Percy Bysshe Shelley's grave.

My last day in Rome was spent at a slower pace that the others. Partly because I was tired of sightseeing, mostly because my shoes were continuing to fall apart and my feet hurt terribly. So I spent a portion of the day sitting at a cafe drinking an espresso, then another at a juice bar having a seemingly endless smoothie. Both of these and other parts of the day were accompanied by people watching. But I also saw a few things I still hadn’t made it to, including the above the Cimitero protestante (Protestant Cemetery), containing the graves of poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats. The cemetery is located right next to the Piramide di Caio Cestio (Pyramid of Cestius), an ancient pyramid built in 30 BC as a tomb for a magistrate. Now it looms over the headstones of the many non-Catholic, mostly foreign born people who died in or near Rome and ended up spending eternity among the cypress trees.

John Keats' grave. Can you see the pyramid through the trees?

The story of Shelley’s death is interesting and strange. Shortly after claiming to meet his doppelganger, he drowned in a storm while on his boat, Ariel. After his body washed ashore in a state of bad decomposition, it was cremated, but his heart was saved from the funeral pyre. His wife Mary Shelley kept it her whole life and it was eventually buried with her. His ashes were then interred in the Protestant Cemetery, but the first plot wasn’t to his friends’ liking, so he was moved again to where he currently rests under a stone slab etched with a selection from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, spoken by the character Ariel.

While Shelley is against the old wall among the masses, John Keats is nearer to the pyramid across a more empty area of green grass. A bench is set up next to his tombstone so that English literature majors or admirers can sit and read the inscriptions or think about Grecian urns. However, when I was there a man was mowing directly next to it, so some of the peace was missing. Keats’ grave doesn’t have his name on it and instead he’s identified as a “Young English Poet.” However, a plaque on the wall and the signs that the cemetery put up direct you there. He died in Rome from tuberculosis in his home on the Spanish Steps.

I gatti della piramde (cats of the pyramid).

I especially liked the “guardians of the dead” that patrol the cemetery grounds. The colony of cats has lived in the cemetery since 1850 and the 80 cats continue to be taken care of by volunteers. Maybe they were lured by the pyramid and memories of their high status in Egypt.

View from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica.

After the cemetery, I went back to Vatican City to go to the top of the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica. I hadn’t had time to go up the first time I was there, but didn’t want to miss climbing up the steps to the tallest dome in the world. And there were plenty of steps, nearly 500 in fact, that are narrow and tilt along with Michelangelo’s dome. Here is a view from the halfway point which overlooks the inside of the Basilica. It is a good thing I’m not afraid of heights.

St. Peter's Square.

After what seemed like forever, I was finally at the top. The view of the city was spectacular. Above is St. Peter’s Square and the boulevard leading to the river. It was fun to look across the city, thinking about all the places I had visited in the days before and spotting them in a city that was at first so unfamiliar.

View of Vatican City from the dome.

As I walked around the dome, I could see into all of Vatican City, including the above building. It seemed so empty, but I guess everything feels less crowded after the Vatican Museum.

So there you have it, my visit to Rome! The rest of my last day was spent, as I said earlier, in cafes and piazzas with drinks or my iPod for entertainment. The next day I flew back to Lyon, completely worn out and dreading packing for going home. I only had two full days before I would be taking the TGV to Paris and the airplane to Oklahoma.

Museo Nazionale Romano.

I designated this day as my museum day, and started first by walking to the Museo Nazionale Romano (National Museum of Rome). It was a great way to start as it wasn’t too crowded and had some really amazing pieces, like a fresco of a garden with birds and pomegranate trees. The whole thing had been removed from its original building and placed in its own room.

Headless statue.

Next I went across the street to the Baths of Diocletian (Thermae Diocletiani), formerly the largest of the imperial Roman baths. Part of them was transformed into St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, which I visited on my first day, and other sections were changed into another church and the museum.

Rhino and Elephant Heads.

