Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Day 2- "Rome is a city like no other"

First thing's first... WOAH! I'm, in love with St. Peter's Basilica. Hands down, the coolest church on earth.

So, we started the morning with Mass in the Pallottine crypt chapel once again (expect this to be a standard morning tradition), followed by breakfast. We had some delicious homemade rolls with cheese, Nutella, and some kind of bologna that had specks of crack in it... yeah, it was that good! I LOVE Italian food.

After breakfast, we made the 20-minute trek over to Citta del Vaticano for the Scavi tour. For those of you who haven't been there, the Vatican is a sovereign state and has EXTREMELY high border security... not! We walked up the street leading to Piazza San Pietro, walked between some car barriers, and were finally within the limits of the Vatican... whew! Hard work. ;-)

 Just before entering the sovereign state of Citta del Vaticano!

So, we get to Piazza San Pietro and David, Chris, Dan and I were really excited, since we'd never been before. It was weird because when you enter the piazza, you kind of don't realize you've suddenly entered the state of Vatican City. It was a little surreal, as was the rest of the day.

 This was when it started to hit me... "I'm at the Vatican!!!"

 Vince chatting with a Swiss Guard. He's the only one who knows Italian. ;-)

Walking to the Scavi Office for the tour.

So after snapping a few photos, we headed over the right side of the basilica and the Scavi Office. (Scavi is "Excavation" in Italian... The Scavi is the excavation of the old necropolis beneath the crypt of St. Peter's, about 7 meters below the basilica floor.) I was told that I couldn't take my backpack on the tour, so Fr. Vinko and I ran around the piazza in the 20 minutes prior to the tour to find a place to put my bag. There's a free bag check, but you had to go through security to do that, and the line was really long. Fools... We asked a bunch of the Swiss Guard and the guy running the bookstore, but no one would hold my bag for me... very Christian of them. We walked back over to the office and I just kind of hid my bag and slung it over one shoulder. The guy in the office said nothing and our tour guide didn't seem to care-- this seems to be the SOP in Italy... all the rules are really just unenforced suggestions. LOL! So Fr. Vinko was a champ for helping me out, but we managed to get in with the backpack anyway.

The Scavi tour was really cool. We started in the grotto behind the Trophy of Gaius, which is basically a big red wall with some columns and a marble slab in front of it. Beneath the slab was the tomb of St. Peter. We went below ground level to the ancient pagan necropolis and saw a bunch of old mausoleums, which used to be open-air. When Constantine was emperor, he had the entire area built up to support what would become the original basilica. He also encased the Trophy in a larger box... Not sure why, honestly. He could've just built the basilica around the original trophy. It's not that big...

 Gaius's Trophy. St. Peter's tomb is beneath the columns there.

Before continuing, I'll mention that our tour guide failed to warn us about going ahead. She said we'd be going down the stairs into the necropolis, so we did... at the bottom of the stairs was a sliding door, which a random archaeologist came out of, so we walked in. We ended up in a little viewing room next to the "Egyptian Mausoleum" and the door closed behind us, locking us in. About 5 minutes later, our tour guide came in all flustered, and reprimanded us for going ahead because if she didn't go through doors first, they would close before she got in and then she'd have to call the emergency number, blah blah blah. Basically, the tour guides need  controls for the doors, end of story. That, and our tour guide was a little sassy about the whole situation, to which the 8 of us just laughed. Good times!

Anyway, we went further through the necropolis to the early Christian burial ground. Lots of niches in the ground and such. Back when this was all being excavated, archaeologists discovered what appeared to be St. Peter's tomb (which it was) beneath the Trophy of Gaius. When it was opened, however, it was found to be empty. After further excavation into another wall, an Italian archaeologist discovered a small niche hidden in the wall. In it were human remains and a piece of the red wall that said "Here [is] Peter". Following much scientific research on the remains, they are believed to be the remains of the first Pope, although there's really no way to be sure.

St. Peter's alleged bones are now back in the original tomb. On the other side of the tomb is a slab of marble, which sits behind what is known as the Clementine Chapel. This chapel is just below the crypt level of the basilica and WHERE FR KYLE IS CELEBRATING MASS WITH US ON FRIDAY!!! Really cool that we managed to get it. :-D Wait for pictures of Mass on Friday, or check out Nick's blog to see the pictures he snuck during the tour. Gorgeous chapel.

After leaving the chapel, we went up to the crypt, where our guide ended the tour and left us to our own devices. We walked around a bit and saw all the sarcophagi of various popes, which was kind of cool. We also saw the place where John Paul II used to be, before they moved him upstairs. We also were able to see the other side of St. Peter's tomb, which is exposed with a beautiful mosaic at the foot of the Confessio, which are the steps (lined with a set of lamps) that leads up to the High Altar.

