My rakhi brother lives in Rome and I had not seen him for over 7 years. I had been corresponding with him ever since we decided that we were going to visit Italy. He is in the travel business and gave us sound advice. He suggested our itinerary and told us what we should not miss seeing etc., He also arranged our train reservations, and booked our advance museum passes. He had asked us to let us know our train arrival time in Rome as he wanted to send us a car and driver.
I was a bit taken aback, thinking that it was not safe to take a taxi in Rome, as we had been doing in the other cities. He said – No it was perfectly safe to take a taxi, but I need not worry about it, as the person he was going to send was just a private taxi service.
So we got off at the main railway station in Rome and there was a man in a suit standing at the head of the platform holding a placard with our name on it. Once we identified ourselves to him, he took our luggage and led us to a beautiful Mercedes van. Anand had really gone overboard and booked us into the Waldorf Astoria in Rome and the driver brought us to our hotel in style.
We rang my brother after checking into our beautiful hotel room - it was a huge room with a separate sitting and working area and a balcony outside with seating which looked out over the city of Rome, as the hotel was on one of the seven hills of the city…
Next day again on the advice of my brother, we got up early, breakfasted and then took a taxi to the Vatican Museum and reached there before it opened. We only had a 15 mt wait and were able to enter the Museum.
The Museum is so large that we followed the advice in the Frommer’s guide to Italy which said to concentrate on exhibits that appealed to us. Since we had got there first thing in the morning, it was a little less crowded and had a wonderful time seeing all our preferred exhibits.
The Sistine Chapel containing Michelangelo’s most famous fresco painting on the ceiling was of course breath taking but it was almost claustrophobic with a large number of people including tour groups all crowded together in such a small space.
After the Museum, my brother had suggested visiting St. Peter’s and then the Dome to see the view of the city. We walked to St. Peter’s and found that the queue of people waiting to enter the church, was all around the circular piazza and queuing down the centre of the piazza. It looked like a 2 – 3 hr waiting time to enter the church.
I called my brother and he said that he would come and meet us at the piazza and we could go to lunch and then visit St. Peter’s in the afternoon. So he came and met us and took us to his office nearby. We met his assistant and then we went out to lunch at a nearby trattoria. We caught up with each others news for over two hours over lunch…
After the long leisurely lunch we walked back to St. Peter’s Piazza and found that the queue was 1/4th the size that we had seen before lunch and we were able to enter the Basilica quite quickly. Of course the interior of St. Peter’s is awesome. The very first thing you notice as you enter the Basilica is of course Michelangelo’s Pieta – the sculpture is so lifelike that it is difficult to imagine that it is carved out of marble. These days it is behind a bullet-proof acrylic panel after someone attacked it with a hammer in 1972.
We wandered down to the famous Bernini’s Baldachin or bronze canopy over the main altar.
It is amazing to see such a huge structure made out of bronze above the altar, but in St. Peter’s it does not seem to be out of place, due to the sheer size of the Basilica…In fact we felt dwarfed inside the Basilica and were not overwhelmed by the sheer number of chapels, marble sculptures, reliefs and paintings. No wonder it is the largest of any Christian church in the world and can accommodate 60,000 + people.
After we visited the Basilica, we rushed to join the queue to climb the Dome (which was Michelangelo’s design as well), before it closed for the day and were lucky enough to be admitted. We took the elevator as far as it went and then climbed the remaining steps to the top. At one point you could enter a gallery inside the Basilica high above the altar and I was pleasantly surprised by my first view of the Pope. He was celebrating Holy Thursday Mass with a small congregation in the chancel at the back of the main altar of the church.
We continued our walk to the top and had a magnificent view of the beautiful St. Peter’s Square or Piazza outside the Basilica, the Papal residence and gardens inside the Vatican and of course the city of Rome all spread out in front of you.
We then walked down Via della Conciliazone the main street in front of St. Peter’s Piazza towards the Castel d’Santangelo which held the remains of many Roman emperors. We walked along the Tiber River and tried to reach Piazza Barberini - the hotel shuttle pick up point. As we were tired after being out the entire day, we stopped and ate dinner at a restaurant on the way before taking a cab back to the hotel.
Next day my brother sent us a car and driver to show us all the important sights in Rome. Christian our driver first took us to Piazza Navona which has two well known fountains. The most famous one is Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers which has four God like figures representing the major rivers of the world known at that time – namely the Nile, Danube, Ganges and Plate topped by an Obelisk. In the same Piazza is also the Fountain of Neptune which is a carving of Neptune struggling with an Octopus in the centre of the fountain with walruses and cupids in the basin.
