. Just before we got off, we made a group decision to try and make it to the Pope’s procession that started at 9:15 at the Coliseum. It was time to hustle. We grabbed our bags and ran down to the lower level of the train station to catch the metro line B to the Coliseum. We made it just in time but there were tons of people and we had 2 huge luggage bags so we simply had to be aggressive. We got on and before we knew it we got off! We had to go 1 metro stop past the Coliseum because it was closed because of the Procession. So when we got up to street level, we just followed the crowds. As we were walking down a main street, the police stopped all the traffic and then waved in a huge fleet of cars and motorcycles. I bet you can guess who was in the middle! The Pope himself.
We made it to the Coliseum just in time but couldn’t get through security because of our luggage so we wheeled it up the street and joined a group of people overlooking the scene from above. There was a huge platform at the top of Palatine hill overlooking the Coliseum that is where the Pope, the choir, and many other religious and security sat. The Pope’s chair was positioned just below a huge, completely lit cross. Down below the hill at the entrance to the Coliseum, stood hundreds of people each holding a lit candle and looking up at the scene above.
What I thought was going to be a walking procession in song in honor of Good Friday turned out to be so much more. The reason for the choir, the platform, and all the candles was that Pope Benedict XVI was leading an entire stations of the cross service for all these people! It was really incredible. This really nice Italian man standing next to me even gave me his prayer book that went along with the service so I could keep it. So within a half hour of being in Rome, I not only saw the Pope but got to listen to him lead stations! It was quite a night.
About halfway through we headed to our hotel because stations was in Italian and we didn’t understand a word of it. But we were all excited that we made it there and were looking forward to the rest of our time in Rome.
Saturday April 23rd
We woke up bright and early Saturday Morning, 5:30, so we could make our 8:30 entry time at the Vatican Museum. We made it there with plenty of time and walked right past the 2 hour long line that had already formed, through security, and into the first museum. Now, I was very surprised by the Vatican Museums because I had the completely wrong expectations. I was expecting religious artifacts, works or even almost some sort of religious education class. It turns out that the Popes over the centuries have collected impressive works of art with the idea that the Vatican should house the greatest museum in the world. So I was completely surprised when I entered the first room and saw tons of ancient Egyptian sarcophagi and even 2 mummies still intact in glass cases.
All of the different exhibitions throughout the museum were really interesting though. There was an ancient Greece exhibit, a whole hall with wall high maps of the different Italian Regions. There were statues galore, tons of paintings, and the physical buildings and rooms reminded me a lot of the Louvre because they were so ornately decorated with monstrous paintings on the walls and ceilings and mosaics on the floor. Now a lot of paintings, statues, and tapestries were of religious people or scenes so there was a lot going on and it was religious too which was fitting.
The coolest parts were of course the papal apartments by Raphael and the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo. The papal apartments were ornately decorated with the history of the church and were incredibly detailed. But it was the painting of the last judgment in the Sistine Chapel that I will never forget. It was meant to be a warning against worldly pleasures and was really moving in some way. I wish I could have spent more time in the chapel to really understand each painting but there were just too many people in there. One last tidbit of info, I also didn’t realize that it was in this chapel that the next Pope is elected. It was a very cool place to be and see.
After we left the museum, we went to St. Peters’ Basilica so I could pick up the tickets for mass the next day. It was cool because I got to talk to a few Suisse Guards and then go to a special area just for ticket holders. Then after that we went for lunch and then to see the Coliseum during the day.
The Coliseum was just as cool during the day as it was at night. The audioguide was really helpful at explaining what it would have looked like so we could make sense of the remaining pieces. The Coliseum could have held between 40,000-70,000 people. They can’t be sure because so much of the seating is missing; after around 500 AD when the Coliseum was no longer in use, locals plundered and pillaged the Coliseum to use the material in other building projects throughout the city. If only they hadn’t, right? Most of it would probably still be in tact today.
After visiting the Coliseum, we went across the street to see the Roman Forum, which is really just piles of rubble. This was the main city center of ancient Rome complete with temples, buildings for justice, a market, the home of the vestal virgins, and the immense palaces of Palatine Hill. We made it up to Palatine Hill and walked around for awhile up there too. Eventually it became 7 PM and started to drizzle but we were afraid more rain was coming so we picked a restaurant nearby. After another great Italian meal, we got gelato and headed back to the hotel for bed.
Sunday April 24th
Easter Sunday! It wasn’t the perfect weather starting out; a little chilly with a lot of clouds. I was really hoping it wouldn’t rain but I knew it was going to be a great day regardless.
Mass at the Vatican started at 10:15 but we wanted to get there by 8:15 because we weren’t really sure how seating worked. It turned out it was first come first served, as we had guessed. We waited in the security check line for about a half hour and then made our way into St. Peter’s Square where there were rows and rows of chairs set up. Our tickets actually got us passed the general admission area and up into priority seating! Man, were we lucky. Not exaggerating, there had to be about half a million people there and we were a few of the lucky ones that got seats and so close to the altar too! I could see basically everything from my seat without binoculars or having to look on the television screens that were set up around the square.
Before mass started, different choirs sang Easter Songs, mostly in Latin, but then they also sang “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” which made me feel right at home. Then mass was about to start and in came the opening procession with the Pope in his little Pope Mobile! All of a sudden, when the Pope arrived, all the clouds parted and the sun shined on St. Peter’s Square bright and clear! Everyone was thinking the same thing, “Did that really just happen?” And then it was sunny for the rest of the day without a cloud in the sky. It definitely felt like Easter Sunday then.
Mass itself was about 2 hours long but it was really cool because they did different parts of the mass in all different languages including English for the 2nd reading. I really enjoyed it and was sad to see the Pope go.
After mass, we grabbed some quick pizza for lunch and started out on the rest of the day’s agenda. First we went to a big Piazza just to walk through it. If I thought there were a lot of people at mass, it was nothing compared to the amount of people walking around Rome that day. The Piazza was packed and we moved on soon after to the Pantheon.
Now the Pantheon was really cool because it is actually round, not rectangular like I had thought and is a Basilica dedicated to Mary. It also hold’s Raphael’s tomb and the tombs of the first 2 kinds of Italy. It was a cool place to visit but we soon moved onto our next stop, Giolitti, for the best gelato in Rome! And it lived up to its fame and really was delicious. Even the cone was amazing! If I had known it was so great, we would have gone there the day before too.
After yummy gelato, where I finally tried pistachio by the way, we went to the Trevi Fountain, which is huge and has water shooting out of over 200 places. The water pours out of and over rocks coming out of the building behind it, complete with statues and plants. If you throw a coin in the fountain over your shoulder, you get a wish and it guarantees you will visit Rome again. The fountain was surrounded by people but we made our way to the front eventually ad threw in our coins. The other cool thing about the fountain is that the city takes all the coins in the fountain and uses the money to feed the poor. It was a fun thing to do and a really cool thing to see.
Then we moved on just a little bit further to the Spanish steps. Why they are called the Spanish steps I have no idea but they are huge, full of flowers, and of course were full of people. We took a little break ourselves on the steps and enjoyed just soaking in the sun and people watching. Since we had finished seeing the main things on our list, we then went to the top of the steps where we found a giant park and we walked around in it for awhile.
Then around 7:30, we found a cute restaurant and sat down to eat our last meal in Italy. We had bread, pasta, and wine and talked about all the incredible things we had done and seen over the past week and a half.
The next morning we got up, said goodbye to Italy, and got on our flight back to Paris. Even though it was such an incredible trip, I was really looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep in my own bed in Paris. Less than 2 weeks left! Where did the semester go?
No comments:
Post a Comment