The start to this day was so early. We had to be at the Vatican at 7:30am. Our alarm did not have a chance to go off though because the daylight and birds woke us well before 5:30. Breakfast did not begin until 0800 so we left without café or cornetto. We are all pretty tired by now; this is our sixth day of walking 20000+ steps on stone surfaces. Fortunately, we did arrive near the Vatican early enough and actually found a yummy café which sold eggs and bacon and had english on the menu. It’s probably pretty common in this touristy area. Though we try to avoid the tourist type places to eat, this day was packed and we didn’t have a lot of options. The food was ‘so and so’ as we’ve heard people from other countries say. Despite the crowds, it’s fun to listen to different languages being spoken all around us.
The Vatican tour: We used “The Tour Guy” to book two events for today. This first one, we had a sweet lady who took a lot of time with us describing much about the Vatican even before we entered the gates. She was so funny during any down time in her program though, she was constantly mumbling to herself about what she needed to do next. A couple of things stood out to me immediately: the exterior walls of most spaces from the inside to the outside city wall are so basic and the gardens were very simple. Once inside the museum of course, there was such dramatic display of art but St. Peter’s Basilica is more elaborate than I ever would have guessed. So many small separate chapel areas dedicated to the different Popes and it’s so interesting that they mummified at least one to place his body inside glass in the chapel area. Standing in St. Peter’s square where we’ve seen the Pope speak to the public our entire lives is kind of surreal. The fact that you can hear the Pope speak every Wednesday in the square if you choose, was news to me.
For lunch, we grabbed something just outside the walls of Vatican City. There were a few seemingly locals, there was a priest sitting next to us and it seemed only a few tourists. It was a very simple choice of sandwiches or insalada. Carter, our fruit and veggie lover is having a hard time with the options somewhat but chose a breaded chicken sandwich the size of two at home if you were ordering in a restaurant. The chicken is much more thin though. He ended up eating only about half. Just as I was at their age and at 17, the kids loving popping into the gift shops. J Grace has yet to buy anything but Carter has two soccer jerseys and a gladiator hoodie with the words ‘strength and honor.’ He can’t wait to wear that show his teachers at The Anvil Academy.
By the time we made it to the Coloseo, we were still one hour early for the tour but not quite enough time to walk Aventine Hill to see Rome through the keyhole. I’m sure that is absolutely amazing but we are all so very tired. I think this second tour of the day could have been so much better if we weren’t exhausted. “Someone didn’t think this through!” Ie: overzealous parents. I do not recall this being an option before but again, I was only 17. We were walked through the floor of the forum and up Palatine Hill before ever entering the main event. It was so much to take in. The Roman’s really were amazingly advance with the aqueduct plumbing and toilets at the colosseum! Grace wants to discuss the thoughts about this location below. I’m just in awe of the fact that more recent structures were built on top of the oldest remains of structure. The fact that they recycled what was no longer in use or in current desired fashion in fascinating. As the Colosseum became less and less relevant to culture, they quarried the stone from the structure. The Catholic Church was still using the arena during the time of quarry and demanded the West wall be left in tact, aside from the marble removal, to be used as the backdrop for their meetings. One think I didn’t know or had forgotten is that basilica was not always a church but a meeting place that was not religious.
We basically asked that the tour end for us once we made it to the top level of the colosseum. Completely wiped, we needed food and restrooms. The later being very difficult to come by, we stopped for food where we probably would not have. That decision was probably a good one. We knew Carter was not feeling well but didn’t realize the extent of his pain. He struggled through sitting with us at dinner and we helped him navigate three trains and the walk back to our room so that he could shower and crash. Too much sugar and dehydration was probably the culprit but during the night as he moaned and felt like he had a fever, I was pretty concerned. Poor thing, I kept making him get up to drink water. It was a very exciting, overly full and entirely too tiring day!
Hey, its Grace again. I wanted to share what I took away from the Vatican and Colosseum.
I had the chance of a lifetime to be able to walk through history. Not many people get to do that. I am first gonna talk about the Colosseum. It amazes me how such a beautiful architecture was used for such a- uhm NOT beautiful game. As I walked around the arena I imagined what it would be like. Crowds yelling and cheering for their favorite gladiator. Families mourning as they watch their loved ones have to go through the torture of survival. The smell of blood, salty tears, and any stench that comes from such a gory time surrounding the air. I have read the hunger games not knowing how real similar events have happened. But that’s what happened in the colosseum. One winner. No more no less. Your trapped. Romans took you away from your family. You know that there is a 50/100 chance you will ever see them again. Another ( I’ll use a word front the hunger games) tribute has to go through the same thing. Fear courses through your veins. Soon replaced with adrenaline. All you want to do is survive. Knowing that if push comes to shove you’ll shove. Hard. Anything for one more day with your mom and dad. Desperation chokes you as you are lifted into the arena. The sound of crowds cheering rings in your ears. The sun beaming in your eyes. Sweat is trickling down your neck. You don’t want to kill. You want for others to achieve the same hope that is building every time your heart beats. You look up and see two doors. One for the victor and one for the dead. Which one will you exit? That’s when you hear the sound of a bell ringing. The games have begun.
To be honest I don’t have that much to say about the Vatican except this. Art. That’s what the Vatican is. A wonderful work of art. I can’t put into words what I experienced there. So now I’m wrapping up because my mom wants to finish.
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