Cruise - Day 4 (Roma!)

After a beautiful and enchanting day along the Amalfi Coast, it's hard to imagine the trip could get better.

But it certainly did.

Ahh, Roma!

We wrapped up the first half of our Mediterranean voyage with a day in Rome.  Because Rome is Rome, the excursions offered through the cruise line were overpriced and overstuffed with promise.  We opted to follow my nose, as I had spent a fabulous 24 hours in Rome 8 years ago with some of my dear Meredith girls (Official shout-out to Queezy!). I took my job seriously and mapped out the best places to hit (with only 5 hours on the ground) and the most worthwhile ways of getting around (we settled on walking the entire city, since the view is to die for). I also nerded it up and created pdfs for us to read on the Kindle as we viewed each location (no need for pricey audio guides).

If you ever plan on running through Rome in a day and want some advice, let me know and I'll send you everything I've got. We did it, we did it with a toddler, and we did it with style and ease. For now, we hope you enjoy our virtual tour! I'll try not to weigh you down with too many facts, but I might release some word vomit regarding places we really loved exploring.

The Pantheon


Built in 27 BC and redesigned in AD 120 following a destructive fire, the Pantheon was established as a place where any Roman could feel safe worshiping the god of his or her choice.  The Pantheon we see now is courtesy of Hadrian, an aggressive emperor who considered himself a natural architect.  When his design of the Pantheon was criticized by a contemporary architect, Hadrian is rumored to have thanked the architect for his opinion and then immediately ordered to have him killed for the criticism.  To add to his dangerous reputation, Hadrian chose not to have the columns made with the typical stacks of cylindrical pieces of granite, but instead sent men to an Egyptian temple to steal its 40-ft-high columns and install them on the Pantheon.  (If Hadrian and Rome never thanked Egypt, we do.)

The Pantheon is the inspiration for many great architectural works: Il Duomo in Florence; Michelangelo's dome topping St. Peter's Basilica (see below!); and even our fabulous dome in Washington, D.C.

The Pantheon, a place where Romans could worship all (pan) gods (theos)

The dome and oculus of the Pantheon are easily the most attractive parts of this religious building.  The dome is mathematically perfect (142 feet high; 142 feet wide) and the 30-ft-wide oculus allows natural light to lend godly brilliance to the Pantheon daily.  In the words of Rick Steves, the oculus creates "Rome's greatest column -- the 142 feet from heaven to earth." (Check out his guidebooks any time you travel -- his Rome 2012 book helped us navigate this little jaunt!)

While the Byzantines stripped the ceiling of its gold tiling in the 7th century, much of the Pantheon is original, as it was preserved and protected upon becoming a Christian church in that same century.  Even the floor has survived, despite the massive foot traffic this beautiful building receives (1800 years old!)

A place where you feel like God is always watching over you. By the way -- the squares aren't just for good looks; they're engineered to help reduce the weight of the concrete dome without compromising its strength

As with most (if not all) Roman churches, there are several tombs in the Pantheon.  Here lies Raphael, in a lighted glass niche near the altar.  Supposedly his actual body lies within... 

Raphael's tomb -- the sculpture of Madonna and Child  above his tomb is a piece Raphael actually commissioned before his death with the intention of it resting above his tomb

Etched into Raphael's tomb? "Ille hic est Raffael, timuit quo sospite vinci, rerum magna parens et moriente mori," meaning, essentially, "Here lies Raphael by whom Nature feared to be conquered while he lived, and when he died, feared herself to die."

