Mediterranean Cruise, Greece, and Italy: Week 3 Italy

 

Monday, 8/7: 10 miles, 108.4 total

After reaching the port of Ravenna, Italy, we disembarked from the ship and caught a transfer bus into the main part of Ravenna.  Since we had about five hours until our train, we decided to store our bags and explore around Ravenna.  Many of the churches in Ravenna are world famous for their early Christian mosaics.  First we visited the Basilica of St. Vitale, which was built around 548.  From the exterior the church looks very basic.  The interior is amazing! The mosaics have a Byzantine influence and cover most of the surface area inside the church.  

Basilica of St. Vitale, Ravenna, Italy

Mosaics inside St. Vitale

Our next stop was a museum that contained a small chapel that was again filled with mosaics.  Our final stop was the basilica of Saint Apollinare.  This church was filled with mosaics on both sides.  

Church of St. Appolinare

Afterward we stopped in a park for lunch and then caught our first train to Bologna.  From there we hopped on our second train, which was a high-speed train to Rome (we reached 153 mph).  Our train arrived right on time at 5:40 into Rome’s Termini station.  Fortunately, our hotel was only two blocks away from the station.  We unloaded our bags and then went out to explore Rome.

Catching the train in Ravenna, Italy

Bullet trains in Rome

Our first stopped was the basilica of St. Peter in Chains.  Inside the church is the famous statue of Moses carved by Michelangelo.  This was one of the last pieces that he worked on.  The other famous relic in the church are the chains that Peter wore when he was in prison.  We got to the church right when they were closing, so we only had a few minutes to walk around.  

Michelangelo's Moses

Moses

Chains in St. Peter in Chains Church, Rome

After the church we walked a few more blocks and as we rounded a corner, got our first glimpse of the Coliseum.  It is way larger in person than I could have imagined.  It really would have been a sight for those living when it was built.  We walked around the Coliseum and outside the Roman forum, admiring some of the sights.  Our final stop for the evening was the Trevi Fountain.  We knew full well that it was going to be crowded, but you just have to go to get the experience.  Yes, it was jam-packed full of tourists, but it really is a beautiful sight.  We finished off our long day eating some good pasta and a somewhat bland pizza.

The Colosseum 

Trevi Fountain

Trevi Fountain

What it really looks like around the Trevi Fountain!

Tuesday, 8/8: 10.2 miles, 118.6 total

We got up early this morning and caught the metro out to the Vatican.  The lines to get into St. Peter’s can be notoriously long, but since we were there by about 7:30 in the morning, the security line only took about five minutes.  Our first impression of St. Peter’s square and the basilica is “This place is huge”.  Everything is built on an enormous scale.  Since it wasn’t busy yet, we decided to take the steps to the top of the dome.  As you ascend, the first stop is the roof level where you can look out over the square at the same height as the statues of the saints.  From there you first get a look from the base of the dome looking down inside the church.  Even from this height the floor looks a long way down.  Then you start the climb up the steps, which are inside the dome.  The passage way gets very narrow in places.  Once you reach the top of the dome, you arrive outside with a dramatic view over the square and out over Rome.  You also have an excellent view of the entire area of Vatican City.  

Climbing up the dome at St. Peters, The Vatican

View of the Saints on the roof at St. Peters

Interior of the dome

Stairs inside the dome

Almost to the top

View of St. Peters Square from the top of the dome of St. Peters Basilica

View of the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel

Grounds of the Vatican

We then descended from the dome and did a tour inside St. Peter’s. There are so many impressive works of art and history inside.  One of the most famous is Michelangelo’s “La Pieta” statue.  The marble statue is very life-like and has so much emotion in it.  Sadly, it is behind bullet-proof glass after a mad man in the 1970’s attacked it with a hammer.  Once we finished looking around, we descended into the crypt, where the tomb of Peter lies, along with numerous popes.  

