Todd Life: Rome, May 27th

So today we actually did get up early! 7am! Our tour driver picked us up at 730am in front of our hotel and then we were on our way to Vatican City. We met our tour guide Flaminia who was born in the states but grew up in Rome. She was a great tour guide and we had so much fun! We met her in the Vatican tour line, and it was so nice of her to get up early and hold us a spot in line! Sometimes the Vatican lines can get to be 4 hours long! So we were inside in a matter of minutes and then we were off through the museum halls of the Vatican. She told us that if we were to spend a minute looking at each piece in the Musuem that we would be there for 23 years, and that the walking distance throughout the museum is 4 miles! Nuts huh? Anyhow we walked through the halls and then we entered the Sistine Chapel. She was an amazing guide to say the least. We spent about 40 minutes in the Chapel and she went through the history of the Chapel and the history behind the Popes and artists involved in the design and decorating of it. We had no idea that the Sistine Chapel was the second time Michelangelo ever painted. He was also the one to design the scaffolding that he used to paint the ceiling. He did not paint on his back, but painted standing up on the scaffolding. It ended up ruining his back, neck, and eyesight in the end. He began at done end of the Chapel and worked to the other end. He was 24 when he painted it, and by the time he was done he was a genius sculptor! You can see by looking at his first painting to his last. It is really impressive. He came back 30 years later to paint the final judgment wall as well. After that we went onto the Saint Peter Basilica. This is actually the final resting place for the Apostle Peter. The one monument that has an interesting story is Alexander VII tomb. The popes design their tombs before they die so that they can design it the way they want. Well Alexander VII designed his to have the angel of death at the front of his tomb carrying a tapestry made of marble. The angels face is covered so that people viewing his tomb can remember that the angel of death is near, but it is not yet their time to die. The most interesting this is that this Pope was remembered for not fearing death, but always seizing the day as if it were his last. He actually had the previous Popes coffin (with his dead body in it) in his bedroom so that every morning he would remember that it could be his time any day. But remember back then, things weren’t sealed like they are today, so imagine what that smelled like. Ick! We walked into Saint Peter’s Square and toke some pictures and then we were off to the Colosseum. We stopped and got some sandwiches and hot chocolate, which was to die for along the way. The colosseum was actually named the Flavian Amphitheatre and was constructed from 71-80 AD. The colosseum was built in travertine blocks and bricks. The blocks were held into place by metal rods that made the huge structure more earthquake safe. However today all the rods are gone, because when the Roman Empire was falling the Romans dug into the walls of the colosseum to get the metal to use it for swords and cannonballs and any other metal war objects. The colosseum had been out of use for years since the empire was falling and a huge 9.0 earthquake hit and half the upper section fell due to the metal rods being pillaged. Today one whole half of the outer sections are gone and all the marble facades are striped away along with all but one section of seats. The Romans build the foundations of the colosseum in brick and used rods to secure marble facades to the bricks since brick was considered very ugly and crude. The colosseum had to be amazing back in the day. I can’t imagine what it was like with all that marble, it had to be beautiful. It held 88,000 Romans, and by todays size of people about 53,000 people. The emperor would feed them bread and wine while the games where underway. After that we got back into the car and drove past the Royal Forums and went to this secret spot called the keyhole which has a spectacular view of the Saint Peters Chapel through gardens. After that we were off to the Pantheon. The marvelous structure has 18 60 ton Egyptian granite columns as you walk in. The columns were brought from Egypt and 20 ships were built around 20 huge 60 ton columns to bring them to the Pantheon. The dome is constructed of a single concrete slab and was built in 120 AD. We are planning on visiting it tomorrow morning so that we can be the first ones in the building and watch them open the 3 ton doors! After the pantheon we were off to our last stop which was Piazza Navona which just by the looks of it is just a normal plaza, but in fact it was a stadium, and underneath the plaza they have excavated the ruins. The roman ground is a whole 10-70 feet higher today in present day Rome that it was back in the Roman Empire times. So most of the ancient things that are being excavated in the city are actually underneath the actual streets. We also noticed that the city was covered in Egyptian obelisk. Flaminia explained that Rome has more obelisks than any one city in Egypt. The Romans Empire was in high trade with Egyptians and they brought back many souvenirs to Rome. Flaminia was amazing! We learned so much and it was so nice to be driven everywhere since it was so hot today. We got back to the hotel and then rested for a bit before going out to get dinner and doing some shopping! Bryan got an Italian suit! It’s sweet! Anyhow we have a big day planned for tomorrow. Flaminia told us where to go and so we have a whole day planned out. Today was my favorite day on our Europe trip so far, we love Italy! Goodnight everyone!

saint peters bascilica