The main altar in the Pantheon

I find some of the facts surrounding the following tombs to be kind of funny.  The larger tomb is for King Victor Emmanuel II, the first modern king of Italy, and the small tomb beneath it is of Umberto I, his son and the second modern king of Italy.  Beneath Umberto lies the body of Margherita, his wife, for whom Margherita pizza supposedly was named.  The Savoy family did not rule long in Italy, as after rule by four kings, Italy voted itself a republic and sent the family into exile to Switzerland in 1946.  Italians despised the Savoy family for supporting Benito Mussolini and even drafted into the constitution a provision stripping the Savoy family of its Italian wealth.  Until 2002, Italian law went so far as to forbid any male of the Savoy line from entering Italy.  Since the ban was lifted, the current Savoy "would be kings" have made serious social errors (visiting the Pope before visiting the leader of Italy; getting into fist fights at international festivals; being placed under house arrest for charges involving prostitution and corruption... the usual).

Sometimes you can find a large ledger beside the tomb in which Savoy sympathizers and monarchy lovers can write their support for the Savoy family, their sorrow for the loss of a kingdom, and their pleas for royalty to return to the helm of Italy. The ledger was not there on our visit -- maybe the blank pages looked too depressing?  :)

Just behind the Pantheon is the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, a stark, simple, Gothic-style church built on top of what was once a temple for the goddess Minerva. Definitely on the opposite end of the aesthetics spectrum

We barely noticed the time or distance covered on foot getting around Rome, simply because around every corner we were greeted with fabulous eye candy:

Modern Rome's breathtaking city hall

A view of the Colosseum from the modern city hall

Parts of the Roman Forum. When walking through the ancient parts of Rome,  you'll notice that there are random chunks of pillars and dilapidated buildings, frozen in time, with no apparent plan either to reconstruct or to remove

Statue of Julius Caesar, aka The Man

View of the Forum and Palatine Hill on the approach to...

Colosseo!

"So long as the Colosseo stands, so shall Rome."  Two millennia and counting...

I'm sure everyone has seen at least a movie, some snapshots, maybe even a goofy little statue of this ancient architectural wonder.  Nero once had his Golden House on these grounds, but the house was eventually replaced with the Colosseum; the Colosseum gets its name from the 100-ft "colossus" statue of the Emperor Nero (a remnant of the Golden House) which stands just outside the arches.

Some interesting facts about the Colosseum:  patrons would receive their tickets on pieces of broken pottery which had inscribed on it the entrance/section/row/seat number (I'm guessing they didn't tear these tickets).  The hallways leading into the Colosseum seating were called vomitorium; the 50,000 fans that could fit inside the Colosseum were able to exit within 10-15 minutes -- essentially "vomiting" out of the massive stadium (hence our definition for the English word).  There were 80 different elevator shafts within the Colosseum to allow gladiators, animals, and any other competition feature to pop up virtually anywhere on the grounds.  Lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!) fought gladiators, along with hippos, elephants, and crocodiles.  During the 100-day inauguration of the stadium, 2000 men and 9000 animals were killed before a bloodthirsty audience.

Once Constantine ushered in Christianity, gladiator games were banned in AD 435 but animal hunts continued for almost another century; the Colosseum was then used for apartments, shops, a church, a cemetery, and general refuge for 1000 years before being abandoned completely.

As for that famous, crippled side of the Colosseum?  Blame an earthquake in 1349.  Pockmark holes throughout the stadium once housed iron brackets (300 TONS of them!), which were removed and melted down to be used in other Roman masterpieces.  Pieces of the Colosseum were also chiseled out by Roman citizens to be used for other palaces and churches (including St. Peter's).  Despite all this degradation, thanks to amazing computer graphics, we have a fairly good idea of how the stadium looked during its days of perfection.

   

Arch of Constantine (AD 315), standing just beyond the Colosseum, was built to honor the man who won both God's favor and the hearts of Romans as he brought Christianity to the Empire

"When in Rome..." -- Liam fits right in with the locals, stealing hearts and peeing on the sidewalk

One of the edges of Palatine Hill, the home of the Roman palace grounds overlooking ancient Rome; established  in AD 81 and once spanning 150,000 square feet!

