Days 21-22: Papal address & Musei Vaticani

I saw the Pope!  In all his holy pope-y-ness!
I just like saying pope-y.  Pope-y Pope.

Once again this was another excursion no one else really wanted to go on because of how early we would have to be up.  Like come on guys, if it's not on the itinerary you gotta MAKE the time for it.  Oh well, their loss.

Rosie proposed the idea the night before and was all for it.  We didn't have any tickets so we figured we would have to get there early and get them.  We left St. John's at 6 AM to get there around 6:30, to beat the crowd and the line.  It was a gorgeous morning.  Nice and chilly, the day was just beginning, there was almost no one out, especially those pesky, annoying and smelly street vendors.  It was a wonderful walk to the Vatican, simply calm and tranquil, maybe one of my favorite moments in Rome so far.  Without all the people, without all the cars, without all the noise of the city.  Calm.

At the Vatican the people began to mass at the entrances, but we were able to secure a spot relatively close up to the gates.  As to where to get tickets was uncertain, as no one was able to pass the blocked gates.  Everyone seemed to have tickets out and ready, causing some worry on our part.  But after we asked around we were told we were in the correct line, so that eased our worries for the time being.  For an hour or so we waited and talked to a group that was from New York (I believe) and fended off the obnoxious street vendors who wanted to sell us pope-flags.  They really annoy me.  Apparently the Italians don't think the same however, since I saw a handful of them buying Pope-flags.  Hmm.  I try not to support their practice in hopes that it eventually dies out.  Me and my lofty dreams I guess.

After the floodgates opened though the pace picked up dramatically.  People were running to line up at the metal detectors, even little old ladies were moving along and pushing to get by me!  Apparently the Pope is a pretty big deal or something...  But before we partook in the sprint to the seats, we still had to find tickets.  Rosie asked one of the guards where we could get them, and he told us to just go on through, no one checks them anyways.  Ha! Awesome! So we did exactly that.

We were officially in attendance of a papal address.  In the Vatican.  Like, THE Vatican.  Being a part of that crowd was like being at a concert, like when the gates open and everyone runs to the front, just less intense due to the varied age ranges and groups of people.  Everyone from children to older citizens were there to see and hear Pope Francesco.  In an hour the whole place was packed.

People packed into Piazza San Pietro for the papal address.

Someone came out to read off a list of groups present for the papal address, which created random bits of applause to ring throughout the piazza.  It was so cool to hear groups yelling and cheering all the way from the entrance to the piazza when their group was called.  People from all over the world were present, and it took at least five translators (that's when I stopped counting) to read through them all.  We even heard our own group, somehow over the crowd, "St. Johns University, Rome campus," and we high-fived in celebration.

I say I lost count of the translators and somehow managed to hear our group's announcement because sometime in middle of the announcements the Pope came out to greet the people, totally unannounced.  How humble.  Or maybe this is how they all do it, I don't know.  Pope Francesco made his rounds through the crowd on his little pope-mobile, with his little pope-hat, greeting the crowd and kissing lots and lots of babies.  I was able to snag a few shots of him from my vantage point standing on my chair, but was more exciting was to hear how the crowd chanted his name and rushed to the edge of the path to try and get as close as they could to him.  The children were shouting the same Italian phrases the parents and other adults were, and they chanted his name in unison as he passed.  To hear their voices, see their determination to get to him, and feel the love and passion they had for Pope Francesco was worth the whole experience right there.  I am not particularly religious, but to see greater determination and pride in the Italian people for their Pope than they had during Festa della Repubblica drew a sharp comparison for me, and for the first time I felt how important this figure truly is.

Pope Francesco.

Rosie had noted that he seemed to take his time at this part, stopping frequently to kiss all the babies and show his love for the people.  I have nothing to compare this experience to, but Rosie, as a Catholic who has more experience with Pope stuff, said that he did seem to show a greater amount of compassion than other popes have.  So I'll take her word for it, and you should too.

