Of Religion and Rome

What do you know about Rome? Let's list some things that we do know: Julius Caesar, Marc Anthony, "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn, gladiators, togas, the Pope, and many other one-worded cliches. And this is the part where I prove all of these things wrong. When I pictured visiting Rome, I always pictured walking down Roman ruins with hills of green surrounding, peaceful and serene, taking in the history. I did that, but within a large, bustling city that not only housed ruins, but an amazing amount of churches.

I give you Rome, the city for the pious.

Rome, or Roma

A visit to Italy (and for that matter, a travel blog) would not be complete without a trip to Rome, where it (and by that I mean Western Civilization) began. To my surprise, it was not as small and intimate as Florence or Venice. Instead, what I saw were wide lane streets, moped drivers, a metro system, and car horns everywhere. Be prepared to jay walk quite a bit in Rome (and for that matter, any modern, non-tourist-filled town in Italy) since more often than not, there will not be any street lights for pedestrians. In the words of my friend Lana, "Just close your eyes and cross."

And the trip to Rome would not have been completely entertaining if not for our hostel. Actually, it was not a hostel experience but more of a coach-surfing experience with a host who tried to get us to watch “Two Girls One Cup” (wiki it if you don’t know what this because there are no words). Though the place was listed as a hostel on hostelworld.com, we were pleasantly surprised (and I use this term lightly) to find that it was actually an apartment with extra rooms. Suffice to say, interesting. At least the beds were clean (I think) and there was free internet.

Piazza San Pietro, the jewel of the Vatican City and site of a very long line

Another thing I did not count on encountering in Rome was large amounts of tourists, only because it was still late winter and as such, absolutely frigid in Rome. The days we were there was rainy, windy, and cloudy (though there was sun, it was very cold sun) which made the fact that there were actually still people standing in line outside of the Vatican Museum and the Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican city that much more amazing. Or maybe not....

No photos I can take will even come close to how breath-taking the Basilica was.



Allison almost cried and I almost felt pious and small standing under the immense, vaulted ceiling. Walking around, seeing the statues of Saint Peter, the past Popes, Bernini's altarpiece (hell, he designed the whole church) and Michelangelo's Pieta (protected by bullet-proof glass after some idiot tried to smash it), the splendor of it all made you almost speechless. The only thing I could say as I was inside the church was, "Oh my God," there was just no words. It was almost too big, too magnificent, too overwhelming. The sense of being eclipsed by a higher power (and I'm not usually the religious type) was almost tangible. You can only be there to feel it.

Saint Peter sitting on his throne (he's life-sized)

Rome is also known, informally by art historians, as Bernini (Baroque sculptor, his work is all over Rome) town, even if I did not see all of the Bernini’s that I wanted to see (it's my only regret while I was in Rome). Yet, the most wonderful thing about Rome was just walking down the street and seeing a random sculpture, fountain, obelisk, fresco, or chapel with a Classical façade in an obscure square or street corner. I was always pleasantly surprised upon strolling down the street and seeing a beautiful sculpture on an otherwise nondescript street corner. It was as if the entire city was constructed to be one large, complete work of art. Everything was so elegantly laid out and it was easy to see the love of art and beauty within Rome, so much so that it covered every road, piazza, and street corner. Bernini town indeed and all the more beautiful for it.


Bernini's "Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi" (we found it completely by accident while wondering the city looking for dinner)

Along with the religious imagery, there were other images that made you aware of just how insignificant you are to the grand scheme of the universe. I found this while walking around the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. You never realize the extent of the damage done to these historic monuments until you walk through them and you realize, "This used to one of the greatest empires in the world," and all you see around you is a lonely column, a stone block on a bed of grass. Even the Colosseum, known for its iconic gladiator battles (and for other methods of entertainment that usually involved feeding people to animals), is just a skeleton of what it once was. A beautiful marble structure reduced to just wooden beams and moss. Walking through it (and even thinking about it now), you realize your own mortality. If something so grand and influential can be reduced to a feeding ground for the birds, what does that say about our civilization, our life? I'll leave the question at that, at the risk of sounding morbid.

Let's just say, being in Rome, in all of its hustling and bustling glory, with its grand churches and romantic ruins, I could not help feeling small and, dare I say, a bit pious. After all, the point of building the high ceiling of Saint Peter's Basilica was to make you feel small within the grand scheme of the universe (or rather, within the eyes of God but let's try to be politically correct). In that case, for Rome: mission accomplished.

Ashes to ashes...

Tips:

• To avoid the long line at Saint Peter's Basilica (and believe me, there will be a long line), visit the thing in the afternoon after all of the tour groups have gone through it.
  
• As for the Vatican Museum, you are always going to have to wait in line, suck it up and do it. But once you do that, then head straight for the Sistine Chapel since that is usually the last stop for museum visitors. Unless you feel like elbowing a lot of people on the way to the chapel, bypass the first parts of the museum and head towards the chapel first (admire it for as long as your neck doesn't hurt since they don't allow photographs in there).
• The metro system is absolutely rubbish since there are only two lines which only covers the center of the city. They are also crowded so be prepared to push your way in during rush hour. Also, keep your hand on your purse/wallet while on the metro, I now realize why people were always warning me about that after seeing the Roman metro.
• A way to have a cheap and filling dinner at a restaurant is to order pizza. Since Italians tend to have two main courses at dinner (consisting of pasta for one and meat for the other), a pizza fulfills both criterias (and won't get you dirty looks from the waiters who usually expect people to order two courses) and will usually only set you back 8 euros. Not to mention that the pizza you get is huge.
• If you love Bernini as I do and want to see more of his amazing work in one place (instead of doing a scavenger hunt around the city), check out the Galleria Borghese (the park around it is also beautiful for a picnic or stroll). The only thing I regret is not being able to go in since you have to buy a ticket and reserve a time in advance.

