After arriving at our Arch Rome Suite in Rome, Italy about 9AM, we lightly unpacked and went out walking around for several hours. I noticed the diversity of people, variety of shops, and many places to eat. The streets were narrow as I would call an alley. The predominently electric cars were very small as were the motorcycles (mostly Vespas) and bicycles...all going fast cautiously because people are in both the streets and sidewalks. It was all so very different and awesome! We walked in the direction of the Pantheon in our neighborhood which is considered The Heart of Rome. There are at least six piazzas (plazas) within a few blocks of our suite near the Pantheon where people gather.
The photo above was displayed in our suite in addition to the actual top view of the dome we could see from our balcony. It was a better photo than what I could take with all the people around most of the time. We did walk all around the outside on this first day and returned at night to see it lit up. The actual pass to get inside was purchased months previously but we had to rescheduled for the next day as we had a plane delay for our date and was happy the nearby ticket office honored it so soon. Otherwise, the lines without a pass looked like it would take hours!
Beti at the front entrance of the Pantheon
So many people during the day make taking photos of the Pantheon difficult while Sneezy, one of Snow White's friends with me, tried to clear a path for me!
Finally, in the late evening, I wanted a photo of me without all the people standing in front of the huge ancient bronze doors.
The dome is made of concrete and is such a great architectural accomplishment that Raphael, on of the the greatest architects of the Renaissance, requested to be buried there. Originally built between 25-27 BC to honor and make sacrifices to pagan gods, it was Christianized in 608 AD and used as a consecrated place for Christian martyrs. Please click on the link above for the complete history and many more photos. I keep learning more about it and consider visiting it one of my favorite events in Rome. It certainly is one of the oldest buildings still in use!
The dome of the Pantheon has an opening that is purposeful for important solar events.
Pano view inside of the Pantheon; one side to the other or about half of the interior. Many of the small alcoves all around had alters for sacrifices to the many different pagan gods by many different kinds of people who came here from all over the known world in the early times. The smoke from the burnt flesh offerings went up and out the opening in the dome. I understand that in the beginning it was believed that the more gods the better and the diversity of peoples and the gods they worshiped were welcomed and assimilated. Rome grew to be a vast empire beginning in the 8th century BC until 1453 CE.
View inside of the Pantheon with beautiful marble floors.
Night time view of the Pantheon.
There are 6 areas of Rome:
Vatican City Area (green)
Spanish Steps & Trevi Fountain Area (blue)
Pantheon & Piazzo Navona Area (red)
Colosseum & Ancient Rome Area (orange)
Trastevere Area & West River Bank (yellow)
Jewish Ghetto Area, East River Bank (purple)
This trip was a self-made tour for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. Nine months before this trip, we both made lists of where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do after much research. Fortunately, we both had many of the items on our lists in common and compromises were not difficult. Guess that says a lot about how we got to our 50th Wedding Anniversary!
I have marked the map with pink squares for the location of the main six "Events" we decided to include in addition to our main event and place to stay which was the Pantheon area marked with a pink heart, The Heart of Rome. I have included only a few of my favorite photos of each event as I took over 2000 total in Italy so you can scroll through and get the brief highlights of the events of our adventure. For more information and photos, please click on the highlighted links. There is so much more information and better photos with no people.
The 6 Events in Rome along with my thoughts written in the moment from my daily journal are as follows:
Vatican City - St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums
Catacombs & Appian Way
Castel Sant'Angelo
50th Wedding Anniversary Dinner in Trastevere
Colosseum & Ancient Ruins
Trevi Fountain
VATICAN CITY
St. Peter's Basilica Dome
The wall around Vatican City- an independent country from Italy; the world's smallest country.
The main door into Vatican City
The dome inside St. Peter's Basilica
This is the main chapel inside St. Perter's Basilica. All the art on walls and ceiling is mosaic! From my journal, "I'm sitting in the front pew in a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica. So many pictures are taken of these amazing mosaics and sculptures here but no photos are allowed in the Sistine Chapel as it is a more reverent place, we are told, as it is where the Pope is chosen among other regular religious events. We have completed the 3-hour tour of the Vatican Museums that included the Sistine Chapel with a small tour group that was set up by Keith many months ago. I am thankful and blessed for this opportunity! Much of what I saw took my breath away today and nearly brought tears to my eyes as it was all so very awesome and overwhelming! Right now, here in this chapel, we sit and pray to keep the Holy Spirit in us and this memory alive long after we leave this building. The tour has ended and we can stay here as long as we want. I've never felt so comforted and close to God! I know we will have to walk out into the world eventually. Just a little while longer as the beautiful organ music just started up..."
St. Peter's tomb is under this structure in St. Peter's Basilica.
Outside views of St. Peter's Basilica from St. Peter's Square
Swiss Guards are all over Vatican City and make sure tourists don't go where they are not allowed!