The address itself was very formal and each translator got a chance to speak on the people's behalf, thanking the Pope for being there today, for all that he does, for how special he is, that kinda stuff.  When he spoke it was in Italian mostly, like for his address to the people.  Something I noticed and really appreciated was how he didn't necessarily stick to his script, frequently looking up and speaking his mind and elaborating on what he just read off.  I'm not sure if he writes his own speeches or has others do it, like our leadership figures in America, but even though I couldn't understand what he was saying I appreciated that he didn't simply read verbatim from his papers.

All and all it was definitely a great experience, and I learned to respect this figure much more than I previously did, I'll admit.  It was the collective conscious of the people in attendance, the love in the people's eyes and voices, and the little things about Pope Francesco I described which left the biggest impression on me.  All the great Italians I have met on my travels so far seem to echo this common idea of love, compassion, kindness and unity, and I love it.  I can feel it changing me.

Anyways, the rest of my day was spent as a free day, relaxing and recouping, but evidently not blogging.  When I finally have the time, I find that I still have so much that I want to do out in this gorgeous city with friends.

And on the following day, the Vatican Museum was breathtaking, more so I think than the Uffizi.
But I think that is because I recognized more artist names and works, and enjoyed the Sistine Chapel greatly as well.  I was more prepared coming to the Musei Vaticani and had some more background on the works than those in the Uffizi and that definitely let me enjoy it much more.

I saw so much there it's impossible to recollect it all, but some of the highlights include the Stefaneschi Triptych by Giotto, works by Raffaello Sanzio, including the Coronation of the Virgin, Madonna of Foligno, Transfiguration, Sistine Chapel Tapestries from the Raphael Cartoons, and the famous Raphael Rooms, containing works such as The Vision of the Cross, Deliverance of Saint Peter and one of my personal favorites, The School of Athens, St. Jerome in the Winderness by Leonardo da Vinci, The Last Communion of St. Jerome by Domenichino, The Martyrdom of St. Erasmus by Nicholas Poussin, and The Entombment of Christ by Caravaggio.  Also present in the gallery was the Apollo Belvedereand Laocoön from Greek antiquity, which were incredible pieces to behold.

Raffaello has made his way up higher in my ranking of great Renaissance artists.  I was blown away by the Raphael Rooms and how the works within each room interact with one another.  In all the rooms the frescoes depict historical and spiritual events themed to each room, such as how in the Hall of Constantine (which were painted not by the master, but Giulio Romano, Gianfrancesco Penni and Raffaellino del Colle, some of Raffaello's many assistants) each work depicts famous events from Constantine's lifetime.  The next room, the Room of Heliodorus, is all about how God and Christ protect the church and all those who believe.  But the room I took the most interest and appreciation in was the Room of the Signature, where Pope Julius II's personal library was kept and where the most important papal documents where signed, hence the room's name.  This where The School of Athens is located, representing philosophy, in harmonious conjunction with the other frescoes depicting theology, poetry, and justice.  In the corners on the ceiling between each of the four walls are tondos which express characteristics taken from the two walls they rest between, exemplifying the unifying theme of harmony between philosophy, theology, poetry and justice, and exalting "the highest forms of the human spirit... that is to say Truth, Goodness and Beauty."  These relationships are what really blew me away.  To see not just individual works from a master artist, wholly complete within themselves, but to see how these relate around the room to propose a greater depth and meaning to the room in its entirety... wow.  I was simply speechless.

And the Sistine Chapel was nothing short of what I imagined it would be.  It was quite dimly lit though, probably for conservation of the frescoes, but I still enjoyed very much seeing this magnificent work of art by one of my favorite artists ever, Michelangelo.  I see why people bring those little binoculars to this place, and I am now kicking myself in the butt for not doing that myself.  Ah well, I might be making the trip back to the musei if I can read the book I got from there cover-to-cover before I leave Rome, so perhaps next time.