He then took us to the Pantheon, which is one of the best preserved of all the Roman buildings. The piazza around the Pantheon is pedestrian, so Christian took us to an alley at the side of the Pantheon. At his recommendation we first tried a small espresso at what he called the best coffee house in Rome – the traditional way, no milk in a tiny cup. Definitely gives you a double shot of energy for the rest of the day. It was in this bakery that we first saw the brightly wrapped Uova di Pasqua – chocolate Easter eggs. Most of them are made of milk chocolate and usually contained a surprise. They ranged in size from 10 gms to 8 kgs.
We then walked through the short alley and turned left and there was the Pantheon beside us. It was astonishing that other structures have been built so close to these old buildings that we almost stumbled upon it before we realized that it was the Pantheon.
It is amazing to see that such an awesome structure was built so many hundreds of years ago and with such perfect symmetry. The dome of the Pantheon (said to be the inspiration for St. Peter’s Dome) is open to the sky and the floor has been laid with an angle towards the centre to let the water falling through the opening in the dome to drain away…It is consecrated as a church and maybe that is why it survived destruction for all these years.
Christian then drove us to the Campidoglio – a beautiful square in front of the Capitoline Museum again designed by Michelangelo with perfect symmetry.
We then stepped out of the car and walked beside the Roman Forum and Imperial Forum to the Colosseum and walked around the Colosseum. Christian picked us up on the far side and took us to a spot to view the Circus Maximus - training ground for the gladiators who were chosen to perform at the Colosseum. The gladiators walked through a tunnel to the Colosseum so that they were not visible to the spectators until they entered the Colosseum.
Next he drove us to the Knights of Malta headquarters in Rome. If you peek through the keyhole of the Knights of Malta garden, you see a garden path ending in bushes perfectly framing the dome of St. Peter’s in the distance which is definitely a surprise. Next we went to the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. In a small gallery at the entrance of the church against one wall is a statue of a lion with its mouth open called La Bocca della Verita. Legend goes that if a liar puts their hand into the mouth of the lion, they will lose it. You might remember it from the movie - Roman Holiday where Gregory Peck scares Audrey Hepburn by pretending that his hand was bitten off…Well both of us decided to put our hands in the lion’s mouth by turn and had our pictures taken for posterity.
Christian then drove us to the famous Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain. Both places were crowded when we visited. We had really good weather when we visited Rome and of course this would result in a large number of visitors to these attractions. Christian kept reassuring us that it was not yet tourist season, I would shudder to think how many more people would be there during tourist season.
Trevi Fountain is a beautiful fountain with a palace in the background – I think presently being used as government offices. The central piece is a chariot in the shape of a shell drawn by seahorses guided by Triton. Before the central niche stands Oceanus and Abundance and Salubrity are to the side. It is said that if you throw a coin into the Trevi fountain over your shoulder you are bound to return to Rome. I just wish I could enjoy its beauty with fewer people around.
We went to lunch in the old Jewish quarter at a beautiful Italian restaurant. Since my brother had called ahead, we were seated at the last available table on the outside of the restaurant and enjoyed an authentic Italian meal. My brother had asked Christian to bring us back to his office after lunch as he had got tickets for us to attend a service in St. Peter’s. We were dumbstruck as we had not thought of such a thing at all.
After lunch Christian drove us back to my brother’s office, we picked up the tickets and then Christian drove us to St. Peter’s Piazza. Again the crowd of people waiting to enter the church was all around the piazza and coming down the centre of the piazza. I showed my tickets to a couple of policemen standing at the periphery of the piazza and they told me that I had to join the queue like all the rest of the people there.
It seems these tickets could not be bought, but one had to reserve them online over two weeks before and they were long gone. My brother through his connections had got us two of them. There were many religious in the queue – priests and nuns from all over the world and of course thousands of people as well. The queue seemed to move slowly as there are elaborate security checks before you enter St. Peter’s. It was almost 5.00 pm when we were ushered into the Basilica.
We saw that the main body of the church or the elongated cross was full – half with cardinals and bishops and the rest with people. We were led to the left arm of the cross which was also full, then the ushers showed us to the back of the cross i.e. the place behind the famous Baldachin or main altar of the Basilica where one normally is not allowed to enter at all. We were in the third row open to the public – there were about 8 rows ahead of the public rows, but only the clergy and altar servers and choir were seated there.
The pope and his attendants were sitting on a platform in the front of the main altar against a side wall, so we had a nice profile view of him throughout the ceremony. The Passion Service which began @ 5:00 pm was entirely in Latin, but thankfully they gave each one of us a booklet and we could follow along and during ¾ of the service the Pope is standing on the dais for the readings. When it was turn for the Communion service, he came behind the altar and at that point we saw him at the closest. Anand has several pictures of the Pope serving communion and of me with St. Peter’s Chair against the back wall of the Basilica.
Anand was telling his family later that he had never entered a church before for a worship service and the first time he broke this rule is when he received a pass for St. Peter’s Basilica and how could one turn down that kind of offer. In the courtyard of St. Peter’s is a gift shop and a Post office. I bought two cards and sent it off to my parents in India and my sister in the US with the stamp of St. Peter’s. We were on such a high after that experience that we just went and had dinner and went back to the hotel.
