The Winter Explorer, part 6

The drive from Venice to Rome is a long one. We left Venice at around 815am, drove back up north passing the Tuscan region, and arrived at Rome at 4pm. After a short rest, we went out for dinner and a tour of Rome to see its illuminations.

The tour started at the Campadoglio. We walked for a while and saw the ruins of the Forum, the old apartments, first shopping malls, “wedding cake”, and other buildings. We had our dinner at a restaurant right across the Colosseum.

The Colosseum , by night

We had a duet serenade us for the night. They sang traditional Italian songs—those that we usually hear in Italian movies. Nakakatawa lang kasi after the performance nagbenta sila ng CD—16 euros per CD! Kumusta naman yon?! There was also this super pretty waitress, her name is Estefania. Ganon sya kaganda, natandaan ko talaga. Sayang lang e hindi ko napicturan.

After dinner, we made one more stop—the St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s so nice to finally see the basilica after seeing it so many times on TV. From where we’re standing, our tour director pointed the Pope’s Balcony and his Dormitory. There was also a very tall Christmas Tree in the square, which made everything look so festive.

St. Peter's Basilica, by night

We went back to the hotel a bit late cause the dinner took so long. We were told to take a good rest and prepare to take a long walk the next day.

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Today is HISTORY OVERLOAD!
For our tour of Rome, we had a local guide named is Ziggy. She's good, but not so great. Masyado kasing madaming details and it’s so hard to listen to the earphones while walking on a busy street. Nonetheless, I think she made the most of all the chaos.

Our experience in Rome is a little different from all the other cities we’ve visited so far. Kasi sa Rome, it’s a big city, a big tourist spot all year round. Our bus can’t just drive up to where we want to go and we'll hop off, then wait for us—no, it’s not like that. We had to go down one spot and walk, almost the whole day, to see all the sights.

At 7am, we leave the hotel and head for the Vatican City. The Vatican City Museum does not open until 8am, but our tour director was so particular that we leave very early so we can be the first ones in line. Mas may advantage nga talaga pag naka-package tour ka kasi groups have their own line. The people who “walk-in” are let in at 10am pa, pero nakapila na sila as early as 630am. Wawa naman. So kami, we waited in line for about 45minutes. Malamig, of course nagdusa na naman kami. Hehe.

Once inside the Vatican, sabi agad ni Ziggy, “Remember, you are no longer in Italy!” How dramatic! Haha!

We visited the Gallery of the Sculptures, Gallery of the Tapestries and Gallery of the Maps. These are really long halls with hundreds of displays.

Sculptures are status symbols of the ancient times. Pag may sculplture ka sa bahay, winner ka. Mahal kasi ang marble, and mahal din magcommission ng artist. Kaya sa kamahalan nya, minsan chino-chop chop sya para ibenta. Kaya maraming mga lumang sculpture na putol putol. Interesting din pala is pag male, nakahubad, pero pag female, dapat may takip.

Ang tapestries naman, usually ay dine-design muna ng isang painter. Marami sa mga tapestries na nakita namin ay design ni Raphael. So, once na design na, ise-send sya sa mga tapestry artists tapos sila ang gagawa, mga 5 tao sa isang tapestry. Interesting ang tapestries kasi para silang movies. Nung time na yun na wala pang books, they used the tapestries to tell a story. So, often, the tapestry is divided into three scenes, then the teachers or parents use these tapestries to pass on the stories to younger generations.



Sa maps naman, amazing kasi even at that time, the maps were very accurate. Sabi pa ni Ziggy, sa sobrang galing ng pagkakagawa, the maps can still be used today.

After the galleries… eto na… brace your self… SISTINE CHAPEL.
Hay… nakakakaba… I’m trying to wrap my brain on how I’ll explain the whole Sistine Chapel experience. Grabe, nakanganga lang ako the whole time. As in! It’s so surreal! Di ko madescribe. (Pero ita-try ko pa rin!)

Super bawal magphoto sa Sistine Chapel. Pero sa palagay ko, kahit pwedeng mag-shoot, my lens wouldn’t have given justice to what I saw with my own eyes. It’s all what the books described and more. Talagang masterpiece sya, one that can really immortalized a great painter. Pag nandun ka nga, it’s so weird kasi di ba, it’s a chapel so dapat ang sinasamba dun ay si God. Pero when you get there, you just marvel so much on the skills of Michaelangelo that you forget it’s a church. You keep on imagining him standing on scaffoldings, painting the ceiling. You remember how he vowed not to take a bath until he was finished with the work.

Every nook and cranny of the chapel was covered in paintings. The walls are painted to look like it’s covered with curtains. The ceiling is of course is “The Creation” and so many big people na di ko alam kung sino sila. The huge and tall wall behind the altar is “The Last Judgement”.

Because of the magnificent paintings, if you’re not Catholic, you might even forget that it’s where the cardinals hold the conclave to elect the pope; that cardinals have stood in the exact place where you’re standing to choose a pope; or even more that actual popes have stood there to hold mass. Because the discussion of the tour guide centers on the meaning of the paintings, you only get to imagine the conclave later on.

Hay… even just recalling it now, I still feel the magnificence of the Sistine Chapel.

Out last stop in the Vatican is the St. Peter's Basilica. This time talagang pumasok na kami sa loob. Ay grabe, IT's HUGE!!! The whole structure is so wide and so long. Aside from the main church na nasa gitna, the sides have smaller chapels, each having different functions--wedding, adoration, etc. Meron din mga tomb ng mga pope na ngayon ay saints na.

Of course, nothing can beat the altar na talaga namang super taas. It's also where the remains of St. Peter lies at ang pwede lang daw magmisa dito ay ang mga "descendants" ni St. Peter--meaning the Pope.

Sobrang laki ng lahat ng structures. These angels below, ito yung lalagyan ng holy water. The one na pagpasok mo sa isang church e di ba magdi-dip ka ng hand mo sa holy water. Di lang obvious sa pic, pero imagine yung kamay ng angel sa right na may hawak sa yellow bowl e chest height ko na.


The Pieta by Michaelangelo is also there. It's the only signed piece by Michaelangelo. May glass covering sya kasi daw dati may nagvandalize. It's really so well done. ang galing ng pagkakadrape ng cloth sa body ni Mother Mary, and the whole symmetry is magnificent.

It's almost lunch time when we finished the tour of The Vatican. For the afternoon, we'll be going to The Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and other places.