St. Peters Basilica, The Vatican

St. Peter's Tomb

Check out the skeleton under the marble sheet

Michelangelo's "La Pieta"

After touring St. Peter’s, we grabbed some pizza for lunch.  We then made our way over to the Vatican Museums.  As we walked past the standby ticket line that stretched for over two blocks, we were grateful to have bought our tickets well in advance.  Even though we were able to breeze right in, once inside we joined the masses that slowly moved along through the galleries.  The artwork inside the Vatican Museums is truly amazing, spanning civilizations and time.  We loved the Gallery of Maps and the Raphael Rooms, which are separate rooms entirely painted by Raphael.  After the Raphael rooms you make your way into the Sistine Chapel, which is amazing to view in real life.  The only down side is it gets very, very crowded. It is supposed to be silent (it’s not), and there are guards that are constantly herding people and telling them “no photos” (we may have taken a clandestine picture).  It is hard to imagine how time consuming the paintings must have been for Michelangelo. After the Sistine Chapel, we made our way through more galleries of the Vatican Museums.

Outside St. Peters

St. Peters Square

Swiss Guard

Vatican Museums

Laocoon

The middle-aged statue

Nero's Tub (one piece of marble)

Gallery of Maps

Vatican Gardens

Rafael Rooms, Vatican Museum

School of Athens, by Rafael

Sistine Chapel

Sistine Chapel

Ramp at the Vatican Museums

Outside of the Vatican, we crossed over the Ponte Sant Angelo and walked over to Piazza Navona and admired the beautiful fountains and churches.  From there we walked by the Pantheon, then made our way back toward our hotel for the evening.

Ponte Sant Angelo

Piazza Navona

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, by Bernini

Wednesday, 8/9: 13.7 miles, 132.3 total

This morning we walked through central Rome, past the Trevi Fountain (which was busy, even in the morning hours) and over to the Pantheon.  Only a few weeks prior to our visit did they start charging to go inside the Pantheon.  When we got there a few minutes before it opened, there were already several long lines of people waiting to get in.  The lines most fast though, so we didn’t wait very long.  It is hard to imagine that the Pantheon is 2,000 years old.  It is still in amazing shape and the architectural features of the building are outstanding.  We wandered around inside for a while, marveling at the different artifacts inside.

Pantheon

Relieving arches built into the wall for support

Inside the Pantheon

Most of the floor is original

Fountain outside the Pantheon

We then walked over to the Area Sacra dell’ Argentina, which contain ancient ruins from Roman times.  It is famous for the location where Julius Cesar was murdered on March 15, 44 BC.  From there we made our way over to Mamertine Prison.  This is the prison where Peter was supposedly was held.  After touring the prison and the small museum, we picked up our Colosseum tickets and made our way over to the Colosseum.  Even though there was a large line for the Colosseum, everyone had timed entry tickets so there wasn’t much of a wait to enter.  The Colosseum is larger than life.  It must have been very impressive to those that visited Rome during the Roman Empire.  We followed the other tourists around the one-way route, admiring the architecture.  It was fascinating to look down to where all of the animals and gladiators were kept under the floor.  

Where Julius Cesar was murdered

Mamertine Prison, where Peter was kept

Mamertine Prison

Colosseum

Entering the Colosseum

Ancient Graffiti on one of the benches

Inside the Colosseum

Looking at the chambers under the floor

After the Colosseum, we walked over and looked at where the Circus Maximus used to be (there isn’t much left to look) and found a place to get some pizza for lunch.  After lunch we visited Palatine Hill, where many of the Roman emperors built enormous palaces.  It was a nice break to visit here in the afternoon.  Most of the area is up on a tree-covered hill and was not as busy as the other tourist sites.  Palatine Hill sits between the Circus Maximus and the Roman Forum, so the emperors (and tourists) had great views of both areas.

Arch of Constantine

Circus Maximus

Emperor's Palace on Palatine Hill 

Overlooking the Colosseum and Roman Forum from Palatine Hill

From Palatine Hill, we descended down to the Roman Forum.  We wandered down the Via Sacra, admiring the many ruins, such as the Basilica of Constantine, the Temple of Vesta, The Temple of Julius Cesar and the Rostra, where Mark Antony gave his famous speech.  We continued to wander through the Roman Forum and ended up over at the Imperial Forum.