Next morning my brother had reserved tickets for us to visit the Borghese Gallery at the Villa Borghese set among a beautiful garden. The Borghese Gallery is filled with beautiful statues, sculptures and paintings. We fell in love with some of the sculptures Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, Pluto & Proserpina, his David and another one titled Truth Unveiled by Time. Many many famous paintings as well – to name a few – Carvaggio’s – David with the head of Goliath; Raphael’s – the Deposition; Jacob Bessano – the Last Supper.
After our visit to the Gallery we walked along the famous Via Veneto to the Piazza Barberini – finally stumbling on this square two days after we had gone in search of it. This piazza has another of Bernini’s fountains - the Triton Fountain – four fish hold an open clam upon which Triton sits (a mythical sea God with the body of a human and tail of a fish), blowing water from his horn…
We then took a taxi to the Colosseum…We had to stand in queue of course to buy tickets and this took some time, but at least the queue moved quickly…Standing inside the Colosseum (even though more than half of it is in ruins) one can still very vividly imagine how vast this structure which was built so many thousands of years ago was and the huge number of people who would have stood in the very same spots that we were standing…
We wandered all around the Colosseum and looked at the tunnels which were partially excavated and the best stands in the house – where the Emperor and his guests would have been seated etc.,
We left the Colosseum and walked to the Palatine Hill which was nearby and best of all did not have to queue up again for tickets. Our Colosseum tickets also gained us entry to the Palatine Hill and the Roman and Imperial Forum. Rome as you know is built on seven hills and the Palatine Hill is the most central of all. This hill once had palaces of the emperors and even a temple dedicated to Apollo. At the moment these are mostly in ruins but the views overlooking the Circus Maximus and the Forums are very nice. Many people come here to have a picnic on the grounds.
The Roman Forum next door is one of the most important sights in Rome even though it is mostly in ruins. Thankfully our entrance ticket also provided us a good map, which allowed us to find the main points of interest without going on a guided tour. It might seem unbelievable when you’re looking at the ruins of the Roman Forum that such a small area could be so important, but it was the political, economic and religious centre of the ancient city of Rome and hence the entire Roman Empire.
Some of the buildings which you can see ruins of include temples dedicated to Saturn, Romulus (Rome’s legendary founder), Vesta (where the Vestal Virgins came from) and Caesar himself. There are triumphal arches built by some of Rome’s emperors, the house where the Vestal Virgins lived and the largest building in the Forum - the Basilica Maxentius, the Curia Julia – where the Roman Senate met – one of the more intact buildings. You can walk up to the door and see the intricate marble mosaic floor on which senators walked over 2000 years ago. Just walking on the cobbled streets of the Forum is like walking through time - you can still see the ruts made by chariot wheels on some of the stones. Even the funeral of Caeser is said to have taken place here. You will also find the Umbilicus Urbis – this was the designated centre of the city, from which the distance to all points in the Roman Empire were measured (Rome’s belly button!)
We entered the Roman Forum from the Palatine Hill end which is one of the entrances. We exited near the Capitoline Hill where the famous Capitoline Museums are located. In front of the Capitoline Museum is the Campidoglio Square. After having walked through so many places of interest that morning we had no energy to tackle the Capitoline Museum. We went back to the Pantheon neighbourhood to buy an Uova de Pasqua as we were invited to my brother’s house for dinner and were going to meet his wife and two little daughters for the first time…
We went back to the hotel, rested for a while and my brother had arranged for a car and driver to take us to his house. When we came to the entrance of the hotel we found Christian again waiting to take us to my brother's house. We had a wonderful time with my brother and his family. His little daughters were adorable and they made me Zia Annie within a few minutes of entering their home. They showed me their room and drew me pictures to take with me.
Next morning – our last day in Rome, it was raining. I abandoned my plans to go to Saint Peter’s for the Easter Service as it was going to be held outdoors and instead went to a neighbourhood church. After mass we decided to visit Castel Sant Angelo which is the tomb of the Emperor Hadrian. It was built as a mausoleum but also served as a fortress, a castle and now as a museum. It seems there is secret passage from the Vatican to the Castel Sant Angelo – but whether this is fact or fiction is not known. Again you can have a grand view of Rome from the garden on top of the mausoleum but because it was rainy we could not spend much time admiring the view.
By the time the Easter Service at St. Peter’s had just finished and Anand and I had an interesting time walking against the crowd towards St. Peter’s to buy rosaries for my family which I had forgotten on the two previous days that we had been there. Also because of the rain, we could not find any taxis for love or money and spent a scary hour trying to find a taxi to take us back to our hotel. We finally managed to return to the hotel, check out and leave for the airport in time for our flight back home….