While the museum had a great collection of artifacts from the baths and other sites, I thought the most beautiful parts were the rose garden in front and the courtyard in the center, which contained giant stone heads of rhinos, elephants, and horses. However, when I got close to the heads I realized that their mouths were full of black and green, writhing lizards. It was kind of repulsive, but I guess that was the shadiest spot in the courtyard for them.

Elephant Obelisk.

I stopped by the Palazzo Altemps to see the rest of the National Museum of Rome collection and then wandered around and happened upon the above Elephant Obelisk, officially called the Pulcino della Minerva. The elephant was designed by Bernini and is topped by one of the eleven Egyptian obelisks found throughout Rome, all of which have been Christianized by the addition of a cross or other icon at their peak. This obelisk is in front of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (Basilica of Saint Mary above Minerva), built over a temple to Isis which was mistakenly attributed to Minerva. It still seems to hold some its previous mystical history through its star covered blue ceiling.

Book Fountain.

There are endless fountains in Rome where you can refill your water bottle or just tilt your head for a drink. I thought the above was the coolest, with water pouring from books around a deer head.

Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary.

Romans cats are the unpaid guardians of the city’s ruins, most notably at the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. About 250 cats live in the temple remains excavated there, stretching out in the shade of columns and steps. This is also the site of the Theatre of Pompey where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC.

Centrale Montemartini.

Next I went to the Centrale Montemartini, an old electrical power station transformed into a museum for ancient Roman statues.

Busts at the Centrale Montemartini.

The juxtaposition between the antiquities and the industrial machinery was fascinating. Rome itself is such a mix of old and new that I think displaying the works this way displays the history of the city much better than in a large empty room. I often felt in Rome that I wasn’t in one city, but many cities on top of one another. It’s not like Paris or Berlin or New York where you can look at any corner of the city and feel like you’re in the same place. The Centrale Montemartini really embodied Rome’s multiple incarnations.

Colossal Remains at the Musei Capitolini.

From the Centrale Montemartini, I walked to San Paolo fuori le Mura and then got on the metro to the center of town. There was still one last museum I wanted to visit: the Musei Capitolini.

Capitoline Wolf.

The museum is housed in the massive palaces around the Piazza del Campidoglio on Capitoline Hill. Many of the greatest works of Rome are there, including the iconic Capitoline Wolf, nursing Rome’s legendary twin founders Romulus and Remus.

Statue of Marcus Aurelius.

When I entered the room containing the statue of Marcus Aurelius, there was a swarm of people dressed formally and news reporters and photographers scurrying around. All the activity was around the man in the sash in the picture above. I’m not quite sure who he is, but he must be important. Also, the man behind him seems to be trying the touch the statue. The bronze used to be outdoors on the Piazza del Campidoglio, but now a replica stands in its place.

Sunset on Capitoline Hill.

And here is the sun setting before the replica. I was absolutely exhausted so I sat on the Piazza and watched the sun go down. Then I walked past the evening-lit Roman Forum and got a slice of pizza to take back to the hostel.

Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome.

I started my next day in Rome at the Castel Sant’Angelo on the shore of the Tiber River. It was originally built as the Emperor Hadrian’s mausoleum, but like most old buildings in Rome has gone through several lives since then. It was used as a fortress in the Middle Ages, which unfortunately destroyed most of its imperial decorations, although the top of one of the urns thought to be Hadrian’s ended up in St. Peter’s as a baptismal font. Later it was a papal castle, complete with a secret tunnel to Vatican City, and then as a prison. It gets its present name from the legend that the Archangel St. Michael landed on top of the mausoleum, sheathing his sword and ending the plague in Rome in 590 AD. Now it is a tourist site with a gorgeous view of the city, although it could have used some more directional signs. I think I made one too many loops around it trying to find the exit.

Polizia Robot.

Across the river at the Piazza del Popolo, there was some sort of police celebration taking place. Above is where a police robot is being shown off. They also had all their fancy cars on display and the police dogs were being honored.

