We started today at the Vatican museums since the weather was still overcast and light rain. We arrived early and got to the Sistine chapel before it got too crowded. There are no words to truly describe this great work of art. To see it in person was a treasure I’ll never forget. We then spent several hours wandering through much of the rest of the museum. The sheer number of status and busts was amazing. But what was even more interesting was how many of them were labeled as copies of Grecian originals. I always knew the Romans learned a great deal from, and even borrowed from the Greeks, but I didn't realize the extent to which they simply imitated works of art.
Unfortunately, we did not get to the Raphael rooms until later; by that time it was absolutely packed! This, combined with the fact that once you decide to start to go in the direction towards the rooms, you are squeezed through small passages with no way out amde it very claustrophobic for about 50 minutes. Once we reached the rooms there was a large crowd, so we were really not able to enjoy the room as we had hoped.
From the museums, we had hoped to tour St Peters, but when we arrived there at about 1:30, the line stretched all the way around the square. We decided to try again the next day and headed into Rome instead. We took the metro to Piazza Spagna and came out an entrance we were not familiar with, next to the Villa Borghese park. From there, we walked down the hill by the Trevi fountain again. Naturally, we stopped off at our favorite pizzeria/gelateria and continued on to find the Pantheon. Our map was very poor, and so we spent a fair amount of time lost and wandering in different directions – but what better way to truly experience Rome! We finally came upon the Piazza Navona and found the Pantheon from there. I think the Pantheon is truly one of my favorite places in Rome. Because so much of it is still intact, I felt closer to the history of the ancient Romans than I did among ruins. Plus, we loved the shape – that you can fit a perfect sphere inside of it – what incredible engineering! We headed back through the Piazza Navona and toured the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone. We then went to the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, which my sister said was a “must see” for a status by Michelangelo housed there, but which does not (unlike the Pieta in St. Peter’s) have hordes of tourists visiting it.
From there, we continued to wander through the streets to the Campo Fiori coming out along the river. Along the way, we came upon a Jewish festival celebrating the state of Israel. There were lots of police around, although everything seemed very peaceful. We continued on, and came upon the Portico of Octavia, once of the grandest monuments in Rome. Only the entrance porch now remains. What amazes us most about Rome, as I’m sure it does for every tourist, is that every time one turns a corner there are more ruins, and more history to be discovered. When we turned to our right, we realized we were at the Teatro di Marcello, built around 11 BC and once the second largest theater in Rome. Centuries after it was abandoned and then resurrected as a fortress, a noble family turned it into a palace on the 16th century and built additional living quarters atop the two tiers that remained of the theater. As it was early evening, there were few tourists around. It is a singular sensation to walk by a ruin or building that has been standing for hundreds of years, and realize you are not only small in comparison to the sheer size of the monument, but also only one miniscule person among millions who, throughout so many centuries, have also gazed upon these ruins with awe. The hurry and break-neck speed with which we normally live our daily lives suddenly seems to stop and carry far less importance.
Subdued, we wandered through quiet roads and alleyways to the top of the Capitolino hill for a beautiful view of Rome and the Forum, and then a golden-blue sunset over Vittoriano Emmanuel.
But this beautiful day had one last gift for us – as we strolled back towards the Colosseum, we captured – in our hearts, though not terribly well on film, a brilliant rainbow stretching from the Forum, over the Colosseum and disappearing into the busy nightlife of Rome.
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