My best photo on St. Peter's Square
Video taken from our balcony at sunrise on our
50th Wedding Anniversary
THE CATACOMBS & APPIAN WAY
The main entrance to the catacombs begins with a tour guide above ground. The guide shows us displays of Christian symbols used to mark the tombs on an information board where we gathered to begin. We are told that no photos are allowed once we enter the catacombs underground. This is a place of reverence. There is a dress code requirement as there is for all sacred places including Vatican City. There was one tomb area that was packed with people praying.
From my journal, "The Catacomb Tour was good. It was a peaceful and reverent atmosphere. It was located on beautiful grounds with tranquil landscaping. It was a nice break from the activities of the downtown Rome location around our hotel suite."
There are miles of tomb-lined tunnels in a labyrinth of deep layers of history. This access is the most renowned and known as the Catacombs of San Callisto (St. Callixtus). The guide told us that it was a vineyard and that the man who bought it in the 1800s dug up some human remains that was soon discovered to be a pope. There were found to be more popes buried at this location. I understand that all remains are relocated upon discovery. There are many areas yet explored.
The gift shop on site has an amazing selection of religious items for sale at a very reasonable price. Keith bought 6 crucifixes here to put one over each door in our house. I bought a Blessed Mother silver necklace and a small stone wall hanging of the catacomb symbols. I picked up a pinch of soil from inside the tombs and folded inside an empty gum wrapper as a keepsake.
We walked from the Catacombs of San Callisto to the Catacombs of San Sebastiano and turned around at the parking lot where I took the photo of the Via Appia Antica stone sign. It was at San Sebastiano that St. Peter had a vision of Jesus Christ and a church was built to memorialize.
Walking all around the beautifully landscaped grounds was peaceful and informative without being overbuilt and busy. We walked after the tour towards the location of a part of the Appian Way. It was a lovely walk and we were not sure when we were actually on the Appian Way as we kept looking for ancient stone pavers on the pathway. It certainly looked like a well-maintained old road! We walk and walked and got tired so we turned around after a short rest stop by this stone sign that said Via Appia Antica. Found out later we were on the Appian Way after all! It is 360 miles built in 312 BC. Found out later that there's only 10 miles that have been preserved with those old pavers as a park. Along the Appian Way are the ancient aqueduct ruins and many other catacomb sites. Crucifixions and burials for the poor were common along this road that was built with a military purpose originally. It was a lovely walk with a shrine here and there on the portion we enjoyed.
We got a cab back to the hotel to rest and then checked out the local shops. A shop we had stopped at before with mosaics and white marble art was very personal this time! We purchased a mosaic by the artist on site who was so very nice! Everyone in the shop became so emotional when we told about this being a special purchase for our 50th Wedding Anniversary. The shop keeper gave us a good deal which included two white marble sculptures and crucifix. They even included the shipping in the price for these heavy items.
The mosaic was inspired by the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti's Sistine Chapel vault (1508-1512) located in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The red seal on the back of the mosaic verifies the artist's work as pope approved. All the wall and ceiling art in St. Peter's Basilica is mosaic.
We were feeling really good as we walked back to the hotel suite. As we walked through the dining area of the hotel towards our suite we noticed the door open and approached cautiously. The manager, Marika, turned around from the dresser to reveal her surprise gift of chilled wine in a bucket with glasses for our 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration! Such a sweet gesture! This special day was only half over so we happily rested before beginning the next events.
Castel Sant'Angelo
From my journal, "Next was the castle. So many photos taken and so much history! We got the two hour tour which was amazing and exhausting. Just being in the presence of a place so important and so old overwhelms me! We barely kept up with the tour; so very much worth the effort."
Now a museum, Castel Sant'Angelo was originally a funeral mausoleum. In the Middle Ages it was converted into a military fortress. In the Modern Age it was also the Papal Residence, tribunal, and prison of the Papal State. It was originally built in 135 AD with many changes since then. There is an underground passage from the Vatican to the Castel Sant'Angelo.
We walked across the Tiber River on a bridge consisting of five stone arches, three of which date back to Roman times. The bridge is famous for the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul at one end as well as ten statues of angels all designed by Giovan Lorenzo Bernini that adorn the parapets.
Inside the thick walls can be seen many open airways that were also used for access to the inside in some of the most fortified areas. Much more can be seen by clicking on the link above as it includes too many topics of interest to cover here. I keep coming back to it and learn more and more.
What is most impressive to me are the views of Rome that can be seen from the top! I also loved the massive statue of St. Michael the Archangel with his sword which gives a great sense of protection to this fortress!
