5/7 - Rome (Part 1)
*Some of the photos with which this post was to have been illustrated with have been lost for eternity thanks to the incompetence/stupidity/laziness of a French Internet Cafe staff member in Nimes*
Ryanair advertised its €8 bus as the cheapest and fastest way to get to the city from the airport, but I took a €1 shuttle to the metro station and the metro ticket down cost €1 (I plumped for a €16 weekly pass, though). Bah.
Breakfast served at the hostel (Hotel Beautiful 2 - apparently there's a Hotel Beautiful also) was horrible, being a flavourless bun (with just a tiny sprinkle of sugar on top of plain bread) of the sort you'd fine in a Malaysian bakery - I wasn't aware that such low quality bread products were available in Italy; they must've been imported from Malaysia. The man tried to press me into accepting breakfast again this day, and I reluctantly accepted just the bun because I needed to run off so I just dumped it in a dustbin downstairs. Eventually he gave up, I think, only on the last day. It was so bad that Andrew couldn't take more than one bite.
The hotel was out of maps, and the tourist office was 25 minutes from opening from when I reached there. I also noticed it wasn't opened on Sunday (this during tourist season) - they needed to wake up their idea.
I went to a gelato place (Big Bens, outside Santa Maria Maggiore) where the stated prices were €1,50, €2 and €2,50. When I ordered a cup I was charged €3, and the bastards claimed the previous prices were for the cones (similar places the previous day cost €1,30/€1,50). To boot, I got huge ice crystals in my gelato and there was a funny aftertaste - my fault for choosing heart-shaped brand gelato. I recommend that everyone boycott this place and brand.
Santa Maria Maggiore
Side of SMM - St Luke the Evangelist, St Matthew, St Matthias
Column dedicated to Pope Paul V
SMM
There were people videotaping and taking flash photography of a service inside. Wah lao.
The church had a novel way of selling devotional candles - you inserted coins and electric candles would light up.
The interior of the church was very ostentatious, with too much gold. There were also too many people inside.
The heat was sapping my energy, so I couldn't quite keep to my Paris pace.
Someone else identifies this is "manger fragments", and Bernini's tomb is on the right.
Many, maybe even most places were more expensive than the guidebook indicated. I doubted that most places throughout Europe has coordinated to raise prices, and inflation could not have been that bad, so I had many doubts about Let's Go claim that the information was gathered in the second half of 2006.
Altar
Cupola
Angels bearing a building aloft
Chapels
Angel, 1862, for Central Altar
Hammer and Trowel. I didn't think these were the ones for the Holy Door - those would be in St Peters
Although the museum cost €4 and everything was in Italian, it had a huge collection and the aircon was very powerful, so I took the fee as my donation.
Foulards to cover shoulders. They also had free brown ones. The admonition to dress "properly" would've had feminists up in arms.
The sight of pigeons drinking and bathing in a fountain is something that one just has to see in real life, the risk of having pigeon shit landing on your head notwithstanding.
Pigeon wading through fountain. There would've been an even better clip of a pigeon bathing in the fountain (fluffed feathers and all), but unfortunately I was too slow to capture it.
There were nice 14th century mosaics in the loggia of the church but it was too dark and they were too high to see well.
Stupid seditious ad
Madame Butterfly was playing from the evening of the 8th. Unfortunately that was the day I was leaving. There were also performances of opera arias by singers in 12th century Venetian costumes. Considering that Opera only started in the 17th century, I have no idea what the idiots were trying to do; it was almost certainly a con like the period performances in Vienna.
2 of the Quattro Fontane (4 fountains); I can't tell which is which season
Facade of Chiesa di San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane
Facade of Chiesa di San Carlo Alle Quattro Fontane
Palpatine looks real creepy in this picture. Someone said it's the eyelids.
Screwy story of someone whose relics are in the church
Altar of Quattro Fontane. After the gold of SMM, it was a relief.
I then went down to the Piazza del Quirinale.
Pope Pius VII monument. Left: Opus Phidiae. Right: Opus Praxitelis ("Horse Tamers"). Obelisk: from Mausoleum of Augustus.
Palazzo Della Consulta, 17th century. There was a helpful signboard telling me this.
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica di Palazzo Barberini looked good, with some promising-sounding Caravaggios (like the Judith cutting off the fella's head I saw in Amsterdam). Perhaps another time.
It was so hot, I ended up tying my hair most of the time.
Fontana del Tritone
My favourite Metro line was A. Because some of the trains were air-conditioned.
While in a metro train I came across the second most pathetic buskers I'd ever seen - an ~11 year old girl and a ~7 year old boy. The girl walked down the train pretending to play a synthesiser, but really it was playing a pre-programmed piece. Meanwhile the boy walked in front with a cup.
I was worried about the infamous Roman pickpockets, but someone suggested I put my valuabled in my bag and side sling it, then place my hand over it. An additional advantage of this was that it kept my back cool.
Porta San Giovanni
San Giovanni Laterno, the old seat of the Vatican till the 14th century, founded by Constantine in 314 AD.
Scala Sancta, which has the 28 steps Jesus walked up to Pontus Pilate's house. I only counted 16 though. The inscription mentioned Benedict XIV and Clement XII.
The toilets in San Giovanni Laterno had no toilet seats also. There was something very wrong with the Vatican.
Nave of San Giovanni Laterno
Toilet sign
For some reason I found this funny
There were electric candles in San Giovanni Laterno. Perhaps this was because people would otherwise steal the candles. It was also more environmentally (and artwork) friendly, saved on cleaning costs and was cheaper to provide.
Chapel
Ceiling
Altar. The 2 reliquaries in gold in the shape of heads are presumably where the skulls of St Peter and St Paul are.
Italians are horrible at labelling churches. Either there were no leaflets or the leaflet I bought had no information on parts of the church, but just general information. They had audioguides or audiobooths (the ones where you listen to a telephone fixed in one spot ), but I rather read than listen (not least because it's faster).
Reliquaries close up
St Peter statue
Chapel
Last Supper in gold.
Behind the Altar
Organ
For some very strange reason the museum was closed, but at least the cloisters were open.
After this the documentary record peters off because, once agian, the bloody French guy did not burn some photos here. It boggles the mind to try to imagine how incompetent/stupid/lazy he must have been.
*Unknown sculpture*
Recovered picture:
*4 columns holding a slab*
In popular tradition this was the height of Christ
The cloisters were €2, and the audioguide another €1. The content was good but the layout was horrible - the commentary was continuous, divided only into 2 sections and could not be fast forwarded or rewound. There were no numerical labels so I didn't always know what they were talking about.
*Samaritan's Well, 9th century*
Recovered picture:
*Keys*
*Cloisters*
Recovered pictures:
Since the time of King Henry III, the protector/honorary canon of St John's basilica has been the King of France (now the President). On his birthday, a mass is celebrated in his honour for France as the protector of the basilica. Haha.
*Linen Cope*
Recovered picture:
According to tradition, first worn by Voniface VIII in 1300 for the First Jubilee.
*Codex 59*
Copies of Codex 59 by Palestrina who was a music director here.
*Swan (?)*
Recovered picture:
