Day 6: Rome

Well the next stop on our cruise of the Mediterranean with Disney Cruise Line and Adventures by Disney was one of the stops we were most excited about:  Rome. Of course Rome is an epic city with such mythology (both figuratively and literally LOL) around it.  It's full of amazing iconic things to see.....things that almost everyone in the world recognizes if you see a picture of them...but that not everyone really gets a chance to see in person (like the colosseum in our magnet----with "Emperor Goofy" LOL----Jason was particularly pleased with how cute this magnet turned out!).  So we were very excited for our first trip to Rome to see some these amazing pieces of the past....and it's good that we were excited, because our guides, Robyn and Tina, had already warned us that Rome was going to be our longest day of the adventure----as most of the day would be on foot so we should be prepared to do a LOT of walking. Tina kept joking and saying, "You know they always say that 'Rome wasn't built in a day"...but we're gonna see the whole thing in a day!!"....

....and she was right!!  It was a busy day...with a fair amount of walking (Jason and I are relatively active in our lives, obviously....not really "fitness people" necessarily, but not averse to a good walk.....so we didn't find the amount of walking to be too much, but at the end of the day we definitely knew we'd walked the entire city of Rome!! LOL

So I know that I've been constructing these blogs about all our ports of call with the whole "history/culture, experience(s), & sights/scenery" theme....but for our Rome day...I think it's probably impossible to separate out the history, culture, sights &/or scenery FROM the experience(s) of being there.  I think that by definition, Rome is probably a city where all these aspects blend together to become what makes the city so special.  For that reason, in this blog entry I'm actually going to depart from my pattern and, instead, just give an overview of the major components of our day in Rome as we experienced them.

Our day started bright and early meeting up with our fellow adventurers and our guides, Robyn and Tina and then getting off the boat and hopping into our motor coach to head to Rome.  The Port we stopped in was called Civitavechhia...and it was actually a ways away from Rome, so we had a bit of a bus ride to get there.  The ride was, of course, not too bad because we had good company and one of our guides had met us at the port and was riding along with us and sharing some information about our visit.  Once we arrived in Rome, however, that's when the adventure truly began for our group.  As soon as we arrived in the city of Rome, we met our main tour guide for the city----her name was Barbara (with a strong roll of the first "r" in her first name....she made a point of telling us how it was and was not pronounced LOL).  Barbara was EXTREMELY knowledgeable and personable.  Tina told us that in Rome (and maybe in all of Italy??) tour guides have to be licensed and it is illegal to offer tours without be trained/sanctioned/licensed----which means that when you're there if you get a legit tour guide you can be sure you're getting someone who is very skilled.  

The Vatican & Sistine Chapel

Our first stop in Rome was Vatican City, the Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica.  In order to attend this part of the day, we had to have our shoulders and knees covered because we would be entering churches and areas that are considered pretty sacred----especially by people of the Catholic faith.  When we walked around the corner at Vatican city we were met with this:

Those are pictures of the LINE to get into Vatican City......a line which stretched AROUND the entire city and which spanned a distance that looked at be several city blocks.  Barbara told us it was so crazy busy because it was a Monday and the Vatican and chapels are closed on Sundays.  The line was pure craziness......I don't think I've seen lines that long at most attractions in Disney World on their busiest day! LOL  A huge benefit of touring with Adventures by Disney, however, is-----NO LINES!!  We quite literally walked past everyone in that insane line to an entrance for groups who "had an appointment" and we were basically walked right in and through security!!  Once inside, we walked through the main lobbies and everything, had a quick restroom break and then Barbara spent a little time at a moving picture display that featured images of some of the art and artifacts we were going to see and gave us some history (this was important because she warned us that once we entered into the various galleries, halls and chapel spaces it would be very crowded, more difficult to hear, and not so easy to stop as we'd want to keep moving).  So it was very helpful to get this overview of what we would be seeing, the history of it all, what the images were and meant, etc. before we went in rather than WHILE we were trying to take it all in.  Here's a picture of Barbara giving us this little presentation:

We then immediately started walking through the main galleries that lead into the Sistine Chapel. We walked through, I believe, three major exhibition halls----all three of these halls had a specific type of art exhibited (the first was statues and sculptures, the second was large tapestries hung on the walls & the third was a hall full of large painted maps); and all of the halls also featured an ornately decorated .  The first of these halls featured statues and sculptures.  many of them depicting figures from Roman mythology.  Here are a handful of images we took in this gallery:

(Note:  In several of the sculptures above you will notice that there are strategically placed fig leaves covering certain *ahem* body parts on the male statues (LOL)....well an interesting fact that Barbara shared with us is that these leaves are NOT an original part of this art but, rather, apparently at the order of some pope who was in power after these figures were created and/or brought into the collection at Vatican City, the leaves were added because the naked figures were deemed inappropriate.  A similar change was made to some of Michelangelo's artwork throughout the Vatican, including on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel....much to his annoyance! LOL)