At this point, we were able to go upstairs and outside the basilica. We quickly made our way around to the front and walked in the front door. As soon as we walked in, I had the biggest smile on my face... I'd finally made it to the one place I most wanted to see this week: St. Peter's Basilica. We'd seen the facade (restored by the Knights of Columbus!!!) earlier in the morning, as well as the rest of the piazza. Very impressive, but...

The first thing that came to mind was simply "OhmyGod WOW!". If you've ever seen pictures of the inside of the basilica, they don't do it justice. Not by a long shot. It's hands down, the single most beautiful building I've ever seen, or probably ever will. WOAH! For most of our time in there, I was just in awe, snapping loads of pictures and being shell-shocked that I was finally there. And honestly, it's so massive that the size is indescribable. I literally can't explain it in words. It's just so HUGE!

 The first view I had inside the basilica. WOW!

Those letters are SIX FEET HIGH!!

So we walked in and, to the immediate right,, is the Pieta, sculpted by Michaelangelo. The best sculpture in the building, and it's right there when you walk in. The Pieta is a beautiful of the Blessed Mother holding Jesus after He was taken down from the cross. According to Chris, before some fool broke her nose off, the light used to hit it in such a way that, once a day, Christ's whole body was illuminated by the sunlight. Gotta love those simple miraculous coincidences.

 Michelangelo's Pieta

Walking toward the back, the next thing on that side of the basilica is what's become the chapel for Blessed Pope John Paul II. It was all roped off, but we're going to try to get in there later this week before or after Mass with St. Peter. The whole place is just full of beautiful sculptures and frescoes that are insanely huge.

 Blessed Pope John Paul II, pray for us!

Jump forward to the High Altar. It's (no surprise) beautiful. There's an enormous bronze canopy above the altar, designed by Bernini (he designed a lot of the basilica). In the top is an image of a dove, the sign of the Holy Spirit. Between the altar and the main floor is the Confessio (again, a oval-shaped double stairwell that leads down to St. Peter's tomb and the crypt level). Behind the High Altar is the altar used for daily Mass, which is at the foot of the Chair of Peter. It's been encased in bronze (I believe), with this huge sculpture of clouds, with a sunburst above it. Within the sunburst is a gorgeous stained glass window with, again, the dove in the center. Those of you familiar with the UMD Catholic Student Center will recognize this image... Bernini got his inspiration for this window from the banner behind the CSC's chapel altar ;-)

 The High Altar and canopy, with the Chair of Peter in the background.

 Bernini's canopy over the High Altar

 The Confessio, which leads down to the crypt.

 Close-up of the High Altar.

 Altar, canopy, and Chair of Peter.

 The Duomo, directly above the canopy. It's much higher than it looks!

 A cool perspective shot of one of the canopy's columns.

 The Chair of Peter.

 I was so excited to be here :-D

 Another shot of the Duomo.

 View through the canopy, looking toward the rear of the basilica.

 Closer shot.

I'm a Catholic nerd; I admit it.

In the center of the basilica floor are a bunch of stars, accompanied by names of various basilicas throughout the world. This shows how huge St. Peter's is relative to the other churches in Christendom. Basically, St. Peter's is the coolest church on earth. 'nuff said.

Moving on from that (as if it's possible to top Basilica San Pietro...), we headed up the street to the Musei Vaticano. On the way, we stopped at a small restaurant for pizza and panini. They were kind enough to let us sit down at tables outside, even though we ordered for "take away". That's what happens when you play the "Collar Card"... thank you, Fr. Kyle!

The museum was really neat. Some parts (particularly at the beginning) were pretty boring. There was a big square with grass and a funky sculpture in the middle. At the closer end, by the main building, there was a big pinecone, which apparently symbolizes Eternal Life. I think it just looked really out of place...

 Musei Vaticano ticket. :-D

 On our way in! Looking excited.

 Again, thrilled to be here!

 Just chillin' for a minute with Padre.

 Weird ball sculpture in the middle of the courtyard.

 Even weirder pinecone of eternal life. Or something like that.

We then proceeded to what I call the Hall of Heads. It's exactly what it sounds like... a big hall of Roman busts. The only really interesting one was the dude that looked just like Matt. I didn't take a picture, but it'll be on Facebook somewhere. This was followed by some more full-figure statues.


 It's like the witch's palace in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

 Sculptures and a big red bowl thing.

Bronze naked man.


After that was a hallway full of enormous religious tapestries. They were really neat and I took some pictures.