Such beauty in a single day, I don't see how one cannot be moved to learn the reasons why, the narratives and stories behind the work and their creators, and the historical context in which they were created.  So inspired to learn and understand, so that when I return (and I will!) I will have a deeper and more profound appreciation for these incredible artists and what they have created.

Days 18-20: Life in Rome and touring the sites

Rome is magnificent, beautiful, and brutal.
In the few days we have stayed at St. John's University, Rome campus, we have lightly toured the many historic sites to get acquainted with the area and using the metrebus and metro systems.  The fact that there is a metro station two blocks away from campus is extremely convenient, none of us have had to use the buses yet, mostly because the metro reaches everywhere we need to go and none of us know what buses go where.  Besides, walking is better for ya.

On the first day we visited Piazza Cavour and Palazzo di Guistizia, walked on down to Castel and Ponte Sant'Angelo, and to top it off Piazza San Pietro, the main piazza of the Vatican.  Pretty mind blowing for a first day tour, and any one of these places is merely a 15 minute walk from where we are staying.  It was overwhelmingly beautiful.  It was my first (technically second or third) time seeing the Vatican and I am impressed by its architectural might and symmetry.

The next day was June 2, a national holiday in Italy, Festa della Repubblica.  It is the Italian National Day, where in 1946 the Italian people held a vote on which form of government to institute after the fall of fascism at the end of World War II.  Because of another walking tour our class was going on that day, only Rosie, Joanna and I made the trip into town to attend the military parade.  We were told by our professors that the Colosseo metro stop would be closed so we planned to get off at Cicro Massimo.  And when we sailed right through that stop we had to modify our plan, especially since our map didn't cover much past that metro stop.  We hopped right back onto the metro heading the other direction and hoofed it from Cavour to the Colosseo.  So we got our own introduction to the metro before anyone else did, complete with changing metros at the junction and how the whole system works in general.  Remember that I have barely any personal experience on metros or any public transportation, short of following my family on the in Washington D.C. as a child.

And boy was there a lot of people.  Poor Joanna was so short she could barely see, but eventually we found a wall to climb atop and view the procession.  There were all sorts of groups of soldiers marching in all sorts of uniforms with all sorts of weapons, and the music conveyed a profound feeling of national pride and victory, and I'm not even a citizen.  People had flags everywhere and were cramming at the fence to get photos and applaud the military.  If only we held such events in the United States, perhaps we wouldn't feel so separated from our government.  Or at least I wouldn't feel so, anyways.  You could see the pride and excitement in the eyes and voices of the Italian people and they truly loved and supported their military as one.  It was a wonderful event to attend, and although from where I was there was little opportunity to get some good photos, I did get some of a small procession that made its way past us.  A small group of soldiers on horseback, I don't know who or what they were, but they were decorated and fancy.

The decorated and fancy horsemen, not sure who they were.

And for our class tour we visited The Scalinata (The Spanish Steps), Fontana di Trevi, The Pantheon (which was closed that day, as it was a holiday), and Piazza Navona.  I chuckled on the inside as we visited the latter two, as I have already visited these places on my own, but with Dr. Murphy's knowledge it made the experiences more meaningful.  The first visit was wonderful for simply exploring someplace new, and this was wonderful for understanding why these places are so famous.  My favorite part of this was definitely visiting Trevi Fountain.  One, for securing my return to Rome, but also for a certain detail Dr. Murphy pointed out in the fountain.  While the entire fountain is a beautiful work of art depicting the beauty, importance and life-giving properties of water, the detail that struck her the most was the at far right corner, where the corner appears to be broken and in need of repair.  While it may appear this way, it is not because it is actually in need of repair at all, but was intentionally included as a reminder of its destructive power.  Rome has suffered numerous floods, some more tragic than others, and in the construction of this fountain commemorating the greatness of water was included this detail to remind us that water is also a force of nature.

