DAY 12

Wednesday 2nd October 2008 5.40pm Rome

We are in out hotel room in Rome getting ready to go out for dinner. We slept for about an hour and a half after a busy and hot day touring around Rome.

Breakfast on the top floor was at 6.30am and we left for the Vatican at 7.15am. A local guide met us and we waited outside the Vatican wall for the 8am opening. Other tour groups also waited as well as another queue for other visitors. We slowly walked through the museum looking at ancient sculptures, tapestries, and paintings. Our local guide, Sylvana, gave us a wonderful commentary that put everything into context. Arriving in a beautiful courtyard where a huge imperfect golden sphere gave a strange contrast to the old stone walls and sculptures and statues, our guide told us about the Sistine Chapel. Small posters were placed in the courtyard for visitors to view prior to entering the chapel. Entering the Chapel was via stone corridors with steps that led downwards. The Sistine Chapel was busy with hundreds of people inside looking at the artwork of Michelangelo. It is so vibrant and colourful since it was cleaned some years ago. The panels show the creation of the world by God, the creation of man, the banishment of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and the great flood. The end wall was a larger assignment given to Michelangelo when he was much older. The Last Judgement adorns the end wall. I sat with my back to a wall and gazed up in amazement and felt so lucky to be able to see this work of art in such great condition.

We then followed the corridors past the crypts of past Popes including the last and popular Pope. People were there praying at his crypt. The corridors led to the interior of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Wow! What an awesome sight. It is the church that outshines all other churches. Many of the huge sculptures are by Bernini. It is a wonderful interior space and so huge. Every day services are given on the hour every hour. There is art everywhere you look and too much detail and beauty to describe. Light streams in from clerestory windows above like the fingers of God reaching in.

We left via the front entrance straight into Saint Peter’s Square. This is where the Pope gives his audiences to the masses from the balcony above the entrance. The Pope was in fact giving an audience in a modern building nearby and thousands of people had bought tickets and were gathered inside waiting for him. We saw the Pope on a big screen in Saint Peter’s Square just as he appeared to the people in the next building.

We left the Vatican and joined the mob in the heat to buy a snack and a drink. Our bus met us and we then drove to the Colosseum. Our guide described the points of interest as we went. She led us to the Colosseum where we joined two queues to go through the metal detectors once again. Once insides the gates we were led around the ancient building and told about it. I didn’t realize the original building had a huge tent-like awning that covered the roof. I also didn’t know that the whole structure was once covered in marble. It would have been an even more impressive piece of architecture than it is already. It was hot and we were freed to wander at our will. We took a few more photos before leaving. Souvenir vendors try to sell you hats, scarves, postcards, sunglasses, sun umbrellas, jewellery, water, and more. Men in gladiator costumes wander around trying to sell photos of themselves with tourists. Two men in particular looked fearsome candidates and I was tempted.

We stopped at a cafe on the way back to our meeting point. Some others joined us for a soft drink and a pizza before returning to our hotel for a much needed afternoon nap.

2/7/08 10.45pm Rome

Feeling refreshed after a nap and a shower we dress for dinner and meet the group in the hotel foyer. The bus takes us to a restaurant called Tangara situated on the banks of the Tiber River. It was full of other tour groups. Our tables were at the very front on the raised stage area. Four singers performed well known opera songs between the food courses. We had a starter of cold meat, then risotto, a pasta in tomato sauce, lamb with salad and roast potatoes, then coffee cream cake with champagne to finish. Wine and water were included. The singing was great and the only accompaniment was a man playing the piano. We sat with the six older Australian Italians and that was very nice.

The bus trip back to our hotel included the scenic route of Rome by night. All the major architectural highlights were lit up against the cobalt blue of the night sky. We drove past the castle that features in Dan Brown’s book Angels and Demons. Apparently the filming of the book is underway with Tom Hanks once again starring as Robert Langdon.

It is a mystery to us why Italians in Rome take such obvious pride in their personal appearance and yet allow their city to be covered in grime, rubbish, and graffiti.