Gloryfades.org

Slowly but surely, my update of my trip continues. This is mainly spurred by Mary who kept poking me last night to finish up my story So I dedicate this to her!

I left of on my second day in Rome. The following day was Monday and my plan was to go visit St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums, which I knew would take me all friggin’ day since the line-ups are monsterous in proportion.

I walked along the Tiber River to get to the correct ponte I needed to get to the other side of the city. It was a lot longer than I expected but because I was in the shade I wasn’t too upset by it. I left close to around 10 that morning, having slept in by accident, so it was already boiling by the time I left that morning. I regret not taking any pictures on my way there because the view was something else. Plus, I passed the Jewish ghetto on my way where the largest synagogue in Rome stands. I wanted to go inside but my Rough Guide said that only guided tours are offered and there wasn’t anyone there to offer me a guided tour!

My first glimpse of St. Peter’s Basilica was on the Via della Conciliazione which is this wide boulevard lined with large, sorta blah looking buildings. It was built during Mussolini’s reign and is very characteristic of the rest of his fascist architecture which, in a word, is just blah. Not really that interesting. I’m certain there was a reason for the style, but I can’t remember it at the moment.

In any event, I could see the throngs of people already by the time I was halfway up the via but I wasn’t perturbed by it. After all, I wasn’t going to not explore just because there was 500,000 other people there. Trying to fit all of St. Peter’s into a photo is harrrrrd, though.

My attempt at the front of St. Peter’s.

This one’s my favourite.

Pope … er, I can’t remember. His body was about ten feet away, though, behind a glass partition. He was mummified!

A mourning angel!

One of the angels attached to a basin filled with holy water. It’s Gigantic. Don’t believe me?

That’s what they look like compared to human beings. (I was standing across the nave.)

The dome of St. Peter’s from the courtyard of the Vatican Museums.

After paying my respects in St. Peter’s (and getting jostled by the other half million people who were inside the church) I braved the lines for the Vatican Museum. Stupidly I decided to wait until after going to the museum to have lunch. I got into line around 1pm and I didn’t leave the museum until well after 4. I was famished by the time I left. But that didn’t stop me from enjoying all of the fabulous artwork and rooms!

Laocoon from the side. There was like 30 people standing there looking at the statue.

Cleopatra and her weapon of choice.

Someone crazy decided to stick artificial eyes into this statue. The result is incredibly creepy.

My favourite paint - the School of Athens in the Stanza della Signatura. There’s obviously more to the mural but the thing is huge.

This is just one half of one of the corridors. This is actually the Room of Maps. You can’t really see the maps painted onto the walls but that’s what it the ceilings look like in a good portion of these rooms.

That trip rounded up my third day in Rome. I wasn’t pleased that I didn’t get to see more of Rome that day because of the Vatican but I was so pooped that I couldn’t do much else other than go home and rest.

The following day I decided to go into the Colosseum and explore. I was accosted by some lady looking to get people to join a tour group and I was mightily tempted by the prospect of no lineups. I knew that if I went to Palatine Hill first that I could get into the Colosseum without waiting in line also since I had a ticket already but I didn’t actually know where the entrance to Palatine Hill was so I opted to go with the tour group for a few extra euros.

On my way to the Colosseum I snapped a few pics at the Wedding Cake - the war monument that is entirely covered in marble. It’s humongous.

Woo!

View from the top of the colosseum.

Afterwards I went to Palatine Hill with this rather amusing tour guide. He was quite cute as well so I was a happy little camper. For some strange reason I only took one photo at Palatine Hill (mostly cause it was lots of hills with ruins and not a whole lot else) and didn’t upload it. Sorry! I did get a few photos from Palatine Hill looking down into the Roman forum though!

The Colosseum from the outside!

The Colosseum from the inside!

Me two days before in front of the Triumphal arch (can’t remember the name). The cobblestones in front of it were a bitch to cross, though!

The Roman forum! That white church held a wedding two days before!

Me in the Colosseum. I wore that shirt all day and caught an awful sunburn because of it. Never. Again.

After Palatine Hill I got some lunch (wished I brought a lunch to eat at Palatine Hill!) and then caught a tour of the catacombs (via the Appian Way!) and the Jewish Ghetto.

Michelangelo’s Moses. He gave Moses horns!

The front of Moses. You can’t really tell but Michelangelo struck at Moses’ knee with a carving tool while working on the statue demanding to know why the marble did not speak to him. He was in awe at how life-life he had made the statue.

A memento mori in the Church of St. Peter in Chains where Moses resides.

After the tour, I wandered around Rome until it began to get dark. I was sad that it was my last day in Roma but I was also beyond thrilled about seeing Gord the next day in Venice. I was utterly devestated to find myself with a total burn from walking around all day in the hot sun with no sunscreen but I could only blame myself. I bought aloe vera and hoped for the best. I also bought a train ticket to Venice that night for the eight am train the next morning. It’d be a long ride but I would get there early enough to enjoy most of the day with my boyfriend

On that note, I’m going to stop, again. I’m sorry but I don’t have pictures on my computer of Venice or Milano. Gord took most of the pictures on those days so I need to get them off him.

I hope you’re enjoying this!