Rome Day 2

Bonjourno! We just finished up day 2 in Rome and spent the entire day at the Vatican and had the best time.

We started off the day by Marc and I going on the Scavi tour- the land underneath St. Peter's Basilica was excavated in the 1930s and they found the original tomb of St. Peter- directly (I mean exactly beneath) the altar at the current church, which was on top of the original St. Peter's altar built by Constantine in the 300s (that lasted over 1200 years before it was torn down to make the modern-day St. Peter's), which was resting on top of a "trophy" which marked the grave of St. Peter. Nasa actually made the clear box that his bones are in and you can actually SEE the bones of St. Peter under the dome of the church- i.e. under the words around the dome that read "thou art Peter, upon this rock I will build my church". AMAZING! The trick was that the tour is only for adults so it worked perfectly that Aunt Amber and Uncle Dennis were town to babysit. We also saw many other graves and mausoleums under the church- some were pagan and some were Christian- all were amazing. Here we are with our tickets to get in (that we got months ago)- this was DEFINITELY a highlight of our trip- (and no, sadly, they don't let you take ANY pictures at all of the tour- just trust me it was awesome).


After the tour we had lunch at Cafe San Pedros and then met our new docent (another PhD) to tour the Vatican museums. The museums were literally mindblowing- the art- the sculptures- it was a treat- and I'm SO GLAD we had an expert to tell us exactly what we were looking at- I don't think there is any way I would have known what I was seeing without this guide.

Here is The Transfiguration by Raphael- not behind glass- just sitting there for us to enjoy-


Here is the docent (on the far left) explaining to the boys the significance of this sculpture, Lacoon and His Sons, and his living, dynamic, heart-wrenching expression- and it was made BEFORE the time of Christ- Michaelangelo studied this extensively


The bronze Hercules that had been struck by lightning-


The ceiling of the maps room- each scene on the ceiling deals with a place on one of the wall maps beside it- beautiful!



Marc got to see the real-life version of one of his favorite paintings- (we have a copy in our home)

I LOVED this painting that was on the ceiling of the Constantine Room- it shows how Christianity has come and taken over as the new religion of Rome- a pagan god lays broken on the floor. The truth shall conquer!


Our group in one of the courtyards (p.s. it had been raining- and I ran out of saline solution and had to wear my glasses) :)

The docent let the boys slip under the rope by the sculpture "a sphere within a sphere" and showed them that it actually rotated- they were so excited to be "breaking the rules"-


After touring the museums for literally hours, our docent took us to the Sistene Chapel. You are not allowed to take pictures inside, but I took one of Marky's face because he never took his eyes off the ceiling. He was mesmorized. God has confimed again and again that we were so right to bring him here- he has never been tired or complained and is delighted by everything he sees.

Without our docent the Sistene Chapel would not have been nearly as exciting. She knew so much about how you can see how Michaelangelo's talent improved as he worked over the years- (i.e. Jonah's legs are much more defined and lifelike than Noah's). And she knew who everyone was and what they represented. Right when we walked in Marky said, "look, Mommy- that man is holding his skin- he must be St. Bartholomew"- precious! Totally in awe.

After the Sistene Chapel it was off to our official tour of St. Peter's Bascilica- again- truly the most magnificent structure ever. And it's so much bigger than it even looks when you are standing in it. For instance, the docent said that Marc (6 foot 4) could stand inside the O in the lettering in the rotunda- and he is shorter than the dove in the holy spirit window-


The columns in this top arch were from Constantine's version of St. Peter's and were believed to have come from Solomon's temple in Jerusalem!


We all cried when seeing the Pieta. Our docent said, "on this I must be silent and let Michaelangelo speak to you with his art- see Mary- see her face and her left hand and let it speak to you" and she walked away. Such beauty- such transcendent art- and he was 23 when he made it! All I could think of when I looked at this sculpture was Simeon's prophecy to Mary when she dedicated baby Jesus in the temple, "a sword shall pierce your heart".





Then back out to the square to learn more fascinating things-


Things like the fact that the obelisk is from ancient egpyt and was brought to Rome by Caligula in 37 AD! The story of how they moved it is amazing-


After all this touring and learning and walking we were ready to eat. We walked over a mile to get to a restaurant we had heard was great, but it ended up being closed. We found a WONDERFUL replacement that had probably the friendliest people in Rome (and that's kind of rare unfortunately) and the best food-

And they brought us Limoncello and a few free appetizers (don't worry we spent plenty of money- they made out like bandits) and the boys tried their first chocolate gelato (and Amber and I split the brownie in front!)


Another amazing day in Rome. Sorry this post was so long, but we literally took 75 pictures today so I really did condense. :) Tomorrow is the tour of churches in "Rome in a Limo" so that should be exciting.
P.S. As I typed this tonight Marc and Marky sat beside me on the bed playing their newest game- poker. We played it a ton on the plane ride over. I just heard Marky say "I love to play poker because it's so much fun, but it's not chess- Chess is the game of kings." Only Marky.