TELGEN VACATION REPORT

Rome, January, 1999

Roman Forum kitty cat After three days in Florence, we took the train (of course) to Rome. While Florence was beautiful, we really looked forward to seeing some of the archeological sites left from the Roman Empire. We spent a rather rainy day exploring three adjoining areas: the Roman Forum (the religious, political, and commercial center of ancient Rome), the Palatine (an imperial palace), and the Colosseum (you know what went on there). After arriving there, we discovered why so many postcards describe the "cats of Rome": they're everywhere! We met several plump little strays who seemed fairly content with scavenging off tourists (or perhaps predating upon the local rodent population). The one in this picture is at the Roman Forum, which contains parts of the Temple of Antonius and Faustina (the columns), built around 141 AD, as well as the Temple of Julius Caesar (the bunch of rocks under the small shelter in the background), reputedly built on the site where he was cremated in 44 BC.

The Palatine, while not as dramatic looking, gave a lot of insight into what everyday life must have been like in the court of the Emperor. (We also saw a pack of more than a dozen cats, being fed by a local.) The Colosseum was truly amazing, however. The floor of the stadium has fallen away, so you can see the chambers where they held the prisoners awaiting their turn in public battle. You can climb almost to the upper levels of the stadium, and you might almost picture yourself awaiting the entrance of the football team, just like in Michigan Stadium—except then you look again and realize this place is over 1900 years old!

St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City While visiting these tumbled-down remnants of ancient Rome, we couldn't help but notice how almost every one of them had some pope's name on them. (In fact, I was a bit surprised when I entered the Pantheon—founded 17 BC as a tribute to all the gods—and discovered the interior was essentially a Christian church.) Not only did the Church appropriate these monuments for itself, it also made use of all the good marble. Most of St. Peter's Basilica was built from materials excavated from Roman buildings. It left these archeological treasures in a sorry state, but when you see the interior of St. Peter's you can be forgiven for thinking it was worth it. You can read that it's the largest Christian church in the world, but you can't really get a sense of its enormity and grandeur until you stand inside it. The picture on the right here was taken just inside the main portion of the cathedral. I thought the image of the sunlight streaming through one of the side chapels was particularly appropriate.

In another of the side chapels you can view Michelangelo's marvelous "Pietà," sculpted when he was just 25. (He also designed the famous cupola dome of the basilica. That guy was everywhere!) After wandering through the various sections of St. Peter's, you can then go into the crypts beneath, where various popes are buried. This area seems to be almost as big as the main church itself, with several dedicated chapels. Again and again when I am faced with these huge, ornate, old European buildings, I marvel at how they could ever have been built. Not just structurally—no bulldozers or cranes back then, as we tell David—but financially. You try to imagine how much it would cost to build one of these cathedrals today and the mind boggles. Then again, if you have two or three hundred years to pay for it, maybe it's not so difficult after all.

Vatican Volcano, Rome While walking through the Vatican Museums, you get still more evidence that the church hasn't exactly lacked for funds throughout its history. Wealthy people wanted to get into heaven, so they donated money to or commissioned artworks for the church. And what artworks! We took the shortest path through the Museums, and still saw countless rooms full of tapestries, frescoes, paintings, chalices, etc etc etc. And not only are there beautiful objects, the rooms themselves are incredibly decorated, from marble floor to carven ceilings. Here you see David next to one of the intricate maps that line one of the hallways. He liked this one in particular because it shows a volcano erupting, and disasters are cool! Naturally the highlight of our visit was the Sistine Chapel, with the ceiling painted by—who else—Michelangelo. We were there in early January, during school time, and the room was so crowded there was scarcely room to stand. Nevertheless, you can find a nice bench on the edges where you can sit and contemplate the various panels. I'm glad we weren't there in the middle of August, however.

Trevi Fountain, Rome Then again, August weather might have been nice for visiting all the beautiful outdoor sights in Rome. Here Bill is standing in front of the Trevi Fountain, just after the skies had stopped sprinkling. (But we were still lucky, however. We took my folks back there later and the fountain itself was no long "sprinkling.") We also visited the Spanish Steps, and our hotel was very near the Piazza Navona, a beautiful oblong piazza with three fountains.

Perhaps the most unique highlight of our whole Italian trip occurred in Rome our first night. Not quite familiar with the maps and searching for dinner at the wrong time of the evening, we ended up at a little family-owned trattoria. It seemed fairly clear that this was not a restaurant frequented by too many tourists. How could we tell? Perhaps it was the salad greens being prepared right at one of the neighboring tables. Or the restroom located outside the actual restaurant space, in a different building. Or the handwritten menus, or the kitchen being entirely visible, or the way "Papa" imperiously ordered around the waitress and cook (obviously his daughter and wife). Nevertheless, we had a very tasty meal—one of several we enjoyed while in Italy. All in all, our trip was exhausting but exhilarating, leaving us ready to come home but sorry we hadn't had more time to explore further.

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