Gittings International Travel Journal - Rome, Part II
Posted by Gittings Photography on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 @ 09:48
September 25 - Jason Yoerg
Katherine and I had a full day for exploring Rome on Sunday. Her mother had requested that we stop by St. Peter's Basilica, so we decided to meander in the direction of Vatican City, which is where the Basilica is located.
Parts of Rome reminded me a bit of the French Quarter in New Orleans. I got a similar feeling of being surrounded by so many old buildings. Often they're extraordinarily weathered but it only adds to their character.
We expected St. Peter's Basilica to be one of the ultra touristy spots with long lines. There was a relatively long line, but it moved pretty quickly. It's likely that Rome has so many attractions to check out that no one spot becomes overburdened with people.
Katherine was refused entrance to the Basilica because she was wearing a sleeveless shirt. Women must show modesty when entering the Basilica; shoulders must not be bare and if you're wearing a skirt, it must go to below your knees. Fortunately a friendly Israeli gentleman was willing to let her borrow his jacket. He told us, "We love Americans!" And so we were allowed access.
St. Peter's Basilica was unique. It was dreamlike. It was surreal. I suppose the effect was largely due to all of the gold on the walls and ceiling and the natural light coming in which created a hazy but brilliant atmosphere.
Since we had to get the jacket back to its owner, we didn't stay too long. There are so many details in the Basilica, it's worthy of much more scrutiny. I'm pleased, however, to have entered the church and to have experienced its ambiance.
After departing the Basilica, we wandered aimlessly but happily, eventually arriving at the Piazza del Poplo, "The People's Square." At the center of the square is an Egyptian obelisk. These can be found all over the city (there's one in the photograph of the exterior of St. Peter's Basilica, above). I was fascinated by the obelisks. Apparently, many of the Roman obelisks were taken from Egypt and erected in Rome as a symbol of conquest and dominance.
Katherine wanted to go into a church along the perimeter of the Piazza. It was a filled with many colors. It was a relatively small church, certainly in comparison to the Basilica, but it was almost more compelling because of the richness of the colored stone. Cozy and colorful.
It was getting late and I wanted to be sure to get to the Colosseum to imagine what it might be like to see from the vantage of both spectator and spectacle. It was a long trek from the Piazza, and unfortunately we were too late to enter the Colosseum. I had to make due with looking at it from the outside and lamenting.
We did make it back the next day, though. It had been a light day of work creating headshots at the Rome office of the law firm, and we had a bit of time before we needed to catch a train to Milan. I was glad to have been able to get inside—I think I would have always regretted missing out on seeing the Colosseum.
