Rome Sweet Rome

Our final stop on our honeymoon was Rome. We were really good about sticking to eating the food of the country we were in: Irish food in Dublin, English and Indian in London, and Polish in Warsaw and Krakow. Neither of us could wait to get some delicious Italian food.

We flew into DaVinci airport, grabbed a cab, and headed for Rome. The first thing we noticed when we got to the city was all the graffiti. It was everywhere and we had a hard time figuring out whether or not we were in a decent part of town. Our cab driver pulled up to what he said was our hotel but we didn't see a sign anywhere. Matt checked again and realized we weren't on the right street and none of the names on the buildings were the name of the hotel. Finally, after telling him multiple times, the driver took us around the corner to our actual hotel. When we got up to our room, Matt checked the travel info on Rome and found out that it is second only to Barcelona when it comes to petty crime involving tourists. Our first impressions weren't good, this place seemed a bit sketchy.

We decided, since there was so much to see and everything was scattered around the city, to take a two day hop-on hop-off bus tour. Once we got out of our hotel's neighborhood and went further into the heart of the city our excitement about exploring Rome had come back.

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

My maid-of-honor Sam is Italian, but I never thought her last name, Clemens, sounded super Italian. Little did I know I would see that name everywhere in Italy. Any building, fountain, or statue that was commissioned by a pope has a plaque bearing the name of that pope. Well we found out that there were 14 popes and 2 antipopes all named Clemens who had their names on some pretty substantial Roman sights

Clemens!


This plaque is for the restoration and additions to the basilica commissioned by Pope Clemens X. Santa Maria Maggiore is one of the 4 palpal basilicas and one of the largest churches in Rome. 2 of the Clemens popes are buried along with other prominent Catholics in the basilica's Crypt of the Nativity.

The Colosseum

Arch of Constantine


Ruins of the Circus Maximus

Monument of Giuseppe Mazzini



View of Rome from the Circus Maximus

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

Faded Plaque

Statue of Tibernius (the river god) with a cornucopia

Matt in the Piazza del Campidoglio

The Piazza del Campidoglio is an elevated area where the Capitoline Museums are located. This was formerly the citadel of ancient Rome, which was redesigned by Michelangelo in 1536. It backs up to the ruins of Palatine.

Statue on top of the Capitoline Museums

Ruins of Palatine Hill

Palatine Hill, one of the 7 Hills of Rome, is the area where the Roman aristocracy lived and the emperors built their palaces.

Statues of Castor and Pollux

at the entrance of the Piazza del Campidoglio

Stairs to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli

We left the Piazza del Campidoglio, turned the corner and ran in to this. We have no idea what it is, how long it has been there, or what it was used for but it was really cool.

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

This monument was built in 1935. It commemorates the unification of Italy in 1870 and Victor Emanuel who was the first king of unified Italy.

Goddess Victoria riding on quadrigas

Random little church

Statue at the entrance of the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II

Castel Sant'Angelo and the Ponte Sant'Angelo

Statue on the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II

Castel Sant'Angelo

Castel Sant'Angelo was built in 135 AD as the tomb for the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It was converted to a military fortress in 401, and during the 14th century the popes converted it into a castle and connected it to St. Peter's Basilica with an undeground tunnel.

Entrance to Pincian Hill from the Piazza del Popolo

Fontana del Nettuno

Egyptian obelisk of Ramses II from Heliopolis

One of the 4 lions of the Fontanna dell' Obelisco

Porta del Popolo

Trevi Fountain

Oceanus

Abundance

Salubrity

Triton leading a sea horse

Triton taming a sea horse

Clemens!

Church of Trinita dei Monti and the Obelisco Sallustiano

Fontana della Barcaccia

The Spanish Steps

Keats-Shelley Memorial House

(far right)

Column near the Spanish Steps

Harry Potter movie premier at the Piazza della Repubblica

We walked through the Piazza della Republica everyday on our stay in Rome. There were huge movie posters for Harry Potter and all the signs were in Italian. On our walk back to the hotel after a day of sightseeing, we found out that they were having the Italian premier for the movie that night. They were still setting up when we were there so we didn't get to see any of the actors, but luckily we didn't have to deal with any screaming H.P. fans either.

We took a tour of the Colosseum the next day and I was really surprised to find out how close it is to the street. It was really neat to see the juxtaposition of the ruins and the modern city.

Arch of Constantine

Palatine ruins

View of the Hypogeum, underground area where gladiators and animals were held before contests began

Heads of the statues that used to line the upper windows of the Colosseum

Last of the original marble seats

Arch of Constantine

The Palatine

Monumento Nazionale a Vittorio Emanuele II

Equestrian sculpture of Vittorio Emanuele II

The next day we took a trip to Florence.

