Daily Details--July 4

We began at the Vatican Museum today. Although we only saw a TINY portion of what the Vatican has to offer, I was again blown away by all of the beautiful sculptures, frescoed ceilings, and tapestries that hung on the walls. The hall we walked down, just to get to the Sistine Chapel was a whole mile long! In the museum itself, my favorite, by FAR, of all the things we saw was a whole long section of tapestries. They were about 14 feet high and just about as wide. I can’t imagine doing something like that today with all of the technology we have, let alone back then with such limited resources. They were truly remarkable.

The Sistine Chapel was amazing. It was so neat to actually see with my own two eyes the finger of God reaching out to the finger of Adam. I was so touched by the beauty of the frescoes. It was also so neat to see the self-portrait of Michelangelo, found in the drooping skin of St. Peter.

Next, we were off to see St. Peter’s Basilica, the largest of all the basilicas in Italy. I remember having learned about how massive it was in AP Art History in high school, yet when I went inside, it just didn’t seem that huge at first. Then, our docent started telling us the heights of the statues that are everywhere around the basilica. The ones lowest down were 15’ high, and the ones above them were 18’ tall—thus they appear the same height to the viewers. The statuary in this church was the most beautiful of any I have yet seen and there was SOOO much of it! In this church, there are no frescoes. Everything you see that looks like paintings is mosaics. They were BEAUTIFUL, made with every color of marble one could ever imagine.

My favorite part of this whole day was when we climbed the 300-something stairs to the top of the dome. It gets so narrow inside and starts turning that you feel like you’re walking diagonally. I was exhausted by the time I got to the top, but it was worth every bit of the effort once we saw the SPECTACULAR views of Rome. This is the highest point in all of Rome, and it seemed that you could see for hundreds of miles in every direction. One of my classmates thought she could see the Eiffel Tower, but then we pointed out that it was just a radio antenna! ;) Once again, I could hardly believe that this was made so long ago, when I scarcely know how we would do something like this today.

Our last stop was the Pantheon, and my, what a trip it was! After a VERY long journey, and a little getting lost, we made it there. I enjoyed the Pantheon, but it was definitely not one of the favorite things I’ve seen. Because the only lighting is through the oculus, which is 29’ in diameter, the inside is EXTREMELY dimly lit. That has been common throughout the churches I have seen here, but this one was especially gloomy. I asked directions from a worker there on which way is quickest to get to the metro, and she told me to take the bus 64. When I told my classmate, her jaw dropped and she started shaking her head. I was so confused—this was our big break and she didn’t want to take it? Then she explained that she read it was the biggest place for pick pocketing in Italy. I was so glad she knew that, and we gladly made our way back home by foot. It is amazing how quickly you learn your way around here.

After taking a dip in the luxurious pool back at our hotel and a much needed nap, it’s time for a late dinner—places in Italy don’t start serving dinner until 7 p.m. or later! We head to a charming Italian bistro and immediately feel right at home. The Romans in general are not friendly at ALL, but our waiter here is absolutely charming, and for a middle-aged man, extremely good looking. After finishing our dinner, he asks if we want several other things. We say no, and then he comes back with a tray full of shot glasses. He sets them down in front of us and tells us it’s “grappa” and on the house. We ask if it’s alcohol, and he says it’s “good for digestion”. After one sniff of the syrupy, molasses-like substance in front of me, all doubts have left my mind—yes, this is alcohol, and hard-core stuff at that! We tell him we don’t drink, but he won’t take no for an answer and keeps saying, “on the house!” Not wanting to offend the friendliest person in Rome, we end up pouring the booze into our empty Coke cans while he’s not looking. Ha ha! I can now say I have officially been bought my first drink!