Mountains of Fountains

About 10 years ago we had a neighbor, a Catholic, who was very excited about her recent trip to the Vatican and visit to St. Peter's Basilica.  I thought, "how nice for her", but I wasn't much interested because I'm not Catholic and I thought it was just a Catholic thing.  Then about 8 years ago we took a Mediterrean cruise and had a half day to do a whirlwind tour of Rome.  When I set foot in St. Peter's that first time, I was awestruck and moved to tears.  We only had about 30 minutes to do a quick run-through so I was very happy to be able to go back and take my time exploring the church.  It truly is magnificant.  The structure, art, sense of holiness, reverance and beauty is undeniable no matter what your faith. The dome designed by Michelangelo soars above the apse (learned a new word!) with the interior gleaming with light and gold.  Everywhere you look there is something wonderful to see.  The statues, frescoes, paintings, alters and even the doors are all great works of art.  The most wonderful is still Michelangelo's Pieta which he sculpted when he was only 24.  It sits behind bulletproof glass because of previous vandalism.  My tears came seeing the expression of a mother holding her dead son and thinking about what that death means for me today. 

We recuperated with a nice lunch and a big dish of gelato, then went home for a rest before our fountains tour.  We wanted to see the fountains at night so we left the apt. about an hour before sunset.  Piazza Navona has three huge marble fountains.  Each one is interesting.  After seeing those, we fumbled our way to Trevi Fountain (as in "Three Coins in a Fountain").  It is grand and powerful.  It was hard to enjoy because of the number of tourists milling and sitting around.  The first time we came to Rome on that quick visit there were very few people in the places we saw.  This time is was tourist overkill and for me it was hard at times to enjoy and appreciate what I was seeing.  I get anxious in crowds, plus I would start people watching instead of looking at whatever I came to see.  But apart from that, all has been great. 



Trevi Fountain



We had a long walk home because we ended up way off from where we intended to be, but it was nice to be out walking at night.  We have felt safe everywhere we've been and there are always other people around.  We passed a Burger King on the way and I got a hankering for fries.

One of Ernie's favorite things has been the hundreds of small fountains around the city where you can get a drink or fill your water bottle, which we did many times.  They're not much bigger than a fire plug and they always flow with fresh water.   He used this larger fountain today to refill our water bottle.

This morning, our last day, started out with Ernie picking up the laundry we had dropped off the previous day.  We tried to find a self-serve laundromat but there are none to be found.  We finally found a place that does your landry for you.  It was a tiny place with finished laundry bagged and sitting outside the store for people to pick up.  It was hard to communicate, but we got it across that we wanted the clothes washed and dried.  We had one bag full.  I liked the idea of somebody else doing my wash for a change and thought it was well worth the $20, until Ernie returned with the clothes.  They were washed and dried all right, then stuffed back in the bag.  Not folded, not pressed or even completely dry.  Just in the same condition as when we dropped them off -- but clean.  I guess wash and dry doesn't mean anymore than that.

We took a trial bus trip to the train station to figure out the best way to get to the port tomorrow.  I'm glad we did because the station is pretty confusing.  I think we've got it.  Famous last words.

From there we went to a church I'd heard about that is a good place to get the feeling of the "layers" of Rome.  It was well worth the 5 euro admission to see the churches under the church.  The visible church was built unknowingly on top of the ruins of an older church, which was built on the ruins of an even older church.  All the way back to the 4th century.  The middle church was discovered during some repairs to the top church.  The excavating continued and they discovered the lowest church which was originally a pagan place of worship.  You can walk down and explore the different levels.  There are still some frescoes visible and a few artifacts.  I guess that is basically what all of Rome is like.  When something was not usable anymore they filled it in with rubble and built on top of it.  The Roman metro system is not very good because they are unable to dig tunnels for the trains.  When they try they always run into some archeological discovery. 

 

Hanging out with a few friends at the Spanish Steps



On to the last stop at the Spanish Steps.  Too crowded once again, but I did get another gelato so all was not lost.  We picked up a couple of souveniers and headed home to begin packing (me - I ironed - thanks to the pitiful laundry job).

Tomorrow we hit the deck.  Literally.  We are ready to be taken care of, not figure out where to eat, and to just do nothing for a day.  Of course, we'll jump into touring again in Naples, Greece, Turkey and Egypt, but there will be about four at-sea days to catch our breath.  We won't have internet and unless we haul the computer to a wifi cafe some day, you'll just have to wait until we get back to hear about our new adventures.

Maryl