Ara Pacis Museum.

I was wandering around the river trying to decide what to do next when I came upon the Ara Pacis Museum. It happened to be in my guidebook, and I wanted to get out of the sun, so I went inside to see the Ara Pacis altar from 9 BC. There was also an exhibit of works by Italian designer and architect Alessandro Mendini, who I only immediately recognized from his whimsical corkscrews that are sold at Target. The building that housed it all was the most interesting, though, as it was designed by “starchitect” Richard Meier and was an interesting glass and stone contrast to the rest of the city. It also had a view of the mausoleum of Augustus, a circular structure covered in plants that once held the ashes of emperors like Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Augustus from whom it gets its name.

Gagosian Gallery.

After the Ara Pacis, I was in an art mood, so I searched out the Gagosian Gallery, started by Larry Gagosian who has prestigious galleries of the same name in New York, LA, and London. While I was over a year late to see their exhibit of my favorite artist, Cy Twombly, they were hosting a really cool exhibit of metal books by German artist Anselm Kiefer. Absolutely no one else was in the gallery, so I spent some time recharging with the books in the silence of the oval gallery.

The Vittoriano.

Back in the heat and the crowds, I walked to the Vittoriano, finished in 1911 in honor of the first king of Italy. My last day in Rome, I would see someone threatening to jump off the top (he didn’t), which was surreal. But this day I walked up the stairs where there were views of the city, including the nearby Colosseum. Apparently Romans are not especially fond of the monument, but I can never miss an opportunity to climb up hundreds of stairs.

Ceiling of Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio.

Next I went to the 17th century Chiesa di Sant’Ignazio di Loyola a Campo Marzio, (Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola at Campus Martius). The ceiling is an amazing trompe l’oeil. In the image above, the actual ceiling stops just above the windows and the feeling of height is extended by the fresco. There’s even a trompe l’oil painted to simulate a dome to the church.

Giolitti Gelato.

In need of a break, I went to Giolitti’s, the oldest gelateria in Rome. The line was long, so I figured that it must be worth it. After paying for a “piccolo” I took my ticket to the ice cream counter. I was under the impression the 2 euros I’d just paid was for a small, so I’d only picked out one flavor: Mela Verde. But then the man behind the counter asked what else I wanted, so I picked limoncello. Then he asked what else I wanted, so I impulsively picked champagne. And then he asked if I wanted cream, and I said yes. And I ended up with the behemoth of gelato you see above. I don’t know if they got my order wrong or were trying to be nice because of my horrible Italian, but it definitely didn’t look like a “piccolo.” Nevertheless, I walked over to the fountain in front of the Pantheon and ate ALL of it. And it was the most delicious ice cream I’ve ever had. Unfortunately, I am a very slow eater, and by the time I was finished it was all over my arm. So, I forgot about pride and stuck my whole arm in the fountain behind me and continued on my way.

Trajan's Column.

On my walk through the area around the Pantheon, I saw Trajan’s Column, completed in 113 AD and covered in a spiraling detailed relief.

Party on the Piazza Nazionale.

I walk walking back to the hostel when I encountered a huge crowd in the Piazza Nazionale. Loud Bob Marley music was playing over bad remixes of the Prodigy and people were dancing around trucks covered in speakers. I’m still not sure what the occasion was, although I heard it was Bob Marley day, but it was nice to see some of the alternative scene in Rome when I’d been surrounded by relics and tourists all day.

Circus Maximus at sunset, with Palatine Hill in the background.

That night, I went to the Circus Maximus to watch the sunset. There’s not much left of what was once a massive entertainment center in ancient Rome, just the outline of the chariot racing track and a few ruins of starting gates. But it’s still amazing to sit on the grass and watch people walking their dogs or running on the track that was once rumbled over by chariots cheered by thousands of screaming people while shadows dance over Palatine Hill as the sun goes down.

Bocca della Verità.

