At last the walls of the Vatican Museum are breached and a Gilligan's tour of Rome is taken

Wednesday January 29, 2014

Third attempt at the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel has been met with success.  We pre bought our tickets.  The cost was an extra 4 Euros per ticket, not huge, but if the lines were long or it was raining, as it has been at some point almost daily since we arrived, it meant we could breeze right past everyone else to he head of the line.  Neither of those were an issue this morning.  The line was minimal and there was no rain, but it was still good not to have to wait.

Our day started out with a subway ride, the first for Cheryl and Rheaume.  It was a quick 25 minute trip to the Vatican Museums.  The subway was packed to the limit for a good portion of the trip, with people heading to work and when we first got on the train car, we, Rheaume, Bill and I, had a brief moment of panic thinking Cheryl had not been able to get on the car and was left behind.  After attempting to open the door to see if she was still on the platform, we noticed her in front of one of the doors further down the car.  Whew!! that was a close one!

Today would prove to be a long day.  To see all that the Museums have to offer takes a full day.  We saw most, but not all, and because we had not picked up a map when we entered, we ended up having to do a bit of back tracking.  It was a day of up and down stairs, we certainly are getting our exercise and Cheryl has commented on how much tighter her calves are getting.

So here are some pictures from today's visit from the Egyptian collection - many items are in glass cases so I apologize for the glare and reflections present in some of the photos

A mummy in a sarcophagus

A sarcophagus showing how they were decorated - the insides were also richly decorated

These small sarcophagi, usually on a wooden base held a death scroll, which
told the life story of the person buried.
We saw some scrolls that were up to six feet long

this was a face mask with just the head and shoulders

Anubis, one of the gods worshiped

various animals were worshipped as gods this one a lion

this one a bull

Within the tombs were many, many of these little sarcophagi, no more than about 6 inches high,
all with little figurines, wrapped the same as the mummy, inside.
It is thought that these represented all the workers that the person buried would
need to assist them in the life "on the other side"

some of the many and varied figurines found inside the tiny sarcophagi

animal figurines also found

 Various other small figurines included in the burial site all intended to help the person in the after life

Next came the marbles and statues

Then came the hall of tapestries with tapestries made in Belgium in the 15th century

 And of course, don't forget to always look up - you never know what you will see

In the Hall of Maps

 Out side in a courtyard - "Sphere within a Sphere"

Final stop of the day was the Raphael Rooms with paintings done by him and his followers

The Sistine Chapel was also visited, but no photographs allowed.


Next came our Gilligan's Island tour of the city.  We got on a bus to get back to the apartment, BUT it was going the wrong way, and what a distance it was!  Two hours after we left the Museums we finally got home, and when I plotted the bus trip afterwards it looks like we travelled about 24 miles - we could have walked home in less time!!!  But is was raining heavily, so the bus was a godsend and we got to see areas of Rome that we would never have seen otherwise.

Time to do more exploring of Piazzas and fields of flowers

Tuesday January 28, 2014

Rain is gone, for now, the sun is shinning and time to head out for more exploring.  First business of the day was to get new bus tickets so we could continue our travels.  Our previous tickets  were good for one week and expired at midnight last night.  We were going to hop a bus down to Termini station to pick up another weekly ticket, but wouldn't you know it, the transit police were waiting at our bus stop, so rather than push our luck, we decided that discretion was best and started walking to Termini instead - it is only about a 20-25 minute walk.

From Termini we got a bus to near Piazza Navonna.  This is a large oval shaped plaza which sits on the ancient ring of the Stadium of Domitian - also known as Circus Agonalis - built in 85 AD to host Greek athletic events called agones.  It had a capacity of 30,000 people. Over time, it fell into disuse , then in the 1400's it became the site of a daily marketplace.  About 1485 it was paved because it was becoming a favourite place for festivals and processions.  Gradually it was enriched with fountains, buildings and frescoes becoming a major showpiece for the Pamphlii family.  In 1651, the fountain of the four rivers was constructed in the plaza.  It represents the four major rivers known at the time, the Ganges, the Danube, the Nile and the Plate.  The fountain still stands today, having just undergone a refurbishment.  Each representation of a river is done by a different artist.  Two years ago when we were here it looked much different.  An inscription on the fountain indicates the aim of it is to off "healthy pleasantness to those who take a stroll, beverage to those who are thirsty, and incitement to those who meditate".  Two more fountains, one at either end of the plaza were also built.

On June  23, 1651, Pope Innocent X organized that the drains on all three fountains be closed and the water overflowed and covered the central part of the square, which was hollow.  Aristocrats and poor alike had fun in the resulting "lake"  The "Lake of Piazza Navonna"  became a summer habit and for about 2 centuries the square got flooded on all Saturdays and Sundays of August until 1866, when under the papacy of Pius 1X, the fun ended.

The square was the site of a daily farmers market until about 1850 when that market was moved to Campo di fiori.  For the past 100 plus years there have been annual Christmas markets held in the square.  Today it is the site were artists set up their paintings for sale and were various musical artists perform.

Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi)  Piazza Navonna

In front of one of the rivers represented

A musical interlude

picking out a painting to bring home, under the watchful eye of  "the husbands"

Next we are of to Campo di Fiori "Field of Flowers".  This is the square where the daily market that had been in Piazza Navonna was moved to over 150 years ago.  To make our way there, we chose to go down what appeared to be no more than an alley ended in a dead end, but we knew there had to be an entrance because all the cars that were squeezed in there had obviously come in somewhere ahead, and were all facing the same direction.  I use the term squeezed, because as we walking thru this area we come upon 5 women in two cars.  Thy seem to have a dilemma on their hands.  They are both parked, one behind the other and want to leave  The driver in the first car has barely 2 inches between her front bumper and the car in front of her.  The driver in car 2 is facing the same situation in both the front and back of her.  Less than 6 inches total between them to maneuver to get out of their spots.  Normally I would say it is not do able, but I have seen it happen.  It make take 10 or more back and forth movements with minor outward turns each time, but we have seen a car maneuver out with little more than 4 inches of clearance.  There was plenty of room here because both drivers were there and could maximize the space available if they thought about it.  We did not wait around to see what happened.

 Top photo is a house with a little column infront of it that we came upon in this alley/street
(close up of the upper right hand corner of the picture above)
These are the frescoes that are painted on the upper part of the building

down an alley/street on our way to Campo di Fiori

Shield emblazoned above the windows on either side of the balcony above

Unfortunately, when we got to Campo di Fiore, they were closing up for the day, so there was very little left to see.  It was about 2:30, so we stopped for lunch - we are becoming Italianized!!

waiting for lunch - eating alfresco once again, but it is a little cool today.

As we left Campo di Fiori we came upon this bakery that would not let us pass by.  We came out with a stuffed pastry, a Sicilian cannolli, and a chocolate mousse tart that never made it home!  We also had purchased a slice that was chock a block full of whole nuts of every kind on a toffee and cake like base, a "Forest of Chocolate" cake slice and a slice with the most incredible tasting cherry topping ever.  I only managed to get a picture of a tidbit of the cherry slice and chocolate slice before they too disappeared forever!!!

Then  it was off for a little retail therapy.  On the way home we stopped to pick up take out food and had a veritable smorgasbord for supper later on.  There was curried beef, fried fish fillet, meatball, stuffed chicken legs, octopus in tomato  sauce,  roasted potatoes, a hot dog wrap, spinach and salad.  all washed down with liberal doses of wine.