Rome, the photo album

Of Art and Florence

It is official, I have become one of those people who you stare at when you go to museums. You know those types: the art students, or wannabe artists, who stand in front of the statues in the Greco-Roman galleries, pensively studying the works of art, lost in their own little world. You walk past them and try to sneak a glance into their sketchbook. Sometimes you admire what they are doing and wish you had that kind of skill…and other times you just shake your head and walk away. I hope I was the former, though from what I heard of the people around me while in Florence, the reception was not that bad, even quite positive in some cases (including the lady who gave me a thumbs up when she saw my sketch of "Perseus").

Which leads me to Part II of my Grande Tour, Florence, the city for the artist.

Florence, or Firenze

To my surprise, Florence ended up being the city where I felt the most connection to in Italy, mostly in terms of the art. After all, the city that gave birth to the Renaissance, to Michelangelo, Giotto, Raphael, Donatello, Leonardo Da Vinci is bound to be filled to the brim with art. And I was not disappointed. I had not thought that I would love it as much as I did, maybe because I had always been partial to Venice when studying art history (it's the gondolas). Yet, Florence exceeded my expectations and I attribute it mostly to the art, so excuse me while I gush about it.

The Piazza della Signatora - "On a central square, in a city made of statues and stories..."

My favorite place in the city ended up being the Loggia dei Lanzi, with its multitudes of original Baroque sculptures, all looking out at the Piazza della Signatora, the Palazzo Vechio (city hall and the original site of Michelangelo's "David"), and the Uffizi Gallery (the mecca of Italian Renaissance art and the site of Botticelli's "Birth of Venus"), I found myself screaming in excitement at seeing the Loggia for the first time. There was so much beauty and art to entertain in such a small area, it was almost overwhelming. There was nothing I wanted to do more than to take out my sketchbook, to pretend that I was an art student of the 19th century, going to Italy to learn about art, to live in it and breathe it.

My rendition of Michelangelo's "David," located in the Academia, and standing at 16 ft tall (in actuality, for the most perfect human being, his head and hands are too big for his body and his arms too long).

Being able to draw in the Loggia, standing in the Florentine sunlight, feeling the wind rustle against my skin and the sounds of the Piazza, there was nowhere else I wanted to be at that moment. As I was standing there, drawing my version of the "David," (ironically located at the Academia, in an obscure sidestreet) not caring about the people walking past me and what they thought, I realized that I had never felt at one with myself and centered in my element. It was a peaceful feeling, almost as if nothing existed except me and the paper. You know you’re an artist when you are looking at a person and instead of seeing them as they appear to be (or even hearing them), you see the shadows on their face and the color gradations in their skin. I think I may finally be getting to that point…and I like it.

Not to mention that as I was drawing in the Loggia ("Perseus"), the woman next to me looked at the statue, my sketch, and gave me a curt nod. How is that for validation?

The view of the Uffizi Gallery from across the river

The artistic mood was also helped since the days in Florence were the most beautiful in terms of the time spent in Italy. The sun shone clear and warm, amidst a light breeze, and for one brief moment, I felt as if I was back home in California, basking in the winter light. The first day we climbed to the Piazza Michelangelo (which functions as a car park on the way out of Florence, with a copy of David in the middle) and treated with a breathtaking view of the sunset over the city, along with a panoramic sight of Tuscany's rolling hills.

The view from the Palazzo Michelangelo..."Like a beacon coming out of the dark"

If you want to save money at the Duomo (aka, the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore, which also offers a wonderful view of the city) but still want a delightful view of Florence, the Piazza Michelangelo is the place to go (though the Duomo is still a beautiful cathedral to visit). It is no wonder that so much inspiration for art, culture, and philosophy came from such a city. Looking at Firenze at dusk, bathed in golden light underneath an overhang of lavender and orange clouds, the air was full of poetry and possibilities.

The ceiling of the Santa Maria del Fiore, which is commonly known as the Duomo

The time spent in Florence seemed to be filled to the brim with looking at art, admiring art, or walking along to find more art to admire. For the art historian in me, Florence equaled Paris in its artistic splendor with the main difference being the lack of large car-filled boulevards and crepes. No matter, I had gelato and the Masters to keep me company. Not to mention that I also had sticker shock since Florence seemed inexpensive in comparison to non-budget friendly Venice. I now have another favorite city in the world, one where I cannot wait to someday return and fully study and fully render on paper.

"Now I see it...the light in the piazza"

Tips:

• Florence is the place for cheap souvenirs, especially leather goods, silk and cashmere scarves, and ties (all for under 20 euros, you can easily find silk scarves here for 5 euros). Look for the open stands near the Medici chapel.
  
• A number of museums and churches, such as the Uffizi Gallery, Academia, and the Medici tombs, do not let you take photographs. The solution, just enjoy what you are looking at and make a note to look it up on Wiki later.
• To save money on lunches, go to a snack bar (they have them all around Italy though Florence tended to be the cheapest in my opinion) and get a slice of pizza to go. For 5 euros at the most, you get a gargantuan, wonderfully oily piece of pizza that you can carry with you as you stoll along the piazza.
• Unless you want to wait an hour or two for the Uffizi Gallery (which houses the most impressive collection of Italian Renaissance art in Europe), reserve a ticket in advance. It's only 4 euros more and you save a large amount of time, which can later be spent exploring the city.
• "prego" is a multipurpose word, used for "you welcome," "please," "thanks" and many other fun options. When in doubt as to how to respond to an Italian statement, just say "Prego!"
  

Florence: the photo album