Roman Holiday - Déjà vu

In March of 2003, I went on a high school trip to Rome.  I loved it.  Eleven years on, I had only vague memories of what the city itself was like, but had very vivid memories of a select few monuments I had seen all those years ago.  So when research took my husband to the Vatican for 6 weeks of research in their amazing library, I decided to return to the Eternal City for another look around.  I guess that coin I threw in the Trevi Fountain really did work.  :)

Since the coin tossing worked so well last time, I decided to throw in another coin and see if it works again!

Trevi Fountain at night.  It is marginally less heaving after it gets dark, and the lights are quite beautiful.

One of my favourite memories from High School was going to St. Peter's Basilica and seeing Michelangelo's Pietà . I didn't know much about Catholicism then (and I only know marginally more now), and I don't think that I had ever come face-to-face with a famous piece of art before.  I remember being literally spellbound by the sight of the Pietà .  I just stood rooted to the floor, taking in the immense and eternal sadness of the Madonna as she cradled her dead Son. It was beyond beautiful and I became hugely interested in Michelangelo as a result.

I read all about how Michelangelo would go to the Carrara quarries at dawn to pick out his marble based on the early-morning light, and that when asked how he visualised his statues, he replied that the only chipped away what didn't belong - he revealed what the block of marble was holding.  Michelangelo was 23 years old when he carved la Pietà, and, after there was discussion as to who the sculptor of the piece was, Michelangelo carved his name onto the sash of Mary's robes. It is his only piece of work to bear his signature.

So on my first day back in Rome, I both desperately wanted to see la Pietà again, but was afraid that it wouldn't capture my imagination as it did on my first visit. But that is the genius of Michelangelo.  I had to wait in longer queues, and was jostled quite a bit more by the heaving tourist masses who also wanted a glimpse of this famous piece of work, but when I finally got up to the glass, the sight of Mary and her Child was just as transfixing to 29-year-old me as it had been on my 18-year-old self.

The famous dome of St. Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo.

The dome from the inside, with Benini's Baldacchino (canopy) underneath.  The Baldacchino is 29 meters tall (so, as tall as a Renaissance church), but inside St. Peter's, it looks like a child's plaything.

Detail of Bernini's Baldaccino.

All of the details you think look painted in this photo are actually mosaics.  The only painting in the whole basilica is behind La Pietà.  I know.  Crazy.

Michelangelo's Pietà.

This is a Jacobite tomb inside of the basilica.  Scottish history followed me!

The famous Swiss Guards in their finest pyjamas.  :)

One of the focal points of my high school trip is that just after our tour of the Vatican, my fellow students went to the Forum and the Colosseum, but I missed this trip.

I needed to use the loo, so I got back to the rendezvous point early,told a friend and our tour guide for the day where I was going and then proceeded to stand in the expected queue that are found in women's washrooms the world over.  When I came out, everyone had vanished.  I spend a very panicked 30 minutes crying, and a markedly more peaceful few hours observing priests and nuns arriving and departing the Vatican while I waited to be noticed missing,  so that I could then be found (the lessons your parents teach you when you are a child are no less true later in life.  When lost, stay put!)

So on this trip, seeing those two sites was high on my list of priorities! 

Sad face.  As near as I can tell, this is where I was when I was lost. Those are the pillars of St. Peter's Square in the background.

The entire Colosseum used to be covered in white marble, but most of it has been stripped and reused in other buildings.  In this exterior shot, you can see the holes in the masonry where the marble would have been attached.

This photo is for Erin.  I made it inside!

At the far end, you can see the reconstruction of the wooden floor. In the foreground, you can see the masonry where exotic animals and gladiators would have waited and been brought up at different moments during the spectacles. Prior to the construction of these underground tunnels, the Colosseum could be flooded for naval battles called naumachiae.

Ancient graffito of gladiators!

After a wee break from the sun (which of course involved indulging in some gelato), we were ready to tackle the other site I had missed - the forum. We managed to navigate the safe crossing of a rather busy road, passed under a few triumphal arches, and then Matthew and I were ready for a hike up to the top of the Palatine Hill and a saunter through the Forum Romanum!

Matthew with the (under construction) Arch of Constantine.

Via Sacra leading to the Arch of Titus (in the background) and the Forum.

Arch of Titus!  The detail is of the Temple gold (you can see a menorah) being taken by the Romans.

View of city from the Palatine Hill.

A lovely pond atop the Hill. 

Matthew with the Arch of Titus, leading to the Forum.

I'm in the Forum!!

These are some of the most intact buildings in the Forum

Matthew poking a bit of fun at the headless statuary in the House of the Vestal Virgins.

Me in the House of the Vestal Virgins, where Erin first noticed that I was missing.

Poppies!  I love them so.  On m high school trip we ate a pizza lunch  in the countryside near Pompeii and the fields around the restaurant were in bloom with hundreds of poppies. These ones in the Forum reminded me of that memory.

Of course, there were a few famous sites that I didn't miss out on in high school and decided to quickly visit again.

The Spanish Steps.  Unfortunately, the Barcaccia ('sinking boat') fountain at the base of them was being restored.  It is one of my favourite fountains, because it is so whimsical.

I enjoyed sitting on the Spanish Steps for a while, reading and soaking in the sun, before visiting Chiesa della Trinità dei Monti- the church in the background.

Views of the city from the top of the Spanish Steps.

Me with the Column of Marcus Aurelius.

Detail of the Column.  Can you see the boats and the soldiers marching with their shields in the tortoise formation for protection?

The Pantheon is so magical.  It is so much more ancient than its neighbouring buildings, and it just seems to pop out of nowhere! The bronze from the portico was melted down in the 17th century, under the orders of Pope Urban VIII, to make the baldacchino in St. Peter's!!

The famous oculus. It is 8.7m in diameter and the main source of light. The dome of the Pantheon was the largest in the world until the 15th century, and is still today the largest unreinforced concrete dome ever built.

Piazza Navona is beautiful with the sunset light gilding the golden bricks. We admired Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (fountain of the four rivers) before eating dinner just off of the piazza (much more affordable!).

Detail of  Palazzo Pamphilj, one of the baroque palaces, at sunset.