January 2005 Archives

I ran into some technical difficulties last week posting the remainder of my Castel Sant' Angelo pics, but I think I've got that all ironed out. So here at the ones you missed. We'll start out with a 2,000 year old bridge--yes, the three arches in the middle are original:

The Tiber River itself is, like Florence's River Arn, a slow-moving river by Western US standards. Wide and lazy it winds between what was the center of Imperial Rome and the outlying developments, such as the Vatican City. From the top of Castel Sant' Angelo, we could see vast clouds of swallows dancing over the river, almost like flights of bats.

And finally, the sunset over the Vatican City.

Europe's high speed train systems redefine the day trip. Instead of a traveling a dozen miles out of town, we travelled 200 in less than an hour and a half, from a train conveniently located near our hotel. After flying through dozens of tunnels--which made the tracks almost like a thread stiched in and out of fabric, the train a needle flying at a relatively leisurly 130 mph--we landed near downtown Florence, and easy walk from all that makes this city the world capital of the Rennaissance.

My first impressions of Florence, after several days in Rome, were suprising to me. First of all, whereas the tourist areas of Rome were immaculate--barely a scrap of trash--Florence seemed a bit messy and unkempt. Second, the streets seemed more confining and crowded than Rome's--an optical illusion, perhaps, caused by the lack of pedestrian-only streets in most parts of town. In Rome when the streets get narrow, they're generally for pedestrians and Vespas.

But there is an allure the Florence only hinted at a block or two from the train station. Just ask the lamppost.

First stop: the Museum of San Marco, home to a luscious collection of Fra Angelico murals. Fra Angelico, a brother in this famous (and infamous) order of Monks, had a brilliant, saturated, stylized pieces that are instantly recognizable. Fra Angelico, circa 15th century, would represent the, er, famous side of this former monestary.

Now, for the infamous side, we turn to our trusty Rick Steves "Florence & Tuscany 2005", where we learn about Brother Savonarola, who came into power as head of Florence on a sort of "compassionate conservative" platform...and promptly went downhill:

Savaranola had an uncompromising and fanatical side, as his hair-shirt girdle attests. His government passed strict morality laws against swearing, blasphemy, gambling and onstentatious clothes, which were enforced by gangs of thuggish teenagers.

Then the Florentines dragged him into the main square, hanged him slowly, and burned him up. They really knew how to handle things back then.

This tower on the Palazzo Vecchio is near that lovely spot, which can be exactly located in front of an obscene-looking Neptune fountain I will let you discover on your own.

Anyhow, back to San Marco. After exiting that very worthwhile site, we headed nearby to the Accademmia to see David himself. As its name implies, the Accademmia is primarily a place of study, and the museum is very small. But the few Michalangelos it has can be seen without wading through room after room of overly fat cherubs, and for that I will always be grateful. Now as for David, he's a big guy:

And he really has no bad side:

At this point I should note that it is against the rules to take pictures of David. This is mainly to protect nearby paintings from the degrading effects of a flash. But I had my flash off, and sneaked a couple of pics by strategically angling the camera up from my hip. I imagine I'll go to hell for that.

After the Accademmia, we walked into central Florence, which gets exponentially more interesting. The narrow streets open up into a huge piazza, the centerpiece of which is Il Duomo, a cathedral which screams renassance as much as others we saw whispered of earlier times.

Marble coats the outside of the building like mother-of-pearl, and the belltower shoots straight up into the sky.

Inside, the building is starkly simple, restful and calming, unlike the ornate interiors of cathedrals in Rome. It was like a cathedral inside-out, with the fancy parts outside.

That is, until you enter the altar area and look up.

That riot of color features hell on the bottom circle and heaven at the top. In case anyone needs a visiual aid.

Leaving Il Duomo, we headed toward the Uffizi Gallery, where we toured without standing in line thanks to reservations. The highlights of the museum for me were the Boticelli room, which contains enormous, gigantic, extremely famous Boticelli paintings. You might think you don't know who Botticelli is, but then you walk into that room and you realize you've seen his whispy Venus on everything from soap cartons to Monty Python skits.

Another highlight is Michelangelo's round painting of the holy family, giving us an opportunity to see up close the artistry we saw from a distance at the Sistene Chapel. Lush, brilliant colors and ultra-realistic perspective that makes you fell like you can shake Mary's hand.

Outside of the Uffizi--just in back of it, in fact--is the River Arn, a slow-moving body of water crossed by dozens of bridges. The most famous of these is Ponte Vecchio, home to Florence's jewelers for hundreds of years. It apparently started out as some sort of meat chopping district, but the Medicis didn't like the smell and switched it over to pretty baubles. I doubt there are any bargains on Ponte Vecchio, but it's worth the stroll if only for the views.

