Rome
We arrived late in Rome, too tired to do anything but walk
beneath an aqueduct to get pizza and beer and vow to set out early the next day.
10:00 am is the hour of the tourist. It is the time most
people (yours truly included) can manage to get anywhere and still feel early,
so it the time with the longest lines and the most obnoxious guides trying to
sell you tours to skip them.
We opted for a cappuccino and wifi instead. Our weekend
booked (except for Florence, more on that later) we set out after overhearing
an Italian tell three young Americans about the market across the street.
“They put a roof over it but it’s still great! You should
walk in just for the smell!”
Inside I found the most delicious sandwich in Italy, slow
roasted porcetta and a crispy pork product that was something between bacon and
chicharon. The textures of the noble pig juxtaposed on a fresh roll. For three
Euros, there is no better food in Italy.
Marble Selfie of the Beard |
Our bellies full and our brains caffeinated we returned to
the Vatican at about 1:30 to find the lines much more agreeable. Twenty minutes
later we were perusing the popes’ collection of sculptures of the Greek and
Roman Gods. You gotta love the Catholics. They renounce all the other religions
but they take damn good care of their idols.
Starting with the room of maps, The Vatican is beyond
anything I’ve ever seen. The ceilings are painted to look like marble reliefs.
Angels and cherubs bordered in gold smile down on ancient frescoes depicting
the world in incredible detail. After the maps comes a hallway filled with
tapestries depicting amazing events more or less related to Jesus. The ones
with JC are the best. He’s got a goofy smile and is flashing the peace sign.
The Triumph of Christianity |
But after all that, after kilometers of paint, tons of marble, and thousands of tourists, postcards, and priests we were upon it, the Sistine chapel.
The Sistine chapel is the most beautiful thing made by one man.
It is as awe-inspiring as the Sequoias, as powerful as Niagara Falls. It is
worth going to Rome, waiting in line, paying 20 Euros and wearing out your
feet.
It is one man’s amazing vision of his faith, hopes and
dreams. I don’t know much about the bible, only the basics of Genesis through
Noah’s Ark, but perhaps that’s all anyone bothers to learn anymore because
that’s what is depicted by Michelangelo and to have some sense of the stories in
this masterpiece so important to us as a species that we learn these stories to
better appreciate its splendor.
It is beautiful, breath-taking, and a little funny. Why are
God’s buttcheeks painted so prominently? Why, amidst all this splendor, is
there a scene of Noah drunk off his gourd? I think Michelangelo knew the power
of emotion, and for anything to have beauty it must invoke laughter or tears.
And below it, behind the altar is the Final Judgment, which is
as dark and frightening as the ceiling is bright and uplifting. Michelangelo
painted it as a grim reminder of the price of sin. It is beautiful, but
horrifying. To have the two visions of a Master, one of hope painted early in
life and another of despair painted much later, is nothing short of miraculous.
Go there. Listen to Rick Steves when you do.
If you liked this post check out Part II or check out Greece!
This is not marble, nor is it the Sistine Chapel. I was to overwhelmed by the place to rebel enough to snap a photo of the real deal. |
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