 Our Lord's Ascension

Next was the old Papal residence. It housed most (if not all) of the old Borgia papal dynasty (as if we should have a single family pumping out pope after pope... for shame! Half of them had multiple mistresses and fathered children. But this was back when the Church leadership was corrupt. Good thing we don't have crap like that going on these days or we'd be in a pickle.) Every room was floor-to-ceiling frescoes depicting some really beautiful scenes. Some were scriptural, others depicted various events during the lives of different popes and saints.

 Hallway with beautiful frescoes in the walls and ceiling.

 Sectional maps of Italia... Vince was looking for the town his family's from.

 A neat papal coat of arms.

 Saint Jean Baptiste de La Salle, pray for us!

 We think she's holding the head of John the Baptist.

The coolest room in this section was the room (or so Nick and I thought) was the room dedicated to the ONLY time Papal Infallibility was actually exercised from the Chair of Peter: the establishment of the Immaculate Conception as official dogma. The room had frescoes of the proclamation, made by Pope Pius IX in 1854, and the then Holy Father reverencing a portrait of Our Lady.




After that was another stretch of sculptures and such. They were cool and all, but marble sculptures all start to look the same after a while...

 The papal parking lot! haha...

 San Pietro in Vincoli

The next and last cool thing we saw was Michelangelo's masterpiece, the Sistine Chapel. What a beautiful place. Again, floor-to-ceiling frescoes depicting various biblical events and the heavenly court. I shouldn't need to explain what it is... if you don't know about the Sistine Chapel, you must live under a rock. All I can say is that it was surreal to be in the room where so many popes have been elected.

 Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

 Rear wall

 Wall just above the altar.

 "Party while falling down the stairs!"

It started raining when we finished the Musei Vaticano tour, so we went back into the basilica to wait out the storm. We popped into the Adoration chapel (if you can call it a chapel... it was as big as some churches!) to pray for a while before the blessed Sacrament, which was really cool. Same Jesus, but in the premier basilica of Christendom. Again, moving and humbling all at once.

We then stopped for a drink at the Hotel Cardinal Celi. It's where the CSC group stayed on their trip last year while in Rome.



My first Campari Soda. It's an Italian aperitif; a bitter, carbonated, alcoholic beverage. Lovely!

We walked back to the Pallottine Generalate (hereafter referred to as "the house") for dinner. As you can see below, it was delicious!

 Frittata, beef, pasta, peas, and carrots. Enjoyed with a delicious local red wine.

After dinner, we went on a walk to the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain) for the obligatory coin-toss-over-the-shoulder. It looks very cool lit up at night, so we hung out there for a bit while enjoying our treats from one of the nearby gelattieria. Today's gelatto choice was simple "Cioccolato". Boy, was it the richest chocolate ice cream I've ever had.



When we got back to the house, we finally found Fr. Frank, having just returned from his meeting outside the city. We all headed up to the rooftop terrace for some wine and good times to finish off a great day and make plans for tomorrow.

So basically, today encompassed everything I was most looking forward to on this trip. Honestly, visiting St. Peter's was on the top of my list and we got to see it on the FIRST DAY! I was just thrilled. Best place I;ve ever been to, period. And we get to go back 2 more times this week, for Mass @ the Clementine Chapel on Friday, the Papal audience on Wednesday, and the Duomo (dome) tour somewhere in there too. I'm so excited...

For tomorrow, expect something funny to happen on the way to the Forum; we're checking out the ancient Roman sites tomorrow. We'll also be visiting Cardinal Weurl's titular basilica, San Pietreo in Vincole (St. Peter in Chains). Talk to y'all then!

2 comments:

  1. you're going to lose so much weight especially with a 20 minute walk to start the morning! great training for philmont!

    hahahah and your backpack not being allowed? that's what you get for being a TOURIST! ha. the folks probs wouldn't hold your bag because they thought your were a terrorist.

    and the door and your tour guide? nothing like some good ole american SASS. i think your sass just rubbed off on her :)

    be glad you're not a WOman....you would have had to pack a slightly different wardrobe.

    i'm so jealous about adoration, wine on the rooftop terrace and gellato. keep looking for fair trade!
    i'm so happy you guys are able to have such a wonderful holy excursion . although it may be fun, your faith will be impacted in ways you may never know until years from now.

    it's ashame we aren't jewish because if we were, maybe there would be a program set up where all catholics can go to vatican city for a month like the jews do with israel.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're going to a papal audience? I think I'd probably cry. Yep. Yep I would.
    Thanks for the updates--I've enjoyed reading about all of you and your little excursion! It was awesome skyping with you all today!

    ReplyDelete