ITALY

ROME

We walked from our hotel to the Colosseum the day after we arrived and this is our first view of it. It was exciting to see something we've been familiar with from movies and books since we were young. The size of it was shocking, bigger than we ever imagined. We learned that most of it had been "raided" over the years to build other structures but thankfully that has been stopped and they are slowly stabilizing the building. The other thing we found out is that this in Not where most of the Christians were killed, that took place at Circus Maximus, although some were executed here. The Colosseum was mostly for gladiators and animal battles.

This is the bare bones of the site and you can see the places where the animals and gladiators waited before they were summoned to the arena to battle to their deaths all for the amusement of the crowds and the emperor. The gladiators lived and trained at a site across from this arena which is just now being restored. They were connected to the Colosseum by a tunnel from the training grounds.

The closed in area is how the whole circular part used to look. The tunneled part below was all hidden from the crowds. I imagine that it was terrifying waiting below and hearing the carnage and noise of the people going on above your heads.There were trap doors in the floor for the animals to spring up and surprise the gladiators and a system of elevators for the people and animals to be lifted up to the arena. Very impressive for the time.

These are the gladiators of today with their plastic abs, smoking cigarettes and chatting on cell phones. They offer a picture to tourists using their own cameras and then ask for twenty euros before the camera is given back to them.

My "stitched" picture of the remains. For some reason my camera wasn't 'doing' skies that day. You get an idea of the scale when you see the people standing all around  the different levels.

THE VATICAN

This is in the courtyard within the Vatican. I can't remember the name of this sculpture but it was impressive even though it is such a contrast in styles to it's surroundings. I apologize now for my lack of information for most of my pictures. On this trip the facts just seemed to pass in one ear and out the other. It was too hot, too crowded and too overwhelming.

This is the close up and be sure to click on the pictures to see full sized shots as there's far more detail. This ball (oh that feels shameful to call it that, must look up the proper name to show respect..later), rotates and I love the reflections of the ancient buildings on it's smooth surfaces.

We have an update. Due to my jet lag when I first posted this I didn't recall it's name. It is titled Sphere within a Sphere (wow, they must have had jet lag when they named it) and it represents the hardships that we endure at the end of the second millennium.

Finally, I found a picture with blue sky !! This is the dome of St. Peter's. You can get up to the balcony for a wonderful view but neither of us were in climbing moods and of course we had to stick with the tour group. It was difficult to get a good picture of it from any place we were at but I've seen some so it must be possible. The best shots are from inside it anyway.

Here we are inside. This is an amazing place, as most churches in Italy are. They had the best materials, most beautiful marbles and statues. The craftsmanship was only the best as the church had all the money. You would think that the value would wipe out the debt of the country a few times over at least. Must not get into the politics of the country though. Our tour director and one guide let us know what they think of the Euro situation and their leader Berloucosci (sp). Good for some laughs but it got tiring after a while. Not a word about their churches though. We were told the pope was coming home in a day or two but some from our group went back in the afternoon and saw him sitting outside on his balcony.

Now how is this for making a statement???  It was so beautiful and very, very long. The tapestries on the walls were huge but you hardly noticed them because of the ceiling. There are stories from the bible and the history of the country all laid out in the pictures and sculptures, it's mind boggling. Sure boggled my mind anyway. If there is anyone who wants more shots of anything I show here, let me know and I'll email them. If I put them all in I'd never finish this blog.

As you can see, I found the ceilings far more impressive than the walls. I hope you can see the details when you enlarge the photos.

THE DOME!!  If you are wondering why I didn't get pictures right under this it's because beneath it is the High Altar. I think you can get closer but there was a mass or something going on so the area was roped off.

This is another dome that I was able to get right underneath. I wasn't afraid of falling over backwards with all this looking up, the place was packed and there was no room to fall over. If you do go to these popular places, spend the money and get a tour, it will save hours of standing in line and you will have things explained to you about what you are seeing. You may not remember but in the moment it will be worth it.

The High Altar. My wonderful husband is on the other computer digging up some facts for me to include with my photos. The altar is made of solid bronze pilfered from the Pantheon. Even the Romans and the church did some stealing you know. Lots of the sites we find incredible now have been stripped by leaders of the time for materials for new projects. Now on the floor in front of this altar and leading the length of the building is a nave made of marble (everything is made of marble there)  with markings all along denoting the size of the nine largest cathedrals in the world for comparison to the size of St. Peters. None of them come close to the length of this building. Size really does matter.

This beautiful door is only opened once every 25 years. It is only opened during a holy year (jubilee) which occur every 25 years. The last time it was opened was in 2000. The message that it imparts is that God's mercy reaches out to mankind's frailty.

Looks like statues doesn't it. This is another ceiling painting, the whole room was full of them and they are all two dimensional. What you see are shadows giving the pictures depth. Even being in the room it is hard to believe they are flat as a pancake.

Here's a three dimensional one for you. It is a crypt and that's all I can tell you. I thought it was special.

The Pieta

This one is behind glass, thus the line cutting the picture in half. Some nut with "mother issues" attacked the statue with a hammer and destroyed the left side of Mary's head and broke her arm off. You can not tell, it was repaired so well. That started the rash of copies being presented to the public and the originals are all safely stored away and out of reach.

This is Marissa. She was our guide for the Vatican and is an academic with the most incredible knowledge of everything you see. She is about 4 foot 8 and around 70 years old but larger than life. She would be so disappointed that I don't remember all the wonderful information she gave me. Here she is stopping a group of speeding motorcycles so that her "darling bambinos" can safely cross the street. When Michelangelo's paintings in the Sistine chapel were being restored and almost finished, Marissa was one of five people chosen,because of her knowledge, to go up and lie on her back as he did when he painted the ceiling, and she got to clean a small portion of the picture. Her greatest honor in her life. Pictures are not allowed in the Sistine chapel so that is why there are none here.