Monday in Roma

The following morning relieved that we were not harmed from the earthquake we headed for the center of the city. We walked to the big white building and walked around the building going up the steps to see the view of the city. We walked down through the rest of the and across the Tiber River to an area called Trastavere. This area as our tour book stated was suppose to be the hip place in Rome with bars and restaurants for the younger generation. I really like this area and it was filled with restaurants and cafes. We all decided this is where would have dinner later. We walked through Trastavere to visit a famous church called Chelsea Santa Maria, which was beautiful and had a wonderful little piazza with a fountain.

After visiting the church we made our way through Trastavere to a big park. We walked all through the park, which was set up on a hill over looking the city. We stopped a monastery along the way and eat a picnic lunch of peanut butter sandwiches at a picturesque look out.

We had tickets for the Vatican Museum at 4 pm so we started to make our way through the park in the direction of the Vatican City. After talking a round about way and walking through a parking garage we walked right into St. Peters Square. My first impression was a little overwhelming. It was enormous, surrounded by giant columns and statues and in the center the St. Peters Cathedral towered over everything. We had our way into the line through the massive crowds before we realized that the Vatican Museum was on the other side of Vatican City. We turned around and got to walk around the giant wall the surrounds the holy city. The Vatican Museum was quite impressive filled with room after room of famous statues, frescos, paintings, and carvings. It really showed how much power Catholic Church had in claiming ownership over famous artworks. My favorite room was called the Hall of Maps. It was essentially a long Hall filled with fresco of maps of Italia. The ceiling was covered in ornate golden paintings and frescos. With all the gleaming artwork and golden light it almost felt like I was walking into a light metaphorically speaking.

The Vatican Museum is so big that you cannot possibly see everything there is to offer without dying of exhaustion. We stuck to the key rooms of importance and slowly made our way through the museum toward the most famous chapel in the world. The Sistine Chapel, with the ceiling fresco painted by Michelangelo in the 1600’s. The chapel was crowded with hundreds of tourists all gazing up and the incredible work of art on the ceiling. The room was kept silent by the security guards who kept shushing the crowd to preserve the holiness of the chapel. It’s hard to believe I actually saw this masterpiece in real life. It was almost like dream, but I really did see this larger than life portrayal of God giving life to human kind.

After the Museum we headed back around the city wall to St. Peters Square. Along the way we stopped for gelato. Andrea got scammed by choosing a chocolate dipping cone that ended up costing her 6 euros, which is the equivalent of a ten-dollar ice cream in the U.S. She was not happy and was almost to frustrated to eat her gelato. I only paid 2 euro for my cone, which was a real slap in the face for Andrea. Once we finished our Gelato we went into St. Peters Cathedral. As if I was not impressive enough St. Peters completely blew me away. The church was massive, absolutely enormous. It was filled with every color of marble in the world, which of course the Catholic Church took from the ancient roman ruins after the empire fell. There were massive marble statues of all the saints. The alter at the front of the church could have been an entire church in it self. I felt like a tiny little ant as I walked through St. Peters.

We left Vatican City completely in awe, marveling at the power the Catholic Church had during its rein. We headed back to Trastavere to search for a restaurant for dinner. We found an awesome restaurant with a menu of day for only 10 euros. Menu of day usually includes an appetizer, a main course, and a drink or dessert. Once again Jeanie helped us out again. She got a free Mojito, but she did not stop there. She asked the bar tender if she could make us all shooters, so she went behind the bar and mixed us up her speciality. We spent the rest of the night at this bar with Jeanie continuing to get us free drinks. Karen got wasted and by the end of the night we were carrying her back to the hotel. What a great night. Thank you once again Jeanie!