Far right corner of Fontana di Trevi.

The next day we hit the Colosseo, and grand and magnificent it was.  Construction of the Flavian Amphitheater began in 72 AD and was completed in only eight years.  Eight years!  That's insane, especially for the Roman's tallest structure built during their reign!  There is so much I can say about it, but I won't bore you with the facts and just say that you need to see it in person.  Make sure you bring sunscreen, snacks, water and a hat, or you will be grumpy half the time like I was.  But I still enjoyed it.  Photos of it would always confuse me of where the actual area ground would be, but when I was there it was quite clear what would have been underground and where the area would have been.

An overview shot of Il Colosseo.

Afterwards we toured the Foro Romano (Roman Forum), seeing the massive Arco di Constantino (Arch of Constantine), Arco di Tito (Arch of Titus), Basilica of Maxentius (or Constantine), Palatino (Palatine Hill), Atrium Vestae (House of the Vestal Virgins), Templum Veneris et Romae (Temple of Venus and Rome), Tempio di Vaspasiano (Temple of Vespasian), Tempio di Saturno (Temple of Saturn), and a few others we briefly covered.  It was a lot to take in that day, not really having an art or Roman history background.  It has made me want to learn about these things in greater depth though, so that when I do return I will be able to more fully appreciate each and every one of these places.  I wonder what that place much have looked like at its peak, in its full glory...

The first few days have been quite packed with places to see and things to do.  Even if I do not possess the knowledge that some of my fellow classmates do of these historical places, I want to learn.  I want to know.  It is a lot, and I regret not paying as much attention in the single art history class I took freshman year, but there is always tomorrow to read, explore, converse and learn.  Dr. Murphy's perspective and knowledge motivate me to know all that she knows, complete with the little details which sometimes make a work of art so much more than one initially perceives it.

Not to be pushed to learn, but to be inspired to learn.  These are the people I need to surround myself with.
Goodnight everyone, I hope you all have a wonderful day and continue to follow my adventure over here in Italy.  Love and miss you family and friends.  Buonanotte a tutti!

Quick update blog

I know it has been a while,
and for that I apologize.  There just doesn't seem to be enough time in the world.  We are so busy, going so many places, taking notes, snapping photos, we just never seem to get a decent break.  Not complaining, no no not at all, on the contrary I would rather the trip be this way.  It just distracts insanely from the blogging and the photo editing when the only time I get is at the end of the day, and we have early mornings constantly.

If you follow my Facebook or Flickr you will have a more up-to-date perspective of my travels in Italy.  Since Massa Marittima we have traveled to Florence, Perugia, Corciano, Assisi and we are now in Rome.  I know that is a lot of places to cover in two weeks and a lot of days to go without blogging, but if you can imagine traveling to those places, plus Ostia for a day, and the activities we have crammed into these past two weeks, perhaps you will understand.

But I still just wanted to jot a bit down tonight, for all of you who I know want to know what's going on in my life at the moment.  I am very happy to be back in Rome.  Compared to Tuscany and Umbria there is more to do and more things open past 6 PM, and compared to Florence it is larger and therefore not so polluted with tourists and annoying street merchants.  I swear, I am about to have some shirts made with photos of the typical vendor gimmicky crap with the words "Non Grazie" brazened across the front so they will not even bother.  I don't think it will work anyways though.  Rome is comfortably spacious and more like a functioning city, and I appreciate the reliable public transit system and abundance of raw material to record in pictures.  Which are, yes, still coming...  It is a lot to go through.

Anyways I know that just mentioning where I have been is hardly enough for some of you to live vicariously,
And when I have the time I will describe more in greater detail.  I need to put aside a good, seven hours or so with wine and just knock out all my photo processing and blogging and such and get all caught up.  Perhaps on the free weekend.  I need the break from touring all that Italy has to offer to share it all with y'all.

Heh, no one here says y'all.

Happy Festa della Repubblica!