When I last left you at the Vatican, we had just finished walking through the crypt, where we had walked reverently past John Paul II’s grave. We also saw the shrine above Peter’s grave. Don’t worry, I did crack some irreverent dead pope jokes while walking past overdone tombs of ancient dead popes.
We went upstairs and outside to the front of St. Peter’s basilica. After spending some time with Grazia explaining about the history and meaning of the doors, we went in, along with half of the tourists in Europe at that given time. The vastness of scale is nearly too much. Because of the throngs, we couldn’t get very close to the Michelangelo sculpture of Jesus and Mary, but could see from afar. Grazia gave us a good, brief tour, weaving art history, papal history, and political history.
At one point, she showed us two contrasting styles of monuments to popes – one in classical style, and one (by Bernini) in Baroque. The latter is way overdone – so I leaned over and said, “wow, he really went for Baroque with that one.” Carol and Grazia both laughed, while Julia shook her head and punched my arm in that loving way she has of saying “I’ve embarrassed her yet again and thank god there are no other teenagers around to hear me or she would be totally humiliated.” I do enjoy torturing her that way.
We then went back outside, where the chairs were already filling up the square for next week’s Easter service. We walked around a bit (large parts are closed off), taking in the brilliant design and the vastness of the place, with additional good info from Grazia. It was nearly noon, and I was picking up that “I’m tired of walking and I’m hungry to boot, so there’s going to be problems if we don’t rest/eat soon!” vibe from the girls. (The main reason I picked up on that vibe is that is what they were saying, not because I’m some genius at reading subtle signals!).
Leaving the Vatican, we all said grazie to Grazia and found a simple outdoor café for lunch. The food was fine, not overly expensive, and even there they had perfected the Italian style of restaurants – where you can’t find the waiter/waitress when you want your bill. . .and once you do ask for it, they take forever to get it to you. I want to sit in on that course in restaurant school here, just to see what it is like. I imagine a Bob Newhart-esque instructor training them on how to avoid going into their customer’s area after serving the food: “No, no, no! You made two classic mistakes – you walked near the table AND you made eye contact. One can happen by mistake, but the other must NEVER happen. Now try again.”
(If you’ve never heard Bob Newhart’s bus driver school skit, it’s probably available on the internet – one of the funniest clean comedy skits ever).
We walked to the nearby Castle San Angelo, where we studiously avoided the museum and simple climbed to the top and all around for the views of Rome. We could pick out many of the sights, and of course there are great straight on views of the Vatican. We then walked across the pedestrian Bridge of Angels, wandered a few blocks, and caught a cab back to the hotel.
The authorities (that’s such a European way to describe it) are planning to build a third subway line – one that might actually go near some sights to see, but first they have to do a massive study on the impact of the building on historic buildings. Romans joke that they will be dead before the next line is open. Cabs are the best way to get around town (other than foot), but only if you can find one.
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