St. Michael the Archangel
After the tour, we walked along the West River Bank of the Tiber River to the Trastevere Area for our special 50th Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Antica Pesa Ristarante where Keith had made reservations a couple months ago. It was about 7:30 when we arrived and our amazing dinner lasted until about 10PM. We took a taxi back to the hotel that late at night. I have more photos and descriptions about tis wonderful event in the "Food" post. We stayed up to the midnight hour enjoying the gifted wine in our suite and reflecting on the amazing day and how we have come a long way from our hilltop outdoor wedding at Preparation Canyon State Park May 11, 1974 with 100 mostly blue jean clad guests and the largest 'smoking circle' I'd ever seen! There were kegs of beer, many motorcycles, a pit-roasted hog obtained the night before, and several bald eagles soaring above. It was in Iowa and many of the guests brought a covered side dish of food to share. There was even a collection taken to pay the minister. Those were the days! I would like to think that for those that are still around that they would still be happy for us 50 years later and know that we are well and our marriage is successful. Recent check of our original guest list, I counted about 20 that are still alive that I know and at least half of those we have been in contact in recent years.
Jasmine is everywhere!
Our special toast to our 50th Wedding Anniversary!
Sunday was scheduled to be rest day after a Mother's Day Mass. We were able to reschedule a tour for the Colosseum so our plans are complete for the most part after losing a day to bad weather and plane delay in the beginning of our adventure. We had found this nice church a couple blocks from our hotel that had a sign out fromt during the day as we passed by many times about the Mass on Sundays being done in English so that was the plan after a nice breakfast at the hotel.
When we arrived a little early and told the priest we would like an Anniversary Blessing, he said it could be done right after Mass. He then asked if we would like to be the servers for this Mass. That was a new experience for us and it went well. The blessing afterwards was special as the priest that said Mass turned out to be a Jesuit. We were asked to stay longer to join everyone and then a couple nuns brought out a few bottles of champagne to drink and we talked to everyone who congratulated us. There was another couple there from New Orleans celebrating their 39th anniversary and asked for a blessing too. We even shared the same May 11th date! Everyone was really nice! If you would like to know more about this special church and who they are and what they do just click on this link: Caravita
COLOSSEUM & ANCIENT RUINS
Beti & Caesar
We came back to the hotel to change and prepare to walk to the Colosseum; a long walk that has many ancient ruins along the way and stop for a bite to eat before the tour that had been rescheduled. We stopped frequently to rest and look at huge ancient ruin sites that sometimes filled a couple of city blocks. Not sure what all we saw as I just enjoyed the moment and didn't make note other than take lots of photos. Got Mother's Day phone calls from the kids which was awesome! I do remember talking to Jake while standing under a huge statue of Caesar. We were walking along and found a cute little cafe that looked like we could get a quick meal that was fair priced. Service was very slow to our American ways so we rushed dessert and started walking again to make our 3:00PM tour meeting place.
Keith did the best he could trying to find it but it was difficult and we were slowing down in our pace after the long walk. We made it to the Colosseum tour site seven minutes late and missed the tour. Our GPS showed the meeting place but we were over it on top of a higher level that would have required us to walk down a few stair levels and through a tunnel that was crowded. It would have been a great tour as it included the underground area. We did find the energy to walk all around the Colosseum and take photos. Then we took a taxi back to the hotel. I'm sure the tour would have been awesome and we would have found the energy to get through it but we were tired so it was okay. The original plan was to leave this part of Sunday unscheduled and restful but we felt fortunate that we were able to reschedule our tour. So a restful afternoon after a short walk-around outside tour of the Colosseum instead was probably meant to be as part of our adventure.
Some major structural cracks could be seen that make one wonder just how much longer this structure will last.
No sure what this says but stone signs like this are all around with statues of people that were probably important in their day.
Stood on this corner a long time waiting for a taxi and enjoying the blooming plants.
Back at the hotel, we took a 2-hour refreshing nap then text my cousins from the Czech Republic who were in Verona and will be meeting us for dinner on Monday in Florence. Keith and I were ready to go out again about 7:00PM for dinner at a restaurant we had enjoyed before. On our way we stopped and looked at some more ancient ruins that were blocked off as it appeared to be an active excavation site. We were one of the last to leave the restaurant about 9:30PM.
Spanish Steps
We walked by the Spanish Steps but it was too crowded to get closer so we called it good after one earlier photo. Then we walked toward the Trevi Fountain enjoying all the city sounds and beautiful people out and about this late on a Sunday evening.
From my journal, "At the Trevi Fountain I could sense a huge atmosphere of love or amor! Keith and I tossed one coin each into the fountain over our left shoulder which means we will return to Rome. Two coins means you will find a lover and three coins means you will come back and marry your lover. Someone proposed near the fountain and the crowd roared with applause! So much positive energy all around! It was an awesome event I will never forget! Walked back to the hotel taking night pictures on this last night in Rome, Italy."
AMOR!
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