We started our day at 7:20 am because some of the tour guides can get you into the Sistine Chapel before they let in the general public. I can not stress enough how worth it it is to go this route. We got to go in about 8:15. The beauty of the tapestry rugs hung on the walls in the hallway to the chapel were spectacular. The detailed stitching were such works of art. You could see the eyelashes on some of the people in the scenes. There was a considerable amount of gold woven into them and because of that many of them were confiscated by the Nazis during the Occupation and melted down to capture the gold. What a loss! We entered the Chapel and it is just beyond description, though I will try. You are not allowed to take photos of any kind (they will make you leave if they see you pull out your camera or phone) nor can you talk. So we took a rather quick look around and then exited to the coffee shop so our guide could tell us about it and point out things to look for in the painting. Our guide, Flaminia Chapman was the best! A big thanks to Jim Marx for recommending her and setting it up. Anyway, I knew a little about the ceiling and Donna knew a lot more (besides being an artist in her own right she loves art history and Michelangelo is her guy) but Flaminia told us some of the history and things to look for in the individual scenes. An example, is that in the last 3rd of the ceiling there are a lot more people and details than in the 1st and 2nd thirds. This is because he started at the back and when he finished that third he realized from the floor looking up you really couldn't see much detail due to the distance, so as he continued towards the beginning of the story of creation he used much less detail. Then we headed back into the Chapel. Remember earlier I wrote that getting to go in early was a must? Well, when we had gone in the first time there was maybe 30-40 people in there. When we went back there was probably 200+ people and the crowd was growing.
I was most amazed by the way it was painted to look 3 dimensional, like a sculpture and how the people painted on the curves of the ceiling looked perfectly proportional when in reality they were larger on the tops than the bottoms to account for the curvature of the wall. I was walking around staring at the ceiling and I know my mouth was hanging open. I could hear my mother saying to me "laynie shut your mouth, you look like a country bumpkin". I could have spent much longer in there, but we had places to go and lots of things to see and very little time to do it all. Next we headed to St Peters Basilica and you just can't imagine the majestic ness of it. There was definitely more staring with open mouth in there and lots of pictures taken that I know won't come close to capturing the beauty. One really cool thing we saw was Michelangelo’s Pieta statue. It is Mary holding a full-grown Jesus in her lap. It was his very first sculpture and the only one he ever signed. It is signed on the dress sash across Mary's chest and he did it after the statue was completed and already on display, because he was an unknown and wanted people to know of his work.
Then we were off again, next stop the Pantheon. What an amazing feat of architecture, then again of what we were seeing what wasn't an incredible feat? On to the Spanish Steps, which it turns out aren't even Spanish. They were built by the French and lead to a French Church, Trintia dei Monti a patronage of the Bourbon Kings of France but they were for linking the Bourbon Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Church. It is the widest staircase in Europe. Then on to the market in Campo Di Fiori and then to the Colosseum. I've seen lots of pictures but being there and seeing it in person is indescribable. How there were able to construct something like this, huge blocks of stone cut square and others made of concrete with metal rods, like rebar set inside each block. Then set in place conjoined in such a way that it gave the structure strength and stability to last these centuries. During the different wars, the citizens knowing these blocks had metal rods embedded in them would chisel away at the blocks digging for the rods to be melted down for canon balls. You can see lots of holes in the walls; this is also what contributed to the collapse of many of the walls when earthquakes struck. The last place see took us was to a little surprise. It's called the key hole and you look through a key hole in a wooden door of a gate and see a tree lined path that leads right to a view of St Peters. The garden was owned by the knights of Templar and then the knights of Malta. Our tour was done and two very tired travelers headed back to the hotel.
For our last dinner in Rome we took Flaminia's advice and went to Trattoria Dar Pollaro. It was a four course meal with no menu for 25€ and included the house wine. It was delicious. We walked there using only our street map and got home using the map as well. We were quite proud of ourselves for not getting lost! We got in the elevator, pushed the button to our floor and smiled that hello, I don't speak Italian smile to the other people in the elevator. They got off on their floor and we continued to the next stop. We got off the elevator and a couple got on. We walked to our room put the key in the lock and it wouldn't open. Next we tried the other key. It still wouldn't open. I said I would go down to the desk and get us new keys. I got to the desk and was just starting to explain the problem when Donna came out of the elevator giggling. She looked at me and said the keys are fine; they just don't work on the wrong room. So we can navigate through the streets of Rome, but can't find our room in this small hotel.
I was most amazed by the way it was painted to look 3 dimensional, like a sculpture and how the people painted on the curves of the ceiling looked perfectly proportional when in reality they were larger on the tops than the bottoms to account for the curvature of the wall. I was walking around staring at the ceiling and I know my mouth was hanging open. I could hear my mother saying to me "laynie shut your mouth, you look like a country bumpkin". I could have spent much longer in there, but we had places to go and lots of things to see and very little time to do it all. Next we headed to St Peters Basilica and you just can't imagine the majestic ness of it. There was definitely more staring with open mouth in there and lots of pictures taken that I know won't come close to capturing the beauty. One really cool thing we saw was Michelangelo’s Pieta statue. It is Mary holding a full-grown Jesus in her lap. It was his very first sculpture and the only one he ever signed. It is signed on the dress sash across Mary's chest and he did it after the statue was completed and already on display, because he was an unknown and wanted people to know of his work.
Then we were off again, next stop the Pantheon. What an amazing feat of architecture, then again of what we were seeing what wasn't an incredible feat? On to the Spanish Steps, which it turns out aren't even Spanish. They were built by the French and lead to a French Church, Trintia dei Monti a patronage of the Bourbon Kings of France but they were for linking the Bourbon Bourbon Spanish Embassy to the Church. It is the widest staircase in Europe. Then on to the market in Campo Di Fiori and then to the Colosseum. I've seen lots of pictures but being there and seeing it in person is indescribable. How there were able to construct something like this, huge blocks of stone cut square and others made of concrete with metal rods, like rebar set inside each block. Then set in place conjoined in such a way that it gave the structure strength and stability to last these centuries. During the different wars, the citizens knowing these blocks had metal rods embedded in them would chisel away at the blocks digging for the rods to be melted down for canon balls. You can see lots of holes in the walls; this is also what contributed to the collapse of many of the walls when earthquakes struck. The last place see took us was to a little surprise. It's called the key hole and you look through a key hole in a wooden door of a gate and see a tree lined path that leads right to a view of St Peters. The garden was owned by the knights of Templar and then the knights of Malta. Our tour was done and two very tired travelers headed back to the hotel.
For our last dinner in Rome we took Flaminia's advice and went to Trattoria Dar Pollaro. It was a four course meal with no menu for 25€ and included the house wine. It was delicious. We walked there using only our street map and got home using the map as well. We were quite proud of ourselves for not getting lost! We got in the elevator, pushed the button to our floor and smiled that hello, I don't speak Italian smile to the other people in the elevator. They got off on their floor and we continued to the next stop. We got off the elevator and a couple got on. We walked to our room put the key in the lock and it wouldn't open. Next we tried the other key. It still wouldn't open. I said I would go down to the desk and get us new keys. I got to the desk and was just starting to explain the problem when Donna came out of the elevator giggling. She looked at me and said the keys are fine; they just don't work on the wrong room. So we can navigate through the streets of Rome, but can't find our room in this small hotel.
Tomorrow I will write the last post about our grueling trip home.
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