P2P Rome, Italy: Day 9

We made it to Roma!  After a great night's sleep in our favorite hotel yet (free wifi, nice rooms, air conditioning!), we drove to the Vatican to wait in line to meet our guide and have a tour of the museum.  For our guided tour, we had headphones to use to hear because it was so busy.  Here is a picture of us at the entrance to the Vatican.

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Michelangelo was responsible for the most famous part of the Vatican- the Sistine Chapel.  We sat outside and heard about his life of both painting and sculpting before entering the museum.

It took 40 years for Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and 25 years after he finished he was commissioned to do the wall portion called "The Last Judgement."  He came from a poor family and worked his way up.  He left his family rich with all of the art he created.  Michelangelo much preferred to sculpt instead of paint, but he was very talented in both areas.  The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a series of Bible stories and prophets.  Jesus was never depicted anywhere in his work in the chapel.  The portion of the ceiling where God is reaching out to touch a man is the story of the creation of man.  The name Adam means Earth, and the entire scene represents the coming of

 Jesus.  God is shown in the fresco with a naked butt, and this was Michelangelo's way of getting revenge for having to paint.  Every time anyone would see God, they would see his backside.  The Sistine Chapel is unique because it shows the entire history of humanity from the first day to the last judgement day.  Years later in 1565, a year after Michelangelo's death, painters were commissioned to paint clothes on all of the naked bodies in the fresco.  

Below is a picture inside St. Peter's Basilica, which is the world's largest church.  It is the home of Saint Peter's tomb, and is therefore the world's principal Catholic shrine.  This basilica was built between 1452 and 1667, and is a place of pilgrimage for thousands of people.  

Here is one of the most famous sculptures in all of the world in St. Peter's Basilica- Michelangelo's "La Pieta."  

Our group posed outside of St. Peter's Basilica at Vatican City.  Did you know that the Vatican City is its own country?  Although passports are not required for entrance, Vatican City is the smallest country in the entire world.  

After a morning tour of one of the most famous sites in the world, it was time for an Italian lunch.  Our starter was bruschetta and mussels, and our main course was our very own pizza!  To top it all off, we had watermelon for dessert.

After lunch we took the metro to the Spanish steps where we woulds start our City Quest.  The students formed teams and were given a map with questions and clues to help them find their own way around the major sites of Rome.  Randall, Dorothy, and I were also on our own quest to find all of the locations ourselves, and we did it!  Here we have the Spanish steps below.  The steps are located in the Piazza de Spagna, and is famous for its theatrical staircase created by Francesco De Sanctis.  At the bottom of the steps is the fountain called La Barcaccia which was designed in 1629 by Pietro Bernini and his son Gian Lorenzo in the shape of a boat partially in water.

After following the map and answering questions about the Spanish steps, the second stop was the famous Trevi Fountain.  This fountain was designed in the 18th century by architect Nicola Salvi, and it was built over the course of 30 years.  The fountain is a celebration of water as a symbol of life, health, and change.  

According to legend, if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountin, it will ensure your return to Rome.  Each day over $4250 is collected in coins in the fountain, and it is donated to the Italian Red Cross and local food banks in the city.

The third stop on the city quest was a bit harder for us to find.  On a map it looks easy, but when it comes to the streets in Rome, they are all very busy and look similar.  Here are some students we ran into while on the quest.

Our third stop is the Piazza Colonn which boasts a massive column in the middle erected by Marcus Aurelius and dedicated to Antoninus Pius.  The point of the column was to symbolize the center of Rome, and is today the center of Italian political life.  In the column you can see scenes of wars fought by Roman emperor Marc Aurel.  In 1588-9, Pope Sixtus V restored the column and added a statue of St. Paul at the top of the column.  This piazza (plaza) is considered to be the center of the city by Romans today.

On our way to our 4th stop, we did a little shopping and took pictures at the Pinocchio store.

We finally made our way in the heat to the 4th stop, the Pantheon.  This building is an example of Ancient Roman architecture that has influenced buildings of today with its dome ceiling in the middle.  Important artists are buried in the Pantheon such as Raphael, as well as the Italian Sovereigns of the period when Italy was a monarchy.

The final stop on our city quest was the Piazza Navona, which is one of the most spectacular squares of Baroque Rome and has 3 famous fountains.  The four gods on the four corners of the middle fountain symbolize the four major rivers of the world at that time:  Nile, Danube, Ganges, and Plate.  The Nile's head is draped with a loose piece of cloth, meaning that no one at that time knew exactly where the Nile's source was.  The Danube touches the Papal coat of arms, since it is the large river closest to Rome.  The Ganges carries a long oar, representing the river's navigability.  The Rio de la Plata is sitting on a pile of coins, a symbol of the riches America could offer to Europe, and the snake looks scared to symbolize the fact that men's fear was that their money could be stolen.  

After our city quest, our whole group went to enjoy an Italian speciality- gelato!  

Check out the strange flavor below in blue!  Weird!!!  They put a dab of it on top of my limon y fragola (lemon & strawberry).

After indulging in our ice cream, we had an hour and a half free time to do some shopping and explore Rome on our own.  I went to a cafe with Randall and Janet for capuccino and wifi.  Our group met at 6pm to walk to dinner.  It was another wonderful day in Italy!!  Here is a view of the river on our walk back to the bus before going to our hotel for some rest.