Italy Vacation part 2 Pompeii, Vatican, Rome

Thursday morning we headed to Pompeii, an ancient city that was destroyed in AD 79 by an eruption of Vesuvius. The city lay buried under rock and ash until the 18th century, when excavations began and revealed the city frozen in time. Many buildings survived, some complete with paintings and sculptures. We found this place to be fascinating. This was not just a few ruins but it's actually the ruins of an entire huge city! The streets were made with large stones (not very stroller friendly) and they had bigger rocks sticking out where people could walk across the street without stepping down into the mud. You could actually see the indentation in the stone streets from where the Chariot wheels had worn down over time. The girls found great fun rock hopping across the streets. We visited 2 theatres one large one small, temples, houses, and even a brothel. Below you can see the giant arena where gladiators battled, and the theater in tact.



Around 2,000 people died at Pompeii and numerous casts were on display that showed the people in their final moments. Since most of them were buried under a huge landslide of mud, archaeologists found empty spaces in the mud where a person had been, and they filled that hole with plaster to recreate the image of the person and the position they were in. It was both amazing and yet quite sad to see, because the casts were so lifelike.

It was fun to imagine what life must have been like 2,000 years ago. We saw Vesuvius in the distance, (which you can see in the above picture). It is Europe’s only active volcano. We learned a lot and enjoyed the day. Afterwards we enjoyed some yummy pizza and headed to Rome, about a 3 hrs drive.

Friday morning we headed out to see the Vatican City. We jumped on the train near our apartment so we didn’t have to mess with parking.

We went to the Vatican Museum first - we had to wait in line for about 30 minutes to get in. This museum was huge! The museums are housed in palaces originally built for wealthy Renaissance popes. Parts of these were decorated with wonderful frescoes by the finest painters of the age -- especially the Sistine Chapel.

We could have spent much more time here but it closed at 1:30 so after waiting in line we only had about 2hrs (this was long enough for the kids). The kids liked the Room of Animals, it was full of animal sculptures. We also liked the Egyptian Art with the mummies! Yes, this is a real mummy below.The Sistine Chapel is the reason most come to visit the museum. We saw it at the very end and it was packed with people! Here Michelangelo created what has become his most famous work -- the chapel ceiling. He painted the “creation of the World” and “Fall of Man”. After the Sistine Chapel we went out to St. Peter’s Basilica which is Catholicism’s most sacred shrine. The basilica is 615 ft long and took more than a century to build. All the great architects of the Roman Renaissance and Baroque had a hand in its design. We took the lift and walked around the inside of the Dome and we were able to get a good view of the inside of the church. Wow! We have been in lots of churches around Europe but I think this is one of the most impressive. Every inch of this place was exquisitely detailed and made out of the finest materials. We also went to the very top of the dome and walked around outside and were able to take some cool pictures of the Vatican City.

The piazza in front of St. Peter’s is enclosed by a vast pincer-shaped colonnade and is topped by statues of saints. Then we went down and walked around the church on the ground floor-- it is amazing! In the middle is the Baldacchino, which is an extravagant Baroque canopy that stands above an alter at which only the pope may say mass. The altar is sited directly above the tomb of St. Peter in the Grottoes below. After visiting St. Peter’s we walked over to Castel Sant’ Angelo, which looks like a massive fortress. The castle is from 139AD and since then has been a prison, and a place of safety for popes during times of war or political unrest.

We enjoyed walking across the neat bridges and looking at the river. The kids were ready to get their energy out and look at birds and leaves and run around.

Saturday was another action packed day in Rome. We started our day at the Colosseum, Rome’s great amphitheater, commissioned by the Emperor Vespasian in AD 72.

The Colosseum was the site of deadly gladiatorial combats and wild animal fights, staged free of charge by the emperor and wealthy citizens. There was room for 55,000 spectators. Excavations in the 19th century exposed a network of rooms under the arena, from which animals could be released. They had a room where they would take the dead people and the wounded. They would send criminals out in the arena to fight the wild beasts. I don’t think I would be able to watch this gruesome type of entertainment! Beside the Colosseum stands two important Arhces: The Arch of Titus which commemorates the crushing of the Jewish revolt by Titus in AD70, and the Arch of Constantine, commemorating Constantine’s victory in AD 312 over his co-emperor Maxentius. This was an important battle because Mexentius was pagan, and Constantine a proclaimed Christian, so his victory allowed Christianity to flourish thereafter.We saw traces of Ancient Rome all over the city as we walked around, occasionally a whole building, often just a column from a temple. We walked through the Roman Forum, the center of political, commercial, and judicial life in ancient Rome. We walked through Palatine, the hill where the Roman aristocracy lived and the emperors built their palaces.

It started pouring down rain so we huddled under a giant arch with a bunch of other tourists. When the rain finally stopped we walked over to the Pantheon, the Roman “temple of all the gods”. The present structure was built, and possibly designed, by Emperor Hadrian in AD 118. We walked inside and saw a vast dome equal in radius to the height of the cylinder.

A circular opening in the center of the coffered dome, the oculus, lets in the only light.

We stopped for an ice cream break and then walked to the Trevi Fountain.

The area was crowded with tourists. The fountain takes up the entire front of a building, which is much bigger than I thought it would be.

The statues are neat and the kids enjoyed the running water. The central figure is Neptune with 2 Tritons on either side, one triton struggles with a very unruly seahorse, the other leads a tame horse. These symbolize the two contrasting moods of the sea.

Our last site of the day was the Spanish Steps. The steps, combine straight sections, curves, and terraces to create one of the city’s distinctive landmarks. The steps were filled with people sitting, taking photos and watching the passers-by. Our last night in Italy! We really enjoyed the many sites of this beautiful country!
Sunday morning we dropped off our Peugeot rental car and headed to the airport to fly to Athens Greece where we'll spend our last 3 weeks.