Rome – The Vatican (22nd Jul 1997)
22 Jul 1997
Rome, day 2: Vatican was first on my list. The queue was luckily on the shaded side of the city walls, and moved fast. I was in by 9:30 am. I hired an audio guide – a real smart move, as I discovered later. Without it the tour would not have been half as satisfying.
All kinds of interesting sculptures, paintings and artefacts on the way in. An Egyptian gallery that jogged my memory of Egyptian history. I was part the huge crowd all headed toward the Sistine Chapel.
The Sistine Chapel
Michelangelo certainly deserves all the fame. What it must be like to live a life like his – the feeling cannot be put in words. In that moment I wished that I could have known him personally. The walls were also elaborately frescoed and well done, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the ceiling and the altar backdrop, the Last Judgement. I went out of there in a daze, not really noticing the subsequent rooms. Walked through into the courtyard, found there were other parts of the complex I still wanted to see, went back in, and couldn’t help going back into the Sistine Chapel. Gaped and gawked some more, and finally got out.
The chapel is still used for papal elections. Tradition: smoke signals from St Peter’s Square to declare to the waiting public whether a Pope has been elected – black smoke if indecisive, white if elected, achieved by burning the ballot papers with straw, or nowadays chemicals. The conclave votes twice in the morning and twice in the evening; a 2/3 majority plus one is required. The public waits in the square for the smoke, then the new Pope comes out for his first address.
Restoration of many of the paintings was ongoing, funded by rich Americans. The Sistine Chapel is only a tiny part of the museum complex. Other highlights: the Octagon (Ottagono) and the Picture Gallery. I spent four hours in total, and got out at 1:30pm when it shut. Drooped into St Peter’s Square. It was very hot. Parked in a shaded corner and wrote postcards.
Main thing of note about the rest of this day: revisited Saint Peter’s Basilica to see Michelangeo’s Pieta once more. Arrangements were going on for the Pope’s public audience tomorrow morning (weekly on Wednesdays).
And had ice cream for dinner, two nights running. Very good ice cream.
The rest of Rome
All the sights cluster around Piazza Venezia, a large traffic crossroads. Corso Vittorio Emanuele II leads in; the Archaeological and Town Planning departments are trying to make it an arty road, with information boards, museums and churches. At Piazza Venezia: the enormous white Vittorio Emanuele II building. Known as the wedding cake, and it does look like one too. The Fori – Foro Romano, Foro Caesaro and others – spread all around and out toward the Colosseo. I didn’t go into any of them, just looked from the road.
Campo de’ Fiori: highly recommended, and quite disappointing. A place to rest your feet in the evening perhaps, but don’t set out to see it for touristy reasons; the atmosphere never soaks in that way. Piazza Navona was better. I sat there and wrote postcards while my feet recovered.
At the Trevi Fountain I met a chatty Sicilian chap and spent some time conversing. After days of gesturing and writing, it felt pleasant. He wouldn’t go up the Spanish Steps with me, so I went alone. Crowded, but I found a quiet step and sat for a while. The Trevi itself you can barely see through the crowds. You wonder whether it spouts water or tourists. The fountains of Rome would be splendid if there were any ambiance around them. Rome didn’t feel particularly romantic, though it had its usual quota of couples kissing and hugging.
Termini station is slightly west of the geometric centre of Rome, and all the sights are to the west of Termini. I never got to see the other side – the university area, the airport, the east. I walked back toward the Colosseo and ran into my Gujarati friends from Venice, chatted a bit, and took the Metro to Ottaviano to get the bus back to the YH.
