3/6/14 -- The final day in ROME

Note: Most of this last day is written post facto.  Things got busy back at school and blogging was pushed to the back burner.  However now that I am done (with school for the semester) I will finally catch up!  At this point this post is primarily for my own edification so that 30 years from now I can look back and see that I actually did learn things.  I will do my best to remember what happened and the significance of the buildings and art that we saw, at least to preserve what I still remember at this point.  I suppose worst-case scenario I have to go back and learn it again!

As beautiful as this city is and as amazing as this trip has been, I am kind of thankful it is winding down.  It has been a wonderful trip, I have learned so much, and today was no exception!  We began the morning at the Vatican Museum.  We had a guide that brought us through the rooms and highlighted certain artifacts of interest.  I enjoyed jumping a little deeper into some of the pieces, however there were other places where I would have liked to spend more time.  The museum is huge!  No doubt more that can be learned there in just one day.

Museum enterance

View of St. Peter's Basilica

The scene on the left depicts Peter's crucifixion, upside down
on the cross.  The scene on the right depicts Paul's death,
beheaded because he was a Roman citizen.  The three gashes
in the ground are where his head bounced, resulting in springs
of water bursting from the earth.

A tapestry of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Last Supper"

Raphael

We talked a bit about pain and suffering, and the
messages the church had for the people.  This is
Saint Erasmus.  He is the saint of intestinal ailments.
People used to eat red string to signify eating his
intestines to cure them of their pains.

A view of St. Peter's Basilica and a replica of the
golden orb on top.  The "Sphere Within a Sphere"
represents the complexities of the world and how
easily it can be torn apart.

A statue of Mithra... in the animal room... in the Vatican Museum.

Hercules!  This one has a fun story.  It was found buried.
I guess way back when, people were worshipping Hercules
quite a bit (it makes sense, since he can bring strength to
armies and such).  But then there was a big lightening storm,
which they interpreted as a sign that Zeus was mad at them
because he was being ignored.  So the people built some
statues of Zeus to appease him, and wanted to destroy the
Hercules statues to show that their loyalty to Zeus was still
important.  However the people knew that destroying the
Hercules statue might upset Hercules, which they didn't
want to do, so they just buried him instead.

Egyptian statues

The map room was my favorite!  I could have spent more time here...

The pictures on the ceiling corresponded to
the maps on the walls.  This one is an image
of the Road to Emmaus.  And if I had been paying
better attention I might remember how it related
to the map pictured above.

I'm in Italy!

This was the first in a series of images that display Constantine's
conversion to Christianity.  In this image he is preparing for
battle, and sees a sign from YHWH in the sky.  He knows
that if he followsYHWH he will win the battle, and if he
wins then he will continue to worship YHWH.

The battle...

They won!  And Constantine is baptized (except in reality he
wasn't baptized till his death bed when he had run out of options).

This is a scene of the transfer of power from the Roman Empire
to the Papacy.  Quite a historical moment, and monumental for
the rest of Rome's future.

On the ceiling, this image depicts Christianity's
raising power, and the triumph of Jesus over pagan
gods and goddesses.  Mercury (Hermes) lays broken
on the ground.

This piece and the one below it are both Raphael works.
This one, "School of Athens," depicts an age of knowledge,
with famous philosophers and groups of thinkers
separately debating matters.

This second piece is juxtaposed to the former, with the
Christian church and social uniformity a pervasive theme.
(I don't remember as much as I should here...)

Found some more maps!

We also got to walk through the Sistine Chapel.  No pictures here, as is appropriate because it wouldn’t do it justice. 

After the tour we had the rest of the day free.  Zoe and I went to Piazza del Popolo in search of a cannoli and coffee and a spot in the sun.  It was a beautiful afternoon!

Obelisk in the center of the square

A view of the beautiful city

Such a perfect little park.  Definitely need to come back here
and lay in the sun :)

Aaaaand we found what we were looking for!

I could be a professional bubble blower...

After a busy day, it was so nice to sit and relax and enjoy some delicious food as we explored Piazza Navona.

Zoe and Chris in front of a fountain

Enjoying one last delicious gelato :)

The pantheon

While we were here, our class participated in a scavenger hunt.  My group (Zeus) did not find any of the clues… But I thought the idea was a good one!

Can you figure any out?

One of our first nights back at the hotel, when we should have been researching the answers to these clues, we instead searched for all of the best gelato and coffee places around Rome (clearly we had our priorities set).  Here is what we came up with.

Wow what a trip!  I am so thankful that I was able to visit this beautiful city. Can’t wait to come back!