The Eternal City Pt. 2

This is going to turn into a blog of confessions.  First, I confessed that I had a bite of fish in the south of Spain, then I shared with you my love of Gregory Peck and  “Roman Holiday”, but now, I have to admit to one more embarrassing thing… I cried in Vatican City.

But can you really blame me?  Who wouldn’t tear up in a place as beautiful as St. Peter’s Basilica?

 

Wednesday we went on a tour of the Vatican Museum and visited St. Peter’s (San Pietro) Basilica.  While the tour itself was less than average, the museum was something to gawk at.  From my estimate, the museum must hold approximately 100,000 marble statues, 500 ornate tapestries and is covered in beautiful frescoes by the likes of Michealangelo and his comrades.  I could have spent weeks visiting the various rooms of the Museum itself but as I only had two days in Rome, I had to move on.

From the museum, we made our way into the largest Catholic Parish there is: St. Peter’s.  Now, I don’t know how else to explain it except, “Wow.”  The history (see the list of past Popes below), the wealth, the size… it was breathtaking.  I can’t think of a better place to pause and offer up a prayer.

We visited many other churches throughout Rome (I lost count at some point), but some of the more notable visits were to the Pantheon, (one by the capitol building, St. Maria’s of Cosmidan.  Each was wonderful in it’s own unique way and each had a mind-blowing history.  For

instance, one of my favorite, yet smaller, churches we visited was St. Maria’s of Cosmidan.  St. Maria’s was home to a few must-sees such as the Bocce de Verite, seen here, relics of St. Valentine and a crypt with Hercules’s alter.  The legend says that if you put your hand in the mouth of the Bocce de Verite and lie, your hand will be chopped off.  This is also, of course, a scene in the movie “A Roman Holiday.”

We also made our way to the typical, yet stunning, sights of Rome: the Colosseum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps and the Roman Ruins.  We did a lot in the 2 ½ days we were there—- but the history of this unique city could have kept me there for an eternity.