Rome: Day Three

Please check out my photos, but be forewarned there are many and not all interesting. But all photos including the ones in the blog are quite large and can be blown up to a fairly large size.
















I got up early (10 AM) and went to the local SPAR Market to pick up breakfast fixing. There is an espresso maker, so I have my morning espresso now, also cereal, fruit, yogurt, bread and cheese. Bill and Maya were just getting up when I arrived back.

After breakfast we walked over the All City Bus Tour (on and off) and hopped aboard a tour bus. Our first stop was the Vatican. I was last at the Vatican in 1973. I'm not sure what year they added them, but for me the metal detectors were new. We joked about Maya's bare shoulders and she told us she would wait for us near the obelisk. Next time I saw Maya, she was inside the Basilica wearing a while shawl that someone surreptitiously sold her for five Euro.

My favorite memory of the Basilica of St Peter was the numerous sarcophagi of bishops and Popes in vestments hundreds of years old in various states of decay. Maya said that she remembered the same from twenty years ago. Today there is a more modern basilica almost devoid of rotting bodies. The basilica now has vast open areas where once were the bones of the former leaders of the church. With the Catholic background I couldn't help doing corpse comparisons. I thought that those showing the least amount of degradation were the holiest and certainly in heaven. The more rotten and deteriorated bodies showed clear signs of an unsavory life. I theorized that mostly rotted bodies went to hell, moderate deterioration went to purgatory and the beautiful bodies were certainly in heaven. My apologies to the offended.

I must say that the Basilica is a thing of beauty, but on a scale so large that it is overwhelming. The number of gorgeous statues and paintings bear testament to many popes. As we know Popes in the history of the Church have a mixed record, just like presidents here in the United States. Nevertheless the monuments to these people is a testament to the dedicated careful workmanship of many people. All the work was done to the best of their ability and shows a high degree of craftsmanship and engineering. That is worth something.

We then walked to the Spanish steps. See Google or Wikipedia for a history of this place (having to do with a gift from King ??? of Spain to the Italians in some battle). The steps lead up to wonderful little church. Maya and I still had great energy at this time of day and enjoyed the climb. The entire place is bustling.

A real highlight of the day for all of us was the visit to the Coliseum. Last time I was here, they did not charge a fee. It was open and very few improvements had been made since the third century. Today they charge about 15 Euro and the place is open in many parts with the exception of lower floor. There are many exhibits and obviously much work has been done on the place. The enormity of the structure is overwhelming and the historical research that has been done also enormous. So with the help of seeing the gladiator costumes we could actually picture the events inside.

(Please note that my photos are in exact reverse order. Why? I'm not sure.)