On my way back to the hostel, I happened on the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) outside the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. The story goes that it bites off the hands of liars. I didn’t get to test my honesty, as it was closed, but then again maybe I didn’t want to risk it.

My camera is dying.

My day of photographing ended with this shot. I think my camera might be on its last legs, or it’s just tired of taking the same old pictures of blue sky.

How many of these does the Vatican Museum need? Spare some miniature mummies for the rest of us!

My next day in Rome wasn’t even spent in Italy. Instead, I took the Metropolitana di Roma to the world’s smallest country: Vatican City.

Emperor Tiberius in a hall of Roman art in the Vatican Museum.

Soon I was part of a large crowd and even if I hadn’t been able to see the top of St. Peter’s, I still would have known I was going the right way based on the frantic walking and guidebook checking all directed at its dome. My first stop wasn’t the church, but the museum. I’d heard horror stories about the lines at the Vatican, but I only waited in line for five minutes at the new millennium door of the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museum).

Laocoön!!!!

Overwhelmed barely describes how I felt in the Vatican Museum. Awe struck, vanquished, staggered, stunned, maybe describe how I felt after winding up those spiral staircases. I knew that the collection there was impressive, but it seemed endless. Hall after hall of Roman art, each piece seeming somehow familiar. It had been a few years since I took a classical archaeology course at Oxford University, but I still found myself remembering the marble and gods. The one I was most excited to see was the Laocoön, which to my shock was displayed in an outdoor courtyard. It was covered by an overhang, but still, this is the sculpture that started the Vatican Museum, the one piece of Roman art that had more influence on the Italian Renaissance than any other. I’ll just have to assume the Vatican knows what they are doing. Although as my tour guide from the day before said, we’re being let into the Pope’s private art collection, so it’s arranged more to impress guests than art historians.

Hall of Maps in the Vatican Museum.

After endless Greek and Roman sculpture, a hall of beautiful and intriguing maps, and rooms painted by Raphael, I was finally heading to what’s probably the most famous of all the rooms at the Vatican City: the Sistine Chapel. I’d thought the rest of the museum was crowded, but that was nothing compared to the chapel. I managed to move into the middle of the room among the flashing cameras and prone people (both supposedly forbidden) to look up at the ceiling. Adjectives probably won’t describe it. Maybe I’ll compare it to seeing a celebrity in person and the shock of what they actually look like (shorter, more wrinkled) along with the awe at being in their presence.

Popemobile at the Vatican Museum.

After surviving the Sistine Chapel, I got a slice of pizza at the Vatican Museum food court. I like to think that because of my attempts at Italian, they gave me the most giant slice of vegetarian pizza on the tray. Or maybe they were all giant and I was just delirious. But there was still more of the museum to see, and I would like it to be known that I went into every single gallery I could find. The paintings, the Etruscan art, the early Christian art, the modern art, even the room full of popemobiles. Where is my certificate of achievement in travel?

Piazza San Pietro

There was still the other behemoth of the Vatican City to visit, so I met up with Mari and Natalie at a fountain in front of St. Peter’s. There was no line here either, although when I came back to go up the dome, I would see that this had just been luck.

Inside St. Peter's.

If you’re wondering where all the marble and bronze on the Roman ruins went, this is it. I don’t think I’ve been in a church more demanding of reverence. Popes and saints by Bernini and Michelangelo stare down from the walls as believers and tourists swirl around you, their languages mixing into one low roar. The basilica is built over what is thought to be the tomb of St. Peter, the first pope, and you can still see his grave through a door under the altar. I also saw it when I went into the crypt, where most of the popes are also buried and Pope John Paul II is attended by guards and praying nuns.

Swiss Guards in Vatican City.

Remember Le Suisse from Valence? I got to see his inspiration in the form of the Swiss Guards.

After a day at the Vatican, I was exhausted and retired for an evening accompanied by red wine.

The Colosseum in Rome.

