Italy, Day Three: Rome

We took a taxi out to the Catacombs of Priscilla to start our third day in Rome. 

There are no pictures allowed in the catacombs, which is too bad because it was awesome in there. In olden times there were no burials allowed within the city, so all the catacombs are located just outside the historical city's border. This one is an extensive maze built between the 2nd & 5th centuries, mostly underneath a park today. All the remains have been looted over the years, but you can see the graves and some very old frescoes and chapels that still exist, including the oldest known depiction of the Virgin Mary.

The entrance is in a monastery that looks like this.

Then we took a taxi back to the city center and prepared for our guided tour of the Vatican Museums. The woman at our hotel told us not to walk over there but it didn't seem that far, so we disregarded her advice. It wasn't a particularly picturesque walk through the back streets of the Vatican, but it was fine.

The line to get into the Vatican was insane. Fortunately the guided tour meant we got to skip that line - but as it turns out, it didn't really matter.

I have never seen anything like the scene at that museum. It was so packed with people there was no possibility of actually stopping to look at anything at all. Everyone just shuffling along in a huge pack. How is this safe? They need to limit how many people are allowed in at a time, Alhambra-style.

The only things I really remember from the tour were the ceilings and the wall frescoes - probably because those were the only things you can actually see as you shuffle along. And, it must be said, the ceilings were extremely nice.

Oh boy.

I took pictures of some creepy items for Ben, such as:

There is a series of gorgeous rooms, all designed and painted by Raphael, which some previous pope used as his private apartment. At this point I started to become obsessed with how the Catholic church can possibly justify its position as a global organization devoted to hoarding its own wealth. I guess they think they're protecting these treasures from the rabble, I don't know - but I kept walking along thinking about how many poor people could be fed and clothed with the sale of even one-tenth of the Vatican's treasures.

Even as a non-Christian, it's hard for me to imagine that Jesus intended his legacy to be a hierarchical organization led by men who turn themselves into marble & gold statues.

I'm sure this guy was a nice person, whatever.

The Museum tour ends in the Sistine Chapel, which was very impressive, but also very very crowded. The you spill out into St. Peter's.

I will say - even, again, as a non-Christian - there is something quite moving about being right there in the presence of the tomb of St. Peter. I feel the same about the tombs of kings and queens, though: a reminder that the people we learn about were real. Just like us. History is real.

And St. Peter's is beautiful and undeniably impressive. Who they feel they need to impress - that's what I don't quite understand.

The square was much busier than the night before, as to be expected. The next day, Wednesday, was to be the Papal Audience to which I had requested tickets (you have to fax in the request!), but we made other plans in the mean time so did not get to see the Pope.

We crossed back over from the Vatican and stopped for gelato. On the entire trip we missed gelato on 2 days, but then made it up for it by eating it twice on two other days. So, it all averaged out.

We had dinner at Osterio il Sostegno, which a couple of people had recommended and we accidentally ran across on the very first day. It's a tiny place located down an alley behind the Pantheon, and was full of mostly locals. The food was good but the service was terrrrrrrrible: a true, authentic, European dining experience. After traveling for the last few years I understand you are never going to get the check without asking for it, but we asked three different people five separate times! It was taxing. However, check out this ham.