Thursday, May 17, 2012

We started early this morning and were in the classroom at 8:30. The lecture we had described the various ages that Rome has survived and how it got the name The Eternal City. The lecturer covered the history of the city and all its areas as well as the various building supplies that were used. Although it was a lecture our guide, who has a PhD in archeology, was very funny and kept us interested.

From the lecture we walked about 20 minutes to The Church of Saint Peter in Chains which contains a statue of Moses done by Michelangelo. It took him 40 years to complete the sculpture and it was made to cover the tomb of Pope Julius II. The Church gets its name from a set of chains that supposedly were used to bind Peter when he was imprisoned in Jerusalem. When the chains were sent to Rome and compared to the chains of Peter’s final imprisonment the two sets magically joined together. These chains can be seen at the altar.

From here it was a short walk to the Colosseum. The line-up for tickets was huge but while the tour coordinator purchased tickets we got lots of information from our guide. The structure is huge. We climbed a set of very steep and very high steps to get to the top and then we worked our way down. We didn’t spend nearly enough time to fully explore everything, but I was very glad we didn’t have to wait in any of the line-ups.

From here we were off to The Forum. So much of this is in ruins and rubble, but our guide was able to point out where all the buildings had been and the pieces that were left. Again, not enough time but the crowds were huge. I would love to visit at a less busy time but I expect that never happens.

After lunch Pat and I did a little more exploring on our own. We found some lovely back streets, but you still had to be very careful of cars and scooters. Before meeting our group for the last tours of the day we took a break at a sidewalk cafe for some gelato.

Although we still had two churches to tour my camera gave me the ‘Battery Exhausted’ message so I had to shut it down for the day. We, however, continued on to tour the Santa Prassede Church which was built to honor two sisters who hid a group of Christians during a time when it was illegal to be a Christian in Rome. The mosaics in this church were phenomenal – some looked like they were done in gold.

The last church was the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the largest church built to honor the mother of Christ. Although we couldn’t see it due to restorations, it has straw from the manger where Christ was laid. This building was probably the least “churchy” feeling but it was the only one so far where services were being conducted while we were inside. There were at least three altars with simultaneous services being conducted.

After the tour we headed back for a bit of a rest (if downloading photos and recharging batteries is a rest) and then up to the rooftop for dinner.

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