Bronze replica of the David

Florence in the rain

When we left Rome the weather was really lovely and by the time we got to Florence it was a torrential downpour. Of course when we got to Europe I realized that I had forgotten to pack the really cute umbrella I bought specifically for our trip, but we managed to make it through Ireland, London, and Poland with out it. Not so lucky when it came to Florence.

Ponte Vecchio

We went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David. It was incredible and so detailed. When you turn the corner in the museum and step into the room everyone is completely silent. It is really unbelievable to think that someone could have carved something that intricate out of marble 507 years ago. Unfortunately you can't take pictures of the original David so we had to settle for pictures of the 2 replicas.

It was a quick walk from the museum to the Duomo, our next stop on the tour, but it was still pouring rain outside. So we bought an umbrella from a gypsy for 5 Euros. We didn't open the umbrella until the gypsy had scampered away with our money and when we did, we realized that she sold us the smallest umbrella known to man. We looked like 2 giants sharing a child's umbrella. Thankfully in the 10 minutes it took us to walk to the church it stopped raining and we didn't have to use it the rest of the day.

The dome at the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Fresco of the "24 Elders of Apoc. 4" by Giorgio Vassari

Main entrance to the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (aka: Florence Cathedral or Duomo)

Design and building of the church started in 1296 and construction of the main building was completed in 1436. 100 years later the dome was completed and at the time it was the largest dome built without the use of scaffolding.

Bell tower

Bell tower and the dome

Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of Florence

Fountain of Neptune

Replica of the David in the location where the original used to stand, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio

Our last full day, we had a tour of the Vatican Museum. This was one tour we were especially looking forward to.

On March 31st, 2005 it was announced that John Paul II was on his deathbed. Being Catholic and Polish this was a big deal for Matt. We were on "Pope Watch" in our apartment in Reno, then we flew home to Vegas for Spring Break and found ourselves continuing "Pope Watch" at Matt's parents' house. JP2 passed away on the 2nd of April and it was so interesting to learn all the rituals and traditions of a palpal funeral and to see it on TV. Then we got sucked in to "New Pope Watch." We were fascinated by the smoke signals and couldn't wait to find out who the next pope would be. That week we decided that we had to visit Vatican City.

"Sphere Within Sphere"

by Arnoldo Pomodoro

in the Cortile della Pigna

1st century Roman bronze Pigna (pinecone)

in the Cortile della Pigna

Museo Chiaramonti

Ceiling in the Gallery of Tapestries

The ceilings in the Vatican Museum are optical illusions. what looks like frames around the paintings are really just paintings of frames. The entire ceiling is flat and painted to look 3D.

Gallery of Tapestries

Another woven tapestry

Painting by Polish artist Jan Matejko, namesake of our hotel in Krakow

Fresco ceiling in the Raphael Rooms

Triumph of Christian Religion

Deliverance of St. Peter

Disputation of the Holy Sacrament

The School of Athens

More ceiling frescos

After the Raphael Rooms, we visited the Sistine Chapel. In the Sistine Chapel you are not allowed to take pictures or talk. The art work was incredible. We couldn't believe that everything in there was painted by one person. It was so amazing to see art work that we had learned about and seen in pictures for years, in person.

When we left the museum it was pouring rain. Of course when we left the hotel it was beautiful out so we didn't grab our umbrella. Guess who had to spend another 5 Euro on a tiny gypsy umbrella?

St. Peter's Basilica

We found out there is a law in Rome that no one can build any structure taller that the dome of St. Peter's. That way they can protect the Italian skyline and ensure that the dome will always be the main focus.

Nuns in line for the Basilica

Swiss Guards

Eastern European Pilgrims

Tombs of the Popes

The entrance of the tomb was the last place you were allowed to take pictures. But when we got to JP2's tomb, I had to pull out the camera and get a picture, we had waited 5 years for this! So I waited until another tourist stepped between me and the tomb guards then snapped a pic.

Tomb of Pope John Paul II and a tourists shoulder

Interior of St. Peter's

St. Peter's Entrance

Michelangelo's "Pieta"

I'm not sure what this is, but it was creepy so I had to get a picture

Cherubs lifting a picture

These carvings of fat little babies straining to lift a picture were everywhere in the Basilica. I don't know what it was about them but I loved it!

Michelangelo's Dome

The Baldacchino and Palpal Altar

Clemens!

Cathedra Petri, "Throne of St. Peter"

Close-up of Michelangelo's Dome

List of Popes

More fat babies :)

Statues surrounding St. Peter's Square

Close-up of statues

View of St. Peter's Square from the steps of the Basilica

The 2 dark windows on the left are the Pope's apartment

Obelisk in St. Peter's Square

The Basilica at sunset

After 3 weeks abroad we were ready to head home. We had such a fantastic time, learned a lot, and ate a ton of delicious food. Our trip turned out better than I think either of us could have imagined, but we couldn't wait to get home to our family and our Bassets.