Breakfast at St. Regis Hotel for six before we boarded a large bus for the trip to the Catacombs We all had hoped Chris and Chrystal would arrive in time to join us but at 10 am they were still stuck in traffic between the airport and the hotel. The catacombs we toured were dedicated to St. Sebastian. The tour included many, many steps along the way so David decided to stay at ground level and wait for the others to finish the tour since he has a problem knee. Martone didn't want to go on this tour either so the two of them waited for us to finish the tour. Marianne started the tour, but when she determined the path through the catacombs were narrow with low ceilings, she decided to bow out, too.
For those of us that visited the catacombs with a large group of high school kids from Ireland, we learned the catacombs were narrow tunnels dug deep underground for both pagan and Christian entombments. We saw many, many holes in the sides of the tunnels where the tombs of the deceased had previously been located, but no remains were there to be seen. This many years after entombment, the bodies would have been reduced to ashes anyway, but we were told all remains of the open tombs had been removed some time ago. The catacombs date from before Christ and once housed the remains of St. Peter and St. Paul. An interesting site around one bend in the tunnels had three small chapel facades. These chapels were family chapels, one of which was owned by a 75 year old bachelor who used it to bury his freed slaves.
When we returned to the ground level, we toured a church at the site that contained many sculptures and paintings. There was a bust of Jesus carved by Bernini in this church that was the best, in Marianne's and my opinion.
When we left the catacombs, we traveled along the Appian way and viewed one of the first mile markers made by the Romans. Along the way we saw a large section of the wall surrounding Rome. At one point we saw a pyramid built by a wealthy businessman who traveled to Egypt when alive so he had it built for his tomb.
Next we stopped at the Basilica of St. Paul was adorned with a beautiful gold enlayed mosiac art on its front. It dates from the 4th century BC, but had a terrible fire in the early 1800's and was rebuilt along the exact same floor plan with some of the same marble visibly scorched from the fire. St. Paul was emtombed here.
David was so enamored by the ceiling that he missed seeing the base of a column in his path. So after viewing the ceiling, he decided to roll around on the floor a little (in David's own words).
Medallion paintings of all the popes from the beginning to the present are all displayed around the crown area of the ceiling of the basilica. Though this basicilica was dedicated to St. Paul, St. Peter was also portrayed and remembered here.
On our way to lunch at a small cafe near the Vatican, we were driven by some of the oldest Roman bridges that crossed the Tiber river. Our guide pointed out many of the highlights of the city along the way. After lunch, we finally met up with Chris and Chrystal at the entrance to the Vatican. They had arrived only that morning and had immediately gone off touring the Colisseum before meeting up with us. They were tired but looked great.
Each of us were given an earpiece and receiver to enable us to hear Francesca while we walked through the galleries of the Vatican. We went to a piazza (plaza) where we photographed the dome of St. Peter's Basilica and learned more about the Sistene Chapel paintings painted by not only Michelangelo over a 4 year period but also by many, many other well-known artists of the side wall paintings. We started viewing the art with the sculpture of the Pieta, Mary holding the body of Jesus after he was crucified. Into another outdoor piazza, we saw the Pine Cone sculpture and the modern art of the huge gold, revolving globe. We stopped here and Francesca took our first group photos of the complete group of eight travelers.
We continued on in the Vatican viewing so many sculptures and paintings that its impossible to list them. Everywhere the eye could see there were exquisite art pieces; on the ceilings, walls, floor mosaics, as well as on floor displays and shelves. No matter how many times you go to the Vatican museums, you see works that you missed in previous visits. Though works that you remember are still so neat to see again and again as the works are so fantastically beautiful. We were surprised in some galleries by Egyptian sculptures such as a sphinx. In other galleries we would look at the ceiling and swear we could see 3 dimensional pieces, only to discover they were painting made to look 3 dimensional.
The Sistene chapel was draw-dropping as it is everytime you see it. We were disappointed that the Vatican guards were not keeping the sound level down during this visit as it took away from the special reverence you normally feel by entering this Chapel. We continued on to St. Peter's Basilica where the magnificense of it all is overwhelming. Even our photographs do not do it justice.
We met afterward at St. Mark's square where we parted in two cabs to zip over to the Pantheon. Chris, Chrystal and Martone had never seen it so we had to repeat this stop. Later we returned to the hotel in two cabs. David walked with some of the group to revisit the nearby Chapel built as part of the Roman baths that houses the Meridian line.
We rested for about an hour then once again boarded taxis and went to our favorite restaurant of Rome, Restaurante Tritone. The company, conversations, food and wine were great, as we knew they would be. Though David and our waiter still did not understand one another well, David was able to get the general idea across so our dinner was wonderful.
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