I mentioned the ceiling in this chamber.  It was very elaborately painted.  Here are some samples of some of the "frescos" that were painted the length of this long hall:

The next great hall we entered displayed ornately woven tapestries depicting a number of historical and/or biblical scenes and stories.  Here are some of those:

The ceiling in this hall was particularly interesting.  Here are some pics (scroll below the pics to see why I thought this ceiling was interesting):

I found this ceiling really fascinating because as you can see, it is covered with intricate sculptures------except it isn't....it's painted.  All of the images are painted on a flat surface and are just painted so exquisitely that they LOOK like 3 dimensional sculptures!!

The final hall before entering the Sistine Chapel itself was one decorated with another ornate ceiling (the first pic below) and the walls were covered with paintings and maps:

After exiting this hall we descended the staircase and entered the Sistine Chapel:

Now I should be clear that the pictures above are NOT pictures that we took.  The chapel has a strict no photography or video policy....but I pulled these images off the internet so that everyone would have a frame of reference of what we saw there.  Standing in the chapel you are literally SURROUNDED by art of some form or fashion----the ceiling, the walls...even the tiled floors honestly.  It apparently took Michelangelo over 9 years to complete the Sistine Chapel (arguably one of the most famous and recognizable pieces of art in existence) and when you see it in person it's clear why.  The amount of detail....not to mention the sheer amount of work....is nothing if not impressive.

Adjacent to the Sistine Chapel is St. Peter's Basilica----a huge and ornate Catholic Church (according to some of the tour material we got it is the largest Catholic church ever built) in which mass is conducted regularly and which is dedicated to St. Peter (I'm pretty sure they also said that St. Peter's remains were either FOUND or are BURIED beneath the chapel, as well...but I can't recall exactly).  This church is also of great significance to Catholics as told by our guide, Barbara----and you can tell so by the manner in which it was constructed and decorated!  Here are a few pictures for you of the inside of the Basilica.  The first is a very famous statue, called the Pieta, and depicts Mary the mother of Jesus and Jesus just after his death.  This statue was interesting because first of all it's another amazing Michelangelo sculpture (if I'm not mistaken)...but also it has a colorful history because a number of years ago a "crazy man" (those are Barbara's words LOL) went into the church with a hammer hollering "I am Jesus Christ" and attacked and defaced the statue (most notably breaking the nose right off Mary's face!!) and so it had to be repaired and now is on display behind glass panels to protect it.  Here is the statue:

The rest of these pictures are just shots of the interior of the Basilica but they show pretty clearly how ornate it is-----decorated in marble and tile and gold and bronze.....and the place is MAMMOTH!!!  Have a look:

OK....so that kind of concludes our visit to the Vatican City.  As many of you who know me know....I am neither Catholic, nor am I a religious person.  That said, however, I have to admit that visiting the Vatican, the Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica was still an amazing and impressive experience.  I think it's probably impossible to visit there and NOT be blown away but the opulence and artistry...and how steeped in history the place is.

Following our visit to Vatican city we went to the gift shop briefly where we got to mail postcards (I don't know if I've mentioned it yet or not, but one of the other nice/fun perks throughout our adventure was that Robyn and Tina gave us postcards to mail back to friends and family----sometimes they were purchased postcards like one from the Vatican and later ones from Monte Carlo and from the "David" in Florence....and other times they were postcards that were actually made from pictures they had taken of us and printed out for us-----they were so sweet and we actually did mail them...to my parents, Jason's parents, and my coworkers back at AIDS Care).  We also got a magnet there for Rome.  (Of course, we've been collecting some really great magnets of our journey.  At the very end of the trip we'll take a pic of all our magnets together and post it!!

After we got done shopping, we rode off to lunch in our bus.  Lunch was delicious....not the most special menu, but certainly a tasty one!  Lunch was also nice because it was held in a beautiful restaurant in a hotel in Rome that had been visited by many celebrities in the past (as evidenced by their autographed photos framed on the walls-----living out most gay men's fantasy, I quite literally at lunch next to Madonna! LOL).  Here are a few pics from our lunch:

After lunch we were done with the bus....and we began our walking tour of Rome.  Barbara walked us through the streets of Rome (where pedestrian ways and automobile lanes were almost indistinguishable! LOL) and talked to us about the city and its history even more.  Our first stop was the Spanish steps (so named, I learned, because they are adjacent to the Spanish Embassy, apparently).  Here is a view from the top of the steps:

And here is a view from the bottom of the steps looking up:

At the bottom of the steps is one of many fountains in Rome.  Here is the fountain:

NOW......here's the thing.....this is also one of the many fountains that are supposedly filled with water that comes directly from springs in the mountains....and you can DRINK it.....and so Jason did (so that I could take a picture of it):

(Note:  i was not brave enough to drink water out of a public fountain with a throng of people gathered around it....I was skeptical about whether or not it was sanitary or not LOL---as were many of our fellow adventurers----but I am pleased to say that it's been nearly a full week now and Jason has yet to be taken ill with dissentary or some other awful ailment! LOL)

Anyhow, we continued our walk through the city until we reached our next major stop: The Trevi Fountain.  The fountain is enormous and is actually built into the front structure a building....and legend has it that anyone who throws a coin into the fountain (with their right hand over their left shoulder apparently) will return to Rome one day....so Robyn and Tina gave everyone coins and we, of course, did some tossing!!

Trevi Fountain was also, conveniently enough, the location of the Gelato ice cream shop where we had tickets for a free ice cream dessert. (I think I might have forgotten to mention it in my Naples/Sorrento/Capri blog....but in Italy they make gelato....and they don't want you to forget it apparently LOL....so it is sold literally all over the place....at one point we were joking that there were more gelato shops than there were public toilets in italy!! LOL) Jason enjoyed his very much:

(Note:  you may be wondering what that thing around Jason's neck is....it is not an ipod...it's a radio receiver.  On several of our Adventures, we were given these receivers to wear with headphones and our tour guide had a microphone so that we could hear them without them shouting and even if we were a little distance away-----in theory.  It worked better on some days than others, but they were a handy thing to have in crowded museums, etc.)

Ice cream eaten, we were on our way....our next stop was the Coloseum.  It was a little bit of a walk to get there, though, and along the way we were able to take in some of the sights of Rome.  This city really is something to behold:

Then as we walked further up the street.....there it was, rising up on the horizon......

The Colosseum

The Coloseum is impressive.  As wonderful as everything we saw in Rome was, it was probably my favorite part of our day.  Like I said, it's just one of those iconic things in the world that everyone recognizes.  It was in our history text books in school....it's been in movies and TV...so to see it in real life is impressive.  It's also somewhat amazing to stand near and/or within it and consider just how HUGE it is....and how ANCIENT.  I can only imagine what a sight it would have been to behold before it was allowed fall into ruin; and was ravaged to reclaim and re-use its marble and iron-----our tour guide, Barbara, explained to us that at one point the stadium portion of the Coloseum was filled with levels and rows of pure marble seats/benches that must have been spectacular....but they were all ripped out so that the marble could be used to build things elsewhere....and, in fact, a fair amount of it can be found in Vatican City.  It struck me as unfortunate that one beautiful historical icon had to be destroyed to create another.  Here are some images from inside the Coloseum....

....the main passageway around the exterior (beneath the "seating"):

....stepping into the Coloseum and looking up into the "stands":

....this is the main floor/performance area looking down from the seating area...it looks like a maze, but actually what you're seeing are the tunnels in which they kept the slaves, gladiators, and animals.  In ancient times what you are looking at would have been entirely covered by a flat surface on which the competitions and performances took place....so in other words, you're looking into the basement here:

....this shot is looking where the seats should be....it looks a bit like pillars or a skeleton now...or even just a set of arches or an aqueduct...but you have to imagine it ENTIRELY covered by marble levels and benches...that's what it SHOULD look like and you can imagine how incredible it must have been:

....and just a few more shots for good measure:

Following our visit to the Coloseum, it was time to head back to our bus and get back to the ship.  Before heading off to the ship, however, we had to give a surprise to our Adventure guide, Tina, because it was her birthday.  Every day on our journey, they would ask us "what is the theme for today?" (we were given a fact sheet every night for the following day that told us what we'd be doing, what to wear, where and when to meet, etc......and it also had a title or theme for that day).   Usually we would answer with the theme and then we would get our collector pin for that day....and the pins all have the themes of the day on them.  Well standing inside the Coloseum, Tina asked us what the theme of the day was and we broke out in singing Happy Birthday (nobody had acknowledged her birthday all day long prior to that).  We all had signed a card for her and our tour guides had bought her an "I love Rome" shirt....it was fun and I think she was really touched:

Once we got back to the ship, it was pretty late so we just barely had time to get a picture with "Italian Mickey":

....and then get up to our room, where our towel animal of the day was waiting for us:

...and then get changed for dinner.  Tonight's ties were a mismatched pair, but cute.  We tried to have either matching or coordinating (like by character or film) ties for every night.....but as we amassed our collection of ties, we ended up with these two ties for which we couldn't find a mate:  the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pinnochio....so we wore them this evening:

.....after dinner that night we pretty just went back to our room and went to bed since we were exhausted from our Marathon day in Rome....AND we needed to be up early the next day for our day in Florence....

.....see you there!!