Latin Nights, Las Vegas Lights: Rome Days 2 & 3

Our second day in Rome started early with a metro ride to the Vatican. While Paris has an extensive, efficient metro system, Rome’s has only two lines and locals seem to prefer busses. Our passes allowed us to enter the Vatican Museum without waiting too terribly long and we set about exploring all of the religious artwork. Pre-twentieth century French literature references a LOT of saints and their associated symbols/significations. For example, Saint Sebastian was pierced by arrows and is the patron saint of protection from the bubonic plague, soldiers, athletes, and archers. He was also an early gay icon. Saint Jerome was a big hit with medieval Italian painters and featured throughout. My father tried in vain to follow his pre-planned route but eventually had to give up and follow the crowd heading towards the Sistine Chapel. The museum’s curators had anticipated this and had conveniently placed several of the more popular exhibits (like Ancient Egypt) on the way to the Chapel. After feasting our eyes on centuries of religious art, we were ready to gorge ourselves on the wonders of Michelangelo. It was…underwhelming. Perhaps because the images have been reproduced so often that one no longer feels the need to spend hours gazing at them again, perhaps because it was so crowded one could only crane one’s head up for a moment before one was shoved along. My sister found the secret exit that would lead us to St. Peter’s Basilica and used her charm on the security guard. “Can I use this door?” “St. Peter did!” The Basilica was awesome in scope and we spent quite a bit of time exploring it. My parents also spent quite a lot of time in the gift shop looking for angels, Last Supper scenes, and other gifts for the extended family. On the way home, we dropped by the Pantheon to marvel at its immensity.

Our last full day in Rome and the last day of 2009 started bright and early with a trip to the Coliseum. The warm sunny air was doing wonders for us as individuals and as a family and we took lots of photos in between reading the very informative placards. We strolled up on Palatine Hill, admiring the gorgeous gardens. I also feel at peace in an espace vert no matter where I am and I easily could have whiled away the afternoon in contemplation. Keeping to schedule, however, demanded that we head over to the Roman Forum. Seeing the ruins of old was amazing and I appreciated the city’s ancient history even as I grumbled about parts of its present. Getting back to the hotel was a challenge. The police had shut down certain public transportation stops in order to prepare for a large concert on New Year’s Eve. We took a series of buses to San Giovanni, the Pope’s church. It had a gorgeous interior with soaring ceilings and plaster angels everywhere, more vigilant than Santa Claus. Across the way, we stopped at a small parish which holds the sacred steps. Jesus walked these stairs up to Pontius Pilate’s house in Jerusalem and, as the story goes, Constantine’s mother Helena had them brought to Rome. We elected to see the chapel and read the handout rather than ascend the stairs on our knees in prayer at 5:00 pm. Though we had intended to celebrate, my sister played Sleeping Beauty and my father and I got some take-out sandwiches. Back at the hotel, we watched some pretty crappy ABC Family movies on the English-language channel and poked our heads outside to see the fireworks.

My family left at 4:30 am on New Year’s Day to catch their flight back to America. I explored some more of the city by foot, walking to the river and back. My journey home was filled with shuttle buses and metros, but I made it back to Nancy safe and sound on January 2.