Arrivederci Roma

Day 7
April 14, 2009
Rome

Our flight to Prague was not until 3:05 PM so we had the morning to visit St. Peter's Basilica which we missed over the weekend. This time around, we were able to get inside the basilica as well as to climb the cupola.

St. Peter's Basilica is regarded as the greatest of all churches of Christendom. Inside are several paintings and statues, including Michaelangelo's Pieta.






The frescoes on the dome, as well as the walls supporting it, are intricate and elegant.






Near the papal altar is the old entrance to the Vatican Grottoes, where many popes and a few royals are buried:







Here are a few pictures taken on the claustrophobic way up to the cupola...




in order to see the breathtaking view of the Vatican.









We enjoyed ourselves so much that we only left the Basilica at a quarter before noon. We had to run all the way to the train station, to be able to get back to the hotel by 12 noon for checkout!

A Day Trip to Pisa and Florence

Day 6
April 13, 2009
Pisa and Florence

Monday is siesta day in Rome. Most tourist attractions are closed so we decided early on that we would travel outside of Rome on this day. Our first choice was Venice, to see its canals and gondolas. We later realized it would take at least 5 hours just to get there and decided it would be too tiring. We settled on Pisa which is nearer. And since there is very little to see there, we also included Florence in the itinerary, which is 1 hour away from Pisa.

The uneventful trip to Pisa took 3 hours and 20 minutes. Once in Pisa, we took a quick bus ride to get to the famed Leaning tower of Pisa. We proceeded immediately to the ticket office to buy entry tickets to the tower (tickets were actually available online but should be bought weeks in advance). However, the next one available was for 3:30 PM and we had to leave early for Florence so we decided to buy tickets to the Cathedral and Baptistery instead.





After an hour or so of appreciating the tower, we proceeded to the cathedral:



Inside were beautiful paintings and frescoes:




Later on, we went to the baptistery:



There was nothing to see inside, which made us wonder why the ticket to this one cost 4 euros whereas that of the cathedral was only 2 euros.




Here is a popular to-do in Pisa.



We left Pisa at around 3 PM and headed to Florence. As we only had few hours left to spend here, we were only able to stay on Piazza del Duomo which was near the train station.



In the piazza, we saw the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore



,Giotto's bell tower



and Saint John Baptistery



and its carved bronze doors.



We climbed the catheral's dome, Cupola del Brunelleschi, for a view of the city of Florence. On the way up were odd staircases, which looked like they were built as an afterthought,



and scores of graffiti,



despite posted pleas:



Up there on the dome were sinister frescoes on the walls and ceilings, showing scenes from the Judgement day:




Outside the dome was a canvas-like view of the city of Florence.






With more time, we would have also gone to Gallerie dell'Accademia (which is closed on Mondays anyway) to see Michaelangelo's Statue of David, Uffizi Gallery (also closed) to see the world's finest collection of Renaissance art including Botticelli's Birth of Venus, and the picturesque Ponte Vecchio (Jeweler's bridge). I will definitely be back here, after another lifetime's savings.

Easter mass at Vatican

Day 5
April 12, 2009
Rome

One reason why we scheduled to go to Rome during the Easter weekend was to be able to hear mass at the Vatican, even if we were not able to get tickets for it. According to our online research, you have to contact your local Bishop to get mass tickets. I don't even know who our Bishop was. We decided we would go on and listen to the mass from wherever we can.

Come Easter Sunday morning, by the time we left our hotel, the train on the way to Vatican was already jam-packed. The street leading to St. Peter's Square was teeming with people, one of them was a Filipino seminarist named Jerry who approached us and offered us free tickets for the mass!

So, here we were, along with thousands others, yards away from the Pope, who conducted the mass in Latin for around 2 hours.



Mitch then later on pretended to understand Latin and asked us to get the rosaries we bought from the Vatican museum the other day and to hold it high during the Papal blessing. We later were told by Jerry, that the Pope blessed the people and the people only. That would be the reason why no one followed our lead during the mass.

Later on, Jerry offered to show us around Rome as we had few hours left before our scheduled entry to the Colosseum. He brought us to Piazza Navona and Pantheon, both of which were figured prominently in the recent movie (and book) "Angels and Demons".

Piazza Navona features the famous Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of the Four Rivers, 1651) by Francesco Borromini and Girolamo Rainaldi...






...as well as 2 additional fountains - and the Fontana del Moro which we missed and Fontana di Nettuno which we saw:



The Pantheon is a magnificent ancient temple in Rome that was later converted into the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres. It is the burial place of Raphael. It is famous also for the round opening on its dome.





By 4:30 pm, we met my kuya, Jenny, and Sam at the Colosseum entrance. It was really surreal to be seeing this ancient structure, the site of gladitorial combat during the Roman Empire.








We later proceeded to the Roman Forum, site of the Roman city ruins.










After a very long day, we finally decided to eat an early dinner, since we have forgotten to eat lunch. We had calamares for appetizers...



...pizza and pasta for the main course...



and Rome's world famous gellato for dessert



I had frutti de mare, officially the best pasta I have ever feasted on.



Later on that night, Kuya, Jenny, and Sam left Rome. It would probably be years before I get to see them again.