It’s seems like absolutely ages ago that I was in Rome, but I’m going to post about it all the same. I hope I haven’t forgotten too much to tell the story. On my first day I flew from Lyon to Rome and then successfully navigated to my hostel. All the Italian I knew was from the phrases I’d downloaded to my iPod and all my information on what to do in Rome was contained in a tiny guidebook completely written in French. I was set up for potential disaster, but the trip was far from that. That first evening I didn’t do much, just met up with two friends who were also staying in Rome and had some pasta and then red wine at the hostel bar.

My traveling friend, Pontiki, at the Colosseum.

I woke up early the next morning and decided my first destination would be the icon of Rome: il Colosseo. However, being that this was my first day, I got a little over confident with my free hostel map and ended up going in the completely wrong direction. I think I ended up at an old city wall, but I’m still not exactly sure. Anyway, I did eventually make it to the Colosseum and dodged the fake gladiators to get inside. It was spectacular. I had downloaded an audio tour to my iPod, so I wasn’t completely lost, and there was a cool exhibit on the history of the Colosseum on of the floors. I wish that it was possible to see a bit more of it, although I would soon see many pieces of its former marble scattered around the city.

Arco di Costantino (Arch of Constantine), seen from the Colosseum.

After my personal tour through the Colosseum, I met up with Mari and Natalie (both assistants in France, from England and Scotland respectively) at the Arch of Constantine. While waiting for them, I took the first of many portraits that I would take in Rome. Apparently I am completely nonthreatening and don’t look like I’ll steal your camera. I hope they turned out.

Palatine Hill (Collis Palatium).

We bought some much needed pizza and bottles of water at a bakery before going to Palatine Hill. I mention the bottle of water because this turned out to be the only one I had to buy, as Rome has drinkable water everywhere. Even the water that comes out of the spouts in the fancy fountains is okay to consume. It was amazing, especially as the sun never stopped shining and there was limited air conditioning.

View of Roman monuments from Palatine Hill.

Palatine Hill was very cool, although I was glad there were so many walking tours in English and French for eavesdropping because it was hard to work out the imperial buildings from the ruins. The legend is that Palatine Hill was where the twins Romulus and Remus were kept alive by the wolf in a cave. Eventually in their story, Romulus kills Remus and it is from his name that Rome gets its moniker. Due to this, Palatine Hill was the most prestigious of the seven hills in Rome and was where many of the emperors had their palaces.

Chains at San Pietro in Vincoli (St. Peter in Chains).

We got some gelato and then there were the first of many churches. I stumbled upon San Pietro in Vincoli, known for its statue of Moses created by Michelangelo. It also contains the above relic, St. Peter’s chains, which gives the church its name.

Scary modern angel at Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs).

Then I saw St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, which has, in addition to this rather unsettling angel, the meridian line of Rome. The basilica was built over what used to be Roman baths.

Crowd at the Spanish Steps.

That evening, we took a free walking tour that started at the Spanish Steps. It covered all the big piazzas of Rome and gave me a good idea of the city, which would come in handy later when the ticket machines in the metro wouldn’t take my money or card and I had to navigate the streets.

Horse at the Pantheon.

From the Steps we made our way to the Trevi Fountain (where we threw coins over our shoulders) and then to the Pantheon, which was just as amazing as it was made out to be. We ended up at the Piazza Navona and then headed to the Piazza di Fiori and had dinner outside. I had a pizza. Yes, for the second time that day. This would be a trend.

Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi at the Piazza Navona.

From there we walked back through the piazzas we had just visited, starting with the Piazza Navona. The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi (Fountain of Four Rivers) by Bernini was even more stunning with the lights and shadows.

The Temple of Hadrian.

The Temple of Hadrian was also beautiful in the dark. It’sthe remains of the old temple built into a new building, but at night you can almost imagine the modern fading away.

Trevi Fountain.

The Trevi Fountain wasn’t any less crowded at night, but maybe more atmospheric. Rome is definitely a city to experience by day and night.

Wow, I did that all in one day! No wonder my feet were tired. I’ll post more about Rome soon!