Today we met our Vatican tour guide, Cinzia. She is bubbly, fun, and very knowledgeable of all things Rome. Well, all things Rome except for Grom - a very creamy Gelato store recommended by several friends and family members. But we didn't hold that against her -- it is a somewhat new store. It was a great time discovering Rome and learning all about the Vatican from Cinzia.
Here is Cinzia and the girls...
One of the first things we learned from Cinzia is the Italian technique for crossing a busy street. You basically pray/say "it's now or never" and take the first step. It works! Cars, scooters, buses, trucks, and bicycles all slow down or stop for you to cross. The thing to remember is be firm, commited, and never change your pace or you throw everything off and could get run over.
From Cinzia we also learned many interesting and amazing things. Here are a few:
- There are four Basilica's throughout Rome and although they look like other Catholic churches, they belong to the Vatican. Meaning that when you step into them, you are not in Rome anymore, you are in the Vatican.
- The Colosseum had a capacity of 70,000 and the grounds are huge; however, it was preceded by a man-made lake that Emperor Nero had built. Talk about a guy that had issues -- Nero virtually burned down Rome to make room for his home which covered four large hills around the current Colosseum. Just one of the hills was large enough for some 200 rooms.
- Mussolini signed the Vatican treaty in 1929 and granted 102 acres -- probably more than sufficient for a single guy. The Vatican consists of its own rail station, Radio Maria, TV station, and two hospitals -- after all it is a city-state that is totally independent of Italy. Radio Maria is boring according to Cinzia!
- The Japanese gave $4.2M in 1964 to the Vatican to clean the Sistine Chapel for royalty rights for postcards, prints, tourist stuff, and later CDs and DVDs. That was smart.
Cinzia made it a fun and enjoyable experience to walk 10 miles through Rome and the Vatican. We learned so many things from her and can't wait to come back and tour other parts of Italy with her guidance. BTW, go to www.roman-gateway.com if you would like to learn about her -- we highly recommend her tours!
One sad observation I must share is my deep disappointment in Italian men. I can see why the Italian soccer team has turned into wusses and constantly dive when merely touched by an opposing player. Yes, it is a rather broad brush I am painting but they definitely threw away the man card here. I mean come on...in the land of gladiators, Ducati, and Ferrari...they wear man bags and capris. I expected Italian leather wearing guys on red Ducati's zipping through the streets stopping at cafes with women at their elbows. What a let down. Take a look at this picture -- these man bags are everywhere!
Italian women on the other hand...gorgeous. There, maybe Cinzia and Morgan won't be too unhappy with me now...
Here are a few pictures of our adventure. The tower below is an actual home today of one of Cinzia's friend. Nobles in the past lived in these towers and there are four of them in Rome today. The design was such to make it easy to defend; each window is a floor with a room. The kitchen is the lowest room.
Here is shot of the inside of the dome in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The entire church is amazing and the size of the building, sculptures, and paintings is unimaginable.
To give you a perspective of the size of the St Peters Basilica, look at the letters forming the ring of the dome. Cinzia informed us that each letter is six feet tall and we didn't believe it. But look closer at the picture and notice the people that are along the railing above the letters...compare the height of the people with the letters!
During the day, we took a lunch break and discovered buffalo mozzarella - made from water buffalo milk. Wow - this was amazing. With Cinzia's help we ordered a great lunch consisting of buffalo mazzarella, tomatoes, bread, olive oil, melon, and proscuitto. She even made sure they brought lots of ice for our "light" Cokes (i.e., no "Diet" Coke).
We ended the day with a treat from Cinzia with a tour of Chiesa Di St. Ignazio a Jesuit church. This church was designed by the Jesuit architect Orazio Grassi and built from 1626 to 1685. What is unique about it is the use of perspective in the paintings on the ceiling. Instead of being domed, the ceiling is actually flat but the paintings make it look domed. The arches also change perspective as you walk across the church -- very neat.
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