We turned around and headed back toward Il Duomo to catch the sunset from the top of the dome. On the way, we got sidetracked by, well...

And dinner across from the Uffizi:

Said hello to a pig as we passed by:

And then, up the dome. We figured, after climbing St. Peter's, how hard could this possibly be? Well, it was pretty hard. But the views were worth it:

And finally, at the top, the end of a lovely day-trip to Florence.

Sometimes, being the Pope isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes you just can't get love from The People the way you do from the Big Guy upstairs. And when the little people get ornery, sometimes you just need a conveniently located heavily fortified castle in which to flee their pitchforks. You need Castel Sant' Angelo!

That's right, this many bedroom, no bath riverfront property with a full dungeon located near downtown Vatican City is just waiting for a savvy but unpopular Pope to make it his own.

The place was originally built as a mausoleum for Hadrian, but some business with Pope Gregory and a visit from the archangel Michael, or maybe just some moldy bread, made it a choice spot for Popes under siege. In any case, it's not very attractive on the inside--one of the big reasons to go there is the view.  The other is that it's a short walk from St. Peter's and a good stop on your way back into the Old City of Rome.

Michael keeps an eye on things from the top:

Don't mess with that dude...

From the castle you can see some of Rome's nicer neighborhoods spread out with the famous hills beyond.

A rather lousy cafe with nice views of St. Peter's is on an upper level.

I've been asked how one stays in shape while vacationing in Italy, given the excellent food. Well it's simple. Italy is, in fact, one gigantic stairmaster. Stairs are absolutely everywhere. And some of the best stairs around are the ones that take you up the dome at St. Peter's.

We took an elevator up a few hundred feet to the main roof, and then hiked up the dome from there. It's quite an ordeal, made even more strenuous by the narrow passageways. Not for the claustrophobic or out-of-shape, that's for sure. Because the way up is fairly crowded, and there are few spots to rest without blocking others, there's as bit of pressure to just keep on trucking, regardless of imminent demise.

But once you get to the top, oh yes, it's worth it.

The view extends from St. Peter's Square, which is of course not particularly square, to all the many neighborhoods of Rome that have crept up around the Vatican. Hundreds of years ago, the Vatican was far more isolated from the throngs of Rome. Now it's packed in all around.

The Vatican gardens stretch out below.

The Castle St. Angelo, our next stop, can be seen perched on the river Tiber.

The contrast of white Vatican structures against the more colorful Roman buildings can be seen all around.

Atop the roof of the Vatican, one can see statues of the many saints adorning the front of the building.

Some of them don't appear, er, very saintly.

Ten or fifteen feet tall they look down upon the masses during the masses.

The Swiss Guards--who are actually Swiss, and are also guards--can be seen guarding some entrances. They're the closest thing the Pope has to an army.

The romance of Rome permeates the square, and as we leave, a couple pose for wedding pictures by the fountain.

Next up: where to go if you're the Pope and people, uhm, don't like you so much.

On into the Basilica. We had to pass through a security checkpoint before passing through yet more enormous columns.

It truly is an extraordinary church. Its size, decoration, and place in history take your breath away, no matter your opinion of its current managers.

The altar was especially nice. It's hard to see in this picture, but in the center of the white stained glass n the middle is a dove flying out of blinding white light.

This woman asks, "why do I have to carry EVERYTHING?"

Dad takes in the scenery.

Around the inside of the basilica is an inscription in latin. The section of inscription in the dome area translates as, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and I will give you the keys of heaven ". The section below is near the entrance.

Next installment: if they dome it, we will climb...

I'm going to finish this Week in Rome series over the next week, giving myself time to concentrate on other things after the new year. So let's jump back into the opulence of the Vatican City. After getting lost in the Vatican Museum, our next order of business was to get lost in the world's biggest Christian church, St. Peter's Basilica.

From the entrance of the Vatican Museum, you follow the ancient, well-maintained city walls until your vista suddenly opens up on an enormous piazza, St. Peter's Square. The day we were there, hundreds of clergy were gathered, snapping pictures and chatting. Columns surround the square on both sides like a pair of tongs.

With all these clergy, you'd think it was the vatican or something.

That out of the way, we weave through the priestly crowds toward St. Peter's Basilica. The piazza on which we walk, St. Peter's Square, is located on the exact spot where Nero had his chariot races going and where he executed St. Peter.  We heard that back in the old days the Roman emperors would strap Christians to posts or crosses, douse them in something flammable like tar, and set them ablaze to keep the place nicely lighted during the festivities.  I hear they still do that down in Texas to light the hometown football games.