We arrived in Rome at 10:30am on Sunday, after a flight where we were surrounded by screaming children and the ambient temperature was about 84 degrees. After dissuading Jacqui from seeking out duct tape, we proceeded to get about two hours of sleep before heading out to take in the sights of Rome!
The first place we set out upon was the National Museum of Rome, taking in 2,000 year old sculpture and a bevy of other ancient treausures.
We gained free admission to the museum by using our Roma Passes, which are quite possibly the best spent 20,00€ ever. We gained FREE admission to not only the National Museum but most other public attractions also, as well as free transport on the Metro. Seriously, if you plan on spending any time whatsoever in Rome, buy this pass. Do not question it's value, do not pass go, do not collect200,00€ (ok, do collect 200,00€, as that's a lot of free money), just buy the damn thing. After a day filled with ancient sculture, we headed to dinner at Pizzaria on Via Nazionale. A delicious pizza and a pre-1972 Coca-cola later (one of the perks of overseas travel is no FDA oversight), we decided to turn in for the night.
Day two took us to Vatican City, as well as all the Catholic grandeur and overspending that entails. We began with the Vatican Museum, with more ancient sculpture as well as several wings of Renaissance and Baroque period, religiously themed paintings and tapestries. Although most of the works were religiously, spiritually or biblically themed, there was one painting which conspicuously stood out; at the end of one hall, with it's own full panel explanation, it's own official audio tour info-blurb, and it's own Rick Steve's audioblurb, was a portrait of King George IV of England. Now, Georgie is neither Catholic nor affiliated with the Pontifus Maximus, which begs the question as to why there is a portrait of him with full chivalric valor and honors in the world's preeminent Catholic Museum. If anyone can come up with a reason beyond England's participation in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte, please email me, I would love to know.
Deep within the Vatican Museum is the Sistene Chapel; I have never before been so deeply awed in observing scriptural artwork before. Words simply cannot describe the emotions that become associated with viewing the chapel.
Continuing on our journey through Vatican City, we next went to St. Peter's square, and took a jaunt inside St. Peter's basilica. The two taken together are an unbelievable feat of artwork, architecture and engineering.
The sheer scale and skill involved hammer home the idea of how small one human life is, yet how awesome that same life can become; St. Peter, Michelangelo, and Bernini were just men; yet on another level, they were so much more. Again, no words can properly reify the raw emotion and human energy one experiences when looking upon the square and basilica together.
After a brief respite, Jac and I resumed our adventure de Roma by catching a cab to Campo DiFiori. Filling our stomachs at a quaint restaurant named for Bacchus, the Greek God of wine and revelry, we began what is known as the 'Night Walk of Rome.' On our nocturnal journey we passed landmarks like Four Rivers Fountain, The Pantheon of Rome, Trivi Fountain and The Spanish Steps.
Following a brief misadventure into a closed Metro Station (note to fellow travellers, the blinds being drawn on the ticket booth is generally a pretty good indication that the Metro is closed!), we caught a cab home - what a day!
We'll post more about day 3 when we have a reliable computer and Internet connection that doesn't eat posts that took 30 minutes to write.
Ciao! Matt & Jacqui
PS - In Cinque Terra currently at an internet cafe that has non-failing computers - will post the rest of Rome and our (mis)adventures and pictures of everything soon!
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