What remains of the Circus Maximus, Nero's 1300-ft-long Ben Hur-style chariot racing track.  The stadium held 120,000 fans and showed 12 races per day for 240 days per year. The raised center would have had an elaborate seating area for the emperor and noble guests. Races continued from 350 BC until AD 549

I don't think this is what they mean by recycling

Rounding out our walking tour, Zeke, Liam and I returned where we started our day:  outside the gates of the Vatican City.  It's a strange feeling when you realize these guys are direct neighbors but they won't even share postage.  The Vatican takes its separation from the state as seriously as the Bible.  Mind you, there's nothing wrong with that, because I think it's important to Catholics and Protestants alike to know that the Vatican holds itself as a nation on its own -- a city upon a hill, not having to answer to the laws of any one country but only its interpretation of God's laws.

A view of the Vatican City from Rome

An actual dude. Seriously. And it was 90 degrees out.  I hope he got his Euros' worth

Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano

Or St. Peter's, if you please.  Part of my heart is still within the walls of this staggering site (eight years and counting!), despite the fact that we didn't get to go inside during this trip.  Zeke and I agreed that we will go back to Rome, and when we do, we will devote at least one full day just to the Vatican City.  St. Pete's is one of those places that has the potential to clutch your soul and force you to sit and lose all sense of time.  No need to rush that experience.

What we can share with you about St. Peter's is what we reflected on as we savored the view we're providing for you.  Two thousand years ago, Nero's Circus poisoned these grounds.  During the halftime of his chariot races, he would execute Christians for sport.  Most notable was Peter, Jesus' right-hand man, who had come to Rome to spread Christ's message of love.  In AD 65, Peter was sentenced to be killed; Peter requested to be crucified upside-down, as he felt unworthy to die like Jesus.  Peter's remains were buried in a nearby cemetery where the main altar in St. Pete's is today.

When Constantine enforced the Christian doctrine, he built a church on the site of Peter's martyrdom, a church that stood from AD 329 until 1500.  The current St. Peter's was established in 1506 and took 120 years to complete.  The genius behind much of it is Michelangelo but much of the grandiosity was designed by Bernini.  To give you an idea of the size difference between the original and modern St. Peter's, the old church was able to be dismantled and carried out the front doors of this place.  The dome measures 448 feet from ground to the tip of the cross, making it the tallest dome in the world.  No Roman building is allowed to be taller than the Basilica, explaining the flat, low skyline of Rome. While the city is thriving in these modern times, it will never look like New York City, Paris, Frankfurt... thankfully, I think.

A small part of the square outside St.Peter's. It measures 660ft x 500ft and is enclosed with 284 columns; the 140 statues atop some of the columns are each of Bernini's 140 saints (how many saints are there, anyway?!?).  St. Paul and St. Peter stand in the square before the Basilica, along with comically-dressed, serious-faced mercenaries from Switzerland

Yep, these guys. Really makes you scared to try and get away with anything here, am I right?

After remembering to exhale, we turned away from St. Peter's and went to wait for our bus back to the port.  Liam can tell you that there is no better afternoon treat than a fresh, hot doughnut along with an ice-cold gelato cone in Rome.

HEY MA! MORE GELATO!

In a country where nudity is not taboo... again, Liam fits right in

To complete a long and fruitful day in Rome, we returned to the room with the chance to enjoy some sunshine, take a dip in the hot tub, and get ready for another fun night.  Because we burned 3.2 bajillion calories walking through Rome, we ate 5 bajillion calories at a Churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) on the ship for dinner -- unlimited quantities of perfectly prepared meat, served table-side on swords.  Another reason why we loved Norwegian... who else even offers that on a ship??

The Cutest Family Onboard

We will miss Rome, but even though we didn't hit Trevi Fountain to drop a coin, we know we'll return again and soon.  Besides, we left a few Euros in the cup of a needy woman outside the Vatican City, which beats throwing them in a fountain any day.  Until we meet again, Roma!