’10 Jun: Rome, Italy

There was So…

…Much Stuff.

This is a very long corridor connecting something to something else on the way to the Sistine Chapel. Once you get into the moving from one room to another you really don’t know where you are.

What visiting the Sistine Chapel was like for me:

People! People Everywhere, shoulder to shoulder, with a large security staff standing slightly above the churning crowd yelling ‘NO PHOTOS‘ and shushing Constantly in a very loud voice ‘SHHHHSSH! SHHHHSSH!!’

There were also a lot of paintings on the walls and ceiling.

I pulled off these two shots with the camera just pointing up. I didn’t get yelled at or SHHHHSHed which was good.

After taking in all we could manage of the museums we went out for lunch. The food has been overall very good. I actually haven’t had anything I wouldn’t happily eat again.

From Shira’s camera, that hold-out-the-camera-and-shoot yourself thing.

Then we decided to visit Saint Peter’s since we were here anyway.

Pomp and Circumstance.

“St. Peter’s Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. It is regarded as one of the holiest Christian sites. It has been described as “holding a unique position in the Christian world” and as “the greatest of all churches of Christendom”.

“There has been a church on this site since the 4th century. Construction of the present basilica, over the old Constantinian basilica, began on April 18, 1506 and was completed on November 18, 1626.”

It is quite stunning indeed.

I just noticed that, according to The Final Word: Ms Wiki, the Coloseum held 50,000 people and Saint Peter’s can accommodate 60,000. That’s stunning.

Altar boys…there was a service ending and another beginning during our visit.

Now it’s June 4 and I had a big day planned but then I decided, nope, I’m not up for a big day, I’m just going to do a little strolling around.

He watches over the Campo dei Fiori, where every morning there is an active farmer’s market and every evening a lively cafe scene.

“Here, on 17 February 1600, the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt alive by the Roman Inquisition because his ideas (such as heliocentrism) were deemed dangerous and all of his work was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books by the Holy Office.

“In 1887 Ettore Ferrari dedicated a monument to him on the exact spot of his death: he stands defiantly facing the Vatican, reinterpreted in the first days of a reunited Italy as a martyr to freedom of speech.”

I’ve been eating those artichokes almost every day. YUM!

“Largo di Torre Argentina is a square that hosts four Republican Roman temples, and the remains of Pompey’s Theater. It is located in the ancient Campus Martius.”

This is also the home of the Toree Argentina Cat Sanctuary.

Cats from the Cat Sanctuary.

My lunch man cutie chatting up the Ciao Bellas.

June 5

Today I stood at the bus stop for one hour intending to go to the place where you can get the tour to go to the Catacombs. It was not to be. I gave up once there was no longer shade to stand in.

So then I went to the train station, where there is a schedule, and decided to take a nice air-conditioned ride…

…into the Italian countryside…

…to see the town of Bracciano, its lake…

…and its castle, Castello Orsini-Odescalchi.

It’s not a particularaly large castle, or wonderfully maintained or restored, but it was fun to see.

You could go in only with a tour and the tour was entirely in Italian but there were signs in English that, from the length of time the guide spoke and where she pointed, I think about covered it.

There was also a town up above the lake where they were having a small festival that weekend in honor of volunteer service.

I read that the town and all the finest villas were built on high ground because until the twentieth century and its eradication, the area was “notoriously unhealthy for its malaria”.

More of Lake Bracciano, the eighth largest lake in Italy.

Back in the city, a couple more examples of the buildings around Rome. They all have names, and long histories, and endless stories that I don’t remember.

Another view from my balcony, looking down to another cat refuge. It’s true. This huge plot was set aside by the city of Rome for cats to live.

It has a high fence around it, to keep out dogs I’d suppose since as we all know the cats will go where they please, and Cat Ladies come every day to feed them, pet them, and clean up poop.

The second cat who lives at Gene’s place. It’s the other one who sleeps on my suitcase and this one sleeps on my balcony.

June 6

Yesterday and today the weather has been Hot. Too hot, really, unless you’re just sitting, in the shade, in a breeze.

But I did make one last foray out into Rome.

This is the synagogue and Jewish museum, and you know you’re in the Jewish ghetto when you see…

…kosher restaurants…

…but I ate next door.

This is an old theater where they occasionally still hold performances.

A welcome water break at the Vatican on the long march home.

It’s Gene…Thanks Gene, it’s been FAB!