Basilica of Constantine

Temple of Vesta

Temple of Castor and Pollux

Arch of Titus

Roman Forum

Our next stop was the Victor Emmanuel Monument, which is a huge monument to Italy’s first king.  We then climbed the Aracoeli Staircase up to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli.  The church sits on Capitoline Hill.  We walked over the the Piazza del Campidoglio and went up and down the Cordonata, a famous staircase designed by Michelangelo that leads up Capitoline Hill to the Campidoglio.  From here we took in the views of central Rome, looking back toward the Roman Forum.  We then walked over to Campo de’ Fiori, where we had pasta and lasagna for dinner in an outdoor restaurant on the piazza.  It was a bit touristy, but the food was excellent!

Victor Emmanuel Monument

Victor Emmanuel Monument

Campidoglio

Aracoeli Staircase

Cordonata Staircase by Michelangelo

Dinner at Campo de' Fiori

We ended the day by walking all the way back to the Colosseum, watching the sunset and the lights turn on, lighting up the arches in the Colosseum. 

Watching the sunset at the Colosseum

Trying to get a good picture

Colosseum at night

Thursday, 8/10: 14.5 miles, 146.8 total

                This morning we caught the metro and headed north to go visit the Rome Italy Temple.  While the metro got us somewhat close to the temple, we still had to walk about 2.5 miles from the metro station to the temple.  We could have taken a bus, but it wasn’t very clear which bus to take and some of the bus stops weren’t easy to find.  We walked the 2.5 miles through mostly residential neighborhoods.  Once we got to the temple we did a session there and then visited the visitors center and talked with some sister missionaries from the United States.  We took some pictures of the Christus statue and the statues of the 12 apostles.  These are marble replicas of the famous ones found in the cathedral in Copenhagen (which we just visited in November).  We grabbed some lunch, then walked the 2.5 miles back to the metro and stopped back at our hotel to drop some stuff off. 

Rome Temple

Visitors Center next to the temple

Rome Temple

In the afternoon we walked over and toured the Borghese gallery.  The museum and gallery feature famous pieces of artwork and amazing sculptures by Bernini.  The Bernini sculptures are exquisite; it was almost unbelievable what Bernini could sculpt out of marble!  

Bernini's David

Rape of Proserpine, by Bernini... hard to believe this is marble!

Borghese Museum

Apollo and Daphne by Bernini

David with the head of Goliath by Caravaggio

Borghese Museum

After the Borghese gallery, we walked around through the Borghese villa and park, enjoying the shade in the trees and the various fountains.  We then descended down to Piazza del Popolo, admiring the various churches around the piazza and enjoying some good people watching and ate some gelato.  We then slowly walked down Via Del Corso with tourists and locals, ending up at the Spanish Steps.  The Spanish Steps were busy, but not extremely crowded (it does help now that there is a no sitting or eating rule for the main part of the steps).  We enjoyed watching the sunset from the top of the steps and listening to the crowd cheer and a young man proposed to his girlfriend.  We then wandered down and had dinner in a restaurant that used to be an old church.  By this time we were exhausted and made our way back to our hotel to start packing our bags.

Cooling off in the Piazza de Sienna in the Borghese Park

Fountains are everywhere

Piazza del Popolo

Via del Corso

Spanish Steps

Watching the sunset

Dinner in an old church

One last pass by the Trevi Fountain at night

Friday, 8/11: 4 miles, 150.8 total

We got an early start this morning, taking the train out to the Rome airport.  After an uneventful flight to Frankfurt, Germany, we quickly passed through EU customs and hurried to our next flight, since we had a short layover.  We had to take a bus out to our plane, since it was stationed out on the tarmac.  Once we got on the plane, the captain came on and said they were having mechanical issues.  We ended up waiting over two hours sitting in the plane on the tarmac.  Finally, we took off and made our way back home to Seattle.